The Antarctic Research Centre (ARC) is part of the School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences at
Victoria University of Wellington. Its mission is to research "
Antarctic climate history and processes, and their influence on the global climate system.[1] The current director of the Antarctic Research Centre is Associate Professor
Robert McKay.[2]
In December 1957, geology students Barrie McKelvey and Peter Webb along with biologist Ron Balham conducted an expedition to the then unexplored
McMurdo Dry Valleys via the
Royal New Zealand Navy Antarctic support ship
HMNZS Endeavour. This expedition formed the basic for the annual
Victoria University of Wellington Antarctic Expeditions, which continue to the present day. Since this first expedition, over 400 staff and students have travelled to the continent.
The Antarctic Research Centre was established in 1972 as a part of the Department of Geology at Victoria University. The institutes first director was Professor
Peter Barrett, who remained for 35 years before stepping down from the role in 2007.[4] The centre won the
New Zealand Prime Minister's Science Prize in 2020. [5]
Research
Research conducted at ARC focuses on
climate change, including the analysis of ocean floor
sediment cores and
ice cores, and
glacial modeling.[1] Researchers from ARC have studied different factors that impact polar ice, including CO2 levels[6][7] and oscillations in the Earth's orbit.[8][9]
Antarctic Expeditions
The ARC conducts annual research explorations, known as the Victoria University of Wellington Antarctic Expeditions (VUWAE), into
Antarctica. The first expedition, which explored the McMurdo Dry Valleys, was undertaken on December 30, 1957, by Peter Webb and
Barrie McKelvey, two third-year geology students.[4][10] Since then, students and staff have made annual expeditions to conduct research in areas such as glacial history and climate change.[11]
Expedition leaders have named a number of features in the area, including
Eureka Spurs and
Ghent Ridge.
^Golledge, N. R.; Kowalewski, D. E.; Naish, T. R.; Levy, R. H.; Fogwill, C. J.; Gasson, E. G. W. (2015). "The multi-millennial Antarctic commitment to future sea-level rise". Nature. 526 (7573): 421–425.
doi:
10.1038/nature15706.
PMID26469052.
S2CID205246177.
^Naish, Tim R.; Woolfe, Ken J.;
Barrett, Peter J.; Wilson, Gary S.; Atkins, Cliff; Bohaty, Steven M.; Bücker, Christian J.; Claps, Michele; Davey, Fred J.; Dunbar, Gavin B.; Dunn, Alistair G.; Fielding, Chris R.; Florindo, Fabio; Hannah, Michael J.; Harwood, David M.; Henrys, Stuart A.; Krissek, Lawrence A.; Lavelle, Mark; van der Meer, Jaap; McIntosh, William C.; Niessen, Frank; Passchier, Sandra; Powell, Ross D.; Roberts, Andrew P.; Sagnotti, Leonardo; Scherer, Reed P.; Strong, C. Percy; Talarico, Franco; Verosub, Kenneth L.; Villa, Giuliana; Watkins, David K.; Webb, Peter-N.; Wonik, Thomas (18 October 2001).
"Orbitally induced oscillations in the East Antarctic ice sheet at the Oligocene/Miocene boundary". Nature. 413 (6857): 719–723.
doi:
10.1038/35099534.
PMID11607028.
S2CID4335866.
^Patterson, M. O.; McKay, R.; Naish, T.; Escutia, C.; Jimenez-Espejo, F. J.; Raymo, M. E.; Meyers, S. R.; Tauxe, L.; Brinkhuis, H. (2014). "Orbital forcing of the East Antarctic ice sheet during the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene". Nature Geoscience. 7 (11): 841–847.
CiteSeerX10.1.1.719.335.
doi:
10.1038/ngeo2273.