Newswise — A National Science Foundation (NSF) grant that, for the first time, will bring an international, interdisciplinary team together to address a significant regional problem with global change implications, was awarded to Hamilton College, a member of the Council on Undergraduate Research, in September. "This grant breaks the traditional mold of discipline-specific research," said Hamilton College geosciences professor Eugene Domack, the chief scientist who will lead researchers, including undergraduate students, from Hamilton College as well as from 15 other institutions around the world. "Collaborative Research in IPY: Abrupt Environmental Change in the Larsen Ice Shelf System, a Multidisciplinary Approach" is the title of the grant which will fund multiple expeditions to Antarctica in the next five years.
This is the only planned Antarctic expedition of its kind that combines this breadth of disciplines on one vessel. By making use of a marine research platform as well as two helicopters and an undersea remotely operated vehicle (ROV), the team will work collaboratively to answer vital questions with regard to:
1) the stability of the Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet and the remainder of the Larsen Ice Shelf2) the response, or contribution, of oceanographic systems to ice shelf disintegration3) the climate history of the Peninsula as recorded in ice and sediment core samples and 4) the biogeography of life in extreme environments.
The helicopters will allow scientists to retrieve ice core samples and deploy geologists to the regional bedrock, all the while the ship will be generating swath maps of the sea floor. The undersea ROV will video and sample the ocean floor. The undersea ROV will video and record the ocean floor. Additional sediment core samples will be retrieved with equipment on the research ship. In support of this research, Hamilton College has been awarded two related NSF grants for work directed by Eugene Domack, the Joel W. Johnson Professor of Geosciences, and Assistant Professor of Biology Michael McCormick: · "Collaborative Research in IPY: Abrupt Environmental Change in the Larsen Ice Shelf System, a Multidisciplinary Approach - Marine and Quaternary Geosciences," a $561,715 award will allow Domack and a team of fellow researchers from Colgate University, University of Houston, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and Montclair State University to address the changes occurring in the Antarctic Peninsula region as a consequence of the abrupt collapse of the Larsen Ice Shelf System and · "Collaborative Research in IPY: Abrupt Environmental Change in the Larsen Ice Shelf System, a Multidisciplinary Approach - Marine Ecosystems" a $113,000 award will allow McCormick and his collaborators from Scripps Oceanographic Institute, Duke University and the University of Hawaii to be investigate the profound transformation currently occurring within the marine ecosystem once covered by the Larsen B Ice Shelf. In 2005 a group led by Domack that included students from Hamilton College discovered a chemotrophic ecosystem (a cold seep) on the ocean floor in that area, which has undergone significant change since that time. The project will involve five expeditions from 2008 through 2013. "This is another chance for us to continue the Antarctic research tradition at Hamilton. It is a great testimony to the program that we have received this funding," said Domack. Since 1987, Domack has been making almost yearly research trips to Antarctica. He has received continuous funding from the NSF.
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