Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Quaternary Climate Change in the Central Arctic Ocean  

Outline
Despite earlier beliefs, new results indicate that climatic conditions warmer than today with reduced ice cover probably existed in the Arctic in recent times. Knowledge of climatic and hydrographic patterns during these periods will be invaluable for developing predictive models to describe the outcomes of the ongoing climatic change in the Arctic that is especially evident due to a dramatic reduction in ice cover. Our recently recovered Healy-Oden Trans-Arctic Expedition (HOTRAX’05) sediment cores constitute the most complete archive of Quaternary sediments across the central Arctic Ocean currently available. This freshly collected material provides the long-awaited opportunity for a systematic investigation of the Quaternary Arctic paleoceanography and ice conditions. The goal of this proposed research is to identify and characterize warm, low-ice intervals in the central Arctic sedimentary record. This will be achieved by the use of paleobiolgical proxies (benthic and planktonic foraminifers, coccoliths, and dinocysts), stable isotopes, and ice-rafted debris provenance. After the identification of the intervals of interest in a type core, the most conspicuous of these events will be investigated in at least four cores characterizing a range of ice and hydrographic conditions across the central Arctic Ocean, from the Lomonosov, Mendeleev, Alpha, and Northwind ridges. To place these Arctic low-ice events in the context of global paleoclimatic history, a rigorous stratigraphic investigation of HOTRAX cores will be undertaken. This is especially important because the existing views on chronostratigraphy of Arctic Ocean sediments are controversial. The combined application of bio- and magnetostratigraphy, as well as several independant geochronological techniques (luminescence, amino-acid racemization, 10Be, and 14C) will finally establish a robust age model for Quaternary and possibly somewhat older Arctic Ocean sediments. This stratigraphy will complement the results of the 2004 ACEX deep-sea drilling in the central Arctic for the late Cenozoic.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
Expected outcomes of this proposal are: (1) documenting and processing a unique collection of sediment cores from the Arctic Ocean to serve as research material for the coming decades and (2) providing new insights into the paleoclimatic history of the Arctic Ocean.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
The proposed project involves collaboration between researchers from USA, Canada, and Sweden. This includes research planning, data analyses and evaluation, and publication of results. This project has a direct relevance to the IPY topic ‘Paleoclimate’, and specifically to the cluster ‘Arctic Paleoclimate and its Extremes (APEX)’ (ID #183).

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
No additional field work is requested

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: n/a
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?

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?
Yes

A proposal has been submitted to the US NSF that seeks the analysis of the data collected on the current grant ‘Trans-Arctic 2005 Expedition for Development of a Pan-Arctic Stratigraphy and Paleoclimate Record’ funded by the NSF and coordinated with the Swedish RC.

How will the project be organised and managed?
This project is a self-managed activity organized by a group of PIs from the Ohio State University, Old Dominion Univ., Stockholm University, and Univ. Quebec Montreal. The US PIs have a long record of establishing and managing projects with the NSF Office of Polar Programs. Coordination of research will be maintained by annual meetings of PIs and collaborators.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
College and pre-college students had the opportunity to follow the data-collecting expedition HOTRAX-05 via several venues, including the NSF Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating program, a dedicated web site, and work on selected projects. Results from the core studies will continue being posted as a follow-up to the expedition.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
The data will be submitted to the US National Geophysical Data Center within two years of their generation. We will develop a web site dedicated to this project and will make preliminary data available there within six months of the completion of processing.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
Funding for sample processing, data analyses, PI meetings, and presentation of results will be requested from the national agencies. Funding for international meetings with other IPY groups, such as within a network established by the APEX cluster, is expected from the international sources.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
None

PROPOSER DETAILS

Dr Leonid Polyak
Byrd Polar Research Center, Ohio State University
1090 Carmack Rd., Columbus, OH
43210
USA

Tel: +1-614-292-2602
Mobile: no
Fax: +1-614-292-4697
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation