Collaborative Research: Development of an In Situ Fossil Air Melt Extraction Device (INFAMED) for Recovering Large Volumes of Air and Particles from Polar Ice Sheets

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This award supports the development of a prototype in-situ fossil air melt extraction device (INFAMED) for recovering large volumes of air and particles from polar ice sheets. Although this device would have a number of applications, the primary initial scientific objective would be to measure radiocarbon in atmospheric methane trapped in the ice at depth. This measurement would provide a definitive test of the hypothesis that decomposition of sedimentary methane clathrates caused the abrupt atmospheric methane concentration increases at the end of the last glacial period. In addition to studies of gases extracted from the ice sheet, such an instrument would allow large volumes of ice to be sampled and filtered for the collection of both terrestrial and extraterrestrial particles. The first phase of technology development involves a pilot project to explore feasibility at low cost, and will recover preindustrial air from depth in the Greenland ice sheet. If the technology is successful, a second proposal will be submitted to construct a full-sized device, designed to reach 1000 m depth and sample 15,000 year old air at the South Pole.