Old Glory Waving at a Patient LC-130
Celebrating success at 3,331 meters!
A Researcher Examines Layers in a Snow Pit Deposited by Different Storms
Inside A Core Processing Line at the National Ice Core Laboratory
Co-Lead Driller Kristina Dahnert Next to the DISC Drill
A One-Meter Long Section of Ice Core with A Dark Ash Layer
temp-thumb
temp-thumb
temp-thumb
temp-thumb
temp-thumb
temp-thumb

West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide Ice Core

The U.S research community is conducting a deep ice coring project in West Antarctica for studies of climate, ice sheet history and cryobiology. This project is collecting a deep ice core from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) ice flow divide and integrating approximately 20 separate but synergistic projects to analyze the ice and interpret the records. Learn more about WAIS Divide.

LATEST NEWS

WAIS Divide Ice Core Completed!!!!
HUGE events at WAIS this week. The hole was deepened to its final depth of 3405 m (as measured with the drill cable). It was a stressful week with long shifts, tense moments, little sleep, and the end of a ten-year effort to get the core. More...
WAIS Divide Camp Is Open for the 2011/12 Field Season
We are happy to report that the put-in crew, led by Camp Manager Dean Einerson, made it to WAIS Divide on 5-Nov. They had to try for 6 days (since 10/31) for the weather and equipment to cooperate. More...
2011-2012 Media & Public Guide Now Available
The purpose of the Media and Public Guide is to provide a general overview of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide Ice Core project for both the media and the general public. More...
Getting to the Bottom - NICL Team Processes Deepest Ice from WAIS Divide Project
Mick Sternberg had literally made the same measurement a thousand times before. But this meter-long ice core was perhaps just a little more special. He double-checked his numbers on the final length, stood back, and rechecked again. More...
Registration is Now Open for the 2011 Science Meeting
The 2011 WAIS Divide Ice Core science meeting will be held on September 28-29 (Weds-Thurs) at the Scripps Seaside Forum in La Jolla, California. More...
WAIS Divide 2011 Core Processing Line Underway
During the next 10 weeks the WAIS Divide ice core will be sampled and measured at the National Ice Core Laboratory during the 2011 core processing line (CPL). More...

FIELD & CPL UPDATES

February 01, 2012
This is the last field update for the 2011-12 season. The science and drilling crews have left WAIS Divide. The camp crew is doing the cold task of closing camp as they continue to occupy smaller and colder bits of it.
Read More →
January 23, 2012
This week the focus was on replicate coring. Because replicate coring is a new procedure, the replicate coring objective for this season is to test the equipment and procedures...
Read More →


ATTENTION SCIENTISTS

Investigators from the United States need to submit a proposal to the National Science Foundation (NSF) to obtain ice samples or access the borehole. If you are planning on submitting a proposal to NSF, you must contact the WAIS Divide Science Coordination Office (SCO) before submitting your proposal and obtain a letter from the SCO stating that your proposal is consistent with the WAIS Divide operation plan. In order to initiate this process, investigators must submit a Sample Request Form to the SCO. Sample requests may take up to 6 weeks to process depending on the complexity of the request and other workloads.

If the SCO approves your Sample Request, the SCO will provide you with a Letter of Support stating that your proposal is consistent with the WAIS Divide operation plan. ** This Letter of Support needs to be submitted with your NSF proposal. **

For more information, please read this.