Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Polar Ocean Gateways: The keys to understanding long-term global change  (POLARGATES)

Outline
The world oceans are a major component of the Earth System, and changes in the complex global current system, which transports heat, salt and nutrients between oceans, are likely to cause global environmental changes. Water mass exchanges between the Arctic Ocean and the northern Atlantic and Pacific, and between the southern Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans through the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, appear to play a crucial role in global circulation. This water mass exchange is controlled by the deepening and shallowing of ocean bottoms during the tectonic opening and closing of strategic oceanic passageways (gateways). The inception of this oceanic current circulation and its changes through time are widely thought to have been responsible for major global climatic and environmental changes on Earth. Establishing the detailed tectonic, geodynamic, sedimentary and palaeotopographic histories of strategic oceanic gateways will provide the fundamental means for modelling studies that may help relate these events to palaeo-climate observations collected across the globe. POLARGATES intends to adopt a multidisciplinary approach by addressing tectonic-magmatic, geodynamic, sedimentary and biostratigraphic processes, by utilising palaeobiological and geochemical proxies as well as past and recent oceanographic conditions in the gateways, and by using state-of-the-art geophysical techniques, sediment coring, ocean drilling, oceanographic observations and accompanying land investigations. The main objectives of POLARGATES consist of 1) Studies of the crust/lithosphere of polar gateways and their continental margins to develop a good understanding of the geological correlation across the gateways, past and present plate-kinematics, mantle processes, margin formations, and crustal subsidence and uplift processes; 2) Understanding the past and modern current systems in the gateways by examining the record of change preserved in deep-ocean sediment deposits and drifts, and by undertaking seismic-stratigraphic investigations and analyses of present and palaeo-oceanographic proxies to derive the evolution of deep-water circulation and climate change; 3) Reconstructing detailed gateway opening processes and constraining the times at which exchanges of shallow and deep water masses between different ocean basins began and ended; 4) Identifying and modelling the role of gateway openings/closures in the global carbon cycle, the evolution of ice-sheets and climatic changes; 5) Archaeological investigations of early human settlement waves across the Arctic gateway areas (see also IPY sub-project “Bering Land Bridge”);

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
POLARGATES is a truly international and interdisciplinary project in its concept. It comprises bipolar targets with far-reaching objectives of global significance. POLARGATES is expected to produce (1) models of the evolution of the underlying geodynamic and magmatic processes leading to formation and deepening of the gateways, (2) constrained reconstructions of the opening and deepening of the gateways at high spatial and temporal resolution, (3) a model of the present status of water mass exchange through the gateways at high resolution and development of “gateway flow dynamics models”, (4) an improved history of human migration across the ocean gateways in the Arctic, (5) a new generation of high-resolution palaeo-oceanographic and palaeo-climate models into which the new gateway development histories are integrated, leading to (6) improved understanding of the impact of gateway openings/closures on the Earth System, including the evolution of ice-sheets.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
POLARGATES will support the creation of a consortium of research excellence on oceanic gateways in polar regions which will coordinate marine and terrestrial research activities of currently 11 nations operating in the primary gateway areas during the IPY field seasons. The projects “Bering Land Bridge” (EoI by S. Fowell) and “Prydz-Kerguelen Geotransect” (EoI by G. Leitchenkov) are also components of POLARGATES. POLARGATES is also related to some of the broader objectives and research plans in Antarctic Climate Evolution (ACE) Program of SCAR for the Southern Ocean and Antarctica.

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Arctic gateways: (1) Fram Strait, (2) subarctic North Atlantic, (3) Bering Strait, (4) Nares Strait, Davis Strait & Canadian Arctic Archipelago Southern Ocean/Antarctic gateways: (1) Drake Passage & Scotia Sea, (2) Tasmanian Gateway (between S Tasman Rise & N Victoria Land), (3) Wilkes Land margin, (4) Kerguelen Plateau & E Cosmonaut Sea, (5) Southern Ocean ridges/fracture zones.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 07/07 – 10/07      07/08 – 10/08      
Antarctic: 12/06 – 03/07      12/07 – 03/08      12/08 – 03/09

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Logistic facilities depend on the respective sub-project. The completeLogistic facilities depend on the respective sub-project. The complete range for this umbrella project includes: Ice-breakers, ice-strengthened research ships, research ships, ship-based drilling capability, fixed wing geophysical aircraft, helicopters, field camps, and rock-drilling capability (in collaboration with IODP and ANDRILL projects). Cruises might include surveys and sampling for other IPY projects (e.g. CTD/XBT data could be collected on cruises collecting magnetic and multibeam data).

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
No infrastructure will remain in the Arctic or Antarctic from this project after the IPY. However, there will be a large data resource that can be used for future studies, in particular modelling studies.

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

Ship time and logistics for land expeditions will be allocated by national polar programs, operators and agencies through proposals by the project proponents. Some support will also be sought from military (e.g. for swath bathymetry; air logistics).

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
Endorsement by national IPY committees: Argentina, Germany, Norway, Russia, Spain; Endorsement being sought from national IPY committees: Australia, Denmark, Italy, Japan, UK, USA; International: SCAR endorses a polar ocean gateway program as a contribution on Climate Change (paper by SCAR Advisory Committee on the IPY);

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

POLARGATES is a new initiative. There is no existing or planned programme that encompasses the research described in this proposal. It is an umbrella that envelopes a combination of about 15-20 sub-projects already pursued or planned by several national programs as well a number of new surveys and investigations particularly proposed for the period of the IPY. The strength of this project lies in maximising the scientific results by integrating the various existing, planned and proposed initiatives.

How will the project be organised and managed?
POLARGATES will represent a coordinated effort among national programs. It is planned to establish an international steering team that (1) will share the tasks of project coordination, (2) will establish a web site, (3) will organise annual workshops, and (4) will have to check that participants meet their commitments of making data openly available. The central communicational and organisational tool will be a web-based forum and knowledge base, where every project partner updates entries. Funding for staff of a coordination office will be sought. Annual workshops are intended to review the progress of the project, to present and exchange initial results of past and current surveys, investigations and modelling and to coordinate presentations of results at international congresses and their publications.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
As much of the work required for POLARGATES would take place on research vessels, a “classroom at sea” programme could be implemented to ensure outreach to schools. They involve offering a place on each research cruise to a teacher, whose role is to update a cruise website on a daily basis, providing easy to follow explanations of shipboard activities through text, photographs and video clips. A good part of this theme is ideally suited for TV documentaries, as polar expeditions, visualisations/animations of geodynamics as well as climatic change models and archaeology of people migration are excellent topics to capture public imagination.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
All data collected in POLARGATES will be placed in national and international data banks (World Data Centre, IODP Core Repositories, PANGAEA, specialty data centres). The project participants will be requested to make their raw data openly available within an agreed time from the completion of the fieldwork. Participants would also have to make a commitment to provide metadata (i.e. a list of where, when and what kind of data were collected) for the project website.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
Funding will the sought through national polar programs or national funding agencies/ministries. A number of cruise proposals have already been accepted, and several groups have submitted further proposals. In total, about 15-20 sub-projects are being planned under the POLARGATES umbrella.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
POLARGATES is a bipolar innovative, fully interdisciplinary and widely internationally coordinated project which focuses on polar regions critical for changing environmental conditions. Its results will have a global relevance for understanding climatic change at large time-scales.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Dr Karsten Gohl
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI)
P.O. Box 120161
Bremerhaven
27515
Germany

Tel: +49-471-4831 1361
Mobile: no
Fax: +49-471-4831 1271
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation