Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

The proposed research will fill a knowledge gap on how the Arctic sea ice, glaciers, and climate conditions have changed through the present Interglacial period, the last 12,000 years. The Arctic Ocean is undergoing dramatic changes as sea ice thins and retreats further north during both summer and winter seasons. This sea ice retreat greatly affects the climatic conditions of the landmasses surrounding the Arctic Ocean. Ice caps situated on these landmasses are gradually being exposed to warmer climatic conditions, triggering an increase in surface melting and a loss of mass, making the ice caps retreat as well. The long-term vision of my research program ICE2SEA is to investigate how ice has influenced the climate system during the present interglacial period. I will use my expertise in ice core science and combine it with the sea ice expertise found in the Centre for Earth Observation Science at the University of Manitoba to form a strong Canadian research team through collaboration with Canadian universities with ice- and climate-related research groups. The long-term goal is to use the knowledge from the past to improve predictions on how the changing climate and cryosphere will change conditions in the North in the future. For the first five-year period, I will use the instrument of ice-core drilling through the Müllers Ice Cap on Axel Heiberg Island to form a research program. The program will build new and innovative research fields in Canada and train a new generation of HQP. The specific questions for the five-year research program are: 1) How did sea ice conditions change in the Arctic Ocean during past millennia ? 2) What climatic conditions did the Arctic ice caps experience during past millennia ? 3) What is the relationship between glaciers, sea ice change, and climate change ? The main hypothesis is that the halogen Bromine found in a deep ice core can inform on the past extension of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. The inaugural five-year program in ICE2SEA will include one PDF, three PhDs, one driller, and several Master's- and undergraduate-level projects. The projects will be co-supervised with researchers from other universities to form a strong national and international network for the HQP environment. Axel Heiberg Island is in Northern Canada and I have contact with the Grise Fjord community (Aujuittuq) were important traditional and local knowledge is available. I will hire personal here for the field work and will look for Northern applicants for the undergraduate, graduate, PhD's an PostDoc positions. Knowledge of the dependence of sea ice on climate is of strong interest for Canada. Temperatures were as warm as present 8000 to 5000 years ago in the Climatic Optimum so the sea ice extent at this time will inform us on what to expect in the future warming climate. This is very important knowledge for the Northern communities, and has importance for the visions of opening of shipping routes in the Arctic Ocean.