Dry Valleys Interannual Climate Variability

The overall goal of this project, led by Karl Kreutz and Paul Mayewski of the University of Maine, is to collect and analyze high-resolution ice core records from the cold glaciers on the ridges between the Dry Valleys of Antarctica, and therefrom to provide interpretations of interannual to decadal-scale climate variability during the last 2000 years (late Holocene). In particular, Kreutz and his colleagues seek to test hypotheses related to ocean/atmosphere teleconnections (e.g., El Nino Southern Oscillation, Antarctic Oscillation) that may be responsible for major late Holocene climate events, such as the Little Ice Age, in the Southern Hemisphere. Conceptual and quantitative models of these processes in the Dry Valleys during the late Holocene are critical for understanding recent climate changes. The two-season objective is to collect intermediate-length ice cores (100-200m) at four sites along transects in Taylor Valley and Wright Valley, and analyze each core at high resolution for stable isotopes, major ions, and trace elements.

In the 2004-05 season Kreutz plans to drill in the accumulation zones of Clark Glacier (flows into Wright Valley from the north) and Commonwealth Glacier (flows into Taylor Valley from the north. ICDS will supply an Eclipse drill and a drilling crew; we hope to core to 200 meter depth at each site, which, given the low accumulation rates in the area, should cover the Late Holocene. Two more sites, yet to be chosen, will be cored in 2005-06.

Project website: http://climatechange.umaine.edu/