Centro de Estudios CientíficosValdivia
Glaciology and Climate Change
Gino Casassa*, Andrés Rivera*.#, Francisca Bown*, Rodrigo Zamora*, Guisella Gacitúa*, Masiel Cerón# (*CECS, #Universidad de Chile)
Jefferson Simoes, UFRGDS, Brazil
TRAVERSES FROM PATRIOT HILLS TO SOUTH POLE: CHILEAN (BRAZILIAN) CONTRIBUTION TO ITASE
Nov/Dec 2004
Patriot Hills
VEHICLE: BERCO TL-6 CREW CAB, SWEDEN
COST: ~ USD 750,000
CONVOY LENGTH: 32 m
VEHICLE LENGTH & WEIGHT: 8 m – 6.6 ton
CONVOY PAYLOAD: 20 ton
ENGINE: CUMMINS EURO III B 5.9 ECHO 250 HP
FUEL: DIESEL-JA1
FUEL COMPT.: 0.2-0.4 km/l (2.5-5.0 l/km)
MAXIMUM ROAD SPEED: 40 km/h
MAX SPEED OVER SNOW WITH LOAD: 14 km/h
MAX. SPEED OVER DEEP SNOW (>2000 m a.s.l.): 8 km/h
2004/2005• VHF chirp radar at 150 MHz from P.Hills to S.Pole (U.
Kansas radar)• 400 MHz GPR from S.Pole to Patriot Hills• kinematic GPS for surface positioning• deployment of stakes every ~20 km measured by static
GPS for velocity & accumulation• shallow firn coring (~46 m depth) at 7 sites every 2°
latitude• surface snow samples every ~10 km for chemical
analysis• Surface snow density• gravity measurements every ~20 km for determination of
crustal structure, associated isostatic conditions and geoid determination
• Geodetic reference point on rock south of Thiel Mountains
STATISTICS
P. HILLS-S.POLE: 1145 km, 18 days
S.POLE STAY: 8 days (repairs, refueling, firn drilling)
S.POLE-P.HILLS: 1266 km, 23 days (including 130 km to Thiel Mts.)
1145 km of radar ice depth data (~1,000 ~ 3,000 m depth)
1145 km of shallow (~ 60 m) radar snow stratigraphy data
1145 km x 2 = 2290 km of precise GPS data
Short-term ice velocity on 54 stakes every 20 km along the route
Precise gravity data every 10 km along the route
Surface (top 1.2 m) snow density data every 20 km along the route
105 surface snow samples (every 10 km along the route)
225 m of firn density cores at 7 sites along the route
GPS measurements of 1 geodetic rock point at Lewis Nunatak, Thiel Mts.
GPS measurements of 10 geodetic rock points at P.Hills
GPS re-measurements at 165 snow/ice sites at P.Hills within a radius of 30 km
Meteorological measurements at P.Hills every 3 h
Firn cores recovered in December 2004
Core Location Altitude(m a.s.l.)
Depth Drilling period
10 m temp (°C)
IC1 89°58’27.7”S28°09’53.9”W
2833 m 30.81 m 03–06/12/2004
-49±0.5
T1 89°07’33.1”S83°04’20.2”W
2774 m 4.04 m 10/11/2004 ---------
IC2 88°01’21.3”S82°04’21.7”W
2621 m 42.92 m 11–13/12/2004
-45±0.5
IC3 85°59’57.3”S81°35’06.3”W
1621 m 46.31 m 16–18/12/2004
-36±0.5
IC4 83°58’59.4”S80°07’01.4”W
1295 m 22.20 m 21–22/12/2004
-33±0.5
IC5 82°30’30.8”S79°28’02.7”W
950 m 42.51 m 24–26/12/2004
-29±0.5
IC6 81°03’10.1”S79°50’09.1W
750 m 36.06 m 28–30/12/2004
-27±0.5
MAINE (Paul Mayewski et al.)Maine: Stables isotopes, ionic chromatography, traces by ICP-MS.
