Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Investigation of Climate, Ice Dynamics and Biology using a Deep Ice Core from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Ice Divide  (WAIS Divide Ice Core)

Outline
A multi-disciplinary/multi-investigator project will recover a 3,300 m deep ice core from the ice divide in West Antarctica. The most significant characteristic of the WAIS Divide Core program will be development of climate records with an absolute, annual-layer-counted chronology for the most recent ~40,000 years. Lower temporal resolution records will extend to ~100,000 years before present. These records will enable comparison of environmental conditions between the northern and southern hemispheres and study of greenhouse gas concentrations in the paleo-atmosphere with a greater level of detail than previously possible. The WAIS Divide core will provide the best material that can be recovered from any location-with unprecedented time resolution-to investigate the main science themes of the program: (1) Climate forcing by greenhouse gases: This program will provide a record of greenhouse gases with unprecedented time resolution during the rapid climate changes that occurred during and at the end of the last glacial period. The relative timing of changes in greenhouse gases and other environmental parameters will be determined.(2) Role of Antarctica in abrupt climate change: This program will develop high-time-resolution records that can be used to infer the interaction of the southern oceans and atmosphere with each other and with their northern counterparts. This will allow precise investigation of the role of the Antarctic in abrupt climate changes.(3) Relationship among northern, tropical, and southern climates: The small offset between the age of the ice and the age of the gas in the ice will allow investigation of the relative timing of Northern Hemisphere Dansgaard-Oeschger events and corresponding Southern Hemisphere climate excursions, through correlation of methane, d18OATM gas records.(4) Stability of the West Antarctic ice sheet: This program will determine how the West Antarctic ice sheet responded to previous climate changes, which will improve predictions of how the West Antarctic ice sheet and sea level will respond to current and future climate changes.(5) Biological signals in deep ice cores: Investigations of biological material in deep ice will yield information about the interaction of biogeochemical processes and climate, as well as lead to fundamental new insights about life on earth.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
Paleoclimate records from ice cores contribute answers to societally-relevant questions about how natural and athropogenic forces interact to influence the earth's climate and sea level. Ice cores were a significant component on the 1957 IGY. This deep ice coring project is part of an international effort to develop a global array of ice cores covering as wide an area and range of time scales as possible. It will focus on understanding climate and cryosphere change in both polar regions; provide the best possible high time resolution paleoclimate records for comparing climate changes in the Arctic and Antarctic during the last deglacial; and provide exceptional opportunities to educate the public and train a new generation of researchers.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
This deep ice coring project is an integral part of the international ice coring community's effort to develop an array of long Antarctic ice core paleoclimate records as outline by the International Partnerships in Ice Core Science (IPICS) committee.

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
The WAIS Divide core will be recovered from the ice divide in West Antarctica at approximately 79.5o S 120.0o W.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: Field test 05/2005 - 08/2005            
Antarctic: start in 2005/2006 finish in 2009/2010            

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
NSF has committed to operating a ~30 person deep drilling camp in central west Antarctica (~79.5o S ~120.0o W) for five field seasons. The camp will be supplied by LC-130. Arrangements will have to be made with NSF, but it may be possible for this camp to serve as a logistics hub for other operations in inland West Antarctica.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
The project will leave:1. A new deep ice coring drill that incorporates the most advanced technology possible, which we hope to use on future deep ice coring projects.2. Records of the earth's climate and cryosphere that are required to understand the causes of past and future climate and cryosphere change.3. A public that is more informed about the relevance of the polar regions and a new generation of ice core scientists.4. An archive of well dated ice from a deep Antarctic ice core.

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

The U.S.- N.S.F. has committed to supporting this project. A new drill is being built and will be tested in Greenland in July 2005. Detailed preparations for the Antarctic effort, including the acquisition of equipment are underway.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
Tentatively, The U.S. NSF has indicated that deep ice coring in West Antarctica will hopefully be a major part of the U.S. IPY effort. (See NSF statement in the National Academy of Sciences Workshop Report on Implementation Planning for the IPY, in press and posted at www.us-www.ipy.org page 9.)

