POLENET RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
What are the objectives of POLENET research in West Antarctica?
Dr. Terry Wilson and her POLENET collaborators are working to better understand the geodynamic processes that influence ice sheet behavior.
Some key hypotheses being investigated in this objective are:
- The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is losing mass
- The rift structure of West Antarctica contributes to ice streaming and instability of the West Antarctic ice sheets
- The mantle beneath West Antarctica is weak and warm, which affects how the Earth responds to changes in ice mass.
- Uplift of highlands provided growth points for Antarcticas ice sheets
In addition, a range of geologically significant objectives will be explored, such as:
- Possible presence of a mantle plume beneath Marie Byrd Land
- Antarctica's role in the global tectonic plate system
- Clues to composition and structure of the deep earth.
Below is a short animation displaying isostatic rebound, which is the continent's response to ice sheet unloading.
- The animation is by Tom Rothhamel, at his web site there is a further explanation of isostatic rebound.
Watch closely as the ice load increases, the continent subsides
and as the ice is removed, the continent rebounds.
How will the POLENET project meet the scientific objectives?
- The project will deploy a GPS and seismic sensor network at remote locations across West Antarctica.
- The GPS and seismic sensor network will cover an area roughly half the size of Australia!
- The GPS and seismic instrument systems are designed to record measurements year-round which is a major challenge in the extreme Antarctic conditions.
- Data from the instruments will be transferred by satellite modem from Antarctica to the USA for analysis.
Global Impacts of POLENET
- Antarctica’s impact on the rest of the world is not fully understood. The POLENET project will study the potential for global sea level rise due to melting of the ice sheets. A major theme of the IPY is to study the behavior of both polar ice sheets (Greenland and Antarctica), which have the potential to affect sea level dramatically. Studying the polar ice sheets will help scientists refine estimates of sea level change in the future.
- What happens if the ice sheets melt?
- If the ice sheets of West Antarctica were to melt the global sea level will rise approximately 16 feet (5 meters),
- If Greenland’s ice melts then global sea level will rise 23 feet (7 meters) and
- If The East Antarctic ice sheets melt, global sea level would rise an additional 164 feet (50 meters)!
- See the effect of changing sea level on regions around the world.
- When viewing this website be sure to zoom in and see what happens to major cities and roads when:
- The sea level setting is set to 7 meters which represents Greenland’s contribution to sea level rise and
- The sea level setting is set to 12 meters which represents West Antarctica’s contribution to sea level rise.
- See what happens to Florida if sea level rises 7 meters...
- If you want to learn more about the impact of sea level rise check out these two articles
Dr. Terry Wilson and her POLENET collaborators are working to better understand the geodynamic processes that influence ice sheet behavior.
Some key hypotheses being investigated in this objective are:
- The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is losing mass
- The rift structure of West Antarctica contributes to ice streaming and instability of the West Antarctic ice sheets
- The mantle beneath West Antarctica is weak and warm, which affects how the Earth responds to changes in ice mass.
- Uplift of highlands provided growth points for Antarcticas ice sheets
In addition, a range of geologically significant objectives will be explored, such as:
- Possible presence of a mantle plume beneath Marie Byrd Land
- Antarctica's role in the global tectonic plate system
- Clues to composition and structure of the deep earth.
Below is a short animation displaying isostatic rebound, which is the continent's response to ice sheet unloading.
- The animation is by Tom Rothhamel, at his web site there is a further explanation of isostatic rebound.
Watch closely as the ice load increases, the continent subsides
and as the ice is removed, the continent rebounds.
How will the POLENET project meet the scientific objectives?
- The project will deploy a GPS and seismic sensor network at remote locations across West Antarctica.
- The GPS and seismic sensor network will cover an area roughly half the size of Australia!
- The GPS and seismic instrument systems are designed to record measurements year-round which is a major challenge in the extreme Antarctic conditions.
- Data from the instruments will be transferred by satellite modem from Antarctica to the USA for analysis.
Global Impacts of POLENET
- Antarctica’s impact on the rest of the world is not fully understood. The POLENET project will study the potential for global sea level rise due to melting of the ice sheets. A major theme of the IPY is to study the behavior of both polar ice sheets (Greenland and Antarctica), which have the potential to affect sea level dramatically. Studying the polar ice sheets will help scientists refine estimates of sea level change in the future.
- What happens if the ice sheets melt?
- If the ice sheets of West Antarctica were to melt the global sea level will rise approximately 16 feet (5 meters),
- If Greenland’s ice melts then global sea level will rise 23 feet (7 meters) and
- If The East Antarctic ice sheets melt, global sea level would rise an additional 164 feet (50 meters)!
- See the effect of changing sea level on regions around the world.
- When viewing this website be sure to zoom in and see what happens to major cities and roads when:
- The sea level setting is set to 7 meters which represents Greenland’s contribution to sea level rise and
- The sea level setting is set to 12 meters which represents West Antarctica’s contribution to sea level rise.
- See what happens to Florida if sea level rises 7 meters...
- If you want to learn more about the impact of sea level rise check out these two articles
Dr. Terry Wilson and her POLENET collaborators are working to better understand the geodynamic processes that influence ice sheet behavior.
-
Some key hypotheses being investigated in this objective are:
- The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is losing mass
- The rift structure of West Antarctica contributes to ice streaming and instability of the West Antarctic ice sheets
- The mantle beneath West Antarctica is weak and warm, which affects how the Earth responds to changes in ice mass.
- Uplift of highlands provided growth points for Antarcticas ice sheets
- Possible presence of a mantle plume beneath Marie Byrd Land
- Antarctica's role in the global tectonic plate system
- Clues to composition and structure of the deep earth.
- The animation is by Tom Rothhamel, at his web site there is a further explanation of isostatic rebound.
Below is a short animation displaying isostatic rebound, which is the continent's response to ice sheet unloading.
Watch closely as the ice load increases, the continent subsides
and as the ice is removed, the continent rebounds.
How will the POLENET project meet the scientific objectives?
- The project will deploy a GPS and seismic sensor network at remote locations across West Antarctica.
- The GPS and seismic sensor network will cover an area roughly half the size of Australia!
- The GPS and seismic instrument systems are designed to record measurements year-round which is a major challenge in the extreme Antarctic conditions.
- Data from the instruments will be transferred by satellite modem from Antarctica to the USA for analysis.
Global Impacts of POLENET
- Antarctica’s impact on the rest of the world is not fully understood. The POLENET project will study the potential for global sea level rise due to melting of the ice sheets. A major theme of the IPY is to study the behavior of both polar ice sheets (Greenland and Antarctica), which have the potential to affect sea level dramatically. Studying the polar ice sheets will help scientists refine estimates of sea level change in the future.
- What happens if the ice sheets melt?
- If the ice sheets of West Antarctica were to melt the global sea level will rise approximately 16 feet (5 meters),
- If Greenland’s ice melts then global sea level will rise 23 feet (7 meters) and
- If The East Antarctic ice sheets melt, global sea level would rise an additional 164 feet (50 meters)!
- See the effect of changing sea level on regions around the world.
- When viewing this website be sure to zoom in and see what happens to major cities and roads when:
- The sea level setting is set to 7 meters which represents Greenland’s contribution to sea level rise and
- The sea level setting is set to 12 meters which represents West Antarctica’s contribution to sea level rise.
- See what happens to Florida if sea level rises 7 meters...
- If you want to learn more about the impact of sea level rise check out these two articles
