Collaborative Research:Grounding-line Retreat in the Southern Ross Sea - Constraints from Scott Glacier

合作研究：南罗斯海接地线后退——斯科特冰川的限制

• 批准号: 0636687
• 负责人: Brenda Hall
• 金额: $ 19.34万
• 依托单位: University of Maine
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-08-01 至 2010-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0636687&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Grounding; line; Retreat

Hall/0636687This award supports a project to investigate late Pleistocene and Holocene changes in Scott Glacier, a key outlet glacier that flows directly into the Ross Sea just west of the present-day West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) grounding line. The overarching goals are to understand changes in WAIS configuration in the Ross Sea sector at and since the last glacial maximum (LGM) and to determine whether Holocene retreat observed in the Ross Embayment has ended or if it is still ongoing. To address these goals, moraine and drift sequences associated with Scott Glacier will be mapped and dated and ice thickness, surface velocity and surface mass balance will be measured to constrain an ice-flow model of the glacier. This model will be used to help interpret the dated geologic sequences. The intellectual merit of the project relates to gaining a better understanding of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and how changing activity of fast-flowing outlet glaciers and ice streams exerts strong control on the mass balance of the ice sheet. Previous work suggests that grounding-line retreat in the Ross Sea continued into the late Holocene and left open the possibility of ongoing deglaciation as part of a long-term trend. Results from Reedy Glacier, an outlet glacier just behind the grounding line, suggest that retreat may have slowed substantially over the past 2000 years and perhaps even stopped. By coupling the work on Scott Glacier with recent data from Reedy Glacier, the grounding-line position will be bracketed and it should be possible to establish whether the retreat has truly ended or if it is ongoing. The broader impacts of the work relate to the societal relevance of an improved understanding of the West Antarctic ice sheet to establish how it will respond to current and possible future environmental changes. The work addresses this key goal of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Initiative, as well as the International Polar Year focus on ice sheet history and dynamics. The work will develop future scientists through the education and training of one undergraduate and two Ph.D. students, interaction with K-12 students through classroom visits, web-based 'expedition' journals, letters from the field, and discussions with teachers. Results from this project will be posted with previous exposure dating results from Antarctica, on the University of Washington Cosmogenic Nuclide Lab website, which also provides information about chemical procedures and calculation methods to other scientists working with cosmogenic nuclides.

Hall/0636687该奖项支持了一个研究斯科特冰川晚更新世和全新世变化的项目，斯科特冰川是一个关键的出口冰川，直接流入罗斯海，位于现在的西南极冰盖（WAIS）接地线以西。总体目标是了解WAIS配置在罗斯海部门的变化，并自末次盛冰期（LGM），并确定是否在罗斯湾观察到的全新世退缩已经结束，或者如果它仍在进行中。为了实现这些目标，将绘制与斯科特冰川有关的冰碛和漂流序列，并测定其日期，测量冰厚度、表面速度和表面质量平衡，以约束冰川的冰流模型。该模型将用于解释定年地质序列。该项目的智力价值涉及更好地了解南极西部冰盖，以及快速流动的出口冰川和冰流活动的变化如何对冰盖的物质平衡产生强有力的控制。 以前的工作表明，罗斯海的接地线撤退持续到全新世晚期，并留下了持续的冰川消退作为长期趋势的一部分的可能性。 来自Reedy Glacier的结果表明，在过去的2000年里，退缩可能已经大大减缓，甚至可能停止。 通过将斯科特冰川的工作与里迪冰川的最新数据相结合，接地线位置将被包围，应该有可能确定撤退是否真正结束或正在进行中。这项工作的更广泛影响涉及增进对南极西部冰盖的了解，以确定它将如何应对当前和未来可能的环境变化的社会意义。这项工作涉及西南极冰盖倡议的这一关键目标，以及国际极地年对冰盖历史和动态的关注。这项工作将通过一名本科生和两名博士的教育和培训来培养未来的科学家。学生，通过课堂参观，基于网络的“探险”期刊，来自外地的信件，并与教师讨论与K-12学生的互动。该项目的结果将与以前在南极洲获得的暴露年代测定结果一起公布在华盛顿大学宇宙成因核素实验室网站上，该网站还向从事宇宙成因核素研究的其他科学家提供有关化学程序和计算方法的信息。