Dry Valleys Late Holocene Climate Variability

该奖项支持一个项目，收集和开发南极洲干旱山谷地区的高分辨率冰芯记录，并解释过去2000年(全新世晚期)年际到年代际尺度的气候变化。该项目将测试与海洋/大气遥相关(例如，厄尔尼诺南方涛动、南极涛动)有关的假设，这些假设可能是导致南半球小冰期等晚全新世重大气候事件的原因。对晚全新世干旱山谷中这些过程的概念和定量模型对于理解最近的气候变化至关重要，并代表了该项目的主要科学价值。我们计划在泰勒谷和莱特谷的横断面上采集四个中长冰芯(100-200m)，并对每个冰芯进行高分辨率的稳定同位素(d18O，Dd)、主要离子(Na+，Mg2+，Ca2+，K+，NH4+，Cl-，NO3-，SO42-，MSA)和微量元素(Al，Fe，S，锶，B)的分析。将对多变量冰化学数据集应用一套统计技术，以确定化学关联，并用现有的仪器数据校准时间序列记录。该项目的更广泛影响包括：1)对几个正在进行的南极跨学科研究计划作出贡献；2)研究生和本科生参与实地、实验室和数据解释活动；3)在几个UMaine课程和外联活动中使用项目数据和想法；4)通过同行评议的出版物、UMaine和其他古气候数据档案网站传播数据，并在国家和国际会议上作介绍。

This award supports a project to collect and develop high-resolution ice core records from the Dry Valleys region of Antarctica, and provide interpretations of interannual to decadal-scale climate variability during the last 2000 years (late Holocene). The project will test hypotheses related to ocean/atmosphere teleconnections (e.g., El Nino Southern Oscillation, Antarctic Oscillation) that may be responsible for major late Holocene climate events such as the Little Ice Age in the Southern Hemisphere. Conceptual and quantitative models of these processes in the Dry Valleys during the late Holocene are critical for understanding recent climate changes, and represent the main scientific merit of the project. We plan to collect intermediate-length ice cores (100-200m) at four sites along transects in Taylor Valley and Wright Valley, and analyze each core at high resolution for stable isotopes (d18O, dD), major ions (Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+, K+, NH4+, Cl-, NO3-, SO42-, MSA), and trace elements (Al, Fe, S, Sr, B). A suite of statistical techniques will be applied to the multivariate glaciochemical dataset to identify chemical associations and to calibrate the time-series records with available instrumental data. Broader impacts of the project include: 1) contributions to several ongoing interdisciplinary Antarctic research programs; 2) graduate and undergraduate student involvement in field, laboratory, and data interpretation activities; 3) use of project data and ideas in several UMaine courses and outreach activities; and 4) data dissemination through peer-reviewed publications, UMaine and other paleoclimate data archive websites, and presentations at national and international meetings.