Antarctic Ice Sheets' dynamics: new data from provenance and paleontological analysis of IODP374 and DSDP Leg28 cores in the Ross Sea

IODP Exp.374 recently recovered high quality cores in five sites on the Ross Sea continental shelf, slope, and rise to improve understanding of the sensitivity of the Antarctic Ice Sheets (and particularly the West Antarctic Ice Sheet - WAIS) to past climatic and oceanic conditions, especially during warmer-than-present climate. The co-proponents of this proposal have been selected and approved as shore-based Science Team members. In addition, the science team in this proposal recognize as important the study of correlative core sections from already cored drill-holes South and North of the IODP sites. Therefore some methodologies, including detailed petrology of granule to cobble size clasts analyses, AFT, U-Pb dating of detrital apatite and zircons are proposed to be extended to clast and sand-grains rich intervals in DSDP Leg 28 cores. The integration of these data with the IODP ones (this latter constituting the core portion of the studied materials) will help in better constrain ice flow modelling based on several provenance tools. The project is based on the application of a multi-disciplinary approach including; ostracod analysis, their C-O stable isotope analysis, clast petrography and petrology, and, limited to DSDP cores, also on combined detrital thermochronology and geochronology.