Major Ion Chemical Analysis of Brittle Ice in the WAIS Divide Ice Core

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Cole-Dai/0839066This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This award supports a project to make continuous major ion analyses in the West Antarctica Ice Sheet Divide (WAIS Divide) ice core by sampling the brittle ice zone (approximately from 500 m to 1500 m). The intellectual merit of the project is that these will likely be the only chemical measurements on the brittle ice zone and, therefore, will bridge the gap in the expected continuous records of climate, ice sheet dynamics and biological evolution based on chemical measurements. High resolution sampling and analysis, probably on selected portions and depth intervals in the brittle ice zone, will help with the independent, high-precision dating of the WAIS Divide core and contribute to the achievement of the major objectives of the WAIS Divide project?development of high resolution climate records with which to investigate issues of climate forcing by greenhouse gases and the role of Antarctica and Southern Hemisphere in the global climate system. Planned collaboration with other WAIS Divide investigators will develop the longest and most detailed volcanic record from Antarctica ice cores. The broader impacts of this project include a contribution to enhancing our knowledge of the climate system. Such improvements in understanding of the global climate system and the ability to predict the magnitude and uncertainty of future changes are highly relevant to the global community. The project will support post-doctoral scientists and graduate students, including those from under-represented groups, will contribute to education, an help to train future scientists and promote diversity in research and education. Public outreach activities of this project will contribute to informal science education of school age children in the Eastern South Dakota region.