Takuya Itaki (Geological Survey of Japan, AIST) Takeshige Ishiwa, and Yusuke Suganuma (National Institute of Polar Research, Tokyo, Japan)
The first sediment coring project using the ice breaker SHIRASE was carried out in the 61st Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition in 2019- 2020 season. The main aim of the project is to reconstruct the past of the Southern Ocean, Antarctic climate and ice sheet variability. From early December in 2019 to the end of February 2020, geophysical, geological and oceanographic data are collected off Totten Glacier, Cape Darnley, and in Lutzow Holm Bay. The histories of retreat, meltwater release, and warm water intrusion of these areas will be revealed by this expedition. This project was supported by “Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas” in Japan. More details about the GRANTARCTIC, please visit the following website (http://grantarctic.jp/en/).
Number of sediment cores and grab core samples were obtained in these areas.
The longest sediment core (4-m long) was recovered in the front of Totten Glacier.
In addition to the sediments, the various information was also collected using the instruments attached to the sampler such as the CTD profiler, bottom water sampler, and sub-marine camera.