Sensitivity of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to 2 Degrees Celsius
Project Acronym: SWAIS 2C | State: Operational Phase | Expedition ID: 5072
Response of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) to projected warming remains a significant uncertainty in sea level rise projections. This project will focus on understanding past and current drivers, mechanisms and feedbacks that influence retreat of ice sheets, to reduce uncertainty in numerical model projections of future changes.
The SWAIS 2C Project will address the overarching question: How will marine-based ice sheets respond to a 2°C increase in global temperature and what are the local, regional, and global environmental consequences of this response if temperatures ultimately exceed this 2°C increase?
Keywords: Antarctica, Glacial Isostatic Adjustment, Ice Sheet, Melt Water, Sea Level
Project Management
Contact Person
Lead PIs
CoPIs
- Huw Horgan – Victoria University of Wellington
- Jeanine Ash – Rice University
- Franciso Jiménez-Espejo – Universidad de Granada
- David Harwood – University of Nebraska - Lincoln
- Gavin Dunbar – Victoria University of Wellington
- Andreas Läufer – Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources
- Denise Kulhanek – Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel
- Fabio Florindo – Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia
- Kyu-Cheul Yoo – Korea Polar Research Institute
- Osamu Seki – Hokkaido University
Project Details
Project Description
- Title:
- Sensitivity of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to 2 Degrees Celsius (SWAIS 2C) (SWAIS 2C)
- Proposed in:
- 2021
- Current State:
- Operational Phase
- Proposal abstract:
- n.a.
- Geologic age:
- Neogene - Quaternary
- Number of drillsites (drillholes):
- 2
- Drilled length:
- 746.11 m (15 wellholes/hole attempts/hole deepenings/sidetracks total)
- Cored length:
- 239.68 m
- Core recovered, length:
- 1498.63 m
- Core recovered length / Cored length:
- n.a.
- Core recovered / Drilled length:
- n.a.
- Expedition #
- 5072
- Location
- Kamb Ice Stream, Antarctica
- Coordinates
- -83.0000, -156.0000
- Status
- Operational Phase
Project Location
Project Timeline
Drilling Third Season
Drilling Second Season
Drilled through the Ice Shelf, again.
Drilling First Season
First core on deck on 22 December 2023