Award Abstract # 0739372
Collaborative Research: Ice-flow history of the Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica

NSF Org: OPP
Office of Polar Programs (OPP)
Recipient: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
Initial Amendment Date: April 16, 2008
Latest Amendment Date: June 4, 2009
Award Number: 0739372
Award Instrument: Continuing Grant
Program Manager: Julie Palais
OPP
 Office of Polar Programs (OPP)
GEO
 Directorate for Geosciences
Start Date: June 1, 2008
End Date: May 31, 2013 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $225,087.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $225,087.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2008 = $53,561.00
FY 2009 = $171,526.00
History of Investigator:
  • Howard Conway (Principal Investigator)
    hcon@uw.edu
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: University of Washington
4333 BROOKLYN AVE NE
SEATTLE
WA  US  98195-1016
(206)543-4043
Sponsor Congressional District: 07
Primary Place of Performance: University of Washington
4333 BROOKLYN AVE NE
SEATTLE
WA  US  98195-1016
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
07
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): HD1WMN6945W6
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): ANT Glaciology
Primary Program Source: 0100XXXXDB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 0000, 5297, OTHR
Program Element Code(s): 511600
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.078

ABSTRACT

Catania 0739654

This award supports a project to study the Amundsen Sea drainage system and improve understanding of the impact of recent glaciological changes as an aid to predicting how this region will change in the future. The intellectual merit of the work is that the Amundsen Sea drainage system has been a recent focus for glaciological research because of rapid changes occurring there as a result of grounding line retreat. The work will focus on the regions of flow transition and will map the internal stratigraphy of the ice sheet across the Thwaites Glacier shear margins and use the age and geometry of radar-detected internal layers to interpret ice flow history. Thwaites Glacier (one of the main pathways for ice drainage in the region) has recently widened and may continue to do so in the near future. Thwaites Glacier may be particularly vulnerable to grounding line retreat because it lacks a well-defined subglacial channel. The subglacial environment exerts strong control on ice flow and flow history will be mapped in the context of bed topography and bed reflectivity. The plan is to use existing ice-penetrating radar data and coordinate with planned upcoming surveys to reduce logistical costs. The work proposed here will take three years to complete but no additional fieldwork in Antarctica is required. More detailed ground-based geophysical (radar and seismic) experiments will be needed at key locations to achieve our overall goal and the work proposed here will aid in identifying those regions. The broader impacts of the project are that it will initiate a new collaboration among radar communities within the US including those that are on the forefront of radar systems engineering and those that are actively involved in radar-derived internal layer and bed analysis. The project will also provide support for a postdoctoral researcher and a graduate student, thus giving them exposure to a variety of methodologies and scientific issues. Finally, there are plans to further develop the "Wired Antarctica" website designed by Ginny Catania with the help of a student-teacher. This will allow for the existing lesson plans to be updated to Texas State standards so that they can be used more broadly within state middle and high schools.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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Conway, H. and L.A. Rasmussen "Recent thinning and migration of the Western Divide, central West Antarctica" Geophysical Research Letters , v.36 , 2009 , p.L12502 10.1029/2009GL038072
Conway, H. and L.A. Rasmussen "Recent thinning and migration of the Western Divide, central West Antarctica" Geophysical Research Letters , v.36 , 2009 , p.L12502 10.1029/2009GL038072
Laird, C.M., W.A. Blake, K. Matsuoka, H. Conway, C.T. Allen, C.J. Leuschen, S. Goginini "Deep ice stratigraphy and basal conditions in central West Antarctica revealed by cherent radar." IEE Geosciences and Remote Sensing Letters , v.7 , 2009
MacGregor, J.A., G.A. Catania, H. Conway, D.M. Schroeder, I. Joughin, D.A. Young, S.D. Kempf and D.D. Blankenship "Weak bed control of the eastern shear margin of Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica" J. Glaciol. , v.59 , 2013 , p.900 10.3189/2013JoG13J050
MacGregor, J.A., G.A. Catania, M.S. Markowski and A.G. Andrews "Widespread rifting and retreat of ice-shelf margins in the eastern Amundsen Sea Embayment between 1972 and 2011" J. Glaciol. , v.58 , 2012 , p.458 10.3189/2012JoG11J262
MacGregor, J.A., G.A. Catania, M.S. Markowski and A.G. Andrews "Widespread rifting and retreat of ice-shelf margins in the eastern Amundsen Sea Embayment between 1972 and 2011" Journal of Glaciolology , v.58 , 2012 , p.458 10.3189/2012JoG11J262

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