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?
No

This project is part of the international community's effort develop an array of deep ice core paleoclimate records from Antarctica. It is also part of the U.S. WAISCORES program (http://waiscores.dri.edu) to use ice cores to investigate the earth's climate and the ice dynamics of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The first core in the WAISCORES program was recovered from Siple Dome.

How will the project be organised and managed?
NSF has authority over the logistics, drilling and science projects. NSF will likely fund a Science Coordination Office which is responsible for coordinating the different science projects that will work together to form the project. The proposal for the Science Coordination Office is at http://www.dri.edu/People/kendrick/WDSprojmain.htm.The Science Coordination Office is also the interface between the science, drilling and logistics communities. The Science Coordination Office is at the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada, USA. The Chief Scientist will likely be Kendrick Taylor.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
Several groups which specialize in science outreach, have proposed to develop professional quality web sites imbedded in existing high traffic web sites, and museum exhibits. Print, television, and radio media organizations may visit the drill site. The excitement generated by the field visits will be used to catch the public's attention and educate the public about the role of the polar regions in the earth's climate. The individual investigators who make up the project will conduct outreach efforts with local media and education institutions.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
All investigators on the project must follow an established data sharing policy (http://waiscores.dri.edu/DataShare.html). At the request of NSF, this policy will be coordinated with IPY data management policies. Data sets will be archived by AGDC/NSIDC which is associated with the World Data Center the appropriate IPY-approved database system.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
NSF is develop testing a new deep ice coring drilling, and has funded planning for the Antarctic field program, the Science Coordination Office, and several science projects. NSF anticipates funding additional science projects during the next few years.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
This project has been an objective of the USA and International ice coring community for 12 years. The science and implementation plan (http:/waiscores.dri.edu/Waisfinal.pdf) was developed in 2000. The proposal justifying support to build the drill (http://waiscores.dri.edu/DeepDrillingPreparations.pdf) was funded in 2002. Proposals are pending for the first phase of this program. The proposal for the Science Coordination Office is available at http://www.dri.edu/People/kendrick/WDSprojmain.htm.The titles of the anticipated proposals are listed below. For abstracts of the proposals see http://www.dri.edu/People/kendrick/WDSSupplementaryDocs.pdf Post-Depositional Firn Processes and Property Evolution at the WAIS Divide Core Site. PI: Mary Albert (Dartmouth College and CRREL), Tom Neumann (University of Vermont)Isotope Measurements and Model Simulations of Sulfate and Nitrate: Insight into changes in atmospheric chemistry and the oxidizing power of the atmosphere. PI: Becky Alexander (Harvard University), Mark H. Thiemens (University of California, San Diego)Physical Properties and Annual Layer Dating of the Inland Core. PI: Richard B. Alley (Pennsylvania State University) Larry Wilen (Ohio University), Joan Fitzpatrick (United States Geological Survey), Kurt Cuffey (University of California, Berkeley) Geophysical Investigations at the WAIS Divide Drill Site. PI: S. Anandakrishnan (Penn State University)Atmospheric, Snow and Firn Chemistry Studies for Interpretation of WAIS Divide Cores. PI: Roger Bales (University of California, Merced)Seasonal Resolution Snow-pit Study of the Provenance of Inland Divide Dust. PI: Pierre E. Biscaye (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University)Modeling the Glacial through Holocene Climate Changes over West Antarctica. PI: David H. Bromwich (Byrd Polar Research Center, The Ohio State University)Carbon Dioxide and