IEDA
Project Information
Collaborative Research: West Antarctic Ice Sheet stability, Alpine Glaciation, and Climate Variability: a Terrestrial Perspective from Cosmogenic-nuclide Dating in McMurdo Sound
Start Date:
2013-09-15
End Date:
2016-08-31
Description/Abstract
Intellectual Merit:
The PIs propose to complement the ANDRILL marine record with a terrestrial project that will provide chronological control for past fluctuations of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) and alpine glaciers in McMurdo Sound. The project will develop high-resolution maps of drifts deposited from grounded marine-based ice and alpine glaciers on islands and peninsulas in McMurdo Sound. In addition, the PIs will acquire multi-clast/multi-nuclide cosmogenic analyses of these mapped drift sheets and alpine moraines and use regional climate modeling to shed light on the range of possible environmental conditions in the McMurdo region during periods of grounded ice expansion and recession. The PIs will make use of geological records for ice sheet and alpine glacier fluctuations preserved on the flanks of Mount Discovery, Black Island, and Brown Peninsula. Drifts deposited from grounded, marine-based ice will yield spatial constraints for former advances and retreats of the WAIS. Moraines from alpine glaciers, hypothesized to be of interglacial origin, could yield a first-order record of hydrologic change in the region. Synthesizing the field data, the team proposes to improve the resolution of existing regional-scale climate models for the Ross Embayment. The overall approach and anticipated results will provide the first steps towards linking the marine and terrestrial records in this critical sector of Antarctica.

Broader impacts:
Results from the proposed work will be integrated with outreach programs at Boston University, Columbia University, and Worcester State University. The team will actively collaborate with the American Museum of Natural History to feature this project prominently in museum outreach. The team will also include a PolarTREC teacher as a member of the research team. The geomorphological results will be presented in 3D at Boston University?s Antarctic Digital Image Analyses Lab. The research will form the basis of a PhD dissertation at Boston University.
Personnel
Person Role
Kowalewski, Douglas Investigator
Funding
Antarctic Earth Sciences Award # 1245899
AMD - DIF Record(s)
Data Management Plan
None in the Database
Product Level:
Not provided
Datasets
Repository Title (link) Format(s) Status
USAP-DC Region Climate Model Output Plio-Pleistocene None exist
Publications
  1. Golledge, N.R., Thomas, Z.A., Levy, R.H., Gasson, E.G.W., Naish, T.R., McKay, R.M., Kowalewski, D.E., Fogwill, C.J., 2017. Antarctic climate and ice sheet configuration during a peak-warmth Early Pliocene interglacial. Climate of the Past, 13, 959-975. doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-959-2017. (doi:10.5194/cp-13-959-2017)
  2. Golledge, N. R., Thomas, Z. A., Levy, R. H., Gasson, E. G. W., Naish, T. R., McKay, R. M., … Fogwill, C. J. (2016). Antarctic climate and ice sheet configuration during a peak-warmth Early Pliocene interglacial. (doi:10.5194/cp-2016-123)
Platforms and Instruments

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