HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

{{short description, Scientific research platform The International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE) was created in 1990 with the purpose of studying climate change through research conducted in
Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...
. Antarctica was chosen as the optimal site to study the atmosphere because of its remote location and relatively undisturbed environment. Research in many fields has been conducted in Antarctica through ITASE, including astronomy, atmospheric sciences, biology, earth sciences, environmental science, geology,
glaciology Glaciology (; ) is the scientific study of glaciers, or, more generally, ice and natural phenomena that involve ice. Glaciology is an interdisciplinary Earth science that integrates geophysics, geology, physical geography, geomorphology, clim ...
, marine biology, oceanography, and geophysics.


History

A 1990 meeting held in
Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, served as a site of discussion regarding national ice coring efforts and the possibility of international collaboration between the world's top scientists. As a result, nineteen nations worldwide, including
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
,
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
,
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
,
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
,
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
, the U.K. and the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, teamed up to study the surface and subsurface record of Antarctica's ice cores. These countries agreed that an understanding of Antarctica's climate and atmospheric composition (gathered through
ice core An ice core is a core sample that is typically removed from an ice sheet or a high mountain glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier ...
examination) would provide greater insight into the understanding of climate change on a global level. The ITASE Planning Document was formally recommended to XXII SCAR ( Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research) in a 1992 meeting in
Bariloche San Carlos de Bariloche (from the Mapuche name ''Vuriloche'', meaning "people from the other side of the mountain"), commonly known simply as Bariloche (), is the largest city in the Argentine province of Río Negro and the seat of the departm ...
,
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
, by the Working Group on Glaciology. The SCAR officials approved this preliminary implementation of the ITASE project, naming it “Recommendation Glaciology XXII-5.” SCAR allowed ITASE to contribute to its six main initiatives regarding Antarctica, and further accepted ITASE under one of its primary initiatives, GLOCHANT ( Global Change in Antarctica) during the XXIII SCAR meeting in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. ITASE was also adopted as a Past Global Changes (PAGES) project in 1993. The ITASE project reached its culmination in a workshop in Cambridge, U.K., during August 2–3, 1996. The US ITASE Science and Implementation Plan was published a few months before, in May, following a US ITASE workshop in
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
.


Objective

Because Antarctica has played a major role in global systems (i.e. atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, etc.) scientists hoped to expand on the little knowledge of Antarctica's complex climate that was available. This data was collected primarily during the past 30 to 40 years. High resolution ice cores have been recognized, since, as the most direct and reliable record of the “soluble, insoluble and gaseous components of the atmosphere at resolutions as fine as seasonal and, potentially, on time scales as long as a million years” (International). Through ice core analysis, scientists are able to study past environments on earth and, more importantly, predict future environmental trends. Ice cores formed from polar glaciers generally contain the best preserved records of all geographic locations. Substances transported by the atmosphere and trapped within glacial ice reveal factors that cause environmental change as well as global responses to this change. Results from deep ice core studies conducted in
Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...
correspond with results of these Antarctic studies. Similar changes in parameters such as temperature, snow accumulation, wind-blown dust, sea-salt loading and methane composition indicate global climatic trends – that conclusions made from studies done in Antarctica may very well apply to the entire globe.


References

International Trans-Antarctic Science Expedition. 1977–1997. University of Maine. 10 Nov. 200

West, Peter. “International Trans-Antarctic Science Expedition (ITASE).” National Science Foundation News. 10 Feb. 2003. 13 Nov. 200

h1>

External links




SCAR (Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research)
Antarctic expeditions