RESEARCH PLATFORMS

THE CANADIAN ICE CORE ARCHIVE

(CICA)

BACKGROUND

• Archive of deep ice cores collected by NRCan (1993-2005) - now held by UA

• 12 cores remain – from Devon, Baffin and Ellesmere Islands, and from Mt Logan (Prospector/Russell Col)

• Building custom facility for core storage, characterization, processing, and sampling (late 2016) + digital archive of core materials

• Imaging capabilities (Line scan camera)• Solid Electrical Conductivity Profiling• Melter system for continuous sampling• Linked to specialist analytical labs for stable

isotopes of water, major ion chemistry, trace metals, organic contaminants, microbiology and genomics, organic matter characterization

CANADIAN ICE CORE ARCHIVE (1)

CANADIAN ICE CORE ARCHIVE (2)• Potential for new drilling – 2 deep drills, one

specially designed for drilling for analysis of trace level contaminants

• Potential Cordilleran targets – Yukon, Alberta, BC (i) Contaminant deposition history and current inventory, plus potential time trajectory for release;

• (iii) Microbiology, genomics and biogeochemistry – characterizing the “icy ecosystem”;

• (ii) Past climate trends and variability; • (iv) fire history and dust deposition

ANCILLARY GLACIOLOGY• Core site selection and characterization (ice

thickness, bed topography, flow rates/directions, melt rates/history, past and future evolution)

• Airborne Geophysics (Ice Penetrating Radar, Lidar, Gravimetry, Aeromag – possible collaboration with Polar Research Institute of China and Basler platform Snow Eagle 1)

• Satellite Remote Sensing of ice flow• Ice Flow Modeling and mass conserving beds • Atmospheric Back-Trajectories (likely

contaminant sources)

Snow Eagle 1

COLUMBIA ICEFIELDS: SURFACE VELOCITY FIELD FROM RadarSat2 SPECKLE TRACKING

Wesley van Wychen

(Analysis)

Parks Canada (Imagery)

SNOW DOME BACK TRAJECTORIES WINTER 2015-2015

Jon Martin

PROBLEMS

COLLABORATIONS

PARTNERSHIPS ?