ESR 9 – Retrieval of the oldest paleoclimatic signal in basal ice, insights from a large-scale multi-parametric study
Early stage researcher: Lisa Ardoin (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium)
Supervisors: François Fripiat (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium), T. Roeckmann (Univ. Utrecht, NL)
Academic secondment: Utrecht University (NL), Univ. of Bern (CH) ; Non-academic secondment: Interscience (BE)
Abstract
Deeper parts of ice sheets have the potential to hold an important share of the paleoclimatic information, but processes operating at the bed are interfering with the recorded temporal sequence and basal ice properties (i.e., deformation and mixing, ice melting and refreezing, impurity rejection and delocalization, microbial activity, in-situ greenhouse gas production …).
This Ph.D. project will shed light on the potential of recording the paleoclimatic signal in the basal ice. The project will consist in developping a new gas extraction system for discrete measurements of gas concentration (N2, O2, Ar, CO2, N2O, and CH4) and isotopes (CO2, N2O, CH4) in basal ice.
These new developments will be first tested on basal ice from the Alps and then on basal ice collected during deep drilling projects in Antarctica, including the upcoming Beyond-EPICA Oldest Ice Deep Drilling project.
Key words: basal ice, gas concentration and isotopes, paleoclimatology, impurities