Funding is provided to recover and analyze ice cores from glaciers in the tropical Pacific to examine tropical climate variability especially El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) linked climate phenomena such as the Austral-Asian monsoon system, the abrupt 4,000 year drought, and the modulation of Atlantic and Pacific tropical storm intensities. Specifically, the researchers will recover four cores to bedrock from the two of the three remaining ice fields on Puncak Jaya (PJ) in Irian Jaya, Indonesia on the Island of New Guinea and two cores from Nevado Hualcán in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru.
Climatologically, tropical ice masses are particularly sensitive to small changes in ambient temperatures since they exist very close to the melting point of water. Scientific evidence exists for recent and strong warming in the tropics that is signaled by the disappearance and rapid retreat of ice caps and glaciers at high elevations.
General circulation models of possible future climate change indicate that warming will increase most rapidly at higher altitudes and especially in the tropical latitudes where these glaciers are located. Scientific interest in the study of the Puncak Jaya and Hualcán ice fields, both in the analysis of the cores and in the measurements of area and volume changes of the glaciers themselves, arises in part from the need to place the recent and accelerating ice retreat into a longer temporal perspective.
Furthermore, the analyses of the Hualcán ice cores and accompanying mass balance studies will help provide critical information about water resources in Peru. Runoff from glaciers feed Peru's streams and rivers and is essential for irrigation, hydroelectric production (80% of Peru?s electricity), and municipal water supplies.
The planned project supports students in an effort to expand our fundamental knowledge of climate across time and space. The research also provides for true intellectual and financial collaborations between academia, non-governmental organizations, and governments in several nations.
