EPICA
Encyclopedia
The European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) is a multinational European project for deep ice core
drilling in Antarctica. Its main objective is to obtain full documentation of the climatic and atmospheric record archived in Antarctic ice by drilling and analyzing two ice cores and comparing these with their Greenland
counterparts (GRIP
and GISP
). Evaluation of these records will provide information about the natural climate variability and mechanisms of rapid climatic changes during the last glacial epoch.
The European Science Foundation
EPICA Programme (1996–2005) provides co-ordination for EPICA drilling activities at Dome Concordia and Kohnen Station, which are supported by the European Commission and by national contributions from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Deep drilling took place at two sites in Antarctica: Concordia Station
at Dome C
and Kohnen Station
.
In 2008 the project received Descartes Prize
for Research.
) was chosen to obtain the longest undisturbed chronicle of environmental change, in order to characterise climate variability over several glacial cycles, and to study potential climate forcings and their relationship to events in other regions. The core goes back 740,000 years and reveals 8 previous glacial cycles. Drilling was completed at this site in December 2004, reaching a drilling depth of 3270.2 m, 5 m above bedrock. Present-day annual average air temperature is −54.5°C and snow accumulation 25 mm/y. Information about the core was first published in Nature on 2004/June/10 .
The picture shows delta deuterium data (a proxy
for temperature: more negative values indicate lower temperatures) from both EPICA and Vostok. The upper plot, with x-axis being age (years before 1950) clearly shows the extra information in the EPICA core before the start of the Vostok record. The lower picture, plotted against depth, shows how compressed the deeper parts of the cores are: the earliest 100 kyr (thousand years) of the EPICA core are in the bottom 100 m of the core.
Before 400 kyr the character of the ice ages are seen to be somewhat different: interglacial warmth is distinctly less than the four most recent interglacials, however, the interglacial periods before 400 kyr occupied a much larger proportion of each cycle than subsequently. The interglacial 400 kyr ago, which is believed (from arguments about the configuration of the orbital parameters of the earth) to be an approximate analogue to the current interglacial, was quite long: 28 kyr. The Nature paper argues that if this analogue is accepted, the current climate would be expected to continue like today's, in the absence of human influence (which it states is unlikely, given the predicted increases in greenhouse gas concentrations).
Further analysis of the core is hoped to extend the record back somewhat further, possibly as far as the Brunhes–Matuyama magnetic reversal, believed to be at about 780 kyr.
The core time scale is derived from the measured depth scale by a model incorporating surface snow accumulation variations, ice thinning, basal heat fluxes etc., and is empirically "tied" at 4 times by matches to the marine isotopic record.
Ice core
An ice core is a core sample that is typically removed from an ice sheet, most commonly from the polar ice caps of Antarctica, Greenland or from high mountain glaciers elsewhere. As the ice forms from the incremental build up of annual layers of snow, lower layers are older than upper, and an ice...
drilling in Antarctica. Its main objective is to obtain full documentation of the climatic and atmospheric record archived in Antarctic ice by drilling and analyzing two ice cores and comparing these with their Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
counterparts (GRIP
Greenland ice core project
The Greenland Ice Core Project was a multinational European research project, organised through the European Science Foundation. Funding came from 8 nations , and from the European Union...
and GISP
Greenland Ice Sheet Project
The Greenland Ice Sheet Project was a decade-long project to drill ice cores in Greenland that involved scientists and funding agencies from Denmark, Switzerland and the United States. Besides the U.S. National Science Foundation, funding was provided by the Swiss National Science Foundation and...
). Evaluation of these records will provide information about the natural climate variability and mechanisms of rapid climatic changes during the last glacial epoch.
The European Science Foundation
European Science Foundation
The European Science Foundation is an association of 78 member organisations devoted to scientific research in 30 European countries. It is an independent, non-governmental, non-profit organisation that facilitates cooperation and collaboration in European research and development, European...
EPICA Programme (1996–2005) provides co-ordination for EPICA drilling activities at Dome Concordia and Kohnen Station, which are supported by the European Commission and by national contributions from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Deep drilling took place at two sites in Antarctica: Concordia Station
Concordia Station
Concordia Research Station, which opened in 2005, is a research facility that was built 3,233 m above sea level at a location called Dome C on the Antarctic Plateau, Antarctica...
at Dome C
Dome C
Dome C, also known as Dome Circe or Dome Charlie, located at Antarctica at an altitude of 3,233 m or 10,607 ft above sea level, is one of several summits or "domes" of the Antarctic Ice Sheet...
and Kohnen Station
Kohnen Station
Kohnen-Station is a German summer-only polar research station in the Antarctic, able to accommodate up to 20 people. It is named after the geophysicist Heinz Kohnen , who was for a long time the head of logistics at the Alfred Wegener Institute....
