USAP-DC

This award supports the study of the drift and break-up of Earth's largest icebergs, which were recently released into the Ross Sea of Antarctica as a result of calving from the Ross Ice Shelf. The scientific goals of the study are to determine the physics of iceberg motion within the dynamic context of ocean currents, winds, and sea ice, which determine the forces that drive iceberg motion, and the relationship between the iceberg and geographically and topographically determined pinning points on which the iceberg can ground. In addition, the processes by which icebergs influence the local environments (e.g., sea ice conditions near Antarctica, access to penguin rookeries, air-sea heat exchange and upwelling at iceberg margins, nutrient fluxes) will be studied. The processes by which icebergs generate globally far-reaching ocean acoustic signals that are detected within the global seismic (earthquake) sensing networks will also be studied. A featured element of the scientific research activity will be a field effort to deploy automatic weather stations, seismometer arrays and GPS-tracking stations on several of the largest icebergs presently adrift, or about to be adrift, in the Ross Sea. Data generated and relayed via satellite to home institutions in the Midwest will motivate theoretical analysis and computer simulation; and will be archived on an "iceberg" website (http://amrc.ssec.wisc.edu/amrc/iceberg.html) for access by scientists and the general public. At the most broad level, the study is justified by the fact that icebergs released by the Antarctic ice sheet represent the largest movements of fresh water within the natural environment (e.g., several of the icebergs to be studied, B15, C19 and others calved since 2000 CE, represent over 6000 cubic kilometers of fresh water-an amount roughly equivalent to 100 years of the flow of the Nile River). A better understanding of the impact of iceberg drift through the environment, and particularly the impact on ocean stratification and mixing, is essential to the understanding of the abrupt global climate changes witnessed by proxy during the ice age and of concern under conditions of future greenhouse warming. On a more specific level, the study will generate a knowledge base useful for the better management of Antarctic logistical resources (e.g., the shipping lanes to McMurdo Station) that can occasionally be influenced by adverse effects icebergs have on sea ice conditions.

Person	Role
Okal, Emile	Co-Investigator
Aster, Richard	Co-Investigator
Bassis, Jeremy	Co-Investigator
Kim, Young-Jin	Co-Investigator
Bliss, Andrew	Co-Investigator
Sergienko, Olga	Co-Investigator
Thom, Jonathan	Co-Investigator
Scambos, Ted	Co-Investigator
Muto, Atsu	Co-Investigator
Brunt, Kelly	Co-Investigator
King, Matthew	Co-Investigator
Parker, Tim	Co-Investigator
Okal, Marianne	Co-Investigator
Cathles, Mac	Co-Investigator
MacAyeal, Douglas	Investigator

Antarctic Glaciology

Award # 0229546

NSIDC-0352_1
NSIDC-0349_1
macayeal_drift_and_weather_0229546
NSIDC-0353_1
MacAyealseismo_tremor_0229546
NSIDC-0350_1
macayeal_rifttime-lapse_photography_0229546
NSIDC-0351_1
MacAyealsea_swell_0229546
NSIDC-0347_1
macayeal_cont_GPS_Ross_Ice_Shelf_0229546
NSIDC-0354_1
MacAyealC16_tiltmeter_data_0229546

None in the Database

Repository	Title (link)	Format(s)	Status
NSIDC	The files contain a short header (number of data samples, sample rate, start time, stop time, channel title)The time series data then follow the header above.	JPEG	exist
Project website	collection of nascent rift images and description of station deployment	JPEG	bad_url
AMRDC	This site mirrors the NSIDC website archive.	JPEG	exist
IRIS	Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology	JPEG	exist
Project website	Nascent Iceberg Webcam Images available during the deployment period	JPEG	exist
Project website	Iceberg Satellite imagery from stations and ice shelves (full data link not provided)	JPEG	exist
USAP-DC	Continuous GPS (static) Data from the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica	JPEG	exist
USAP-DC	Iceberg Harmonic Tremor, Seismometer Data, Antarctica	JPEG	exist
USAP-DC	Giant Icebergs of the Ross Sea, in situ Drift and Weather Measurements, Antarctica	JPEG	exist
USAP-DC	Ice Shelf Rift Time-Lapse Photography, Antarctica	JPEG	exist
USAP-DC	Iceberg Firn Temperatures, Antarctica	JPEG	exist
USAP-DC	Iceberg Tiltmeter Measurements, Antarctica	JPEG	exist
USAP-DC	Ross Ice Shelf Firn Temperature, Antarctica	JPEG	exist

1. MacAyeal, D. R., Wang, Y., & Okal, E. A. (2015). Ambient seismic, hydroacoustic, and flexural gravity wave noise on a tabular iceberg. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 120(2), 200–211. (doi:10.1002/2014jf003250)