USAP-DC

Reconstructing and predicting the response of the Antarctic Ice Sheet to climate change is a major challenge facing the Earth Science community. Computer models of ice sheet behavior are central to addressing this challenge. In this project we tested and improved ice-sheet models by comparing model predictions of past ice extent to the geologic record in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. This innovative project collected key geologic data from mountains called nunataks that extend above current and former ice levels that can be used as "dipsticks" to reconstruct changes in ice elevation that will be used to improve the models. The end result is both much better knowledge of past three-dimensional changes of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, and improved models that allow for more accurate simulations of potential future changes in the ice sheet. This research fills critical gaps in the geologic record of the pattern and timing of vertical changes in the East Antarctic Ice Sheet in western Dronning Maud Land, by focusing on areas that are critical for differentiating between possible models of past ice sheet configuration. Reconstruction of ice-sheet surface changes involved mapping and cosmogenic nuclide dating of glacially sculpted bedrock, ice-marginal moraines, and erratic boulders at different elevations on nunataks. Patterns of in situ 10Be, 26Al, 14C, and 21Ne concentrations and ratios enabled inferences about the timing and magnitude of changes in maximum ice-surface elevations and periods of burial by non-erosive (cold-based) ice. Results are being integrated with data from other areas to provide insight into changes across the entire Antarctic Ice Sheet, and into the role of large ice sheets in climate evolution and global sea level changes. The field-based results provide constraints against which predictive ice sheet models are being tested and improved, contributing to glaciology, climate and Quaternary science. Broader impacts of this study also advanced the development of the next generation of STEM students and polar scientists. While gaining experience in international collaboration, field and laboratory methods, data analysis, and modeling, two graduate students worked with teachers to develop, implement, and disseminate standards-based lesson plans for student activities linking this research to learning objectives for middle school science.

Person	Role
Lifton, Nathaniel	Investigator and contact
Harbor, Jonathan	Co-Investigator

Antarctic Glaciology

Award # 1542930

USAP-1542930_1

Deployment	Type
Jennifer Newall	general deployment
Jonathan Harbor	general deployment
Nathaniel Lifton	general deployment
Sarah Sams	general deployment

None in the Database

Repository	Title (link)	Format(s)	Status
Hammer Research Repository	APPLICATIONS OF IN SITU 14C TO GLACIAL LANDSCAPES IN SWEDEN AND ANTARCTICA	PDF	exists
ICE-D: Antarctica	Andersen, Jane L and Newall, Jennifer C and Fredin, Ola and Glasser, Neil F and Lifton, Nathaniel A and Stuart, Finlay M and Fabel, Derek and Caffee, Marc and Pedersen, Vivi K and Koester, Alexandria J and others A topographic hinge-zone divides coastal and inland ice dynamic regimes in East Antarctica Communications Earth \& Environment, 2023	XML	exists
ICE-D: Antarctica	Andersen, JL and Newall, JC and Blomdin, R and Sams, SE and Fabel, D and Koester, AJ and Lifton, NA and Fredin, O and Caffee, MW and Glasser, Neil F and others Ice surface changes during recent glacial cycles along the Jutulstraumen and Penck Trough ice streams in western Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica Quaternary Science Reviews, 2020	XML	exists
ICE-D: Antarctica	Suganuma, Yusuke and Kaneda, Heitaro and Mas e Braga, Martim and Ishiwa, Takeshige and Koyama, Takushi and Newall, Jennifer C and Okuno, Jun’ichi and Obase, Takashi and Saito, Fuyuki and Rogozhina, Irina and others Regional sea-level highstand triggered Holocene ice sheet thinning across coastal Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica Communications Earth \& Environment, 2022	XML	exists
Purdue University Research Repository	Cosmogenic nuclide data from Field Season 3 of Mapping, Measuring, and Modeling Geomorphology and Ice Change in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica	Microsoft Excel (OpenXML)	exists

1. Mas e Braga, M., Jones, R.S., Bernales, J., Andersen, J.L., Fredin, O., Morlighem, M., Koester, A.J., Lifton, N.A., Harbor, J.M., Suganuma, Y., Glasser, N.F., Rogozhina, I., Stroeven, A.P., 2023. Antarctic ice stream thickening under Pliocene warmth. Communications Earth & Environment 4, 321 (doi:10.1038/s43247-023-00983-3)
2. Andersen, J.L., Newall, J.C., Fredin, O., Glasser, N.F., Lifton, N.A., Stuart, F.M., Fabel, D., Caffee, M., Pedersen, V.K., Koester, A.K., Suganuma, Y., Harbor, J.M., Stroeven, A.P., 2023. A topographic hinge-zone divides coastal and inland ice dynamic regimes in East Antarctica. Communications Earth & Environment, 4(1), 9 (doi:10.1038/s43247-022-00673-6)
3. Braga, M.M.e, Jones, R.S., Newall, J.C.H., Rogozhina, I., Andersen, J.L., Lifton, N.A., and Stroeven, A.P., 2021, Nunataks as barriers to ice flow: implications for palaeo ice-sheet reconstructions: The Cryosphere, v. 15, p. 4929–4947 (doi:10.5194/tc-15-4929-2021)
4. Andersen, J.L., Newall, J.C., Blomdin, R., Sams, S.E., Fabel, D.G., Koester, A.J., Stuart, F.M., Lifton, N.A., Fredin, O., Caffee, M.W., Glasser, N.F., Rogozhina, I., Suganuma, Y., Harbor, J.M., Stroeven, A.P., 2020. Ice surface changes during recent glacial cycles along the Jutulstraumen and Penck Trough ice streams in western Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. Quaternary Science Reviews 249, 106636 (doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106636)
5. Newall, J.C.H., Dymova, T., Serra, E., Blomdin, R., Fredin, O., Glasser, N.F., Suganuma, Y., Harbor, J.M., Stroeven, A.P. 2020. The glacial geomorphology of western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Journal of Maps, 16 (2): 468-478 (doi:10.1080/17445647.2020.1761464)