Project Title

Collaborative Research: Sensitivity of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to 2 Celsius (SWAIS 2C)

Summary

Event Number:
G-060-M
NSF / OPP Award 2035138

Program Director:
Dr. Kelly Brunt

ASC POC/Implementer:
Marissa Goerke / Jenny Cunningham

Principal Investigator(s)

Dr. Jeremy Winberry
paul.winberry@gmail.com
Central Washington University
Ellensburg, Washington

Location

Supporting Stations: McMurdo Station
Research Locations: Scott Base, West Antarctica, Crary Ice Rise

Description

The SWAIS2C project was developed through international collaboration to better forecast the size and timing of future ice-sheet change. SWAIS2C scientists will collect and study geological (rocks), glaciological (ice), and geophysical (Earth physical properties) data and provide new information to guide the development of numerical models to better understand and predict how the ice sheet on West Antarctica will contribute to future sea level rise. A snowmobile radar survey will occur in the vicinity of the SWAIS2C Crary Ice Rise (CIR) drill site.

Field Season Overview

Three participants will deploy to Antarctica via United States Antarctic Program (USAP) transportation with USAP extreme cold weather gear then embed with the Antarctica New Zealand (AntNZ) SWAIS2C drilling team at Scott Base. USAP and AntNZ team members and cargo will transport via Basler aircraft to the SWAIS2C drilling camp at CIR, where G-060 participants, along with an AntNZ collaborator, will perform seismic and radar surveys of CIR via snowmobile. Along the CIR, the team will deploy seismic nodes and streamers provided by EarthScope (T-299-M) to collect passive seismic data and record phase-sensitive radar (pRES) point measurements and use explosives for seismic source experiments. At the SWAIS2C borehole, the team will deploy global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and autonomous phase-sensitive radar (ApRES) instruments, plus a fiber-optic cable down the borehole that will overwinter and be recovered by AntNZ traverse staff the following season. Work will run from late November to mid-January.

Deploying Team Members