SPICE Core: Investigating Past Climate at the South Pole

LIVE INTERACTIVE LEARNING @ YOUR DESKTOP SPICE Core: Investigating Past Climate at the South Pole Presented by: T.J. Fudge and Linda Morris December 10, 2014 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT / 4:30 p.m. MT / 3:30 p.m. PT 1

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Introducing today s presenters T.J. Fudge Postdoctoral Researcher Earth and Space Science University of Washington Linda Morris Education & Outreach Program Manager US Ice Drilling Program Office Dartmouth College 4

US Ice Drilling Program Strategic Planning for Science and Drilling Technologies 5

Where are you now? Rating Description of Rating 2 I am comfortable describing scientific and engineering practices in polar projects, and how they work together to achieve mutual goals 1 I am generally familiar with the practices scientists use to conduct ice core research but am unfamiliar with how engineers work with them to design the tools they need 0 I have never heard about ice core science or the technologies used before! 6

Drilling at the South Pole 7

SPICE Core Science Goals Climate data covering the transition from the last glacial maximum (LGM) to the modern climate 8

Poll Question: When was the last glacial maximum? A) 1550-1850 CE when mountain glaciers were larger in Europe, and before industrialization B) About 20,000 years ago when sea level was ~100 m lower due to big ice sheets C) About 1 billion years ago when ice covered the earth all the way to the equator 9

Question: When was the last glacial maximum? A) 1550-1850 CE is the Little Ice Age B) About 20,000 years ago when sea level was ~100 m lower due to big ice sheets The Last Glacial Maximum C) About 1 billion years ago was Snowball Earth 10

Last Glacial Maximum www.atmos.washington.edu 11

Global Temperature Change from LGM to Present 12

Last Glacial Maximum Much of North America and Scandinavia were covered in ice The Poles were 10 C or more colder The tropics were a few C colder Sea level was more than 100 m lower The LGM is a large, natural, climate change allowing us to understand how our climate works 13

Why Recover Ice Cores 14

Ice sheets archive atmospheric gases and other proxies Falling Snow Surface Firn (old snow) Isotopes Pollutants Sea salts Dust Firn-to-ice transition 60 to 110 m Atmospheric gases (such as CO2) Ice with bubbles of atmospheric gas Volcanic Tephra 15

Why do we need more than one ice core? 16

Why do we need more than one ice core? There are many different climates in Antarctica. Different cores will tell different stories. 17

Snow Accumulation in Antarctica Low mm of snowfall High 18

Where would you drill to get the oldest ice possible? Low mm of snowfall High 19

Where would you drill to get the oldest ice possible? Dome Fuji Vostok Dome C Low mm of snowfall High 20

Temperature + CO2 from Ice Cores Modern Value 21

Ice Thickness Antarctic Ice Thickness 4 km 0 km Ice flow thins layers and compresses ice at the bottom. Thick ice is important for high resolution. 22

Ice Thickness Where would you drill to get a detailed record of the LGM to present? 4 km Accumulation 0 km 23

Where would you drill to get a detailed record of the LGM to present? Ice Thickness 4 km WAIS Divide 0 km 24

CO 2 (ppm) Records from WAIS Divide ice core Abrupt increases CO 2 Temperature -30-32 -34-36 Temperature ( C) Marcott et al., 2014 Nature WAIS Divide Project members, 2013, Nature -38 25

Let s pause for a couple of questions now 26

So Why South Pole? Unique combination of cold temperature and relatively high accumulation rate. 27

Why South Pole? South Pole South Pole WAIS Divide Dome C WAIS Divide Dome C -50 C (-58 F) mean annual temperature 20 C colder than WAIS Divide 28

Why South Pole? South Pole 160 mm of snowfall which compresses to 80 mm of ice WAIS Divide mm of snowfall Dome C 3x more snow than Dome C 29

Benefits of South Pole Blunier et al., 2007 Unique combination of cold temps plus high accumulation rate 30

Motivations for SPICE Climate in the interior of East Antarctica: SPICE fills a spatial gap 31

Motivations for SPICE Satellite observations of moisture plume extending to South Pole Nicolas and Bromwich, 2011 Influence of West Antarctic climate on East Antarctica 32

Motivations for SPICE Preserves ultra-trace gases CO 2 (carbon dioxide): parts per million One pixel on your monitor screen CH 4 (methane): parts per billion One drop of water in an Olympic pool COS (carbonyl sulfide): parts per trillion One grain of sand in a 2x2x2m sandbox 33

Motivations for SPICE Carbonyl Sulfide - It s CO 2 with an S instead of a second O - The most abundant reduced Sulfur gas - Tracer of gross primary production (plant growth) - COS is lost in warm ice through time O C S O C O 34

Motivations for SPICE SPICE will yield a record of atmospheric concentration of COS which is not preserved, unaltered, in other ice cores Potential history of primary production for the past 40,000 years O C S O C O 35

Project Plan Drilling commences in 2014-2015 (~700 m, to 10,000 years) Completes in 2015-2016 (to 1500 m, to 40,000 years) The ice core will be 9.8 cm in diameter My team is there now. I deploy on December 26, Boxing Day 36

