United States Component of the International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE)
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United States Component of the International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE) | ||||
| Project Indexes | USAP Program overviews | Station schedules & overviews | Technical Events | Environmental Monitoring | ||
| Project Manager: |
Dr. Paul Mayewski |
http://www.ume.maine.edu/USITASE | ||
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Formulated in 1990, the International Trans Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE) aims to describe and understand environmental change in Antarctica over the last 200 years. ITASE objectives have been adopted as a key science initiative by the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP) and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). The 200-year period was chosen because it covers the onset of major anthropogenic involvement in the atmosphere and the end of the Little Ice Age. |
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| US involvement in ITASE is consistent with the objectives established in NSF's Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the United States Antarctic Program (SEIPS, 1990), ITASE will provide an environmental framework from which to assess change. Further, the aims of ITASE closely parallel the objectives of NSF's Global Change Research Program, which emphasizes the need for the collection of paleoclimate records, understanding ocean-atmosphere-land-ice interactions, and scaling of dynamic behavior and biogeochemical cycling. | ||||
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Spanning field seasons from 1997 to 2007, US ITASE focuses on West Antarctica -- a site of major US glaciological activity for more than a decade. As a component of WAIS (West Antarctic Ice Sheet Initiative), the US ITASE effort entails a four-phase approach:
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In each of four research corridors, ground-based sampling techniques are used to collect 200-year-long ice cores at 100 kilometer intervals. Complementary studies in meteorology, remote sensing, and surface geophysics are integrated with the coring program. These multi- disciplinary studies are taking over several years and provide another level of coordination and collaboration among disparate projects that are already planned or underway in West Antarctica. US ITASE is intended to act as a scientific glue for these projects. |
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US ITASE provides an important spatial perspective for the shared research goals of a variety of research programs funded by the NSF, NASA and NOAA. By the integration of US ITASE with the ITASE activities of other countries, major contributions will be made to our understanding of Antarctica's role in global change. |
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Institution
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Event Number
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Component
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| Paul A. Mayewski | University of Maine | IU-153-A | Project Manager |
| Joseph R. McConnell | Desert Research Institute | IU-323-O | Deposition of the HFC degradation product trifluoroacetate in Antarctic snow and ice |
| Robert Jacobel | St. Olaf College | IU-133-O | Radar studies of internal stratigraphy and bedrock topography along the U.S. ITASE traverse |
| Paul A. Mayewski | University of Maine | IU-153-B | ITASE Glaciochemistry |
| Mary Albert | Cold Regions Research & Engineering Lab | IU-155-O | Snow and firn microstructure and transport properties: U.S. ITASE |
| Roger Bales | University of Arizona | IU-158-O | Hydrogen peroxide, formaldehyde, and sub-annual snow accumulation in West Antarctica: Participation in West Antarctic Traverse |
| Gordon Hamilton | University of Maine | IU-178-O | Mass balance and accumulation rate along US ITASE Routes |
| Eric Steig | University of Washington | IU-193-O | Stable isotope studies at West Antarctic ITASE sites |
| Steven Arcone | Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory | IU-311-O | High resolution radar profiling of the snow and ice stratigraphy beneath the ITASE traverses |
| Debra Meese | Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory | IU-185-O | The physical properties of the U.S. ITASE ice cores |
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