Accurate geological histories for estimates of Antarctic Ice Sheet volume loss by 2300

Our aim is to investigate whether observed thickening of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS), as detected by altimetry, represents a short-term or long-term trend.

Through cosmogenic nuclide and luminescence exposure dating of rock samples from below the current ice-sheet surface, we will determine the timing and duration of periods when the ice sheet surface was lower than today.

This is crucial for establishing accurate starting conditions for numerical models predicting the ice sheet´s future behaviour, and more precise projections of sea-level rise contributions from the EAIS.

Such insights are indispensable for communities seeking to address the future impacts of sea-level rise.We will collect shallow bedrock cores beneath the current ice surface in Dronning Maud Land, applying techniques used in Greenland and West Antarctica for the first time in East Antarctica.

With support from the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, optimal drilling locations will be determined using ground penetrating radar, and bedrock cores will be extracted from below ~20-100 m ice depth.

Using exposure dating techniques on drill core samples, and on samples already collected above the ice sheet, we will analyse the historical evolution of the ice surface over millennia to millions of years.

This will be used to refine and calibrate our ice-sheet model, and help constrain the most accurate model parameters and starting conditions for projecting future ice-sheet and sea-level changes up to 2300.