Rapid Paleoenvironmental Changes in the McMurdo Sound Region Recorded in Sediments: High-Resolution XRF-Scanning, ICP-MS analysis and physical-properties logging at ANDRILL Site MIS (IPY)
applicant
Professor Dr. Hilmar von Eynatten
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Geowissenschaftliches Zentrum
Abteilung Sedimentologie und Umweltgeologie
Dr. Gerhard Kuhn
Alfred-Wegener-Institut
Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
Fachbereich Geowissenschaften
project description
During the ANDRILL-MIS project, for the first time, a 1000 m thick Plio-Pleistocene sediment sequence will be drilled from underneath the Ross McMurdo Ice Shelf (Antarctica). The variations of the ice shelf are controlled by the natural dynamic of the Antarctic ice sheets, by sea level fluctuations and by direct response of the ice shelf to climate changes. Geological evidence of ice shelf variations in the past is proposed being documented in different sediment facies in a 900 m deep moat basin under the ice. On the MIS core we propose high-resolution measurements of elemental concentrations and sediment physical properties using an XRF-core scanner and a multi-sensor core logger, respectively. In combination with geochemical and sediment-component investigations on discrete samples we will provide a calibrated high-resolution multivariable data-set for complex interpretations of paleoenvironmental changes from full glacial to open marine conditions during super-warm interglacials. Signals generated during sedimentation should be discriminated from provenance signals. Our major goal is a better understanding of the long-term evolution and stability of the Ross Ice Shelf as important part of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet for assessing future impacts of Antarctic ice masses on sea level and global oceanic circulation in times of rapid global climate change.
DFG-Verfahren: Infrastruktur-Schwerpunktprogramme
Beteiligte Person: Dr. Frank Niessen
term from 2006 to 2010