[M-IS03] The Southern Ocean and the Antarctic Ice Sheet dynamics in past, present and future

[MIS03-01] Review of KAKENHI project "Giant reservoirs of heat/water/material : Global environmental changes driven by the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic Ice Sheet"

★Invited Papers

*Kenji Kawamura^1,2,3, on behalf of KAKENHI project "Giant reservoirs of heat/water/material : Global environmental changes driven by the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic Ice Sheet" - (1.National Institute of Polar Research, Research Organization of Information and Systems, 2.Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI, 3.Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC))

Keywords:Southern Ocean, Ice sheet, Antarctica, Global change

The Antarctic continent is covered and surrounded by strongly interacting components - cryosphere, ocean, atmosphere, and biosphere, and their changes strongly affect the global environment. To better understand the past, present and potential future of the Antarctic and to establish the framework for studying the complex Antarctic environmental system, we have observed the Antarctic ice sheet, solid earth and Southern Ocean (in-situ and satellite), analyzed the samples such as ice cores, sediments and biological samples, and modeled the climate, ice sheet, ocean-ice interactions, and carbon cycle from local to global scales. We have conducted the research activities over the past five years, under the KAKENHI project "Giant reservoirs of heat/water/material: Global environmental changes driven by the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic Ice Sheet", consisting of 7 research units (Southern Ocean, paleoceanography, biology, ice sheet, solid earth, unmanned observation, and numerical modeling). The project utilized the strong observational platforms provided by the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition, newly established international fieldwork participation, and strong collaborations between the scientists working on the various fields of observation, engineering, sample analyses, data analyses and modelings on various components and scales.

In this presentation, we will review the objectives and main published outcomes of the project, including those on ongoing ocean-ice interactions, recent changes in the ice sheet, solid earth and bottom water, snow accumulation changes over East Antarctica, biological processes, long-term (past glacial-interglacial) climate and carbon cycle changes, and projection of the ice sheet changes.