SGER: Effect of Soufriere Hills Volcanic Eruptions on the Plant and Soil Environment of Montserrat

该项目将调查苏弗里埃山火山爆发对蒙特塞拉特植物和土壤环境的影响。苏弗里埃火山位于西印度群岛蒙特塞拉特岛的中南部。1997年，在一次大爆发后，由于大量的火山灰和浮石沉积，该岛南部2/3的地区受到严重破坏，迫使该岛这一部分的居民撤离。火山灰的极端高温和酸性造成的生态破坏是毁灭性的。2003年7月，火山圆顶再次倒塌。这导致火山灰沉积范围更广，住房和植被受到严重破坏。火山喷发是大气和陆地生态系统中金属和类金属的天然来源。目前，人们越来越关注向环境中释放潜在有毒金属的问题。因此，我们的目标是研究苏弗里埃山火山对土壤的地球化学/矿物学的影响，集中在高温，酸度的灰，和金属沉积对土壤特性的影响。此外，还研究了其对植物耐酸性和耐金属（铝等）基因表达的影响。这一建议的知识价值在于，据我们所知，没有研究报告遵循新沉积的火山灰（因此是SGER的原因）对土壤环境的地球化学/矿物学的时间序列效应。同样，据我们所知，还没有研究调查植物基因对酸性火山灰沉积的抗性。除此之外，还将采用X射线荧光微探针、微型XANES和EXAFS等尖端技术，在原子水平上研究火山灰的化学性质。更广泛的影响来自HBCU的少数民族学生将有机会参与尖端研究，从中获得的信息可能具有全球意义。

This project will investigate the effect of Soufriere Hills volcanic eruptions on the plant and soil environment of Montserrat. The Soufriere Hills volcano lies in the south-central part of Montserrat island, West Indies. In 1997, following a major eruption, there was significant damage to the southern 2/3 of the island because of heavy ash and pumice deposition, forcing evacuation of this part of the island. The ecological damage caused by the extreme high temperature and acidity of the ash was devastating. The volcano's dome collapsed again in July 2003. This resulted in even more widespread deposition of ash and serious damage to housing and vegetation. Volcanic eruptions are a natural source of metals and metalloids in both the atmosphere as well as terrestrial ecosystems. At present there is increasing concern with regard to the release of potentially toxic metals into the environment. Therefore, we aim to study the effect of the Soufriere Hills volcano on the biogeochemistry/mineralogy of the soils, concentrating on the impact of high temperatures, acidity of the ash, and metal deposition on soil characteristics. Additionally, the impact of the same on the expression of plant genes resistant to acidity and metals (aluminum etc.) will be investigated.The INTELLECTUAL MERIT of this proposal lies in the fact that, to our knowledge, no study has been reported that follows the time sequence effect of freshly deposited volcanic ash (hence the reason for SGER) on the biogeochemistry/mineralogy of the soil environment. Similarly, to our knowledge, no studies have investigated plant gene resistance to acidic volcanic ash deposition. In addition to this, cutting edge technology such as X-ray fluorescence microprobe, micro-XANES, and EXAFS will be employed to investigate the chemical nature of the ash at the atomic level.The BROADER IMPACT stems from the fact that minority students from an HBCU will get the opportunity to participate in cutting edge research, the information from which may have global significance.