ANR DELTA

Given the ongoing global warming, the contribution of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet to sea level rise over the next few centuries is largely unknown and has been identified as a critical knowledge gap by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

In this context, a major threshold effect for recession is the margins of large lowland areas such as the Wilkes Basin.
Understanding past deglaciation phases since the Last Glacial Maximum (~23 ka BP) provides a basis for understanding the dynamic behaviour of the SIEA and better anticipating its future evolution with the help of numerical models.

In this project, a collaboration between geologists, glaciologists and modellers aims to study the dynamic response of the EAIS to climate warming in an area bordering the Wilkes Basin, Adelie Land. The data obtained will be used as a basis for innovative modelling of EAIS fluctuations, its sensitivity to climate warming and its contribution to sea level rise.