Center for Oldest Ice Exploration
Description/Abstract
Cores drilled through the Antarctic ice sheet provide a remarkable window on the evolution of Earth’s climate and unique samples of the ancient atmosphere. The clear link between greenhouse gases and climate revealed by ice cores underpins much of the scientific understanding of climate change. Unfortunately, the existing data do not extend far enough back in time to reveal key features of climates warmer than today. COLDEX, the Center for Oldest Ice Exploration, will solve this problem by exploring Antarctica for sites to collect the oldest possible record of past climate recorded in the ice sheet. COLDEX will provide critical information for understanding how Earth’s near-future climate may evolve and why climate varies over geologic time. New technologies will be developed for exploration and analysis that will have a long legacy for future research. An archive of old ice will stimulate new research for the next generations of polar scientists. COLDEX programs will galvanize that next generation of polar researchers, bring new results to other scientific disciplines and the public, and help to create a more inclusive and diverse scientific community. Knowledge of Earth’s climate history is grounded in the geologic record. This knowledge is gained by measuring chemical, biological and physical properties of geologic materials that reflect elements of climate. Ice cores retrieved from polar ice sheets play a central role in this science and provide the best evidence for a strong link between atmospheric carbon dioxide and climate on geologic timescales. The goal of COLDEX is to extend the ice-core record of past climate to at least 1.5 million years by drilling and analyzing a continuous ice core in East Antarctica, and to much older times using discontinuous ice sections at the base and margin of the ice sheet. COLDEX will develop and deploy novel radar and melt-probe tools to rapidly explore the ice, use ice-sheet models to constrain where old ice is preserved, conduct ice coring, develop new analytical systems, and produce novel paleoclimate records from locations across East Antarctica. The search for Earth’s oldest ice also provides a compelling narrative for disseminating information about past and future climate change and polar science to students, teachers, the media, policy makers and the public. COLDEX will engage and incorporate these groups through targeted professional development workshops, undergraduate research experiences, a comprehensive communication program, annual scientific meetings, scholarships, and broad collaboration nationally and internationally. COLDEX will provide a focal point for efforts to increase diversity in polar science by providing field, laboratory, mentoring and networking experiences for students and early career scientists from groups underrepresented in STEM, and by continuous engagement of the entire COLDEX community in developing a more inclusive scientific culture. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
Funding
Antarctic Glaciology
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Award # 2019719
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Polar Special Initiatives
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Award # 2019719
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Deployment
Deployment |
Type |
2022-23 Season
| general deployment |
Product Level:
0 (raw data)
Datasets
Repository |
Title (link) |
Format(s) |
Status |
USAP-DC |
Allan Hills CMC3 ice core d18Oatm, d15N, dO2/N2, dAr/N2, d40/36Ar, d40/38Ar 2021 & 2022 |
Excel |
exists |
USAP-DC |
Replicate O-17-excess by continuous flow laser spectroscopy for an ice core section at Summit, Greenland |
Excel |
exists |
USAP-DC |
I-165-M GPR Field Report 2019-2020 |
|
exists |
USAP-DC |
Allan Hills 2022-23 Shallow Ice Core Field Report |
PDF |
exists |
USAP-DC |
NSF COLDEX Raw MARFA Ice Penetrating Radar data |
Not Provided |
exists |
USAP-DC |
2022-23 Allan Hills Intermediate Ice Core Site Selection Field Report |
PDF |
exists |
USAP-DC |
2019-2020 Allan Hills Field Report |
Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) |
exists |
USAP-DC |
2023-2024 Allan Hills End-of-Season Science Report |
Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) |
exists |
USAP-DC |
Allan Hills I-188 Field Season Report 2022-2023 |
Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) |
exists |
OPR |
Airborne Radar Data: 2022-23 (CXA1) flight based HDF5/matlab format data |
|
exists |
OPR |
Airborne Radar Data: 2023-24 (CXA2) flight based data HDF5/matlab format |
|
exists |
USAP-DC |
Allan Hills ice water stable isotope record for dD, d18O |
Excel |
exists |
USAP-DC |
ALHIC2201 and ALHIC2302 3D ECM and Layer Orientations |
ZIP Archive; Not Provided |
exists |
University Digital Conservancy |
Rising Seas: Representations of Antarctica, Climate Change, and Sea Level Rise in U.S. Newspaper Coverage |
Excel |
exist |
Texas Data Repository |
Airborne Radar Data: 2022-23 (CXA1) transect based (science organized) unfocused data |
