HR: 0830h
AN: C41C-0995    [PDF]
TI: Polar Regions: Natural Laboratories for Understanding the Dynamic Lithosphere-Cryosphere-Climate System
AU: * Wilson, T J
EM: wilson.43@osu.edu
AF: Ohio State University, 125 S. Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210 United States
AU: ANTEC Group, .
EM: antec@geology.ohio-state.edu
AF: SCAR, SCAR Secretariat, Cambridge, CB2 1ER United Kingdom
AB: The polar regions have unique geodynamic environments where the solid earth, the cryosphere, the oceans, the atmosphere and the global climate system are intimately linked. It is increasingly clear that deciphering the feedbacks and interactions between these spheres is required to comprehend the earth system as a whole. The ANTEC group has developed a vision for a major interdisciplinary program to investigate neotectonic processes in Antarctica, focused on understanding 1) how changing ice mass loads influence lithospheric stress/strain regimes; 2) how glacial isostatic adjustment and the tectono-thermal structure of the lithosphere control modern ice sheet dynamics; 3) the history of inception and growth of Antarctic ice sheets and how it's fluctuations are linked with tectonic motions and magmatism; and 4) how evolving continental-scale paleogeography, volcanism, erosion/sedimentation act to force climate change. We are poised at a critical threshold where developing technologies will enable experiments at unprecedented scales across the continent. Autonomous vehicles will allow exploration over unmapped ice sheets and under the ice shelves and sea ice that shroud immense portions of polar terrain. Unattended remote geodetic and geophysical observatories are beginning to operate through the polar night due to advances in power sources and data storage capacity. Drilling technologies are being adapted to the harsh polar environment and will allow us to sample the vast swaths of virtually unknown subglacial terrain. Spaceborne instruments now have an unprecedented capability to capture change in the polar environment. These emerging technologies will allow us to make the next `great leap forward' in exploring the polar frontier of the earth system with immensely more ease than during the IGY 50 years ago. If we can meet the logistical and funding challenges of instrumenting the polar regions on a grand scale, we will reap a wealth data that will serve as the foundation for monitoring our dynamic physical environment far into the future.
UR: http://www.antec.scar.org
DE: 1208 Crustal movements--intraplate (8110)
DE: 1236 Rheology of the lithosphere and mantle (8160)
DE: 1645 Solid Earth
DE: 7230 Seismicity and seismotectonics
DE: 8107 Continental neotectonics
SC: Cryosphere [C]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting