IPY 2007-2008

Summary

In August 2006, Centro de Estudios Científicos (CECS) in association with Dirección Meteorológica de Chile (DMC) submitted a project entitled “Stability and recent behaviour of glaciers in the Antarctic Peninsula - the interactions with ice shelves” to a call of proposal for Chilean projects within the International Polar Year by Programa Bicentenario de Ciencia y Tecnología, the World Bank and the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH). The main aim of the proposal is to study the response of glaciers in the Antarctic Peninsula to climate change. The results will contribute to the better understanding of the recent dynamics of the glaciers in one of the Antarctic regions that is experiencing significant changes and the implication for sea level rise.
 
Considering that documentation of these processes exists in the north of the Antarctic Peninsula, here we propose to investigate the recent state of Fleming Glacier (South of 69ºS) against the past when it still drained into the now disappeared Wordie Ice Shelf. The study is linked to a north American project financed by NSF in the south of Larsen C Ice Shelf to the east of Fleming Glacier to conduct comparing studies at both systems.
 
During the 3 years of the project (The research project is nearly at its final stage), different methods and scales were aimed to be integrated with the main activity of annual expeditions to Fleming Glacier with logistic support of the Chilean Airforce (FACH) and the British Base Rothera (British Antarctic Survey, BAS) as a base station. Fieldwork included among others the installation of permanent GPS stations and Automatic Weather Stations and ice thickness measurements with Ground Penetrating Radar systems. The first campaign was realised successfully in November-December 2007 with the initial installation of the sensors which allowed valuable data collection throughout the lifetime project.