Massive Antarctic project takes Montana State University to one of Earth's final frontiers

BOZEMAN, Mont. -- An "unparalleled opportunity" to drill through the Ross Ice Shelf and explore the world underneath it will involve Montana State University faculty and current and former MSU students over the next five years.

The National Science Foundation recently awarded $10 million to a team of 14 researchers from nine institutions who will examine one of Earth's final frontiers, said John Priscu of MSU, current lead scientist and one of three directors of WISSARD, or Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling. MSU's portion of the grant is $2.65 million.

The Ross Ice Shelf floats over the Southern Ocean, and it's fed by continental ice streams that flow to the Ross Sea. The scientists involved in WISSARD will drill through the Whillans Ice Stream and the Ross Ice Shelf and sample rivers and lakes below the Whillans Ice Stream and the grounding zone where the ice stream converges with the ice shelf. Recent satellite data has revealed that Subglacial Lake Whillans, one of more than 200 known lakes beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet and the primary WISSARD study lake, fills and drains about every three years.

WISSARD is the first large-scale multidisciplinary effort to examine subglacial ecosystems, said Priscu who has spent more than 25 field seasons in Antarctica. To carry it out, researchers will use a hot water drill to melt through almost 3,000 feet of ice to reach the subglacial environment. The drill will have its own decontamination system to ensure that the subglacial environment is not contaminated by their efforts.

After analyzing the physical, chemical, geological and biological interactions that occur under the ice, scientists will know much more about how the West Antarctic Ice Sheet responded to past climate changes, Priscu said. This is important since the Antarctic Ice Sheets contain 70 percent of Earth's freshwater, and any significant melting can drastically increase sea level.

Scientists may also discover microbial communities that produce novel compounds that can be beneficial to humans, such as antifreezes and medicinals, and they certainly will discover organisms that make a living in the dark and cold and have not been directly exposed to the atmosphere for more than 10 million years, Priscu said. Those organisms will reveal something about the evolution of life on Earth and reveal a new niche for life on this planet that was never thought to exist. These sub-ice bugs also transform rocks into minerals that fertilize the ocean and influence its chemistry.

WISSARD will also give scientists a better idea of how to search for life on other planets, because subglacial conditions may be similar to conditions on other icy worlds within this solar system where space exploration is currently focused, Priscu said.