Fundamentally, we want to know how the climate and environment of the far southern hemisphere have changed in the past so that we can better understand how the terrestrial (land), atmospheric (air) and oceanic (sea) systems work. This is particularly important given that future climate change will probably affect and alter these systems.
This research project is looking at how four huge ice-lobes (massive glaciers) changed over the last million years or so. During this time, the ice advanced during global cooler periods (known as ice-ages or glaciations) and retreated during warmer periods (or interglacials). We are living in an interglacial now, and the ice has retreated into the mountains. In this part of the world (Patagonia) the glaciations were spectacular because a large number of ice-lobes extended far from the mountains, drastically changing the landscape. Over five or six glaciations the ice seems to have advanced less and less. This means that the evidence remaining in the landscape for lots of successive glaciations is particularly well-preserved because the last glaciation did not bulldoze it all away!
The problem is, we have a fairly good idea about when ice-lobes advanced in Northern Patagonia (and hence that they did indeed become less extensive towards present day) but we are not nearly so sure about the four ice-lobes that we are working on down in the far south. Until we have a better idea of when the ice advanced and retreated here, it is difficult to properly understand how the southernmost part of the land system has changed and how that relates to past climate.
So that is the issue we are trying to tackle! But piecing together what has happened in the past, and importantly when it happened, is tricky. We will be looking for clues left by the ice in the landscape and collecting samples to see how old they are and what they can tell us about the landscape evolution. The exact methods will be explained more in the blog posts, but for now, at least you know why we are here!
Patagonia 2013 