|
|
2003-2004 USAP
Field Season
|
|
|
Glaciology
|
Dr. Julie Palais
Program Manager
|
|
I-186-M
|
NSF/OPP
01-25570
|
|
Station:
McMurdo Station
|
|
|
RPSC POC:
Jessie Crain
|
|
|
Research Site(s):
McMurdo Station, Megadunes
|
|
Dates in Antarctica:
Mid December to late January
|
|
|
|
Characteristics of snow megadunes and their potential effects on ice core interpretation
|
|
|
Aerial view of the megadunes near TAMSEIS Camp (between Vostok and McMurdo). It shows the vast scale of these features. The lighter stripes are accumulation areas, covered with rough sastrugi up to 1 m in height; the gray areas are interdune 'glaze' area
|
|
Deploying Team Members:
|
Robert J. Bauer
.
Lawrence Cathles
.
Zoe R. Courville
.
Mark Fahnestock
.
Theodore A. Scambos
|
|
Research Objectives:
The extensive snow 'megadune' areas of the East Antarctic Plateau appear to be the result of intense snow-atmosphere interaction, caused by katabatic wind flow (at about 20 knots for 11 months of the year) and ablation/vapor redeposition of firn. The features are extremely subtle, 2 to 4 meters in amplitude over a 2 to 4 kilometer wavelength. January and December provides good conditions for this work, including temperatures of -25 to -30 Centigrade and lighter winds than other times of the year. Earlier field reports indicate that the surface of the leeward faces of the dunes is very smooth.
This group plans to conduct ground penetrating radar surveys, global positioning surveys, firn cores, pit sampling, AWS (automatic weather station) installation, and snow permeability experiments. The overall objective is to determine the physical and chemical characteristics of the dunes, and investigate whether dunes may have an effect on the interpretation of climate in deep ice cores.
|
