Aberystwyth academic embarks on Antarctica mission
An Aberystwyth University glaciologist will be heading out to Antarctica on Saturday 7 January as part of an international study into the effects of climate change. Professor Neil Glasser will be joining scientists from Sweden, the USA and Norway for a seven week mission to the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Supported by the Swedish Polar Secretariat, the team will be collecting scientific data in Dronning Maud Land to reconstruct the long-term history of how the ice sheet in the area has thinned. Professor Glasser will be collecting rock samples to bring back to the UK for Cosmogenic Nuclide Surface Exposure Dating – also known as CN Dating. “CN Dating is a brand-new dating method we are developing that allows us to measure the amount of time the rock has been exposed at the surface – therefore providing an age estimate for when the ice thinned”, said Professor Glasser. The rocks will be collected from nunataks in the region, rocky mountains several hundred metres high that stick u...