Expressions of Intent for IPY 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Solid Earth – Cryosphere Interactions in Greenland  (GREEN ICE)

Outline
Geophysical observations in Greenland have a long history ranging from Alfred Wegener's first meteorological records in 1906 to the completion of the Arctic Gravity Project and the launch of ICESat in 2003. Although the scientific database is continuously growing, there are only minor efforts in the solid Earth community to exploit and evaluate the recently collected data and merge these with historic data. As a consequence, the large picture of Greenland's continental structure and tectonic history is still largely unexplained. Greenland represents a coupled system of the solid Earth and the cryosphere on different spatial scales and is a unique geophysical target. Major open questions include the structure, the history and the thermo-mechanical properties of the bedrock, the crust, the lithosphere and the mantle as well as their interactions with the ice sheet. To estimate the mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet and its contribution to global sea level change, geodynamic processes such as glacial isostatic adjustment and crustal deformation have to be taken into account. Modelling of ice dynamics requires a detailed knowledge of the bedrock properties and the lithology to infer basal melting, ice velocities and strain rates. Previous studies in West Antarctica (Blankenship, 2001) have revealed that the onset of fast glacier flow occurs preferentially in regions of high geothermal flux and where subglacial sediments are abundant. Comparison of crustal thickness and balance velocities (Braun et al., 2005) suggests similar conditions may exist in Greenland. Large balance velocities are associated with higher than average crustal heat flow, which in turn can be associated with temperature variations in the crust/mantle and thus may be triggered by past and ongoing geodynamic processes, for example due to hotspot or rifting activity. Other processes, like glacial isostatic adjustment and glacier dynamics are also shaping Greenland's surface. These processes must be monitored with geophysical, geodetic and glaciological methods as a pre-requisite for further investigations. This EoI is describing the overall objectives of 3 coordinated international EoIs dealing with the same topic, see additional information in 3.6. We like to initiate a concerted action: - to collect further data (e.g. by GPS, airborne/terrestrial geophysical campaigns, seismic profiling, borehole logging, ice drilling), - to establish an integrated and interdisciplinary interpretation, and - to promote international cooperation (see EoI's of B. Csatho (OSU, USA), T. Dahl-Jensen (GEUS, DK). Since Greenland as a science target has received less attention compared to Antarctica, we like to initiate and establish a scientific program focusing on solid Earth - cryosphere interactions and put Greenland on the agenda of the IPY. We believe that the proposed collaborative effort, investigating the role of solid Earth processes and properties on glacial dynamics and mass balance on the whole ice sheet scale will open new avenues for studying ice sheets and glaciers.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
1.Greenland's crustal structure is unknown, but needs to be studied in order to understand ice sheet dynamics and ice mass balance, both are important parameters to evaluate the present state of the ice sheets as a climate indicator. 2.Ice mass transfer and between the ice sheet, sea ice and the ocean are direct indicators for assessing the past and present status of climate change in the Arctic. 3.Global sea level change is affected by ice sheet dynamics and glacial isostatic adjustment in Greenland. Meltwater runoff is changing the sea level globally, not just locally. Ocean circulation patterns are affected by fresh water input from ice sheets and melting sea ice. 4.Greenland is largely unknown in terms of its geological and geodynamic history. New satellite observations have a significant impact by providing homogeneous new data sets to understand the dynamics of Greenland's surface and lithosphere. 5.Greenland is a unique platform to study solid Earth – Cryosphere interactions, e.g. the Iceland hotspot track was passing Greenland's craton and interacted with the lithosphere/crust and thus influenced the present geological structure as well as affects the ice sheet dynamics by heat flow variations and bedrock morphology.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
This project consist of 3 EoIs 1. Canada (A. Braun, overall objectives, geodesy and geodynamics), 2. USA (B. Csatho, cryosphere and surface geophysics), and 3. Denmark (T. Dahl-Jensen, geology and seismics). Additionally, we have teamed up with multi-disciplinary experts which contribute to understanding the complex interactions between the solid Earth and the cryosphere.

