Research
Antarctica phase V (2000-2005)
AMICS - Antarctic ice-sheet dynamics and climatic change: modelling and ice composition studies
Context
Over the last decades, a number of deep ice-core drillings were
carried out in Antarctica, such as Vostok, Dome Fuji and more
recently Dome
Concordia. Analysis of these cores provides the scientific community
with a continuous record of ice composition, which makes it possible
to reconstruct climate and its variability over more than 500,000
years back in time (and possible to 800,000 years). These data
are necessary to understand the variability and stability of
climate (both from the past as for the future) and the associated
environmental change. A central role is played by the Antarctic
ice sheet and its relation with sea level.
Project description
Objectives
The main objective of AMICS (Antarctic Ice Sheet Dynamics and
Climatic Change: Modelling and Ice Composition Studies) network
proposal is to contribute to the international research effort
leading to an improved understanding of the dynamic behaviour
of the Antarctic ice sheet resulting from climatic change and
its composition. More specifically it aims at a better knowledge
of the internal dynamics of the Antarctic ice sheet and to a
better assessment of the interactions of the ice sheet with its
boundary conditions. The major components of this interdisciplinary
research objective are modelling and ice composition studies.
Methodology
The aim of this research network is to clarify the dynamic interactions
between the ice sheet and its boundary conditions, such as
the substratum, based on analysis of ice from the basal part
of the Antarctic ice sheet and ice sheet modelling. Results
from the analyses will put constraints on the basal boundary
conditions of the numerical model and will make validation
of the model possible with regard to the melting and refreezing
processes at the base. Further constraints come from radio-echo
sounding (RES) surveys and SAR interferometric applications.
For this purpose, the high-resolution numerical model of complex
ice flow will be adapted to three-dimensions and refined. With
the numerical model we will translate the results of the ice
composition analyses into physical processes, hence providing
the scientific community with a model tool of complex basal
interaction. As basal processes play an important role in the
onset of fast-flowing areas such as ice streams, the role of
ice streams, outlet glaciers and ice shelves in the stability
of the Antarctic ice sheet and their influence on the variability
of the ice sheet with changing climate will be investigated.
Link with international programmes
Both teams are involved in the EPICA project (European Project
on Ice Coring in Antarctica, ESF) and are the only Belgian
teams that carry out field work and co-operative research on
the interior ice sheet of Antarctica. There is a close collaboration
with the Vostok Project, the National Institute of Polar Research
(Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition), and the New Zealand
Antarctic Project, besides the collaboration with a large number
of foreign scientific research institutes and groups.
Expected results and/or products
We expect to obtain analytical results from basal ice of Antarctic
deep drillings, which will allow investigating the basal ice
and allow specifying the dynamical behaviour of the ice sheet
during past and future climatic changes, providing constraints
to modellers.
It is envisaged that the research on the basal mechanics as well
as the numerical improvement of the models will add significant
knowledge to the results already obtained in this field.
Results of this research will be circulated through publications
in high-ranking international scientific journals (peer reviewed).
They will be represented at international symposia and workshops,
with emphasis on those workshops dedicated to Antarctic glaciology.
A website is started to provide the community with the project
results: www.vub.ac.be/DGGF/amics.
Complementary resources about this scientific project
Partners
The two research teams of this network are the only ones in Belgium that carry out both field work and research regarding the Antarctic inland ice sheet. Both are involved in the ongoing EPICA project (European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica). The VUB team has a long-standing experience in modelling of ice sheets and glaciers and model development for studying ice dynamics. The ULB team is specialised in the study of ice composition, as a tool for understanding the formation and deformation of basal ice retrieved either from major deep ice-core drillings or from natural outcroppings in both Greenland and Antarctica.
Involved research groups
- Glaciology lab-ULB (Lorrain Réginald, Souchez, Roland, Tison Jean-Louis, Sleewaegen Suzanne, Debecker Fabienne, Samyn Denis, Verbeke Veronique, Lelouchier Claire, El Amri Saïda)
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Geografisch Instituut,
- University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, Department of Geography,
- Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement (CEA, Saclay, France),
- Niels Bohr Institute for Astronomy, Physics and Geophysics (University of Copenhagen, Denmark),
- Montana State University (Bozeman, USA), Department of Earth Sciences,
Foreign partners
- Dr. S.J. Fitzsimons
- Dr. J. Jouzel,
Dr. P. Jean-Baptiste,
Dr. F. Vimeux,
Dr. M. Stiévenard - Dr. Anders Svensson
- Dr. M. Skidmore
Contact information
Coordinator: Hugo Decleir,
Frank Pattyn and
Filip Huybrechts
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Vakgroep Geografie
Pleinlaan 2
B-1050 Brussels
Tel: +32 (0)2 629 33 84
Fax: +32 (0)2 629 33 78
hdecleir@vub.ac.be
fpattyn@vub.ac.be
www.vub.ac.be/DGGF
Partner 2: Roland Souchez
and Réginald
Lorrain
Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
Département des Sciences de la Terre et de l’Environnement
(DSTE) - Unité de Glaciologie Polaire CP 160/03
50, avenue F.D. Roosevelt
B-1050 Brussels
Tel: +32 (0)2 650 22 27
Fax: +32 (0)2 650 22 26
rsouchez@ulb.ac.be
rlorrain@ulb.ac.be
www.ulb.ac.be/rech/inventaire/unites/ULB182.html