Methane Records from the WAIS Divide Deep Ice Core. PI:Edward J. Brook (Oregon State University)WAIS Divide Outreach Program. PI: Eric Chaisson and Zach Smith (Wright Center for Science Education, Tufts University)Paleoclimate Reconstruction at Inland WAIS using Borehole Paleothermometry. PI: Gary Clow (U.S. Geological Survey)Ice Flow Models and Data Analyses for Ice Core Interpretation. PI: Kurt M. Cuffey (University of California, Berkeley)Major Chemical Composition of the WAIS Divide Ice Core. PI: Jihong Cole-Dai (South Dakota State University)Volcanic Record of the WAIS Divide Core. PI: Nelia W. Dunbar (New Mexico Tech) and Gregory A. Zielinski (University of Maine)Flow-through System for the Detection and Characterization of Particulate Matter in Ice Cores. PI: Christine M. Foreman and John C. Priscu (Montana State University)Borehole Optical Stratigraphy at the WAIS Divide Drill Site: Annual layers, vertical strain, and high-resolution in-situ records. PI: Robert L. Hawley (University of Washington)Estimating Bioavailable Iron Flux to the South Pacific Ocean Using the Inland Core. PI: Karl Kreutz and Mark Wells (University of Maine)Sonic Logging of the WAIS Divide Borehole. PI: Gregg Lamorey (Desert Research Institute)High-resolution Trace and Ultra-trace Chemistry Measurements of the WAIS Divide Ice Core. PI: Joe McConnell and Ross Edwards (Desert Research Institute)Ice Core Web Education and Outreach Website. PI: Mary K. Miller (The Exploratorium)Cosmogenic Radionuclide in the Inland Core. PI: Kunihiko Nishiizumi (Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley), Robert C. Finkel (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), Eric Steig (University of Washington)Climate Change and Glaciology Field Research Experience for Advanced High School and Undergraduate Students. PI: Erin Pettit (University of Washington)Biological Signals in the WAIS Divide Deep Ice Core . PI: John Priscu, Mark Skidmore, Brent Christner (Montana State University)Studies of Climatology, Volcanism, and Microbial Life in Ice. PI: P. Buford Price (Physics Department, University of California, Berkeley)Crystal-orientation Fabrics Deduced by Polarimetric Radar Measurements Near the Ross/Amundsen Sea Ice-flow Divide and at the Siple Dome Ice Core Site. PI: Charles F. Raymond and Kenichi Matsuoka (University of Washington)Glaciological Characteristics of the Ross/Amundsen Sea Ice-flow Divide Deduced by a New Analysis of Ice-penetrating Radar Data. PI: Charles F. Raymond and Kenichi Matsuoka (University of Washington)Short-lived Trace Gases in the WAIS Divide Core. PI: Eric Salzmann (University of California, Irvine)Nitrogen, Argon, and Oxygen Isotopes in Trapped Air in the WAIS Divide Ice Cores. PI: Jeff Severinghaus (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego)Sub glacial Microbiology and Biogeochemistry of the WAIS Divide Ice Core. PI: Mark Skidmore, John Priscu, Brent Christener (Montana State University)A Detailed Look at the N2O Record from the WAIS Divide Site over the Last 40 kyr. PI: Todd Sowers (Penn State University)Collaborative Research: Gases in Firn Air and Shallow Ice at the Proposed WAIS Divide Drilling Site. PI: Todd Sowers (PSU), Ed Brook (OSU), Eric Salzmann (UC Irvine), Jeff Severinghaus (Scripps), Jim White (University of Colorado)Variations in Nitrate Isotope Concentrations in the West Antarctic "Inland" Core. PI: Eric J. Steig (Meredith Hastings, University of Washington)Electrical Stratigraphy and Annual Layer Dating of the Inland Core. PI: Kendrick Taylor (Desert Research Institute)Multiple Stable Isotope Ice Core Measurements of Nitrate and Sulfate in Ice Samples. PI: Mark Thymes, Justin McCabe, Nicolas Parties, Greg Michaels (University of California, San Diego)Collaborative Research: Histories of Accumulation, Ice Thickness and WAIS Divide Location from Radar Layers Using a New Inverse Approach. PI: Edwin D. Waddington and Howard B. Conway (University of Washington) and David L. Morse (University of Texas at Austin)Stable Isotopes in the WAIS Inland Divide Ice Core. PI: Jim White (University of Colorado, Boulder)

PROPOSER DETAILS

Professor, WAIS Divide Chief Scientist Kendrick Taylor
Desert Research Institute, University of Nevada
2215 Raggio Parkway
Reno, NV
89511
USA

Tel: 775 673 7375
Mobile: no
Fax: no
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation