ICECAP - Casey/Aurora Basin Component

Full description

Metadata record for data from AAS (ASAC) project 2936.

Public
The ICECAP Project will conduct a major airborne survey in East Antarctica. The survey will employ multi-frequency ice penetrating radar, laser altimeter, magnetometers and a gravity meter to study a large and relatively unexplored part of the continent. The survey extends from Casey, inland across the Aurora Subglacial Basin, which holds some of the deepest and possibly oldest ice on the continent. This will improve understanding of the ice sheet itself, its past, and potential future impact on sea-level, and of the underlying geology. It will also guide the search for suitable icecore sites for recovering the oldest possible record.

Project objectives:
The objectives of the ICECAP project arise from a major collaborative airborne geophysical survey in East Antarctica. ICECAP ("Investigating the Cryospheric Evolution of the Central Antarctic Plate") is supported by the Australian Antarctic Division, the U.S. National Science foundation, and the U.K.'s National Environmental Research Council, and is scheduled to survey both the Aurora and Wilkes Subglacial Basins over two seasons (2008/09, 2009/10), with the possibility of a third season concentrating only on the Wilkes Subglacial Basin (2010/2011).

Specific Australian involvement is in the Aurora Subglacial Basin (ASB), and includes the Totten Glacier and Law Dome. This work will take place out of Casey skiway. Australia's involvement seeks to facilitate this major exploration within the AAT by providing operational support. This is a major general objective of the project.

Following on this logistical involvement, the Australian Program is engaged in the science objectives which may be grouped in four themes:
1) The configuration and basal conditions of the Aurora Subglacial Basin
2 The potential of Totten Glacier to contribute to sea-level
3) The ice-sheet history - modelling and potential for very old ice core climate records
4) The Law Dome ice cap - dynamics, history and relationship to Law Dome ice cores The relevance of each of these is discussed in the next section.

Taken from the 2008-2009 Progress Report:
Progress against objectives:
Progress to report in this first season is primarily based on field activities, although data reduction has commenced. It is too early in the life of the project to report against detailed analysis or synthesis objectives. The ICECAP Project Casey season proceeded fully to plan, with acquisition of more than 30 thousand line km of survey over the Aurora Subglacial Basin. Data reduction already commenced in the field and is continuing in the post-field season. Initial flight position data are released at the ICECAP project website, and primary bedrock and surface elevation data will be available by October 2009.

Lineage

Progress Code: completed

Statement: The values provided in temporal and spatial coverage are approximate only. Taken from the 2008-2009 Progress Report: Field work: Fieldwork consisted of 14 radial flights based from the Casey skiway over a 3 week period. Initial flight position data are released at the ICECAP project website. Laboratory activity/analysis: Data handling undertaken so far during the fieldwork is primarily concerned with instrument verification, data quality and management. Post field analysis to produce initial ice thickness is underway. Initial GPS data reduction is complete. Initial flight position data are released at the ICECAP project website, and primary bedrock and surface elevation data will be available by October 2009.