Brazil National Report Prepared by Jefferson Simoes
email:jefferson.simoes@ufrgs
Instituto de Geociências
Laboratório de Pesquisas Antárticas e Glaciológicas
BRAZILIAN REPORT TO ITASE - May 2002
The “Laboratório de Pesquisas Antárticas e Glaciológicas
(LAPAG)” at the “Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul”
carries out the Brazilian snow and ice core investigations in Antarctica.
Ice-coring and glaciochemical studies are carried out in co-operation
with the Laboratorio de Estratigrafia Glaciar y Geoquímica del
Agua y de la Nieve (LEGAN, Mendoza/Argentina), the Laboratoire de Glaciologie
et Géophysique de l’Environnement (LGGE, Grenoble/France)
and the Grupo de Estudos de Poluição do Ar (GEPA) from the
Universidade de São Paulo (São Paulo/Brazil).
LAPAG participates in the LEGAN/LGGE’s James Ross Island project.
The first 40 m of a 117-m core, recovered by the Argentinean led expedition
(Alberto Aristarain) in 1998, is now being analysed in Mendoza and Grenoble
with Brazilian participation.
Since 1999 Brazilian scientists have participated in investigations of deep Antarctic cores. Jefferson C. Simões finished a study about the distribution and geochemistry of microparticles in the deepest Vostok core layers. Other studies include determination of the sulphur stable isotopic ratios in snow and ice (Vostok and Dome C) by Francisco A. Ferron at the Laboratoire de Modélisation du Climat et de l’Environnement (LMCE) du Commissariat a L’Energie Atomique - Saclay/France and measurements by ICP-MS of minor constituents in samples from snow pits from King George Island (Alexandre L. Correia at USP).
Finally, eight shallow cores have been obtained from KGI and Livingston Island since 1993 to provide for the spatial distribution of ionic species and stable isotopic ratios on the South Shetlands. By now, this research project has come to an end, and a review paper on spatial distribution of ice core parameters in the South Shetlands is to be submitted to “Antarctic Science” by the end of 2002.
Ice coring expedition to James Ross Island - 2nd phase
In early 1998 the Argentinean-French-Brazilian team drilled to 117 m at the top of the James Ross Island ice cap. This project was supported by the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) and by the national antarctic programmes of the three countries. A new drilling mission (to reach ice-rock interface at 350-m depth) was planned, but cancelled due to bad weather, in the summer of 2001.
Education and training
An education and research project on ice cores is being funded by a Brazilian-French agreement. For the last two years three Brazilians scientists have been trained at Ph.D. and post-doc levels at the LGGE. Training at M.Sc. level is now offered by the Geosciences Graduate Course at UFRGS.
Planned Work (2002-2004)
Projects planned for the next two years include laboratory investigations of the James Ross ice core and studies on links to the South American environmental record. Plans to drill to the bottom (h = 350 m) in James Ross have been postponed indefinitely due to the present financial situation in South America. Finally, Brazilian scientists are looking for patterns to participate at least in one of the ITASE traverses and studying with Chilean colleagues a joint short transverse in the region of Patriot Hills.
Recent publications
ARTICLES
Dallia, K.C., Evangelista, H., Simões, J.C. & Bueno Pereira,
E., (In press), Microanálise individual de aerossóis por
EDS em testemunho de gelo e sua sazonalidade na atmosfera da Ilha Rei
George. [EDS individual microanalysis of aerosols in ice cores and their
seasonality in the King George Island atmosphere]. Annals of the Brazilian
Academy of Sciences, Pesquisa Antártica. (In Portuguese - English
abstract).
Ferron, F.A. & Simões, J.C., (2000), O registro isotópico
em testemunhos de gelo da Ilha Rei George, Antártica. [The isotopic
record in ice cores from King George Island, Antarctica]. Pesquisas em
Geociências, 27(2): 87-96. (In Portuguese - English abstract).
Ferron, F.A., Simões, J.C., Aquino, F.E. & Setzer, A.W., (In
press), Air temperature time series for King George Island, Antarctica.
Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, Pesquisa Antártica
Brasileira.
Simões, J.C., Ferron, F.A., Bernardo, R.T., Aristarain, A., Stiévenard,
M., Pourchet, M., & Delmas, R., (In press), An ice core study from
the King George Island ice cap, South Shetlands, Antarctica. Annals of
the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, Pesquisa Antártica Brasileira.
Simões, J.C., Petit, J.-R., Souchez, R., Lipenkiv, V.Ya., De Angrlis,
M., Liu, L., Jouzel, J., & Duval, P., (In press), Evidence of glacial
flour in the deepest 89 m of the Vostok glacier ice core. Annals of Glaciology,
35.
Souchez, R., Petit J.-R., Jouzel, J., Simões, J.C., De Angrlis,
M., Barkov, N., Stiévenard, M. Vimeux, F., Sleewaegen, S. &
Lorrain, R., (In press), Highly deformed basal ice in the Vostok core,
Antarctica. Geophysical Research Letters.
ABSTRACTS
Ferron, F. A., Bernardo, R. T., Simões, J. C., (2001), Química
da neve e do gelo da Ilha Rei George, Antártica. [Snow and ice
chemistry in King George Island, Antarctica]. VIII Congresso da Associação
Brasileira de Estudos do Quaternário, 2001, Imbé, RS. Mudanças
Globais e o Quaternário - Boletim de Resumos. p.473-474. (In Portuguese).
Ferron, F.A. & Simões, J.C., (2000), Hydrogen and oxygen stable
isotopes ratios from snow and ice on King George Island, Antarctica. Programas
e Resumos do VIII Seminário sobre Pesquisas Antárticas.
São Paulo: Centro de Pesquisas Antárticas, USP, 2000. p.20.
Simões, J. C., Ferron, F. A., Bernardo, R. T., Correia, A. L.,
Aristarain, A. J., Stiévenard, M., Pourchet, M., (2001), Shallow
ice core parameters in the South Shetlands Islands. Programas e Resumos
do IX Seminário sobre Pesquisas Antárticas. São Paulo:
Centro de Pesquisas Antárticas, USP, 2001. p.30.
Simões, J. C., Ferron, F. A., Bernardo, R. T., Correia, A. L.,
Aristarain, A. J., Stiévenard, M., Pourchet, M., (2001), Spatial
distribution of shallow ice core parameters in the South Shetland Islands.
In: International Symposium on Ice Cores and Climate, 2001, Kangerlussuaq.
Abstracts Volume. Cambridge: International Glaciological Society, 2001.
p.14-15.
DISSERTATIONS
Bernardo, R.T., (2000), Conteúdo aniônico da neve e do gelo
da Ilha Rei George, Antártica. [Anionic content in the King George
Island snow and ice, Antarctica]. Pós-Graduação em
Geociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS,
Porto Alegre, Brazil. (In Portuguese - English abstract)
Ferron, F.A., (1999), Variações nas razões de isótopos
estáveis na neve e no gelo da Ilha Rei George, Antártica.
[Variations in the stable isotope ratios in King George Island snow and
ice, Antarctica]; Pós-Graduação em Geociências,
UFRGS, Porto Alegre, Brazil(In Portuguese - English abstract];
Brazilian institutions
Laboratório
de Pesquisas Antárticas e Glaciológicas
Departamento de Geografia - Instituto de Geociências
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS
Avenida Bento Gonçalves, 9500 - C.P. 15001
91541 - 970 - Porto Alegre, RS - Brazil
Contact: Dr. Jefferson
Cardia Simões
Fax: (55) (51) 3316-7327
Phone: (55) (51) 3316-7324
E-mail: jefferson.simoes@ufrgs.br>
Grupo de Estudos
de Poluição do Ar - GEPA
Departamento de Física Aplicada, Instituto De Física - Universidade
de São Paulo
Rua Do Matão, Travessa R, 187 - Cidade Universitária - Butantã
- CP 20516
05315-970 - São Paulo, SP - Brazil
Contact: Dr. Paulo
Eduardo Artaxo Netto
Fax: (55) (11) 818-6749
E-mail: artaxo@if.usp.br
TABLES
Table 1- BRAZILIAN
SNOW AND ICE CHEMISTRY STUDIES
Shallow Cores in the South Shetlands
| Ice core (sampling year) | Depth (m) | Measurements |
| Lange Glacier (KGI) 1995 | 48.67 | dD, d18O, Cs137, Pb210, Cl-, No3-, So4-2 |
| Drake Strait (KGI) 1995 | 5.26 | dD |
| Ezcurra Inlet (KGI) 1995 | 5.5 | dD |
| Dome 2 (KGI) 1995 | 5.53 | dD |
| Cracovia ice field (KGI) 1995 | 5.4 | pH, Cl-, No3-, SO4-2 |
| King George Is. 1994 | 15.75 | pH, Cl-, No3-, SO4-2 |
| Hurd Glacier (Livingston Is.) 1993 | 13.5 | pH, Cl-, No3-, SO4-2 |
| King George 1993 | 10.10 | pH, Cl-, No3-, SO4-2 |
Table 2- MAIN BRAZILIAN ICE CORES IN THE SOUTH SHETLANDS
| Site name (lat. Long.) | Drilling Year | Core length (m) | Mean accumulation rate (m a-1 in water eq.) | Estimate year of deposition of the bottom layer | Measurements | Drilling Agency |
| Lange (700 m) 62° 07’ S 58° 37’ W | 1995 | 49.9 | 0.5 | 1918 | dD, d18O,Cl-1, So4-2, No3-, Cs137, Pb210 | LAPAG UFRGS Brazil |
| Hurd Glacier (± 700 m) 62° 37’ S 58° 16’ W | 1993 | 13.5 | 0.65 | 1983 | pH, Cl-1, So4-2, No3- | LAPAG UFRGS Brazil |
Table
3 - LANGE ICE CORE SITE MEAN SURFACE VALUES
King George Island Ice Field
(700 m a.s.l.)
| dD (‰ ) | Cl- (µEq l-1) | So4-2 (µEq l-1) | [So4-2]* (µEq l-1) | Mean acumulation rate (m a-1) | |
| 1995 | -70.3 | 126.3 | 15.1 | 2.1 | < 0.5 |
Table
4 - HURD GLACIER ICE CORE SITE MEAN SURFACE VALUES
Livingston Island
(± 700 m a.s.l.)
| dD (‰) | Cl- (µEq l-1) | So4-2 (µEq l-1) | [So4-2]* (µEq l-1) | Mean acumulation rate (m a-1) | |
| 1993 | 132.9 | 19.4 | 5.7 | < 0.7 |
RADIO-ECHO
SOUNDING SURVEYS
A 550 km RES net on the King George Island ice cap where carry out by
LAPAG and associated research groups. These surveys included a 4-km exploratory
high resolution GPR survey.
Mean atmospheric temperature time series - King George Island
An annual mean atmospheric temperature time series for the King George Island was derived by F.E. Aquino, F.A. Ferron and J.C. Simões (LAPAG/UFRGS) for the period 1944 to 1995. Deception Island meteorological data, corrected for the Fildes Peninsula by Jones and Limbert (1985?), was used for the period 1944 - 11967, from 1967 to 1984 data from the Russian Bellingshausen Station was used, Chilean Frei Base provided for the 1984 to 1988 data and the Brazilian Station Comandante Ferraz provide for the data from 1998 to 1995. Mean temperature increased by 0.98 °C during 49 years, i.e., a 0.02 °C a-1 trend.
WEATHER STATIONS DATA AVAILABLE IN THE KGI
| Station | Coordinates Lat/Long | Period covered by meteorological record |
| Deception Island (UK) | 63° 00’ S 60° 42’ W | 1944 - 67 |
| Bellingshausen (Russia) | 62° 12’ S 58° 56’ W | 1967 - |
| Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva (Chile) | 62° 12’ S 58° 55’ W | 1969 - |
| Comandante Ferraz (Brazil) | 62° 05’ S 58° 20’ W | 1984 - |