Collaborative Research: ANDRILL - - Investigating Antarctica's Role in Cenozoic Global Environmental Change

ANDRILL是一项科学钻探计划，旨在调查南极洲在过去6000万年中在全球气候变化中的作用。该方法整合了地球物理调查、新钻井技术、多学科核心分析和冰盖建模，以解决四个科学主题：(1)南极洲气候和冰盖的历史；(2)极地生物群和生态系统的演变；(3)主要构造和火山期的时间和性质；(4)南极洲在地球海洋-气候系统中的作用。该奖项启动了一个可能成为长期计划的项目，即在麦克默多冰架和南麦克默多海湾钻探两个以前无法获得的沉积物记录。这些地层记录涵盖了南极洲主要冰盖形成的关键时期。麦克默多冰架站点的重点是罗斯冰架，其大小是全球气候变化的敏感指标。它最近经历了重大的冰裂事件，有证据表明，自上次冰川极大期以来，它已经收缩了1000公里。作为冷底水的产生器，冰架也可能在海洋环流中发挥关键作用。从这个地点获得的岩心也将提供对冰架下沉积、生物和海洋学过程的深入了解；罗斯岛火山活动的历史；以及岩石圈对火山荷载的弯曲响应，这对该地区的地球物理和构造研究具有重要意义。南麦克默多海峡位于干谷附近，重点是覆盖在南极洲东部的主要冰盖。关于这片冰原的稳定性仍有争论。来自干谷的证据支持相互矛盾的结论；至少在过去的一千五百万年里，一个稳定的冰盖，或者一个活跃的冰盖，在最近的几百万年前，经历了膨胀和收缩的循环。限制这段历史对全球气候变化的深度时间模型至关重要。沉积物岩心将用于构建该地区整体的冰期和间冰期历史；包括记录海冰覆盖、海平面、陆地植被和融水排放事件。该岩心还将为区域地震研究提供一个一般的年代地层框架，并有助于揭示该地区复杂的构造历史。该项目的广泛影响包括正规和非正规教育、新的研究基础设施、各种形式的合作，以及提高社会对全球气候变化的理解。教育在博士后、研究生、本科和K-12级别得到支持。教师和课程专家将被纳入研究计划，并将制作一系列视频资源，包括一部将在电视上播出的科学纪录片。新的研究基础设施包括用于岩心分析和冰盖建模的设备，以及用于穿透冰架的独特钻井系统的开发。钻探开发和整个项目是由国际科学家和新西兰、德国和意大利的国家南极计划共同支持的。该项目还在美国的研究机构和主要本科院校之间建立了新的合作关系。作为海平面上升以及海洋和大气环流的关键因素，南极洲的冰盖对社会对全球气候变化的理解非常重要。ANDRILL提供了关于海洋和陆地温度的新数据，并改变了我们对极端气候事件（如极地冰盖的形成）的理解。这些数据对于建立地球未来气候的精确模型至关重要。

ANDRILL is a scientific drilling program to investigate Antarctica's role in global climate change over the last sixty million years. The approach integrates geophysical surveys, new drilling technology, multidisciplinary core analysis, and ice sheet modeling to address four scientific themes: (1) the history of Antarctica's climate and ice sheets; (2) the evolution of polar biota and ecosystems; (3) the timing and nature of major tectonic and volcanic episodes; and (4) the role of Antarctica in the Earth's ocean-climate system. This award initiates what may become a long-term program with drilling of two previously inaccessible sediment records beneath the McMurdo Ice Shelf and in South McMurdo Sound. These stratigraphic records cover critical time periods in the development of Antarctica's major ice sheets. The McMurdo Ice Shelf site focuses on the Ross Ice Shelf, whose size is a sensitive indicator of global climate change. It has recently undergone major calving events, and there is evidence of a thousand-kilometer contraction since the last glacial maximum. As a generator of cold bottom water, the shelf may also play a key role in ocean circulation. The core obtained from this site will also offer insight into sub-ice shelf sedimentary, biologic, and oceanographic processes; the history of Ross Island volcanism; and the flexural response of the lithosphere to volcanic loading, which is important for geophysical and tectonic studies of the region.The South McMurdo Sound site is located adjacent to the Dry Valleys, and focuses on the major ice sheet overlying East Antarctica. A debate persists regarding the stability of this ice sheet. Evidence from the Dry Valleys supports contradictory conclusions; a stable ice sheet for at least the last fifteen million years or an active ice sheet that cycled through expansions and contractions as recently as a few millions of years ago. Constraining this history is critical to deep-time models of global climate change. The sediment cores will be used to construct an overall glacial and interglacial history for the region; including documentation of sea-ice coverage, sea level, terrestrial vegetation, and melt-water discharge events. The core will also provide a general chronostratigraphic framework for regional seismic studies and help unravel the area's complex tectonic history.The broader impacts of this project include formal and informal education, new research infrastructure, various forms of collaboration, and improving society's understanding of global climate change. Education is supported at the postdoctoral, graduate, undergraduate, and K-12 levels. Teachers and curriculum specialists are integrated into the research program, and a range of video resources will be produced, including a science documentary for television release. New research infrastructure includes equipment for core analysis and ice sheet modeling, as well as development of a unique drilling system to penetrate ice shelves. Drill development and the overall project are co-supported by international collaboration with scientists and the National Antarctic programs of New Zealand, Germany, and Italy. The program also forges new collaborations between research and primarily undergraduate institutions within the United States. As key factors in sea-level rise and oceanic and atmospheric circulation, Antarctica's ice sheets are important to society's understanding of global climate change. ANDRILL offers new data on marine and terrestrial temperatures, and changes our understanding of extreme climate events like the formation of polar ice caps. Such data are critical to developing accurate models of the Earth's climatic future.