Rapid Paleoenvironmental Changes in the McMurdo Sound Region Recorded in Sediments: High-Resolution XRF-Scanning, ICP-MS analysis and physical-properties logging at ANDRILL Site MIS (IPY)

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Hilmar von Eynatten; Dr. Gerhard Kuhn
• Subject Area: Oceanography
• Term: from 2006 to 2010
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 27767506

During the ANDRILL-MIS project, for the first time, a 1000 m thick Plio-Pleistocene sediment sequence will be drilled from underneath the Ross McMurdo Ice Shelf (Antarctica). The variations of the ice shelf are controlled by the natural dynamic of the Antarctic ice sheets, by sea level fluctuations and by direct response of the ice shelf to climate changes. Geological evidence of ice shelf variations in the past is proposed being documented in different sediment facies in a 900 m deep moat basin under the ice. On the MIS core we propose high-resolution measurements of elemental concentrations and sediment physical properties using an XRF-core scanner and a multi-sensor core logger, respectively. In combination with geochemical and sediment-component investigations on discrete samples we will provide a calibrated high-resolution multivariable data-set for complex interpretations of paleoenvironmental changes from full glacial to open marine conditions during super-warm interglacials. Signals generated during sedimentation should be discriminated from provenance signals. Our major goal is a better understanding of the long-term evolution and stability of the Ross Ice Shelf as important part of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet for assessing future impacts of Antarctic ice masses on sea level and global oceanic circulation in times of rapid global climate change.

• DFG Programme: Infrastructure Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1158: Infrastructure area - Antarctic Research with Comparative Investigations in Arctic Sea Ice Areas
• Participating Person: Dr. Frank Niessen