COMPILED REPORTS OF THE
U.S. ICE CORE RESEARCH WORKSHOP

Preface

From 13-17 June 1988 an NSF-Division of Polar Programs sponsored workshop entitled: "The U.S. Ice Core Research Workshop" was held in Durham, New Hampshire. The Workshop brought together a relatively large number (42) of U.S. researchers interested in ice core research and representatives of the European ice core research community.

The purpose of the Workshop was to develop a consensus concerning the direction of U.S. ice core research through the 1990's. Specific emphasis was placed on the newest major proposed U.S. deep drilling effort, GISP II (Greenland Ice Sheet Project II) and the development of a global strategy for U.S. ice core research to include deep drilling efforts in not only Greenland but also in Antarctica plus shallow to intermediate core recovery programs at low, middle and high latitude sites.

The first morning session was devoted to a series of invited lectures designed to set the stage for the remaining days of discussion. Specialty groups representing the major measurements conducted as part of ice core programs then met separately to prepare reports focusing on the primary scientific objectives sought by those researchers and plans for attaining these objectives. The Workshop participants then met as a whole to hear and comment on specialty group reports. Following these reports moderators convened sessions which dealt with specific aspects of GISP II, Antarctic deep drilling and a global array of shallow to intermediate ice cores. Each moderator prepared a session report which was distributed to all participants for their input during the Workshop. Final specialty group and moderator convened session reports were handed in within the next few days following the close of the Workshop in order to allow the inclusion of any additional comments. A brief statement from the Workshop was submitted to EOS, the AGU Newsletter, in order to inform the scientific community. Copies of all reports and the Workshop statement are included in this document.

Participants at the Workshop expressed a concerted desire that the results of the Workshop be viewed by the scientific community, scientific organizations and funding agencies as a firm statement that U.S. ice core researchers intend to develop a global array of ice core records that will make a significant contribution to the understanding of global change. It is clear that such a contribution will require a major commitment from the ice core research community and funding agencies as well as active interaction with several other scientific disciplines including for example, atmospheric chemists, geochemists, geophysicists and modelers. The next few years promise to be an exciting period of scientific discovery. 

Paul A. Mayewski
8 July 1988

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