K001-1617-A

Neogene Terrestrial Climate Reconstruction at Friis Hills (Upper Taylor Valley).

We will use a state-of-the-art drill system to core frozen sediments that were originally deposited in front of and beneath land-based glaciers in the Friis Hills, Transantarctic Mountains. These glacial sediments contain climate clues from a period in Earth’s past when atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations were similar to those predicted for the coming decades and average surface temperature was 3-4 degrees warmer than today. These geological records provide insight into possible future response of Antarctica’s ice sheets and glaciers to current climate change.