This award is for support of a two year study to continue systematic core studies of piston cores obtained beneath Ice Stream B on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The study aims to test the theory that by lubricating the glacier bed, the till is responsible for the rapid ice-streaming motion. Measurements will be conducted on both existing core materials as well as on new samples to be acquired as part of this and other currently funded projects. Samples will also be examined for their content of microfossils, which will provide information about the glacial and climatic history of West Antarctica.
