Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Antarctic Permafrost Age – Implications to the Earth and Planetary Geo/Bio Sciences  (ANTPAGE Antarctic Permafrost Age – Implications to the Earth and Planetary Geo/Bio Sciences)

Outline
Cryology and microbiology of Antarctic permafrost were not studied as intensively as were Arctic permafrost and Antarctic ice sheet although Antarctic permafrost being potentially much older the two mentioned above is more informative. Antarctic cryosphere began to develop after the final break-up of Gondwana and isolation of the continent with glaciations is believed to have been initiated at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary. Discussions of its stability have focused on the state of the most variable part of cryosphere - ice sheets. Permafrost is the most stable end-member of cryosphere and the conditions needed for ice sheet's degradation, even if they existed in Miocene or Pliocene climatic optimums, are not enough to completely thaw the permafrost. Permafrost degradation is only possible when its temperatures rise above freezing. There is no evidence to date of such warming, 25°C or more, during late Cenozoic time, and the oldest continuously frozen layers may exist here 30 Ma. The main goals of ANTPAGE project is to find in Antarctica the oldest terrestrial permafrost, to date these sections and isolate viable microorganisms. Specific objectives are: -To integrate existing geological records and produce a thematic map of areas where climate and geological history of the last tens of millions years were favorable for formation and persistence of early Oligocene permafrost, and based on these data, identify the most suitable drilling sites. - To develop the hand-carried equipment for sterile drilling and sampling of the upper 25 m of permafrost, and use these boreholes and cores for temperature and ground radiation measurements, cosmogony dating, traditional analyses (ice and organic content, textural and chemical composition) and specific analyses (microbial and diatom's). - To provide evidence that the Antarctic permafrost may have existed earlier than the Arctic permafrost by as much as a factor of ten, and present an Earth's model of only one cold Pole in South Hemisphere during this period. - To develop the methods of direct dating of permafrost using the cosmogony radionuclides in ice cement and segregated ice as a natural chronometer and biological clock, based on the racemization rates and differences of microbial communities immured in permafrost. - To expand our knowledge of temporal limits of cryosphere and cryobiosphere and implication of the oldest permafrost age to the different fields of the geo-, bio- and planetary sciences.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
Direct dating of permafrost, based on the rates of physicochemical and biological reactions at subzero temperatures and characteristics of permafrost parameters of microbial habitant (Themes 1, 2). Revision of the late Cenozoic history based on significant difference between Arctic and Antarctica permafrost age (Theme 3). How long might life be preserved? Presence of viable microorganisms in the most ancient Antarctic cores would expand the existing database, and absence would indicate the age limit for life preservation within the permafrost (Theme 4). Antarctic permafrost inhabited by paleomicroorganisms is the closest terrestrial model for astrobiology and especially for Mars (Theme 5).

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
ANTPAGE cooperates with NASA (Ames Center), NAI (Michigan State University), ESA(EANA) and IPA (Permafrost Astrobiology WG) searching extraterrestrial life on cryogenic planets; with IPY TSP/INPO and ANTPAS on terrestrial permafrost projects. Geological research collaborator: University of Otago (NZ), geocryological: University of Washington, Mars simulation: Institute of Aerospace Medicine (Germany).

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Three field campaigns from McMurdo station and Terra Nova base. The relicts of the oldest Antarctic permafrost should be searched for at the high hypsometric levels in ice-free areas: Dry Valleys, along the Polar Plato and Trans-Antarctic mountains, on Northern Victoria Land.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: n/a
Antarctic: 12/06-01/07      12/07-01/08      12/08-01/09

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
The support for field campaigns includes the transportation of drilling equipment to Antarctica, transportation the team and drill by helicopter from McMurdo station or by snow vehicles from Terra Nova base to field camps and routine support for summer expeditions + fuel. Collaboration is possible with ANTPAS and TSP projects.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
Temperature data will be incorporated into WMO/FAO/IPA GTN-P. Boreholes will be equipped for long-term temperature monitoring as a component of TSP/INPO. The nucleotide sequences of isolated strains will be deposited in the GenBank database and pure cultures of oldest viable permafrost microorganisms - in collections, available for future studies.

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

Logistics are at the national level. Portable, hand carried drilling equipment (500 kg total) will be provided by the project participants. Field drilling activities will take place on the international collaborative level.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
Yes ANTPAGE has been initiated and is coordinated by Scientific Council on Earth Cryology, Russian Academy of Sciences and endorsed by Russian IPY 2007/2008 Organizing Committee and the IPA.

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

This is a new autonomous proposal developed by Russian Academy of Sciences, planned as a component and next step of an existing activity. It was reported for first time at the European Permafrost Conference (Rome, 2001) and finally formulated in the framework of IPY at the workshop "Permafrost and Soils in Antarctica"(Madison, USA, 2004).

How will the project be organised and managed?
Geo(cryo)logy and microbiology subgroups were organized in 2004 for managing the project. In 2005 the biological part of the project will be discussed at NAI team meeting in the frame of "Center for Genomic and Evolutionary Studies on Microbial Life at Low Temperatures" and geo(cryo)logical part - on the Russian Permafrost Congress (Moscow), where the final plan will be signed. The International Earth Cryosphere Conference, Pushchino, and European Conference on Permafrost, Potsdam, host the next program meetings for details of international collaboration. The annual International Cryosphere Conferences in Pushchino will be used to track project plans during the whole period.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
There are four PhD students and young researchers among the project participants. The project also is considered as a baseline for the University master courses "Antarctic Permafrost" and "Permafrost Astrobiology", as well as for scholar education and public lectures.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
The drilling sites will be identified throughout the planning phases (2005-2006). Metadata will be initially deposited into the Russian Permafrost Database, the long-term temperature observation data - to GTN-P/TSP/INPO, the nucleotide sequences - to GenBank, frozen samples and pure cultures - to the freezer-storages and collections, available for future studies.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
The 13 and 14 programs of fundamental research of Russian Academy of Sciences (World Ocean and Global Change) with the special support for the field expeditions, several grants of Russian Fund of Basic Research in the frame of Permafrost microbiology with special support for the field expeditions.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
The proposal idea was developed by the team members’ field experience in Antarctica Dry Valleys (1994-1999). Based on these studies, the multidisciplinary project to search for the oldest Earth's permafrost and the oldest viable microbial communities on the Earth require high priority in the framework of IPY and may be considered as an international project. This EOI is linked to the Antarctic EOIs submitted as "Thermal State of Permafrost: The IPA Contribution to an International Network of Permafrost Observatories (IPA TSP)" and “Antarctic and sub-Antarctic Permafrost, Periglacial, and Soils Environments (ANTPAS)”.

PROPOSER DETAILS

David Gilichinsky
Soil Cryology Laboratory, Institute of Physicochemical and Biological
Problems in Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences
Institutskaya str. 2, Pushchino, Moscow Region
142290
Russia

Tel: +7 0967-732604
Mobile: +7 916-1594974
Fax: +7 0967 330595
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation