Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

The Ice Age development and human settlement in northern Eurasia (ICEHUS)  (ICEHUS)

Outline
The principle objective of the proposed activity is to improve our understanding of the ice age development and the history of early humans in northern Eurasia. The project will study the changing environment during the late Quaternary with a focus on the ice sheet history and its relationship with sea level changes, hydrology of the continent and the early human settlements at high latitudes. This is an interdisciplinary research project that will involve geological and archaeological field investigations as well as modelling experiments. We have initiated collaborative work with several international research groups, including climate and ice sheet modelers, geologists, geographers, botanists and archaeologists. Field expeditions with the participation of Russian and Norwegian scientists will take place in the northeastern European Russia and West Siberia where unique geological and archaeological archives are known to exist. Preceding investigations carried out by this team of researchers have shown that the glacial history in this part of the world was very different from the regions around the Nordic Seas. Furthermore, the recent discovery of nearly 40,000 years old traces of human occupation in the Russian Arctic has opened up new perspectives on the early colonization of the continent that will be addressed. The following sub-goals have been identified: 1.To reconstruct the long-term ice sheet history and paleoenvironmental changes in northern Russia during the two last glacial-interglacial cycles, a period of nearly 200,000 years. 2.To determine age and geographic distribution of ice-dammed lakes in Siberia and European Russia during the glaciations and model the climatic impact of the Baltic Ice Lake. 3.To establish the cultural affiliations and decent of the early humans that lived in northern Russia during the last Ice Age

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
This project will address themes 2-4 for IPY. •Establish the timing and extent of the major glaciations that affected the Russian Arctic during the Late Quaternary. •Reconstruct the drainage history and ice dammed lakes in the European part of the Russian Arctic and on the West Siberian Plain during the last Ice Age. •Reconstruct the climatic and environmental changes that took place in the ice free periods during the last interglacial-glacial cycle. •Establish the cultural affiliations and descent of the early humans that lived in Northern Russia during the last Ice Age.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
ICEHUS is a Russian-Norwegian project that will collaborate closely with a number of researchers/institutes from several countries, including Canada (Univ. of Toronto), Germany (AWI- Potsdam), Sweden (Universities of Stockholm and Lund), Denmark (Universities of Aarhus and Copenhagen), The Netherlands (Leiden University), U.K. (Univ. of Bristol). The project will also be integrated with APEX (IPY EoI # 183)

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
1.Pechora Lowland- Polar Urals, European part of Russia 2.West Siberian Plain and possibly the Putorana Plateau . 3.Possibly Novaya Zemlya (will depend on permissions)

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: July/August – 2006      July/August – 2007      July/August – 2008
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Geological field work on Novaya Zemlya will require a ship and transportation to the sites with helicopter and/or a small boat. The geological field work on the Russian mainland will require transportation with a boat on the rivers and we will need helicopter lift to reach remote sites. On smaller rivers we use rubber boats. We plan to core a lake basin. This will require drilling and seismic equipment.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
No

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
National agency
Commercial operator
Own support
Other sources of support

Much of the logistics will be taken care of by our Russian partners

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
Yes - The project (ICEHUS) is financially supported by the Research Council of 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?


It is the intention that the project (ICEHUS). The activities will be integrated with APEX (Arctic Paleoclimate and its Extremes, IPY (EoI # 183).

How will the project be organised and managed?
The project will be organized and managed by the University of Bergen, Dept. of Earth Science. Prof. John Inge Svendsen is the coordinator of the project. Joint field expeditions in Russia will be planned and organized in collaboration with scientific partners in Russia and other countries. Regular scientific meetings with all participants will be organized.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
The results will be published in international peer reviewed journals and will also be communicated at meetings, seminars, news papers, popular magazines etc. In APEX a special home page will be designed where the results and other information about the planned activities can be obtained. Education will be prioritized task. From the Norwegian side it is the intention to involve several (at least 3) PhD students in the project. Presently there are also two Russian PhD students attached to the project in St.Petersburg.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
Geological data will be made available through databases that will be organized within the framework of APEX.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
A significant part of the proposed activities have been funded by grant from the Research Council of Norway. We consider to apply national funding agencies to cover additional exploration activities in the Arctic that is not financed through the ICEHUS project. This may include expenses in connection with special field campaigns in the Arctic.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
None

PROPOSER DETAILS

Professor John Inge Svendsen
University of Bergen
Department of Earth Science
Allégt. 41,Bergen
N-5007 Bergen
Norway

Tel: +47-55583510/55580000
Mobile: no
Fax: +47-55583660
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation