Project Title

Using new ice cores from Dome C to test the assumption of a constant galactic cosmic ray flux and improve understanding of the Holocene methane budget

Summary

Event Number:
I-159-E
NSF / OPP Award 2146131

Program Director:
Dr. Kelly Brunt

ASC POC/Implementer:
Matthew Erickson / Jenny Cunningham

Principal Investigator(s)

Dr. Vasilii Victorovich Petrenko
vasilii.petrenko@rochester.edu
University of Rochester
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Rochester, New York

Location

Supporting Stations: Special Project
Research Locations: Concordia Station, Dome C

Description

The proposed project will drill two shallow 4-inch (10cm) diameter ice cores to ~300m depth at Dome C, Antarctica in collaboration with the French Polar Institute. Trapped air will be extracted from most of the ice on site immediately after drilling. Carbon-14 of carbon monoxide (14CO) and methane (14CH4) would be analyzed in the extracted air samples. The 14CO measurements would be interpreted with the aid of a model of in situ cosmogenic 14C production in glacial firn and ice and used to examine the galactic cosmic ray (GCR) flux history for the last 7,000 years. The 14CH4 measurements would be interpreted with the aid of a 1-box atmospheric model and used to constrain the contribution of geologic methane, permafrost, and marine methane hydrates to the Holocene methane budget.

Field Season Overview

This project is supported in collaboration with the French Polar Institute (IPEV) and the Italian Antarctic Program (ENEA). Five participants, including two United States scientists, one U.S. Ice Drilling Program (IDP) driller, and two French scientists, will deploy to Concordia Station via Mario Zucchelli Station. In 2023-24, heavy cargo was delivered to French station Dumont d'Urville by French cargo vessel and traversed to Concordia. This season, the U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP) Basler will deliver additional science cargo from McMurdo Station to Concordia Station. The team will be fully supported by IPEV at Dome C, where they will drill two shallow (300 m) ice cores. Most of the cores will be melted on site to extract air for analyses of carbon monoxide and methane isotopes. Some core will be packed in ice core boxes, which along with the gas samples will be sent to McMurdo Station via Basler for northbound shipment on the USAP cargo vessel. Participants will return to Mario Zucchelli Station and will redeploy from there, with heavy cargo going north on the French cargo vessel.

Deploying Team Members