This award is for support for a three year program to measure stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen, as well as their combination, deuterium excess, in ice cores and near surface samples from West Antarctica. These measurements record the changes in basic parameters such as air temperature, accumulation rates, elevation changes, and shifts in moisture sources. The samples are being collected as part of another grant (9316564) for site selection for an eventual deep ice coring program in West Antarctica. As part of this program, a new high capacity, high precision oxygen isotope facility will be developed. No field additional field work is required for this project.
