Expressions of Intent for IPY 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Detecting Oceanic Changes through Arctic Sea Ice Coring  (Detecting Oceanic Changes through Arctic Sea Ice Coring)

Outline
Between the 1980’s and the 1990’s there were major changes in the influence of Atlantic and Bering water in the Arctic, and in the locations where river runoff flowed off the shelves. These water masses have a major influence on the Arctic environment and are connected to the thermohaline circulation of the world ocean. Therefore, it is important to detect and understand changes in their distribution. Because they have clear 18O signatures, 18O is an excellent tracer to track water mass changes. However, direct water sampling in the Arctic interior is hindered by perennial ice cover. Recent work shows that 18O archived in multiyear sea ice by accretion at the base of ice floes, can be used to reconstruct the surface ocean 18O distribution, and therefore the distribution of key water masses, in ice-covered regions of the Arctic (Pfirman et al., 2004 a,b). We propose a program during 2007-2009 of sea ice coring to map and detect changes in surface ocean water masses in the Arctic Basin. The cores will be obtained in ice export regions of the marginal ice zone: Fram Strait, East Greenland and the Barents Sea, as well as other regions of opportunity, for example the North Pole station. Ice drift information from satellites and the International Arctic Buoy Program will be used to inform sampling so that we obtain cores from ice that has transected key regions of the Arctic. 18O archived in the sea ice cores, coupled with floe trajectory information, an ice growth model, and any new 18O analyses of surface water carried out by other investigators, will then be used to reconstruct the surface ocean 18O field in the ice-bound Arctic interior for the time period of ca. 2005-2009 (we can obtain 2-3 years of data from each multiyear ice floe). Comparison of the reconstructed field for 2005-2009, with fields reconstructed for previous time periods (e.g. Schmidt et al. and Schlosser et al. databases), will allow an assessment of the changes in the distribution of river runoff, and Atlantic and Bering inflow. Following 2007-2009, ice coring in ice export regions of the marginal ice zone every other year or so, will allow continuing assessment of conditions and early detection of changes occurring out of view, under the ice.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
We will be able to piece together a comprehensive and synoptic picture of surface ocean water masses in the ice-bound Arctic interior – something that has never been done before, and something that is logistically and financially impossible to carry out to a comparable extent by other means. Each sea ice core is equivalent to a ca. 25-station, interior Arctic transect that would otherwise have to be obtained by water sampling from an ice-breaking vessel.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
United States and Norway, potentially also Germany for icebreaker platform, sampling and analysis: ice growth model, trajectory analysis, sea ice sampling/coring, crystallographic and 18O analysis of the ice cores

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Primary area of operation: Fram Strait, East Greenland, the Barents Sea. Supplemented by sampling at North Pole Station, Baffin Bay, Beaufort/Chukchi sea if possible and any other location where there is a logistics framework to obtain sea ice cores.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 7-9/2007      7-9/2007      7-9/2007
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Some way to get into the ice pack so that cores of level, multiyear sea ice can be obtained probably using an icebreaker or ice strengthened vessel, and perhaps transects from the North Pole station

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
It will leave a legacy of data: the first comprehensive and synoptic picture of surface ocean water masses in the ice-bound Arctic interior.

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

The Norwegian Polar Institute has regular cruises to the Fram Strait every year in September with RV "Lance" could be used for ice coring activities.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
We will seek endorsement from US and Norwegian IPY committees and we will write proposals to seek funding at the national level in the US and Norway

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?
Exp
Since 2003 Norway has been running an in situ sea ice program on cruises to the Fram Strait, with a focus on thickness measurements and optical/physical properties – this new project could be added to the ongoing program.

How will the project be organised and managed?
The project will be organized and managed jointly among the participating PIs and coordinated with other ongoing efforts, for example the ongoing Norwegian sea ice sampling program described in section 2.5, and the planned “Towards an integrated biophysical sea-ice observatory in the Pacific seasonal ice zone (PACSIZ)” project led by Eicken and others.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
We will engage students in analysis of the ice cores. The resulting database and interpretation – see sections 2.4 and 3.4 -- will be disseminated widely via the web.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document)?
The sea ice data will be added to the ocean sample data to build a comprehensive database for future comparative work. Currently, the most complete and publicly available, oceanic 18O database is that of Schmidt et al. (http://www.giss.nasa.gov/

How is it proposed to fund the project?
National funding in the US and Norway, we plan to write proposals to seek support

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
This program of sea ice sampling informed by ice trajectory, origin, age, and modelled growth rate will be of great interdisciplinary value. We will be able to validate our ice growth model: ice thickness will be known from cores, and age from annual layers. We can therefore improve our understanding of the connection between ice age and thickness, and its relationship with heat flux and snow cover. Biologists can use our origin and age analyses to understand where the ice-associated biota might have been incorporated first and how it may have matured during drift. Chemists working on contaminants will know where the ice has been, how long it has been drifting, and what temperatures the floe experienced, and will therefore have a better of idea of where the contaminants may have been entrained and how they may have been modified during drift.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Pro Stephanie Pfirman
Barnard College, Columbia University
3009 Broadway
New York, New York
10027
USA

Tel: 212-854-5120
Mobile: 201281-1367
Fax: 212-854-5760
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation

Other Information