Quaternary Diatom Paleoenvironmental Records from Three Lakes in Taylor Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

该奖项支持最近从南极洲干谷湖泊收集的沉积物岩心中硅藻和金藻孢囊组合的研究，以了解过去200万年来的局部和全球气候周期。硅藻是强大的古环境指标，因为它们的普遍性，保存，和不同物种的环境限制出现。多达一千个样本将被分析，以确定湖泊历史方面的水位，光穿透，和营养循环。这些岩芯代表了南极洲第一个跨越几个完整冰川循环的非冰川地层记录，它们可能提供了从晚更新世到现在的环境变化的几乎连续的记录。这一记录将允许与区域古气候记录，如东方湖和深海沉积物的记录相关联。这项工作代表了地质学，生物学，冰川学和气候学的综合，多学科研究。就更广泛的影响而言，它将从涵盖近期关键时期的独特陆地记录的角度，提高社会对全球气候变化的认识。它还支持博士后和本科生的教育。

This award supports the study of diatom and chrysophyte cyst assemblages in sediment cores recently collected from lakes in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica to understand local and global climate cycles over the past two million years. Diatoms are powerful paleoenvironmental indicators because of their ubiquity, preservation, and the environmentally restricted occurrences of different species. As many as one thousand samples will be analyzed to determine lake history with respect to water level, light penetration, and nutrient cycling. These cores represent the first non-glacial stratigraphic record from Antarctica that spans several full glacial cycles, and they may offer a nearly continuous record of environmental change from the late Pleistocene to present day. This record will permit correlation with regional paleoclimate records, such as those from Lake Vostok and deep-sea sediments. This work represents integrated, multidisciplinary research touching on geology, biology, glaciology, and climatology. In terms of broader impacts, it will improve society's understanding of global climate change from the perspective of a unique, terrestrial record that covers key recent periods. It also supports the education of postdoctoral and undergraduate students.