Permanent Station Lots of equipment already there 37

Poll Question: Wait, I m getting a report from the field: At 16 m depth, we drilled through a black substance that is clearly organic. What is it? A) A burnt meal thrown out of a military aircraft B) A Wooly Mammoth that ventured too far during the LGM C) Dog poop from Amundsen s discovery of the Pole 38

Question: Wait, I m getting a report from the field: At 16 m depth, we drilled through a black substance that is clearly organic. What is it? A) A burnt meal thrown out of a military aircraft B) A Wooly Mammoth that ventured too far during the LGM C) Dog poop from Amundsen s discovery of the Pole Reminder: Snowfall is 0.16 m at South Pole 39

Question: Wait, I m getting a report from the field: At 16 m depth, we drilled through a black substance that is clearly organic. What is it? A) A burnt meal thrown out of a military aircraft B) A Wooly Mammoth that ventured too far during the LGM C) Dog poop from Amundsen s discovery of the Pole A little math: 16 m deep divided by 0.16 of snow per year gives: 100 years 40

Question: Wait, I m getting a report from the field: At 16 m depth, we drilled through a black substance that is clearly organic. What is it? A) A burnt meal thrown out of a military aircraft B) A Wooly Mammoth that ventured too far during the LGM C) Dog poop from Amundsen s discovery of the Pole Amundsen discovered the pole in 1911, about 100 years ago 41

Criteria for Drilling Site Dark Sector (Astronomy ) Clean Air Sector (atmospheric measurements) Downwind Sector (pollution from station) Quiet Sector (listen for nuclear tests) Avoid conflicts with other research Dark sector is best choice 42

Criteria for Drilling Site Don t drill in areas that have been disturbed 43

Ice came from upstream Ceremonial 2005 2004 Ice flows 10 m per year 44

Undisturbed Climate History Internal Layers of ice sheet imaged by radar 45

Undisturbed Climate History Only drill to 1500 m, 40,000 years 46

New Technology Needs 47

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POLAR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING... A Model for NGSS Practices 54

Tonight s Learning Goal: Distinguishing The Practices Processes of building and using Core Ideas to make sense of the Achieve, Inc. natural and designed world. 55

NGSS Practices A. Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering) B. Developing and using models C. Planning and carrying out investigations D. Analyzing and interpreting data E. Using mathematics and computational thinking F. Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering) G. Engaging in argument from evidence H. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information 56

Example from Practice 1 Asking Questions and Defining Problems: Science begins with a question about a phenomena, and seeks to find theories that can provide explanatory answers Vs. Engineering begins with a problem, need or desire that suggests and engineering problem that needs to be solved 57

Key Messages Integration of engineering concepts and processes Parallel practices; different outcomes Emphasis on how scientists and engineers work together and communicate results 58

Drilling Back Through Time Download activity at: http://www.climate-expeditions.org/ educators/activities.html 1) Prepare your students Team based research from web resources or print Paul Anderson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljjokxdsyoq &list=plllvwazqks2rtzg_l7ho89ofsayl3kuwq 59

Drilling Back Through Time The goal is to have students generate the list of Practices, with distinctions between science and engineering described for each Practice shared. 60

Drilling Back Through Time 2) View the movie, downloadable at: www.youtube.com/user/usicedrillingvideos 61

Drilling Back Through Time 3) Have students check off each step as described or modeled by a scientist or engineer 4) Conduct an all class discussion; Evaluation questions in lesson plan 62

Where are you now? Rating Description of Rating 2 I am comfortable describing scientific and engineering practices in polar projects, and how they work together to achieve mutual goals 1 I am generally familiar with the practices scientists use to conduct ice core research but am unfamiliar with how engineers work with them to design the tools they need 0 I have never heard about ice core science or the technologies used before! 63

U.S. Ice Drilling Program Resources http://www.icedrill.org/index.shtml http://climate-expeditions.org/ 64

IDPO Educator Resources Lesson Plans, Videoconferences Presentation for your use Data sources + media Web seminars and Background information 65

Student Resources + 66

Cool Stuff: Videos and Pix www.youtube.com/watch?v=gesjsaxsl0q 67

Special Thanks to Dr. TJ Fudge National Science Foundation Upcoming at NSTA National Conference: AGU Keynote: Friday, March 13 th, 2-3 PM Dr. James White Abrupt climate change: Past, Present +Future Hands-on Workshop: March 14 th, 9:30-11:15 @ Convention Ctr (NOAA Climate Chg Series) Antarctic Team Showcases Ice Cores Kristina Slawny, T.J. Fudge Contact: Linda.m.morris@dartmouth.edu 68

Thanks to today s presenters! T.J. Fudge Postdoctoral Researcher Earth and Space Science University of Washington Linda Morris Education & Outreach Program Manager U.S. Ice Drilling Program Office Dartmouth College 69

Thank you to the sponsors of today s web seminar: 70 This web seminar contains information about programs, products, and services offered by third parties, as well as links to third-party websites. The presence of a listing or such information does not constitute an endorsement by NSTA of a particular company or organization, or its programs, products, or services.

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