Within the study of esoteric cryospheric phenomena, primarily within Sub-Antarctic regions, the collation of glacial stratum, deep-time cryospheric investigation, and Anthropogenic climate observations all play a pivotal role in forming future predictions for the respective regions. The cryosphere, defined simply, is an all encompassing “term” for the portions of Earth in which water is in solid form. Although on base level this definition might be correct, to define an Earth Sphere of this scale and intricacy in such a reductive way is reflective of basic cryospheric knowledge. The cryosphere needs to be understood as a much more complex and nuanced system than jumping to traditional “the ice is melting” thinking. The complexity of this sphere can be seen in the relationship between the Antarctic peninsula and South Georgia, a relationship that runs deeper than a physical cartographic connection, as discussed within assessment task one.
TERRITORIAL MAPPING
Within this project one of the Islands primary glaciers, Neumayer Glacier, serves as an ephemeral deep-time library, and the implemented speculative infrastructures aim to collect this data before it is lost to natural processes and to better inform cryospheric predictions or trends. Neumayer Glacier and its subsequent abiotic material are, in this case, viewed as a semi-permanent form of habitation. Across South Georgia Island’s deep-time history, eras of climatic events are stored within its glaciers forming pre-anthropogenic and contemporary libraries of the cryospheric stratum.
DEEP TIME SECTION / PROJECT SCHEDULE
COLLECTION // EXTRAPOLATION
By using South Georgia Island as a case study on a micro-scale, data found both within and around the Islands’ glaciers can be used to form predictions on a larger scale and gives way to speculative discourse. In response to this glacial narrative, our conceptual design implements a series of data-collecting infrastructures that read and interpret cryospheric data found within Neumayer Glacier, one of South Georgia Islands’ primary glaciers, and its surrounding context. The first intervention implemented is a subverted ice-coring systems which drills directly into Neumayer Glacier, this ice-core drill is fitted onto a retractable belt which spans across the length of the glacier. This allows the ice-coring system to work alongside the inevitable retreat of the glacier, rather than working against it. As the glacier recedes, as does the belt system, leaving behind a cantilever structure that serves as a timeline of the glaciers retreat. The drill extracts an icecore from the glacier and is examined through traditional methods, wherein atmospheric and cryospheric phenomena stored in the glacier since the last glacial maximum is revealed.
By using South Georgia Island as a case study on a micro-scale, data found both within and around the Islands’ glaciers can be used to form predictions on a larger scale and gives way to speculative discourse. In response to this glacial narrative, our conceptual design implements a series of data-collecting infrastructures that read and interpret cryospheric data found within Neumayer Glacier, one of South Georgia Islands’ primary glaciers, and its surrounding context. The first intervention implemented is a subverted ice-coring systems which drills directly into Neumayer Glacier, this ice-core drill is fitted onto a retractable belt which spans across the length of the glacier. This allows the ice-coring system to work alongside the inevitable retreat of the glacier, rather than working against it. As the glacier recedes, as does the belt system, leaving behind a cantilever structure that serves as a timeline of the glaciers retreat. The drill extracts an icecore from the glacier and is examined through traditional methods, wherein atmospheric and cryospheric phenomena stored in the glacier since the last glacial maximum is revealed.
INTERVENTION SECTION
MANIFESTATION // PRESERVATION
The implementation of glacial-water stupas which reuse siphoned water both in and around the glacier serves as a physicalisation of deglaciation, where a tangible accumulation of what is lost is manifested as a built form, a built form that also serves to restore the site's ecological integrity. Through the implementation of these structural dispositions, deep-time glacial and marine data is retrieved and manifested, or rather physicalised, through a manner of metempsychosis - ‘rebirth’. While accruing this data, similar to glaciers also collects Transmigrational Supraglacial Sediments; particulate matter suspended in Circumpolar wind currents for thousands of kilometres. These wind-blown granules can vary from widespread arid terrains, volcanic ash, marine and organic aerosols, Saharan Desert sands, and pollution. As the stupas slowly amass, this particulate matter becomes embedded within the layers of ice formed from frozen melt-water, gradually creating a physical data library of both what is lost and what is gained. The primary stupa utilises glacial water and melted ice cores which have already been examined to create a jarring structure that serves as a restructuring of time, and the
manifestation of what is lost. It also serves as a monument of preservation, wherein the data and stratum held within the water is not lost to time, but rather displaced.
The implementation of glacial-water stupas which reuse siphoned water both in and around the glacier serves as a physicalisation of deglaciation, where a tangible accumulation of what is lost is manifested as a built form, a built form that also serves to restore the site's ecological integrity. Through the implementation of these structural dispositions, deep-time glacial and marine data is retrieved and manifested, or rather physicalised, through a manner of metempsychosis - ‘rebirth’. While accruing this data, similar to glaciers also collects Transmigrational Supraglacial Sediments; particulate matter suspended in Circumpolar wind currents for thousands of kilometres. These wind-blown granules can vary from widespread arid terrains, volcanic ash, marine and organic aerosols, Saharan Desert sands, and pollution. As the stupas slowly amass, this particulate matter becomes embedded within the layers of ice formed from frozen melt-water, gradually creating a physical data library of both what is lost and what is gained. The primary stupa utilises glacial water and melted ice cores which have already been examined to create a jarring structure that serves as a restructuring of time, and the
manifestation of what is lost. It also serves as a monument of preservation, wherein the data and stratum held within the water is not lost to time, but rather displaced.
STUPA SECTION
CONTRIBUTION // DISSEMINATION
Glaciers and their subsequent processes are not just indexes for reading into the past however, they also reveal and restructure projections for what the Island's future holds. The collection and analysis of glacial and subsequent cryospheric data give way to temporal discourses surrounding the significance of looking into the past in order to better understand the future. The significance of the infrastructure is not primarily characterised by the retrieval of the data, but rather by what can be learned and contributed from the data after its extraction. The ice stupas, both primary and supplementary, also contribute to future predictions and the dissemination of information, wherein the subsequent conditional changes of the site after their implementation can aid in better informing climatic predictions both in and around South Georgia Island.
Glaciers and their subsequent processes are not just indexes for reading into the past however, they also reveal and restructure projections for what the Island's future holds. The collection and analysis of glacial and subsequent cryospheric data give way to temporal discourses surrounding the significance of looking into the past in order to better understand the future. The significance of the infrastructure is not primarily characterised by the retrieval of the data, but rather by what can be learned and contributed from the data after its extraction. The ice stupas, both primary and supplementary, also contribute to future predictions and the dissemination of information, wherein the subsequent conditional changes of the site after their implementation can aid in better informing climatic predictions both in and around South Georgia Island.
PROJECT TAXONOMY
ICE STUPA MODEL
