| NSF Org: |
OPP Office of Polar Programs (OPP) |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | July 21, 2010 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | July 17, 2014 |
| Award Number: | 0944266 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Paul Cutler
pcutler@nsf.gov (703)292-4961 OPP Office of Polar Programs (OPP) GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | August 1, 2010 |
| End Date: | July 31, 2017 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $999,966.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $1,100,224.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2011 = $251,545.00 FY 2012 = $289,069.00 FY 2013 = $137,552.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
51 COLLEGE RD DURHAM NH US 03824-2620 (603)862-2172 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
51 COLLEGE RD DURHAM NH US 03824-2620 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
ANT Earth Sciences, ANT Glaciology |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.078 |
ABSTRACT
This award supports renewal of funding of the WAIS Divide Science Coordination Office (SCO). The Science Coordination Office (SCO) was established to represent the research community and facilitates the project by working with support organizations responsible for logistics, drilling, and core curation. During the last five years, 26 projects have been individually funded to work on this effort and 1,511 m of the total 3,470 m of ice at the site has been collected. This proposal seeks funding to continue the SCO and related field operations needed to complete the WAIS Divide ice core project. Tasks for the SCO during the second five years include planning and oversight of logistics, drilling, and core curation; coordinating research activities in the field; assisting in curation of the core in the field; allocating samples to individual projects; coordinating the sampling effort; collecting, archiving, and distributing data and other information about the project; hosting an annual science meeting; and facilitating collaborative efforts among the research groups. The intellectual merit of the WAIS Divide project is to better predict how human-caused increases in greenhouse gases will alter climate requires an improved understanding of how previous natural changes in greenhouse gases influenced climate in the past. Information on previous climate changes is used to validate the physics and results of climate models that are used to predict future climate. Antarctic ice cores are the only source of samples of the paleo-atmosphere that can be used to determine previous concentrations of carbon dioxide. Ice cores also contain records of other components of the climate system such as the paleo air and ocean temperature, atmospheric loading of aerosols, and indicators of atmospheric transport. The WAIS Divide ice core project has been designed to obtain the best possible record of greenhouse gases during the last glacial cycle (last ~100,000 years). The site was selected because it has the best balance of high annual snowfall (23 cm of ice equivalent/year), low dust Antarctic ice that does not compromise the carbon dioxide record, and favorable glaciology. The main science objectives of the project are to investigate climate forcing by greenhouse gases, initiation of climate changes, stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, and cryobiology in the ice core. The project has numerous broader impacts. An established provider of educational material (Teachers? Domain) will develop and distribute web-based resources related to the project and climate change for use in K?12 classrooms. These resources will consist of video and interactive graphics that explain how and why ice cores are collected, and what they tell us about future climate change. Members of the national media will be included in the field team and the SCO will assist in presenting information to the general public. Video of the project will be collected and made available for general use. Finally, an opportunity will be created for cryosphere students and early career scientists to participate in field activities and core analysis. An ice core archive will be available for future projects and scientific discoveries from the project can be used by policy makers to make informed decisions.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The WAIS Divide ice core project developed a record of how the earth’s climate has changed over the last 68,000 years. This information helps us understand the physical and biological process that control climate and improves predictions of how human activity will alter climate. The project collected a 3,405 m deep ice core through the West Antarctica (WAIS) ice sheet. The ice samples contain a record of the environmental conditions when the snow that made the ice fell. The deeper the ice is in the ice sheet the further back in time it records the environmental conditions. The location for the WAIS Divide ice core was selected to provide a record of changes in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations for the last 68,000 years with the highest possible time resolution.
The project demonstrated that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide preceded the warming that ended the last glacial period and that atmospheric carbon dioxide increased with a sequence of abrupt increases and pauses possibly related to thresholds in the way the oceans store and release carbon. The project also demonstrated that during the last deglaciation climate changes in the Arctic preceded changes in the Antarctic. Both of these observations are highly relevant to the changes in atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases and decreasing Arctic sea ice that are occurring today. Additional information on the mechanisms of climate change was developed.
The project presented results in over 100 peer reviewed publications, and also had national print and television exposure.
Last Modified: 08/01/2017
Modified by: Mark S Twickler
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