ERC: research project Green2Ice - François Fripiat

When was Greenland "green" ?

Greenland ice sheet is the second largest ice body on Earth. Even though scientists have drilled deep in it and recovered oldest sediments, this huge frozen island may hide secretes. As the ice is melting faster than expected, these ice samples are becoming crucial for our understanding of the current phenomena and future developments. So far, however, researchers did not know how to crack these problems.
 
Green2Ice ERC Synergy grant brings together researchers specialised in various complementary fields – François Fripiat, Laboratory of Glaciology, Faculty of Science, Université libre de Bruxelles; University of Copenhague and CNRS.

Green2Ice aims to develop and apply cutting-edge dating methods to this unique sample collection. Doing so will reconstruct the ice sheet's age and stability. It will also help us understand the implications of ice-free conditions in Greenland on the sea levels and microbial populations below the ice that present a potent contribution to greenhouse gases.
 
Researchers hope to gain insights into the climatic conditions during the ice-free intervals and improve our understanding of the environment beneath the ice sheet. Finally, they will calculate the temperature conditions needed for Greenland to be ice-free and predict the future sea level rise.



This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement n° 101072180)