Collaborative Proposal: 2000+ Year Detailed, Calibrated Climate Reconstruction from a South Pole Ice Core Set in an Antarctic - Global Scale Context

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Mayewski/0636506This award supports a project to examine an existing ice core of opportunity from South Pole (SPRESO core) to develop a 2000+ year long climate record. SPRESO ice core will be an annually dated, sub-annually-resolved reconstruction of past climate (atmospheric circulation, temperature, precipitation rate, and atmospheric chemistry) utilizing continuous, co-registered measurements (n=45) of: major ions, trace elements, and stable isotope series, plus selected sections for microparticle size and composition. The intellectual merit of this project relates to the fact that few 2000+ year records of this quality exist in Antarctica despite increasing scientific interest in this critical time period as the framework within which to understand modern climate. The scientific impact of this ice core investigation are that it will provide an in-depth understanding of climate variability; a baseline for assessing modern climate variability in the context of human activity; and a contribution to the prediction of future climate variability. The broader impact of this work is that the proposed research addresses important questions concerning the role of Antarctica in past, present, and future global change. Results will be translated into publicly accessible information through public lectures, media appearances, and an extensive outreach activity housed in our Institute. Our ice core activities provide a major basis for curriculum in K-12 and University plus a basis for several field and laboratory based graduate theses and undergraduate student projects. The project will support one PhD student for 3 years and undergraduate salaries. The Climate Change Institute has a long history of gender and ethnically diverse student and staff involvement in research.