Field Workshop for Interdisciplinary Earth Science Investigations in Mongolia

9630142 福厄尔中亚代表了第四纪古气候数据库中的一个相当大的空白，因为从世界这个地区收集到的沉积岩芯相对较少。 由于对陆地气候变化和生态系统演化的详细记录的需求日益增长，这一点尤其不幸。 海洋和冰盖已经提供了高分辨率气候数据，为了进一步了解全球气候变化，还需要可比较的大陆记录。 蒙古位于亚洲大陆的内陆地区，受西伯利亚季风和印度-非洲季风季节性相互作用的影响，是众多特有鱼类和昆虫物种的家园，也是保存异常完好的中生代和新生代脊椎动物化石的所在地。 因此，蒙古是古气候研究的天然现场实验室，该国的气候记录具有独特的潜力，可以阐明季风环流、冰川作用、轨道强迫、构造隆起、陆地气候变化和演化速率之间的关系。 作为深入研究蒙古气候历史的前奏，1996 年秋季将在蒙古为 10 名对古气候、古生物学和全球变化有研究兴趣的美国科学家举办一次计划会议和实地讲习班。最近，在 1995 年 10 月在南卡罗来纳州举办的一次由 NSF 资助的蒙古研究研讨会上，所有 10 名科学家都表达了参加为期一个月的蒙古考察旅行的浓厚兴趣。 自十月研讨会以来，多学科实地研究项目的计划迅速推进，美国和蒙古科学家之间的成果和想法交流已成为未来项目成功的重要因素。 除了策划会议和研讨会外，还将考察潜在的实地地点并收集初步样本，以消除远程选址的困难和风险。 规划会议将于 1996 年 8 月在乌兰巴托举行，在此期间美国科学家将用五天的时间与蒙古科学院成员会面，交流信息并讨论潜在项目的后勤问题。 会议结束后，将进行为期两周的库苏古尔湖探险，沿途停下来调查冰川特征、黄土沉积物以及适合收集短岩芯的浅湖或沼泽。 库苏古尔被选为实地考察的目的地，以便可以从湖岸和附近的池塘收集用于初步孢粉学、古地磁和碳同位素分析的短沉积岩芯。 此外，库苏古尔之行的目的是确定大规模取芯项目的可行性，该项目旨在从中亚湖盆中提取和扩展古气候记录。 ***

9630142 Fowell Central Asia represents a sizable gap in Quaternary paleoclimate databases because relatively few sediment cores have been collected from this part of the world. This is particularly unfortunate due to the growing need for detailed records of terrestrial climate change and ecosystem evolution. High-resolution climate data are already available from oceans and ice sheets, and comparable continental records are necessary in order to further understanding of global climate changes. Located in the interior of the Asian continent, Mongolia is subject to the seasonal interplay of the Siberian and Indian-African monsoons, home to numerous endemic species of fish and insects, and the site of exceptionally well preserved Mesozoic and Cenozoic vertebrate fossils. Mongolia is thus a natural field laboratory for paleoclimate research, and climate records from this country have unique potential to elucidate relationships between monsoonal circulation, glaciation, orbital forcing, tectonic uplift, terrestrial climate change, and rates of evolution. As a prelude to in-depth studies of Mongolian climate history, a planning meeting and field workshop for ten U.S. scientists with research interests in paleoclimate, paleontology, and global change will be held in Mongolia in the fall of 1996. During a recent NSF- sponsored workshop on Mongolian research held in South Carolina during October of 1995, all ten of these scientists expressed a keen interest in attending a one-month reconnaissance trip to Mongolia. Since the October workshop, plans for multidisciplinary field-based research projects have advanced rapidly to the point where an exchange of results and ideas between U.S. and Mongolian scientists has become instrumental to the success of future projects. In addition to planning meetings and seminars, there will be visits to potential field sites and collection of preliminary samples in order to eliminate the difficulty and risk of remote site sel ection. The planning meeting will be held in Ulan Bator during August of 1996, during which time U.S. scientists will spend five days meeting with members of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences to exchange information and discuss logistics of potential projects. Meetings will be followed by a two-week expedition to Lake Khubsugul, with stops along the way to survey glacial features, loess deposits, and shallow lakes or bogs suitable for collection of short cores. Khubsugul has been selected as the destination of the field trip so that short sediment cores for preliminary palynological, paleomagnetic, and carbon isotope analyses may be collected from the lakeshore and from nearby ponds. Furthermore, the trip to Khubsugul is intended to ascertain the feasibility of a large-scale coring project designed to extract and extended paleoclimate record from this central Asian lake basin. ***