Ente finanziatore: Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide (MUR-PNRA) - PNRA16_00205.

Budget: 155 100 €.

Partners: Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale, OGS Trieste; Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, UniPi; Dipartimento di Fisica e Scienze della Terra,Università di Parma; INGV, Roma.

Durata: luglio 2017 - dicembre 2019

Sediment Drifts are large sediment accumulations deposited in the deep sea by persistent bottom currents active over several millions of years. They are characterized by a sedimentation rate significantly higher than that of the surrounding hemipelagic sediments and by a relative continuity of sedimentation. As such, they are excellent paleoclimatic archives that may allow the reconstruction of past ocean dynamics and of the glacial history of the adjacent continent. The Eastern sector of the Ross Sea continental slope is a poorly studied area (also for its frequent sea ice cover) that includes several sediment drifts. With this project we aim to study the paleoceanographic conditions that lead to the growth of these sediment drifts and the present ocean circulation in the area. This study will allow to reconstruct past and present ocean dynamics and to gather indirect evidence on the glacial history of this Antarctic sector.