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Entire Greenland and the surrounding areas, e.g. Labrador Sea, Nares Strait, Ellesmere Island. Specific targets include Kangerlugssuaq, Jacobshavn, Peterman Glacier, N. Greenland Foldbelt, Continental shelf around Greenland.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: Summer 2007      Summer 2008      Spring 2009
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Logistic support of the project will be coordinated between the international members of the project. Satellite data is available already. Geodetic sensors are available at the Univ. of Calgary and OSU, ice drilling equipment is available at OSU. Gravity equipment is available at NRCan and KMS (Denmark). Aircrafts for geophysical instrumentation need to be organized. Field campaigns have to be planned after individual projects have been approved.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
Geodetic instrumentation installed permanently, e.g. GPS stations, tide gauge stations and gravimetry monuments will be kept operational as long as funding is available. The stations can also become part of international networks and services, e.g. IGS, PSMSL.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
Consortium
Own national polar operator
Another national polar operator
National agency

Coordination with other projects might include, but is not restricted to joint camps, common field put in, sharing logistics for installation of instruments and acquisition campaigns.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
Yes. The Canadian IPY committee has approved this EoI by including it in the Canadian IPY submission to this call.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
New
The project is based on an interdisciplinary study carried out at the University of Calgary, Byrd Polar Research Center (OSU), and Geological Survey of Denmark (GEUS). In previous studies, we found that the knowledge of the bedrock properties and crustal structure is important for glacier dynamics. There is a gap of geodynamic knowledge in Greenland, which we like to fill with this project. Funded and pending projects on GRACE gravity mission, sea level change and GIA, and ICESat and CryoSat greatly contribute to the project. New complementing projects will be submitted to support the large-scale project presented here.

How will the project be organised and managed?
The project will be managed by a joint steering committee (one chair), which consists of at least one member of each national component/institution. In addition, funding agencies, logistics providers, and national authorities have a seat in the steering committee. Since funding will be most likely provided on a national level, each national project team is responsible for financial planning of their resources, although the steering committee will give advice on the major objectives. The steering committee will meet twice a year, preferably during int. scientific meetings. We plan annual progress meetings with the entire project team and one workshop on solid Earth – cryosphere interactions.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
This greatly interdisciplinary project will automatically address education by providing a platform for participating students to exchange ideas, expertise, and data. The project contributes to the education of multi-disciplinary polar scientists for the next decades. While the present funding for polar science education is limited, the IPY provides are perfect basis for generating polar scientists. Public awareness will be raised by publication of results in scientific journals as well as presentations in popular media (TV, radio, print media). Results will be made available to the Greenland Home Rule Government in order to contribute to policy and decision making.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document)?
Data of this project will be freely distributed through international data base systems, e.g. National Snow and Ice Data Center, World Geophysical Data Center. Further, project owned web-servers will provide data, results, and contact information to the scientific communities as well as the interested public. Heterogeneous data sets and formats will be unified in order to provide convenient data access in standardized data formats.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
Funding will be applied for at national agencies, however, we also plan to apply at international agencies, e.g. European Union, UNESCO, in order to link the partners and allow easier international cooperation and organisation of meetings and workshops, where under-represented countries may participate as well. At this time, there is no reliable estimate of the project costs. For the Univ. of Calgary component, we estimate the costs to be around 140k per year. This includes 1 PostDoc (40k) and 4 students (20k), travel and computer resources (20k). Field campaigns need to be planned in cooperation with other project partners and may be in the order of 100k, depending on the type of measurements and platforms. No estimate is available before all partners have approval of their component. Potential merging of resources with other IPY projects would be appreciated.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
Collaborative EoIs: B. Csatho (Ohio State University, USA), T. Dahl-Jensen (GEUS, Denmark) - Large-scale tectonics and deep structure of the Greenland shield. Detailed objectives include: - A comprehensive and multi-disciplinary evaluation of existing data sets - A combined interpretation leading to improved geodynamic history of Greenland - A study of coupled processes, e.g. basal melting – geothermal heat flow - Specification of the required accuracy and resolution for solving science questions - Specification of the required ground truth data to validate satellite observations. - Specification of the means to gather these data, e.g., seismic profiles in central and north Greenland, or borehole logging, ice drilling. - Development of a long-term Greenland geodetic monitoring system, e.g., GPS, tide gauges, absolute gravimetry - Establishing Greenland as a natural laboratory to study coupled processes of the solid Earth and the cryosphere.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Dr Alexander Braun
Department of Geomatics Engineering
2500 University Drive NW
T2N1N4
Canada

Tel: 403 220 4702
Mobile:
Fax: 403 284 1980
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation

Other Information