Inception, growth and decay of the British-Irish Ice Sheet

南极西部冰原（WAIS）是当今唯一的现代海洋冰盖，其崩塌的可能性仍然是未来海平面上升预测的最大不确定性来源。这种不确定性来自对冰盖过程及其响应气候和海洋强迫的内部变率的不完全理解。提高对古冰盖的这种认识对现代冰盖未来变化的建模和预测具有重要意义。在第四纪期间延伸到英国和爱尔兰的英爱冰原（BIIS）是海洋终端化的，由大型冰流排出，由于其与北大西洋接壤的地理位置，对海洋学和气候变化特别敏感。这使它成为进一步深入了解现代海洋终结点冰原动力学的极好模拟。然而，令人惊讶的是，我们对BIIS的起源和末次冰期之前的更古老的冰期知之甚少。该项目旨在通过确定英国和爱尔兰大陆边缘的特定钻探地点来填补这一科学空白，以便提交一份特定任务的IODP提案，该提案旨在重建BIIS的初始阶段，以及新生代BIIS的生长和衰减周期。根据之前的研究，IODP最终提案的目标区域和研究主题已经确定，但每个区域的具体钻探地点的选择需要仔细考虑，并评估每个地点的适用性和安全性。在英国的PI和co- i的指导下，PDRA将专门为此目的分析在这一边缘已经可用的大量地球物理和地质数据集。该提案包括在项目的第10个月举办一个研讨会，汇集来自英国、爱尔兰、比利时、挪威和澳大利亚的指定合作者团队，他们具有在该大陆边缘的BIIS和冰川过程的研究经验，以及IODP过程和数据的经验，以制定最终的IODP提案，并最终提供BIIS从一开始的第一次完整重建。

The potential for collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS), the only modern marine-based ice sheet today, remains the largest source of uncertainty in projections of future sea-level rise. This uncertainty comes from an imperfect understanding of ice sheet processes and their internal variability in response to climate and ocean forcing. Improving such understanding for palaeo-ice sheets has important implications for modelling and forecasting of future changes in modern ice sheets. The British-Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS), that extended over the UK and Ireland during the Quaternary, was marine-terminating, drained by large ice streams, and was particularly sensitive to oceanographic and climatic changes due to its geographical position bordering the North Atlantic. This makes it an excellent analogue to gain further insight into the dynamics of modern marine-terminating ice sheets. However, surprisingly little is known about BIIS inception and older glaciations prior to the last glacial period. This project aims to fill this scientific gap by identifying specific drilling sites along the UK and Irish continental margin for the submission of a mission-specific IODP proposal on the reconstruction of the inception, and cycles of growth and decay of the BIIS during the Cenozoic. The target areas and research themes for the final IODP proposal have already been identified based on previous research, but the selection of specific drill sites for each area requires careful consideration and an assessment of the suitability and safety of each site. The extensive suite of geophysical and geological datasets already available on this margin will be analysed by the PDRA, under the guidance of the UK-based PI and co-Is, specifically for this purpose. The proposal includes a workshop in month 10 of the project to bring together a team of named collaborators from the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Norway and Australia, with research experience on the BIIS and glacial processes on this continental margin as well as experience with IODP processes and data, to develop the final IODP proposal and eventually deliver the first full reconstruction of the BIIS from its inception.