Project Title

Constraining West Antarctic Ice Sheet elevation during the last interglacial

Summary

Event Number:
G-065-M
NSF / OPP Award 1744927

Program Director:
Dr. Michael Jackson

ASC POC/Implementer:
Allison Barden / Jenny Cunningham

Principal Investigator(s)

Dr. Matthew Joseph Zimmerer
matthew.zimmerer@nmt.edu
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Department of Earth & Environmental Science
Socorro, New Mexico

Location

Supporting Stations: McMurdo Station
Research Locations: Mt. Waesche, West Antarctica

Description

This project aims to place constraints on West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) elevations at Mt. Waesche, a young volcano in Marie Byrd Land, near the dome of the ice sheet during the last interglacial period. The project team will use cosmogenic nuclide inventories and 40Ar/39Ar dating of lava flows near and below the present ice level, and subglacial bedrock morphology, to identify and date lower than present ice levels.

This season, the project also incorporates Seth Campbell's EAGER award, NSF/OPP Award 2210092, and Collaborative Research: EAGER: Dating glacier retreat and readvance near Mt. Waesche, West Antarctica.

Field Season Overview

A team of eight participants, including two United States Ice Drilling Program (IDP) personnel, will focus on drilling two transects of four bedrock cores in the vicinity of Mt. Waesche. The team and their cargo will position to WAIS Divide camp via LC-130 aircraft, then will be shuttled on to Mt. Wasche camp by Basler and Twin Otter. At Mt. Waesche, the team will drill 100 m through firn and ice to reach bedrock. They will also re-measure stakes established in the 2018-19 season to determine ice ablation and movement over the past six years and will conduct additional mapping of exposed lava flows and glacial moraines. In addition to bedrock cores, the team will collect ice samples using the IDP Eclipse drill and a horizontal trencher, with the goal of dating unconformities in the ice that indicate lower ice levels. Ice samples will be melted and bottled for transport out of the field. All activities will take place within five miles of the Mt. Waesche camp site.

Deploying Team Members