WAIS Divide is a U.S. deep ice coring project funded by NSF to collect a deep ice core from the flow divide in central West Antarctica in order to develop a unique series of interrelated climate, ice dynamics, and biologic records focused on understanding interactions among global Earth systems. http://www.waisdivide.unh.edu/about/

This project is a collaboration between Drs. John Priscu and Christine Foreman at Montana State University, Drs. Joe McConnell and Ross Edwards at the Desert Research Institute in Reno, NV and Dr. Eric Saltzman at the University of California-Irvine, and will investigate high-resolution chemical and biological records from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide ice core. A deep UV laser, flow cytometer, and a 3- dimensional fluorometer will be used to characterize dissolved and particular organic matter in ice cores extending from the Last Glacial Maximum to the early Holocene.