|
exists |
USAP-DC |
Snapshot record of CO2 and CH4 from the Allan Hills, Antarctica, ranging from 400,000 to 3 million years old |
|
exists |
Texas Data Repository |
Airborne Radar Data: 2023-24 (CXA2) transect based (science organized) unfocused data |
|
exists |
Texas Data Repository |
NSF COLDEX 2022-23 Riegl Laser Altimeter Level 2 Geolocated Surface Elevation Triplets |
|
exists |
Texas Data Repository |
NSF COLDEX 2023-24 Riegl Laser Altimeter Level 2 Geolocated Surface Elevation Triplets |
|
exists |
USAP-DC |
Heavy noble gases (Ar/Xe/Kr) from ALHIC1901, 1902, and 1903 |
Open XML Spreadsheet |
exists |
USAP-DC |
MOT data (Xe/Kr) from Allan Hills ice cores ALHIC1901, 1902, and 1903 |
Open XML Spreadsheet |
exists |
USAP-DC |
CO2 and CH4 from Allan Hills ice cores ALHIC1901, 1902, and 1903 |
Open XML Spreadsheet |
exists |
Texas Data Repository |
NSF COLDEX 2022-23 Level 2 Basal Specularity Content Profiles |
|
exists |
Texas Data Repository |
NSF COLDEX 2023-24 Level 2 Basal Specularity Content Profiles |
|
exists |
USAP-DC |
Basal Ice Unit Thickness Mapped by the NSF COLDEX MARFA Ice Penetrating Radar |
ZIP Archive |
exists |
Texas Data Repository |
NSF COLDEX Ice Penetrating Radar Derived Grids of the Southern Flank of Dome C |
|
exists |
Texas Data Repository |
NSF COLDEX/Open Polar Radar Example Delay Doppler Classification of Englacial Reflectors |
|
exists |
Texas Data Repository |
COLDEX VHF MARFA Open Polar Radar radargrams |
|
exists |
USAP-DC |
Strontium and neodymium isotope compositions of ice core dust from ALHIC1903 drilled at the Allan Hills Blue Ice Area |
|
exists |
UMN University Digital Conservancy |
Social network analysis to understand participant engagement in transdisciplinary team science: a large U.S. science and technology center case study |
Not Provided |
exist |
USAP-DC |
Concentration and flux of ice core dust from ALHIC1903 drilled at the Allan Hills Blue Ice Area |
Not Provided |
exists |
USAP-DC |
Rare earth elemental concentrations of leached ice core dust from ALHIC1903 drilled at the Allan Hills Blue Ice Area |
Not Provided |
exists |
USAP-DC |
Oxygen and hydrogen isotope compositions and associated d-excess of ice from ALHIC1903 drilled at the Allan Hills Blue Ice Area |
Not Provided |
exists |
Publications
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Davidge, L., Steig, E. J., & Schauer, A. J. (2022). Improving continuous-flow analysis of triple oxygen isotopes in ice cores: insights from replicate measurements. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 15(24), 7337–7351.
(doi:10.5194/amt-15-7337-2022)
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Davidge, L., Steig, E. J., & Schauer, A. J. (2022). Improving continuous-flow analysis of triple oxygen isotopes in ice cores: insights from replicate measurements.
(doi:10.5194/egusphere-2022-60)
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Ng, J., Severinghaus, J., Bay, R., & Tosi, D. (2023). Evaluating marine dust records as templates for optical dating of Oldest Ice.
(doi:10.5194/egusphere-2023-1342)
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Ng, J., Severinghaus, J., Bay, R., & Tosi, D. (2024). Evaluating marine dust records as templates for optical dating of Oldest Ice. Climate of the Past, 20(7), 1437–1449.
(doi:10.5194/cp-20-1437-2024)
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Fudge, T. J., Sauvage, R., Vu, L., Hills, B. H., Severi, M., and Waddington, E. D.: Effective diffusivity of sulfuric acid in Antarctic ice cores, Clim. Past, 20, 297–312, 2024.
(doi:10.5194/cp-20-297-2024)
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Bruns, C. J., & Andersen, I. V. (2023). The worth of nature: Valuations of glaciers in Alaskan and Norwegian media discourse. Environmental Communication, 1-16.
(doi:10.1080/17524032.2023.2263655 )
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Karplus, M.S., T.J. Young, S. Anandakrishnan, J.N. Bassis, E.H. Case, A.J. Crawford, Gold, L. Henry, J. Kingslake, A.A. Lehrmann, P.A. Montano, E.C. Pettit, T.A. Scambos, E.M. Sheffield, E.C. Smith, M. Turrin, and J.S. Wellner. 2023. Strategies to build a positive and inclusive Antarctic field work environment. Annals of Glaciology, 1-7.
(doi:10.1017/aog.2023.32)
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Z. Liu; C. He; M. Yan; C. Buizert; B. Otto-Bliesner; F. Lu; C. Zeng: Reconstruction of past Antarctica temperature using present seasonal d18O-inversion layer temperature: Unified Slope Equations and Applications, Journal of Climate, 36(9), 2933-2957
(doi:10.1175/jcli-d-22-0012.1)
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Shuai Yan, Donald D. Blankenship, Jamin S. Greenbaum, Duncan A. Young, Lin Li, Anja Rutishauser, Jingxue Guo, Jason L. Roberts, Tas D. van Ommen, Martin J. Siegert, Bo Sun; A newly discovered subglacial lake in East Antarctica likely hosts a valuable sedimentary record of ice and climate change. Geology 2022.
(doi:10.1130/G50009.1)
Platforms and Instruments
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