BRAZIL (Jefferson Simoes et al.)Microparticle analysis (Porto Alegre)TritiumDNA traces
CHILE (Masiel Cerón - Ph.D. Chemistry Student – University of Chile) - Prof. Andrés Rivera – CECS)Analysis of dioxines and total arsenic of Ice Cores 5 and 6 acquired by PSI Switzerland in 2004 and an ice core record from Cerro Mercedario (central Andes, 30°S, 6100 m)
ONGOING ANALYSIS OF 2004 CORES
Dec 2007-
Jan 2008
Etapas de esta expedición
2007/2008• VHF chirp radar at 150 MHz (ULUR radar, Ulloa et al., 2008)• 400 MHz GPR from Patriot Hills to South Pole• kinematic GPS for surface positioning• deployment of stakes every ~20 km measured by static GPS for
velocity & accumulation• shallow firn coring (~20 m depth) at 2 sites ~220 km apart• surface snow samples every ~40 km for biological analyses & every
20 km for chemical analysis• gravity measurements every ~20 km for determination of crustal
structure, associated isostatic conditions and geoid determination• determination of surface roughness, its relation with local patterns of
snow accumulation and correlation with satellite imagery texture
53 balizas instaladas en la expedición 2004……19 balizas encontradas en la expedición 2007
Balizas encontradas de la expedición pasada
Algunos resultados preliminares en la ruta al Polo sur…
Este método: 115 mm/año eq ag
Radar GPR: 120 mm/año eq ag
Valores de acumulación (mm/año agua eq) calculados entre los 84° y los 90°S
Promedio acumulación anual: 84 mm año eq agua
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
80 82 84 86 88 90
latitude
alti
tud
e (m
)
-10
10
30
50
70
90
110
130
150
mas
s b
alan
ce in
mm
/yr
of
w e
q.
>120 mm/yr w eq.
~80 mm yr w eq
Estimaciones de acumulación (mm/año agua eq) a lo largo de toda la ruta P.Hills-Polo Sur
Pamela Santibañez
Biological analyses of snow/ice cores
INTRODUCTIONBIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
Winter - Spring Spring - Summer Autumn - Winter
Formation of Algal layer is incorporated
inside the glacier
are transported to the glacier surface by wind
Ablation
Temperature increase Temperature decrease
Accumulation
algal layers
Dust, microalgae and other material
Melting Freezing
Light
snowfall
Light decrease
•Melt and percolation (e.g. Schwikowski et al., 1999; Eichler et al., 2001)
• Previous studies • Yala glacier in the Nepal Himalayas (Yoshimura et al., 2000). Ice core dating with microalgae.
• Tyndall glacier in the Southern Patagonia Icefield, Chile (Shiraiwa et al., 2002; Kohshima et al., 2007). Dating and estimation of past mass balance.
• Sofiyskiy Glacier in the Russian Altai (Uetake et al., 2006). Dating and estimation of past mass balance with microalgae and pollen.
• Mocho-Choshuenco volcano and Osorno volcano in the Chilean lake district (Santibañez et al., in press) Dating and estimation of past mass balance with microalgae, pollen and protozoa (testate amoebae)
TEMPERATE GLACIERS
Chlamydomonas nivalis, Chloromonas spmicroalgae genre/species reino – phylum (division) -
clase - orden - familia-genero y especie
MATERIALS AND METHODSBIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
• Sample analysis
• Laminar flow table • Hydrophilic polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane filters (JHWP1300: 0.2 m pore size, 13 mm diameter; Millipore, USA). • Each filter mounted and fixed in glycerol, formalin and water solution (volume 1:1:1)
• Counts of microorganisms and pollen grains
• Fluorescent microscope (OLYMPUS BX-FLA). • Scanning electron microscope (SEM), UACH.• Technique developed by Yoshimura et al. (1997, 2000) • Microalgae and pollen measured with resolution of 4-6 cm• Filtering of 30 ml each sample (25-50 ml)
FIRST RESULTS SAN VALENTINBIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
0
0,2
0,4
0,6
0,8
1
1,2
1,4
1,6
1,8
2
0 10 20 30 40
Algal biovolume(x10 mm mL)
Dep
th (
m)
0
0,2
0,4
0,6
0,8
1
1,2
1,4
1,6
1,8
2
0 100 200 300
Podocarpaceae (grains L)
Dep
th (
m)
Algal Biovolume(x102 m3 mL-1)
Podocarpaceae(Grains L-1)
Summer 2006/07
Summer 2005/06
Net mass balance 2006-2007
(early autumn 2006 to early autumn 2007)
53.7 cm of snow.Low for Patagonia, but
same order of magnitude as Vimeux
et al., in press
Autumn 2007 accumulation
63 cm of snow
Winter accumulation>53 cm of snow
Podocarpaceae = mañío, lleuque
Autumn 2007
Initial evidence of non Podocarpaceae pollen
FIRST RESULTSBIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
Microalgae growth in snow and ice during melt seasonDivision Chlorophyta algae = green algae
C
C
J
E
D
U10 m C: flagellate (movement stage)
MORPHOTYPES
FIRST RESULTSBIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
Family Podocarpaceae is the most abundant pollen in the first 2 m of the core
10 m
Clear field (white light) photograph
POLLEN
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