Paleo Records of Biotic and Abiotic Particles in Polar Ice Cores

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The U.S. ice core research community has proposed a deep ice-coring program in West Antarctica (WAIS Divide) that will develop a unique series of interrelated climate, ice dynamics, and biologic records focused on understanding interactions among global earth systems. A significant component of the WAIS Divide program will be the development of a climate record with an annual layer chronology for the most recent 40,000 years. The record will also extend, at lower temporal resolution, to approximately 100,000 years before present. These records will enable comparison of paleo-environmental conditions between the northern and southern hemispheres, in conjunction with the study of greenhouse gas concentrations in the paleo-atmosphere, with greater resolution than previously possible. This project will develop a flow cytometer-based analytical system for the continuous detection and characterization of abiotic and biotic particles in ice cores. The system will be integrated with a unit designed for continuous flow analysis of trace elements. The research will investigate the hypothesis that Antarctic glacial ice contains a significant reservoir of organic carbon that reflects past climatic events. The proposed research will utilize archived ice cores to both develop methodology and produce new data that will directly address our hypotheses. The WAIS Divide ice-coring project will be the first to explicitly integrate biology, glaciochemistry and climate, and thus will be the bellwether for future interdisciplinary studies on ice cores. This proposal will train a young scientist and undergraduate students in the interdisciplinary aspects of ice core research, will introduce a Native American student to the sciences, and will broaden the field of scientists involved in ice core research to include biologists.