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St. Olaf scientist receives $680,000 grant for Antarctic study

By David Gonnerman '90
August 31, 2009

An Antarctic glacier has been named after St. Olaf Professor of Physics Bob Jacobel, who has conducted seven projects in Antarctica.

Bob Jacobel, the Grace Whittier Professor of Physics at St. Olaf College, has received funding from the National Science Foundation for his participation in an interdisciplinary collaboration of scientists who are studying subglacial environments at two coastal sites in West Antarctica.

The $680,000 award, funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, is the St. Olaf portion of a $10 million grant made to 11 scientists at nine U.S. institutions for a five-year study that will take Jacobel to Antarctica for his eighth project. The grant includes funding for the participation of three to four St. Olaf students each year in planning the field program, and analyzing and interpreting the resulting data.

At one of the study sites, the focus will be on investigating the role of active subglacial lakes in controlling the variability of ice sheet flow and thickness in response to climate change. Activity at the second site will concentrate on studying the stability of areas where ice meets the ocean. In both locations, bore holes through the ice will enable scientists to sample conditions at the ice/earth and ice/ocean interfaces.

A key element of the project is a biological component to assess metabolic and phylogenetic (i.e., how groups of organisms relate to each other through evolution) diversity in subglacial lake and ocean margin environments. The work takes an integrated systems approach to analyze physical, chemical, and geobiological interactions in subglacial environments at the interface of Antarctic ice, earth, and ocean zones.

Radar and related geophysical remote sensing studies will be the first component of the project carried out by Jacobel and his team members, beginning in November 2010. This will enable the group to characterize the environments at both sites and to select precise locations for subsequent bore-hole drilling.

In 2005 Jacobel received a $400,000 NSF grant for ongoing ice radar studies in Antarctica. Previously, his work earned him the distinction of having a West Antarctica glacier named in his honor.

Read more about St. Olaf involvement in polar research in the St. Olaf Magazine story "Fire and Ice."

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.