A Science Management Office for the U. S. Component of the International Trans Antarctic Expedition (US ITASE SMO)ûA Collaborative Pgrm of Research from S. Pole to N. Victoria Lan

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This award supports a science management office for a pilot ice-core drilling and analysis program to test the feasibility of obtaining well-dated, high-resolution isotope and chemistry records from East Antarctica. Shallow ice cores will be obtained from two locations: 1) ~100 km from South Pole towards the Pole of Inaccessibility, as an extension of the Byrd Station-to-South Pole ITASE traverse [International Trans Antarctic Scientific Expedition]; 2) at Taylor Dome, near the original deep coring site, and (3) possibly at AGO 3 and AGO 4 as part of a logistics traverse to these sites. All of the cores collected will be sampled at very high resolution (~1/2 cm) and analyzed for major ions. Results from this calibration work, along with those from another project that is analyzing stable isotopes will be used to help plan a program of larger scope, with the objective of mapping the spatial expression of climate variability in East Antarctica. Funds are also provided to organize a community workshop for coordination of the second phase of US ITASE and for one workshop per year for two years dedicated to writing and preparation of scientific papers from phase one of US ITASE. In addition, route selection activities for the follow-on traverse activities in East Antarctica will be conducted using satellite image mapping. A summary document will be produced and made available to the community to help with planning of related field programs (e.g. deep ice radar, firn radar profiling, atmospheric chemistry, ice coring, snow surface properties for satellite observations, ice surface elevation and mass balance).