Cosmogenic Chronology of the Holocene Deglaciation of Iceland

该奖项将有助于制定冰岛冰川波动的准确年表，以了解自上次冰川盛期以来北大西洋地区气候变化的性质和时间。研究人员将对冰岛保存完好的冰川地貌进行宇宙成因的3He和36Clorine表面暴露年代测定。这项工作代表了对冰岛冰川沉积和地貌进行地表暴露年代测定的重大努力。这项研究的主要目标是建立全新世早期至中期冰盖波动的准确日期记录。研究人员和其他人先前的研究表明，宇宙成因的表面暴露测年可以达到500年至1000年的分辨率，这足以使冰川地质记录能够作为千年时间尺度上气候强迫的指标。初步的野外和实验室研究表明，冰岛的测年工作将产生类似分辨率的结果，并有可能建立北大西洋中部前所未有的冰川陆地记录。冰岛冰川年代学的改进将为北大西洋气候突然变化的陆地后果提供新的视角，与来自海洋沉积物和冰芯的其他公认的气候指标相结合，将大大有助于进一步了解这些环境变化。

This award will help develop an accurate chronology of Icelandic glacier fluctuations in order to understand the nature and timing of climate variability in the North Atlantic region since the Last Glacial Maximum. The investigators will apply cosmogenic 3Helium and 36Clorine surface exposure dating to well-reserved glacial features in Iceland. This effort represents a significant effort to apply surface exposure dating to glacial deposits and landforms in Iceland.The primary goal of the research effort is to establish a well-dated record of ice cap fluctuations during the early to-mid-Holocene. Prior research by the investigators and others has shown that cosmogenic surface exposure dating can achieve 500 to 1,000 year resolution, which is sufficient to allow the use of glacial geologic records as indicators of climate forcing at millennial time scales. Preliminary field and laboratory studies suggest that dating efforts in Iceland will yield results of similar resolution and have the potential to establish a terrestrial record of glaciation in the central North Atlantic of unprecedented resolution.An improved chronology of glaciation in Iceland will provide a new perspective on the terrestrial consequences of abrupt North Atlantic climate change and, when integrated with other well-established climate proxies from marine sediment and ice cores, will contribute significantly to further understanding these environmental changes.