.
In 2008 the project received Descartes Prize
Descartes Prize
The Descartes Prize is an annual award in science given by the European Union, named in honour of the French mathematician and philosopher, René Descartes....
for Research.
Concordia Station at Dome C
This site (75°06′S 123°21′E, 3233 m above sea level, 560 km from Vostok StationVostok Station
Vostok Station was a Russian Antarctic research station. It was at the southern Pole of Cold, with the lowest reliably measured natural temperature on Earth of −89.2 °C . Research includes ice core drilling and magnetometry...
) was chosen to obtain the longest undisturbed chronicle of environmental change, in order to characterise climate variability over several glacial cycles, and to study potential climate forcings and their relationship to events in other regions. The core goes back 740,000 years and reveals 8 previous glacial cycles. Drilling was completed at this site in December 2004, reaching a drilling depth of 3270.2 m, 5 m above bedrock. Present-day annual average air temperature is −54.5°C and snow accumulation 25 mm/y. Information about the core was first published in Nature on 2004/June/10 .
The picture shows delta deuterium data (a proxy
Proxy (climate)
In the study of past climates is known as paleoclimatology, climate proxies are preserved physical characteristics of the past that stand in for direct measurements , to enable scientists to reconstruct the climatic conditions that prevailed during much of the Earth's history...
for temperature: more negative values indicate lower temperatures) from both EPICA and Vostok. The upper plot, with x-axis being age (years before 1950) clearly shows the extra information in the EPICA core before the start of the Vostok record. The lower picture, plotted against depth, shows how compressed the deeper parts of the cores are: the earliest 100 kyr (thousand years) of the EPICA core are in the bottom 100 m of the core.
Before 400 kyr the character of the ice ages are seen to be somewhat different: interglacial warmth is distinctly less than the four most recent interglacials, however, the interglacial periods before 400 kyr occupied a much larger proportion of each cycle than subsequently. The interglacial 400 kyr ago, which is believed (from arguments about the configuration of the orbital parameters of the earth) to be an approximate analogue to the current interglacial, was quite long: 28 kyr. The Nature paper argues that if this analogue is accepted, the current climate would be expected to continue like today's, in the absence of human influence (which it states is unlikely, given the predicted increases in greenhouse gas concentrations).
Further analysis of the core is hoped to extend the record back somewhat further, possibly as far as the Brunhes–Matuyama magnetic reversal, believed to be at about 780 kyr.
The core time scale is derived from the measured depth scale by a model incorporating surface snow accumulation variations, ice thinning, basal heat fluxes etc., and is empirically "tied" at 4 times by matches to the marine isotopic record.
Kohnen Station, Dronning Maud Land
Kohnen Station is located at 75°00′S 00°04′E, 2892 m above sea level. Higher annual snowfall and sensitivity to conditions over the South Atlantic will allow the study of any links between shifts in the Atlantic Ocean circulation and the rapid climate events detected over Greenland.See also
- Dome CDome CDome C, also known as Dome Circe or Dome Charlie, located at Antarctica at an altitude of 3,233 m or 10,607 ft above sea level, is one of several summits or "domes" of the Antarctic Ice Sheet...
- Concordia StationConcordia StationConcordia Research Station, which opened in 2005, is a research facility that was built 3,233 m above sea level at a location called Dome C on the Antarctic Plateau, Antarctica...
- Vostok StationVostok StationVostok Station was a Russian Antarctic research station. It was at the southern Pole of Cold, with the lowest reliably measured natural temperature on Earth of −89.2 °C . Research includes ice core drilling and magnetometry...
- Kohnen StationKohnen StationKohnen-Station is a German summer-only polar research station in the Antarctic, able to accommodate up to 20 people. It is named after the geophysicist Heinz Kohnen , who was for a long time the head of logistics at the Alfred Wegener Institute....
- Dome FDome FDome F, also known as Dome Fuji , Valkyrie Dome, or Valkyrjedomen, is located in east Queen Maud Land at . With an altitude of 3,810 m or 12,500 ft above sea level, it is the second-highest summit or ice dome of the East Antarctic ice sheet and represents an ice divide...
- Jean Robert PetitJean Robert PetitJean Robert Petit studied chemistry and physics at the University of Grenoble and received a PhD in 1984 in paleoclimatology on the study of the aeolian dust record from Antarctic ice cores.- Academic works :...
- ice coreIce coreAn ice core is a core sample that is typically removed from an ice sheet, most commonly from the polar ice caps of Antarctica, Greenland or from high mountain glaciers elsewhere. As the ice forms from the incremental build up of annual layers of snow, lower layers are older than upper, and an ice...