Far from the heat and humidity of a Central New York summer, Alexander de Moor '10 (Wayland, Mass.) began his summer aboard the research vessel Lawrence M. Gould, spending three weeks in Antarctica doing geology research. After crossing the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica, de Moor spent five days conducting research with the Gould team, and then visited Palmer Station on Anvers Island before making the transit back to Punta Arenas in Chile.
The researchers were studying Foraminifera, amoeboids about the size of a grain of sand, with calcium carbonate shells. Foraminifera are often used as proxies for global temperature and climate change, using stable isotope ratios. The isotope amounts fluctuate based on temperature, which makes them a good indicator of climate variations.
De Moor helped the researchers collect around 85 sediment cores at seven different sites, using a multi-corer that descended to the seafloor. After removing the cores from the machine, the team divided them into 1cm slices and preserved them in formaldehyde. Conducted during the austral winter, this expedition followed a similar cruise during Antarctica's summer. The two expeditions will allow the scientists to study biotic and geochemical differences between seasonal extremes, a collaborative effort with Southern Illinois University, Indiana State University, the University of Florida, the National Science Foundation and the United States Antarctic Program.
During the second part of the summer, de Moor worked with J. W. Johnson Family Professor of Environmental Studies Eugene Domack to study sedimentation rates along the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula. After the Larsen B ice shelf collapsed in March of 2002, scientists were able to study what occurs beneath a large shelf. Researchers have documented several trends since the shelf's collapse, including a rise in tributary glacial velocity and increased amounts of sediment being deposited on the seafloor. Typically, de Moor explains, sedimentation rates hovered around 0.05 cm per year before the ice shelf collapsed, but now some areas show sedimentation rates of 1.5 meters per year. "The question is where all the sediment is coming from," says de Moor.
Although this research was "very much a preliminary look," he notes that some sediment reservoirs have opened up due to retreating glaciers, which leave stranded sediment to slump into the ocean. Another possibility is that faster glacial movement has mobilized previously stable sediment reservoirs, which are now being flushed out.
After researching and analyzing the collected data, de Moor went with Professor Domack and Kim Roe '08 to Oslo, Norway, to present their different projects at the 33rd International Geological Congress. During his presentation, de Moor was surprised to field questions from scientists he had used as sources. "Quite intimidating really," he says. A geosciences major, de Moor is also involved in Hamilton Crew, Ultimate Frisbee, and he works during the year as a geosciences lab assistant.
-- by Laura Bramley
The researchers were studying Foraminifera, amoeboids about the size of a grain of sand, with calcium carbonate shells. Foraminifera are often used as proxies for global temperature and climate change, using stable isotope ratios. The isotope amounts fluctuate based on temperature, which makes them a good indicator of climate variations.
De Moor helped the researchers collect around 85 sediment cores at seven different sites, using a multi-corer that descended to the seafloor. After removing the cores from the machine, the team divided them into 1cm slices and preserved them in formaldehyde. Conducted during the austral winter, this expedition followed a similar cruise during Antarctica's summer. The two expeditions will allow the scientists to study biotic and geochemical differences between seasonal extremes, a collaborative effort with Southern Illinois University, Indiana State University, the University of Florida, the National Science Foundation and the United States Antarctic Program.
During the second part of the summer, de Moor worked with J. W. Johnson Family Professor of Environmental Studies Eugene Domack to study sedimentation rates along the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula. After the Larsen B ice shelf collapsed in March of 2002, scientists were able to study what occurs beneath a large shelf. Researchers have documented several trends since the shelf's collapse, including a rise in tributary glacial velocity and increased amounts of sediment being deposited on the seafloor. Typically, de Moor explains, sedimentation rates hovered around 0.05 cm per year before the ice shelf collapsed, but now some areas show sedimentation rates of 1.5 meters per year. "The question is where all the sediment is coming from," says de Moor.
Although this research was "very much a preliminary look," he notes that some sediment reservoirs have opened up due to retreating glaciers, which leave stranded sediment to slump into the ocean. Another possibility is that faster glacial movement has mobilized previously stable sediment reservoirs, which are now being flushed out.
After researching and analyzing the collected data, de Moor went with Professor Domack and Kim Roe '08 to Oslo, Norway, to present their different projects at the 33rd International Geological Congress. During his presentation, de Moor was surprised to field questions from scientists he had used as sources. "Quite intimidating really," he says. A geosciences major, de Moor is also involved in Hamilton Crew, Ultimate Frisbee, and he works during the year as a geosciences lab assistant.
-- by Laura Bramley
