IEDA
Project Information
Center for Oldest Ice Exploration
Short Title:
COLDEX
Start Date:
2021-10-01
End Date:
2026-09-30
Program:
COLDEX
Project Website(s)
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.
Personnel
Person Role
Brook, Edward J. Co-Investigator
Epifanio, Jenna Technical Contact
Neff, Peter Investigator and contact
Young, Duncan A.
Funding
Antarctic Glaciology Award # 2019719
Polar Special Initiatives Award # 2019719
AMD - DIF Record(s)
USAP-2019719_1
Deployment
Deployment Type
2022-23 Season general deployment
Data Management Plan
Product Level:
0 (raw data)
Datasets
Repository Title (link) Format(s) Status
USAP-DC Replicate O-17-excess by continuous flow laser spectroscopy for an ice core section at Summit, Greenland Excel exists
USAP-DC 2022-23 Allan Hills Intermediate Ice Core Site Selection Field Report 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
Texas Data Repository Airborne Radar Data: 2022-23 (CXA1) transect based (science organized) unfocused data None exists
Texas Data Repository Airborne Radar Data: 2023-24 (CXA2) transect based (science organized) unfocused data None exists
USAP-DC COLDEX Raw MARFA Ice Penetrating Radar data Not Provided 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 2022-23 Shallow Ice Core Field Report PDF exists
USAP-DC Allan Hills I-188 Field Season Report 2022-2023 Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) exists
University Digital Conservancy Rising Seas: Representations of Antarctica, Climate Change, and Sea Level Rise in U.S. Newspaper Coverage Excel exists
USAP-DC ALHIC2201 and ALHIC2302 3D ECM and Layer Orientations ZIP Archive; Not Provided exists
USAP-DC Allan Hills ice water stable isotope record for dD, d18O Excel exists
USAP-DC Snapshot record of CO2 and CH4 from the Allan Hills, Antarctica, ranging from 400,000 to 3 million years old Microsoft Excel (OpenXML) exists
Texas Data Repository NSF COLDEX 2022-23 Riegl Laser Altimeter Level 2 Geolocated Surface Elevation Triplets None exists
Texas Data Repository NSF COLDEX 2023-24 Riegl Laser Altimeter Level 2 Geolocated Surface Elevation Triplets None exists
Publications
  1. 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)
  2. 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)
  3. 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)
  4. 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)
  5. 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)
  6. 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)
  7. 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 )
  8. 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)
  9. 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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