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

该奖项支持对最近从南极洲干旱山谷湖泊中收集的沉积岩心中的硅藻和金藻孢子组合的研究，以了解过去200万年来当地和全球的气候循环。硅藻是强有力的古环境指标，因为它们无处不在，保存完好，而且不同物种在环境中的存在受到限制。将对多达1000个样本进行分析，以确定湖泊的水位、光穿透和营养循环的历史。这些岩心代表了南极洲第一个跨越几个完整冰川周期的非冰川地层记录，它们可能提供从晚更新世到现在几乎连续的环境变化记录。这一记录将允许与区域古气候记录相关联，例如来自沃斯托克湖和深海沉积物的记录。这项工作代表了涉及地质学、生物学、冰川学和气候学的综合、多学科的研究。在更广泛的影响方面，它将从涵盖最近关键时期的独特的地面记录的角度，提高社会对全球气候变化的理解。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.