Archeology of Alaska Glaciers and Snowfields Phase II

阿拉斯加冰川和雪原考古第二期

• 批准号: 0222490
• 负责人: E. James Dixon
• 金额: $ 25.93万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2002
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2002-09-01 至 2005-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0222490&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Archeology; Alaska; Glaciers; Snowfields; Phase

Dixon0222490The proposed research will refine and test, through collection of and comparison with new field data, a preliminary Geographic Information Systems (GIS) model designed to identify locales having a high likelihood that human-derived archeological artifacts will surface on mountain glaciers and icefields. Preliminary research has demonstrated that such locales can be identified using this method, which utilizes a combination of social/cultural, biological, remote sensing and geologic data. Glaciers and ice patches are melting at an unprecedented rate, because of the current high rate of arctic warming. It is anticipated that increasingly older and significant artifacts, paleontological and other materials will be exposed in the resulting thawed areas. An estimated 10% of the world's land surface is covered by perennial snow, glaciers and icefields. Organic remains locked within these environments remain largely unexplored. Results obtained during preliminary work on these regions include recovery of rare and unique artifacts that can potentially make significant contributions to our understanding of human colonization and adaptation. The apparent acceleration of global warming, and the consequent melting of continental ice, creates an urgent need to develop the means to locate and preserve such frozen remains before the newly exposed materials decompose or are otherwise destroyed. The proposed research addresses this crucial issue.

拟议的研究将通过收集和比较新的实地数据来完善和测试一个初步的地理信息系统（GIS）模型，该模型旨在确定在高山冰川和冰原上极有可能出现人类产生的考古文物的地点。初步研究表明，可以使用这种综合利用社会/文化、生物、遥感和地质数据的方法来确定这些地点。由于目前北极变暖的速度很高，冰川和冰原正在以前所未有的速度融化。预计越来越多的古老和重要的文物、古生物学和其他材料将在融化后的地区暴露出来。据估计，世界上10%的陆地表面被常年积雪、冰川和冰原覆盖。被锁在这些环境中的有机物在很大程度上仍未被探索。在这些地区的初步工作中获得的结果包括恢复稀有和独特的文物，这些文物可能对我们对人类殖民和适应的理解做出重大贡献。全球变暖的明显加速，以及随之而来的大陆冰的融化，迫切需要在新暴露的物质分解或以其他方式被破坏之前找到和保存这些冰冻残留物的方法。拟议的研究解决了这个关键问题。