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| North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling | |
|---|---|
| Name | North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling |
| Location | Greenland |
| Date | 1990s–2000s |
| Participants | European Union, National Science Foundation (United States), Alfred Wegener Institute, University of Copenhagen, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, British Antarctic Survey, University of Bern, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Lund University, Stockholm University |
| Type | Paleoclimate ice core drilling project |
North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling The North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling program was a multinational paleoclimatology and glaciology initiative that recovered deep ice cores from northern Greenland to study the last interglacial, the Eemian (~130–115 ka). The project integrated expertise from institutions such as the National Science Foundation (United States), the European Union, the Alfred Wegener Institute, and the University of Copenhagen with field logistics supported by agencies including Danish Meteorological Institute and US Air Force operations. Results from the project influenced interpretations by groups like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and informed models from teams at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.
The program built on earlier efforts including Greenland Ice Sheet Project (GRIP), Greenland Ice Core Project (GISP2), and European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) to address questions about Eemian climate variability, ice sheet stability, and abrupt climate events. Primary objectives were to retrieve continuous stratigraphic records spanning the Eemian and Late Pleistocene to constrain timing of warm intervals noted in records like those from Svalbard, Boreal Sea, and Lake Baikal. Collaborating institutions such as University of Bern, Stockholm University, Lund University, and British Antarctic Survey sought to compare isotopic signals with marine proxies from North Atlantic Drift, Irminger Sea, and Norwegian Sea reconstructions. The program aimed to inform modeling teams at Max Planck Institute for Meteorology and Hadley Centre about sensitivity of Greenland Ice Sheet to warming scenarios analogous to present-day projections from Coupled Model Intercomparison Project centers.
The selected drill site in northern Greenland was proximal to earlier sites like NorthGRIP and chosen for minimal ice flow disturbance and preservation of Eemian layers. Field logistics involved coordination among Air Greenland, US Coast Guard, Royal Danish Air Force, and scientific support from Alfred Wegener Institute and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Camps used radar surveys from teams at Scott Polar Research Institute and Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory to map internal stratigraphy and identify basal conditions compared against seismic results from Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland. Drill operations accommodated transport links via Thule Air Base and staging at Kangerlussuaq Airport with safety oversight from Greenland Police and medical support from Red Cross teams.
Drilling employed electromechanical and thermal drill systems developed by firms and laboratories including Kovacs Enterprises, Epiroc (formerly Atlas Copco), and in-house teams at British Antarctic Survey. Continuous ice cores were logged with on-site measurements: stable isotope analysis by laboratories at University of Copenhagen and University of Bern; aerosol and trace gas assays at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; and micro-particle analysis using scanning electron microscopes from University of Alaska Fairbanks. Borehole logging used electrical conductivity measurement tools like those refined at Desert Research Institute and borehole temperature sensors developed at Danish Meteorological Institute. Chronology was constrained with tephra identification cross-referenced to eruptions cataloged by Smithsonian Institution and radiometric age controls from Argonne National Laboratory and Max Planck Institute for Chemistry.
Recovered cores exhibited complex stratigraphy with folded and refrozen layers, discontinuities, and preserved Eemian sections comparable to stratigraphy from NorthGRIP and GRIP. Stratigraphic markers included volcanic ash from eruptions associated with Iceland and tephra horizons correlating with records from Shetland Islands and Icelandic Meteorological Office archives. Dating utilized isotopic techniques—stable oxygen isotopes at University of Bern, radioactive isotope analyses at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and annual layer counting integrated with Greenland Ice Core Chronology 2005 and later revisions by teams at University of Copenhagen and University of Bern—to place Eemian intervals within regional and marine chronologies tied to Marine Isotope Stage 5e.
Isotopic, dust, and greenhouse gas records revealed warmer-than-Holocene surface signatures during parts of the Eemian with elevated concentrations of methane and carbon dioxide paralleling data from EPICA Dome C and Vostok ice cores. Aerosol profiles suggested altered atmospheric circulation linked to North Atlantic sea-surface temperature anomalies reconstructed by groups at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Comparisons with marine cores from North Atlantic Drift and speleothem records from Hulu Cave and Soreq Cave helped elucidate synchronous or asynchronous warming patterns. Evidence indicated complex meltwater input events plausible drivers for abrupt changes discussed in publications from Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and National Center for Atmospheric Research.
Physical observations—strain, basal melt indicators, and englacial layering—fed assimilated datasets for ice-sheet models run at PSU Earth and Environmental Modeling Center, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and University of Bristol. Modeling experiments evaluated sensitivity to boundary conditions proposed by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and tested collapse scenarios of the Greenland Ice Sheet akin to those in studies by Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research and University of Oslo. Results influenced sea-level projections used by planning agencies including United Nations Environment Programme and national scientific advisory bodies in Denmark and United States.
The project refined understanding of interglacial warmth, informed paleoclimate syntheses published by collaborative teams at Royal Society, American Geophysical Union, and European Geosciences Union, and contributed data to repositories managed by National Snow and Ice Data Center and World Data Center for Paleoclimatology. Training and capacity-building benefited researchers from University of Copenhagen, Stockholm University, University of Bern, and University of Alaska Fairbanks, spawning follow-on campaigns such as NEEM and influencing international initiatives coordinated through International Arctic Science Committee and Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. The legacy persists in climate model evaluations at IPCC assessment cycles and in policy-relevant discussions among bodies like United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Category:Ice core drilling projects Category:Climate of Greenland