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

SGER：苏弗里耶尔山火山喷发对蒙特塞拉特植物和土壤环境的影响

• 批准号: 0441424
• 负责人: Robert Taylor
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Alabama A&M University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-08-01 至 2007-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0441424&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SGER; Effect; Soufriere; Hills; Volcanic

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.

该项目将研究Soufriere Hills火山喷发对蒙特塞拉特植物和土壤环境的影响。 soufriere山火山位于西印度群岛蒙特塞拉特岛的中南部。 1997年，在一次重大喷发之后，由于沉重的灰烬和浮石沉积，该岛的南部2/3造成了重大破坏，迫使该岛的这一部分撤离。由灰分的极高温度和酸度造成的生态损害是毁灭性的。该火山的圆顶在2003年7月再次倒塌。这导致了灰烬的广泛沉积以及对住房和植被的严重破坏。火山喷发是大气和陆地生态系统中金属和金属的天然来源。目前，人们对将潜在有毒金属释放到环境方面越来越关注。因此，我们旨在研究soufriere山火山对土壤生物地球化学/矿物学的影响，集中在高温，灰分和金属沉积对土壤特征的影响上。 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.同样，据我们所知，尚无研究研究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Xanes和ExAFs等尖端技术来研究原子水平的灰分的化学性质。更广泛的影响源于HBCU的少数群体学生将获得机会参与尖端研究的机会，这些信息具有全球重要性的信息。