In January and February 2009, a series of water samples were collected from streams on Byers Peninsula. These samples were analysed for major elements and δ¹⁸O to determine the role of lithology and landscape position on stream geochemistry, and to understand better the hydrology (i.e. residence time of water) of these systems. Precipitation chemistry is enriched in Na⁺, as are the streams located close to the coast. Streams originating from inland locations have much higher percentages of Ca²⁺. In contrast, Mg²⁺ varied little, though streams that are in greater contact with volcanic-derived soils have slightly higher concentrations. Anion percentages varied greatly between streams with SO₄^2- ranging from 5% to 45% of the anion composition. Dissolved Si concentrations as high as 141 μM were observed. All these data suggest that active chemical weathering is occurring in this region. A time series over 13 days at one stream showed little variation in major element geochemistry. The δ¹⁸O of precipitation samples collected over this same period varied by ∼10‰ while the majority of stream samples varied less than ∼1.5‰. These data indicate that the stream waters represent mixtures of precipitation events, melting snow and water from the subsurface that had gained solutes through chemical weathering.

Cave ice samples collected within karstic terrain have major ion and nutrient concentrations showing that the ice originates from local precipitation modified by the addition of Ca²⁺ and HCO₃⁻ from the dissolution of the local bedrock. Isotopic profiles of Paradana Cave ice are similar to those described in other ice caves in central and eastern Europe, where the profiles are developed through the freezing of cave pool or “lake” waters from the top downward during the onset of the cold portion of the year. Stable isotope data suggest future studies may yield a long-term paleo-environmental record for this location.