Workshop: Geodynamics and Paleoclimate of the Amerasian Basin and its Margins; Washington, DC; June 6-8, 2004

University Of Alaska Fairbanks Campus, Fairbanks AK

Investigators

Abstract

The Principal Investigator will host a workshop to bring scientists interested in the geology and geophysics of the Arctic Ocean and its adjacent margins together to discuss the critical questions about this region and formulate a science plan for future investigations. In the Arctic, the history of the Amerasian basin has been inferred from the limited stratigraphic record exposed on the Canadian and American continental margins. During the last few years, an outpouring of data collected in the Arctic Ocean basin from satellites, airplanes, and submarines has been made available and compiled into revised and much improved maps and grids of bathymetry, gravity anomalies and magnetic anomalies. With these new data, it is now possible to formulate concrete, specific hypotheses about the history of the basin. Testing these hypotheses will require coordinated field programs. Intellectual Merit: A number of basic scientific problems can be addressed in the Amerasian Basin. Some of these problems are unique to the Arctic Ocean while others are framed by studies conducted at lower latitudes. Solutions of these problems will require new data collected throughout the basin. The expense of these cruises argues against continuing in the single investigator, single hypothesis, single cruise mode that is the typical NSF model. Making progress will require multiple coordinated, multi-disciplinary cruises. While the Amerasian Basin is clearly an oceanic basin, no mutually agreed upon plate boundaries are recognized. As a result, reconstructions of the paleo-geography of the northern hemisphere prior to the Cenozoic are largely hypothetical. Identifying these boundaries will help to decipher the plate tectonic history of the Mesozoic Arctic Ocean. The stratigraphic record of the Arctic Ocean contains a unique paleooceanographic and climatic record. Little of the Cenozoic and almost none of the Mesozoic record has been sampled. Dramatic changes have occurred since the Cretaceous through the Pleistocene, when ice sheets extended out into the basin, to the present day. Deciphering this history will complement the sediment and ice cores taken at lower latitudes and make it possible to study truly global paleoclimate for the first time. This work will be accomplished by scientific drilling, which would require a number of preliminary cruises collecting swath mapping and multi-channel seismic profiling to prepare. Broader Impacts: The generation of earth scientists who began their arctic careers with International Geophysical Year (IGY), ice islands and Polar-class U.S Coast Guard icebreakers has retired. Their experience, enthusiasm and ideas are needed by the mid-career scientists who have focused on Arctic Ocean geology and geophysics and others, post-docs and graduate students who will advance this work in the future. The major objectives of this workshop are to make these connections, both domestically and internationally, build a community and develop a coherent plan for the future studies of the Amerasian Basin.