Tag: ta1

20-EPN2-046: Dust-carbon-climate feedbacks tested through detailed independent dating of Arctic wind-blown dust sequences on Greenland.

Visit by Thomas Stevens, Uppsala University (Sweden) to TA1.4 AU Greenland Kangerlussuaq Field Site (Greenland).
Dates of visit: 19-25 July 2021

Report Summary: The aim of this field campaign was to investigate the dynamics of aeolian mineral dust activity and organic carbon burial in western Greenland. Dust is an important component of the global climate system, and investigating its mobilisation, transport and deposition can reveal important information about regional climate and environmental development during the Holocene. Carbon burial in permafrost is one of the main mechanisms by which carbon is sequestered from the atmosphere, and may be linked to dust activity in high latitudes. The work focused on the area between the Greenland Ice Sheet margin and Kangerlussuaq, which represents a range of environmental conditions depending on distance from the ice sheet. We collected modern analogue samples of terrestrial windblown dust (loess) deposits to test and compare the performance of optically stimulated luminescence and radiocarbon dating. These samples were taken at a high-resolution from the surface of the deposits and thus represent recent aeolian activity. Furthermore, we targeted aeolian deposits containing palaeosol layers to be able to independently compare radiocarbon and luminescence ages, and to identify climate phases which were favourable for soil formation and carbon burial. In addition to purely aeolian sediments, peat bogs were also sampled.

These highly organic deposits complement the nearly purely minerogenic loess deposits because they effectively capture and preserve fine-grained wind-blown sediments. Further analysis of these samples and the use of different climate and carbon burial proxies will reveal important details of the regional climate history, dust-carbon burial dynamics, and provide insights into ice-proximal wind dynamics.

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20-EPN-089: UPSIDES – Unravelling icy Planetary Surfaces: 
Insights on their tectonic DEformation from field Survey.

Visit by Costanza Rossi, INAF – Astronomical Observatory of Padova (Italy) to TA1.4 AU Greenland Kangerlussuaq Field Site (Greenland).
Dates of visit: 19-25 July 2021

Report Summary: The Isunguata Sermia and Russell glaciers represent optimal analogues for the study of deformation in glacial environments and their comparison with deformation that affects the icy satellites of Jupiter and Saturn. The aim of UPSIDES project concerns the relation of tectonic structures from the outcrop to the regional scale with multi-scalar investigation which can provide significant support for planetary analysis. The collection of field data has been significant to find scaling laws between tectonic structures in glaciers and in icy satellite surfaces, and the behaviour at depth of their tectonic structures.

The successful fieldwork in the Kangerlussuaq area enabled the identification of tectonic structures in representative areas of the Isunguata Sermia (southern margin) and Russell glaciers (northern margin and terminus). More than 250 data have been collected from 31 field measurement stations including high dip- and low dip-structures, originated by different stress fields caused by the westward flow of both glaciers. We recognized high dip-extensional fractures approximately E-W and NE-SW trending at the Russell glacier. On the other hand, NNW-SSE trending fractures and low-angle faults, such as compressional thrusts/shear planes, have been detected at the Isunguata Sermia. From satellite imagery and aerial photos, we detected consistent structural orientations with the structures identified in outcrop. A similar correlation will be applied to the structures recognised by remote sensing on the icy satellites. Additionally, at the outcrop scale we identified structures acting as preferential way of fluid circulation. We performed measurements also in rock outcrops near the glacier to understand the relationship between bedrock morpho-tectonics and ice drainage that in turn control the measured glacial deformation.

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20-EPN-017: LITRASV – Life in TRAvertine-Sinter Veins: a possible key to recognize extra-terrestrial life in tectonically-driven depositional systems.

Visit by Enrico Capezzuoli, University of Florence and Andrea Brogi, University of Bari (Italy) to TA1 – Iceland Field Sites, MATIS
Dates of visit: 04-10 July 2021

Report Summary: Detailed study of travertine and sinter depositional systems and related feeder conduits (veins) in cold desertic setting (Lýsuhóll and Hveravellir sites- Iceland), as possible repository of subsurface life to be observed in extra-terrestrial setting. The performed field activity allows reconstruction of the structural control in these sinter/travertine depositional systems, with stratigraphic-sedimentological characterisation of the travertine-sinter lithofacies. 16 travertine/sinter samples were collected from the two sites, together with the basic physical characterization of the thermal springs (T, pH, Cond). Due to the local conditions, all the collected samples derive from fossil/inactive systems (veins and crusts samples). Among these, one sample derives from a sinter vein recognized in the Lýsuhóll site, while all other derive from fossil vents or close surroundings.

Samples returned to Italy for future petrographic and geochemical characterization in order to detect and define possible organic presence in such an extreme environment.

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