Directory

I 169 M: Collaborative Research: A "horizontal ice core" for large volume samples of the past atmosphere

Start date:
Early December
End date:
Late January
Locations:
Taylor Glacier
Principle Investigator:
Dr Jeffrey Severinghaus
Organisation:
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
State
California
Field season overview:
This project's third and final field season will be about six weeks long, similar to previous deployment timeframes. Researchers will put in to their field camp at Taylor Glacier via Helicopter support, which will also be used for several sampling trips throughout the field season. However, the primary mode of transportation while on the glacier will be overland via snowmobile.
This research project aims to develop a precise chronology of the exposed ice in the 20-kilometer Taylor Glacier ablation zone. Prior research has shown that this ablation zone contains a unique, stratigraphically-ordered sequence of ice at the surface, dating from approximately 80,000 to 70,000 years ago. Project team members will obtain a horizontal ice core that will provide easily-accessed, large-volume samples of the past atmosphere and microparticles that are not currently available from other ice cores.