News

Video Now Available: Overview of the WAIS Divide Ice Core project Posted June 23, 2008
	Dr. Ken Taylor of the Desert Research Institute is the Chief Scientist for the WAIS Divide Ice Core project. In this video, Ken takes you on a tour around the camp, discusses the process by which ice cores are drilled and extracted from the ice sheet, and explains the importance of ice cores in the overall understanding of Earth's climate history and current climate change. More...

Dear Colleague Letter - WAIS Divide Basal Sampling Posted June 13, 2008
	Dear Colleagues, We would like to draw attention of the Antarctic geology, glaciology, geochemistry, and microbiology communities to the potential opportunity for coring subglacial materials at the WAIS Divide ice core site in January 2012 or later. Preliminary results of a seismic site survey performed by Dr. Anandakrishnan's research group (Penn State) in 2007 suggest ~10m thick sedimentary unit overlying ~140m thick high-velocity, high-density unit (potentially basalt?). The existing sampling plan envisaged taking a 4m-long core of subglacial sediments. However, the drilling/sampling technology and the environmental permits for this are not finalized and are the subject of a "WAIS Divide Basal Science and Implementation Plan" due to be completed soon. More...

WAIS Divide Outreach website Posted June 2, 2008
	The WAIS Divide Outreach Program (WDOP) is an educational site dedicated to improving the understanding of ice coring and how it pertains to the study of climate change. Our site is made available to anyone who has an interest in learning how scientists go about unraveling the climate history of the Earth, however, our focus is mainly on K-12 teachers and students. The WDOP is operated by the Wright Center for Science Education at Tufts University. More...

March 2008 Quarterly Update from the Science Coordination Office Now Available Posted March 20, 2008
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Press Release: New Antarctic Ice Core to Provide Clearest Climate Record Yet Posted January 22, 2008
	After enduring months on the coldest, driest and windiest continent on Earth, researchers today closed out the inaugural season on an unprecedented, multi-year effort to retrieve the most detailed record of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere over the last 100,000 years. Working as part of the National Science Foundation's West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide (WAIS Divide) Ice Core Project, a team of scientists, engineers, technicians and students from multiple U.S. institutions have recovered a 580-meter (1,900-foot) ice core--the first section of what is hoped to be a 3,465-meter (11,360-foot) column of ice detailing 100,000 years of Earth's climate history, including a precise year-by-year record of the last 40,000 years. Full Story >>

December 2007 Quarterly Update from the Science Coordination Office Now Available Posted December 19, 2007
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Media + Public Guide Now Available Posted November 5, 2007
	The WAIS Divide Science Coordination Office is pleased to announce the release of a 'Media + Public Guide'. The 'Media + Public Guide' can be downloaded here. An updated 'Media + Public Guide' will likely be released before the beginning of each Antarctic field season.

Six Person Put-In Crew Safely Arrived at WAIS Divide Posted October 29, 2007
	We are very happy to report that on 24-October six camp staff safely arrived to WAIS Divide via a Basler airplane and started the long process of digging the camp out. This was the first winter-over with all of the field camp stored outside on cargo lines, rather than stored inside the arch facility as during the 2006 winter. It is expected to take several weeks to get the camp up and running to the point where it can support larger populations. Once email and internet capabilities are established at camp we hope to receive some pictures from the put-in flight and will post them in the photo gallery.

August 2007 Quarterly Update from the Science Coordination Office Now Available Posted August 29, 2007
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March 2007 Quarterly Update from the Science Coordination Office Now Available Posted March 1, 2007
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2006-2007 Field Season at WAIS Divide Has Come To A Close Posted February 2007
	The second field season for the WAIS Divide Ice Core project ended on February 7, 2007. This season's science activities included collecting a 130 meter long ice core outside of the arch facility, collecting a 114 meter long ice core from the pilot hole for the main deep ice core, installation of the casing for the main borehole, installation of the gantry crane that will be used to set up the Deep Ice Sheet Coring (DISC) Drill next season, optical borehole logging in shallow boreholes around WAIS Divide, snowpit chemistry work, and the second phase of construction on the arch interior. More information about this past season’s science activities can be found at: http://www.waisdivide.unh.edu/fieldreports/index.html Visit the photo gallery from the 2006/2007 field season for a visual review of this season's activities at WAIS Divide.

Drilling of the WAIS Divide Deep Ice Core Has Started! December 9, 2006
	Historic news! Joe Souney (UNH, WAIS Divide SCO) reports that on Saturday, December 9 at 13:45 the first section of ice core was recovered from the main WAIS Divide borehole. This project has been in the planning phase for more than 15 years and it's great news to hear that the deep ice core has begun. Congratulations and thanks to all those who have helped over the years!

Camp Staff Safely Made it into WAIS Divide October 30, 2006
	The camp staff safely made it into WAIS Divide a couple of days ago and so the 2006-2007 field season is underway! Current temperatures at WAIS Divide are -46 degrees F. The large berm that the camp modules and equipment were staged on filled in heavily but held their ground. The galley, washroom, and mechanic's shop all wintered well (drifted) and were dry inside. The arch facility wintered well. It took one full day to access the end walls via shovels. The outside wall (away from the camp) was drifted in heavily. Snow is reaching near the top of the small arch and 1/2-way up the tall arch as expected but not desired after the first winter.

October 2006 Quarterly Update from the Science Coordination Office Now Available Posted October 30, 2006
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DISC Drill Test Season at Summit Greenland A Success Posted September 2006
	The DISC Drill test season at Summit Greenland (April-August 2006) was a huge success. The operation and performance of the drill in both ductile and brittle ice was extensively tested and evaluated to optimize core quality. Other than not being able to drill a full four-meter core in one run, all testing goals were fullfilled and in many cases exceeded. Core quality and the drill’s ability to drill brittle ice were excellent from the start. There were minor problems and challenges, but for a completely new drill system that had never been fully assembled and operated as a system the season went extremely well. Visit the Greenland Drill Test photo gallery.

2005/2006 Field Season Ends Posted February 3, 2006
	The 2005-2006 WAIS Divide field season ended on Friday, February 3 after completely winterizing the camp facilities and equipment. This was a great first season at WAIS Divide. The initial put-in was three weeks behind schedule due to weather and issues related to landing the LC-130s at a new location. However, thanks to excellent support by RPSC, all the objectives for the season were met. Information about the season's science activities can be found at: http://www.waisdivide.unh.edu/fieldreports/index.html Visit the 2005/2006 Field Season photo gallery.

2005/2006 Field Season Begins! Posted November 2006
	After a 20-day delay due to poor weather and issues associated with LC-130 landings at the new site, the 2005-2006 field season at WAIS Divide is now underway. The field camp is being setup, the skiway is marked and groomed, and up to 4 flights a day are being scheduled. If the weather holds so we can get the flights in, we will end the season back on track.