Project Title

Collaborative Research: Heat source and flux distributions in the Western Ross Sea seafloor

Summary

Event Number:
G-082-N
NSF / OPP Award 2217127

Program Director:
Dr. Michael Jackson

ASC POC/Implementer:
Kenneth Vicknair / Jamee Johnson

Principal Investigator(s)

Dr. Masako Tominaga
mtominaga@whoi.edu
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Woods Hole, Massachusetts

Location

Supporting Stations: RV/IB Nathaniel B. Palmer
Research Locations: Western Ross Sea/Terror Rift

Description

Understanding the origins and nature of heat available at the base of the cryosphere is essential in deciphering the extent and residence time of the ice in Antarctica and its oceans. Constraints on parameters that control ice-sheet stability, response of the crust to ice loading and unloading, and the effects of volcanism and heat from Earth’s interior on overlying ice is of broad interest to the global climate change community. The goal of this study is to identify and to document the distribution of heat source and heat flux within the seafloor of the southwestern Ross Sea. Geothermal heat flux is one of the basic parameters that shape and control ice flow, ocean circulation, and ecosystems, connecting with subglacial hydrology and its influence on the ability of the ice sheet to slide and internally deform. Despite the importance, particularly in the Antarctic environments, there have been few investigations made in the Ross Sea on how lithospheric heat flux contributes to cryospheric dynamics over time.

Field Season Overview

This cruise will originate and terminate in Lyttelton, New Zealand. A total of 24 days of on-site science time will be dedicated to science collection for this group. Fifteen participants will sail on the RV/IB Nathaniel B. Palmer. They plan to work in Terra Nova Bay in the Ross Sea. Major areas of interest are: 1) shipboard geophysical remote sensing, including multibeam bathymetry, sub-bottom profiler, gravimeter and towed magnetometer; 2) heat flow and conductivity probing utilizing CICESE heat probe; 3) rock sampling via dredge and where loose volcaniclastic sediments are dominant; and 4) direct near-seafloor imaging and chemical sensing using the MISO TowCam.

Deploying Team Members