The ice core investigation proposed here, in concert with our past and future research, is intended to provide: in-depth understanding of climate variability; a baseline for assessing modern climate variability in the context of human activity; and a contribution to the prediction of future climate variability. We plan to realize the full potential of the buried “meteorological and chemical monitoring station” found within the South Pole SPRESO ice core including development of instrumentally calibrated time series for climate reconstructions. We plan to make important contributions to the understanding of the behavior of major atmospheric phenomena such as ENSO and the Antarctic Oscillation, and changes in the chemical composition of the atmosphere, plus controls on these changes.

The proposed research addresses important questions concerning the role of Antarctica in past, present, and future global change. The preceding is of particular interest in light of predictions for notable change in the Antarctic environment over coming decades. Results will be translated into publicly accessible information through public lectures, media appearances, and an extensive outreach activity.

The 2000+ year long SPRESO high resolution, multivariate analyses proposed will set a new level of in-depth analyses and interpretation for Antarctic ice core research. Likelihood of success for proposal objectives is very high since previous shorter length records from this region produced significant contributions. We expect the SPRESO results to be of particular significance to climatologists, paleoclimatologists, atmospheric chemists, geochemists, climate modelers, solar-terrestrial physicists, and environmental statisticians.

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