Fire and Ice: Examining the Potential for Sampling a West Antarctic Sub-Ice Volcano

火与冰：检查对南极西部冰下火山进行采样的可能性

• 批准号: 0540944
• 负责人: Robin Bell
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Columbia University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-09-15 至 2007-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0540944&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Fire; Ice; Examining; Potential; Sampling

This Small Grant for Exploratory Research utilizes data from remote sensing studies to determine whether a proposed active volcano beneath the West Antarctic ice sheet has a higher heat flux than surrounding areas. The characteristics of the ice sheet itself, especially the missing mass of ice downstream of the volcano, will be used as a geothermal probe. The approach unites potential field data, ice-penetrating radar, satellite images of the ice surface, and regional estimates of the structure of the Antarctic lithosphere. If successful, the work would improve our knowledge of the geodynamic history of the Antarctic continent, and demonstrate how ice sheets can be used as natural continental-scale heat flow probes. Given that many areas beneath West Antarctica have been identified as volcanic terrains, and the tectonic history of this area is so poorly constrained, these are key questions for understanding the geodynamic history of the Antarctic continent. Estimates of regional heat flux are also one of the key uncertainties in modeling the formation and evolution of the ice sheets. The broader impacts of this work include education of a postdoctoral student and improving understanding of the formation and evolution of the Antarctic ice sheets, which are key factors in global climate change and sea level rise.

这项探索性研究的小额赠款利用遥感研究的数据来确定南极西部冰盖下拟建的活火山是否比周围地区具有更高的热通量。冰盖本身的特征，特别是火山下游缺失的冰块，将被用作地热探测器。该方法结合了势场数据、破冰雷达、冰面卫星图像和南极岩石圈结构的区域估计。如果成功，这项工作将提高我们对南极大陆地球动力学历史的认识，并展示如何将冰盖用作自然的大陆尺度热流探测器。考虑到南极洲西部的许多地区已经被确定为火山地带，并且该地区的构造历史如此有限，这些是理解南极大陆地球动力学历史的关键问题。区域热通量的估计也是模拟冰盖形成和演化的关键不确定因素之一。这项工作的广泛影响包括培养一名博士后，提高对南极冰盖形成和演化的认识，南极冰盖是全球气候变化和海平面上升的关键因素。