COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Microparticle/tephra analysis of the WAIS Divide ice core

KREUTZ/0636740Dunbar/0636767该奖项支持一个项目，该项目进行连续的微粒浓度和尺寸分布测量(使用库尔特计数器和最先进的激光探测器方法)，分析与微粒相关的生物相关痕量元素(铁、锌、钴、镉、铜)，以及在WAIS分水岭冰芯上进行Tephra测量。这个最初的三年项目包括从仪器时期(~1850-今)到全新世中期(~5000年BP)的冰芯分析，样品分辨率从亚年到十年不等。该项目的学术价值在于，它将有助于在几个时间尺度上建立气候、陆地和火山来源的大气气溶胶、海洋生物地球化学和温室气体之间的关系，这些关系仍然是古气候学中的一个基本问题。大气矿物尘埃在直接辐射强迫中发挥着重要但不确定的作用，本项目产生的微粒子数据集将使我们能够检查南太平洋气溶胶负荷、大气动力学和尘埃源区气候的变化。在南极洲、整个南半球和全球范围内，气溶胶性质变化的阶段性尚不清楚，这主要是因为延伸到冰川时期的年度记录数量有限，而且缺乏将记录相互关联的Tatephra框架。拟议研究的更广泛影响是对气候科学问题采取跨学科方法，并将有助于世界信息社会研究所划分的几个科学主题以及更广泛的古气候和海洋学界。由于研究主题具有广泛和直接的社会相关性，该项目将成为UMaine和NMT各种外联努力的核心，包括机构网站、公共演讲、当地K-12学校互动、媒体采访和新闻发布以及流行文学。该项目将直接支持至少一名博士生和一名硕士研究生，包括实地调查、岩心处理、实验室分析和数据解释/发表。我们预计每年将有一名研究生通过WAIS Divide Science协调办公室申请核心操作员/助理司钻职位，本科生的参与将导致几个Capstone体验项目(UMaine的毕业要求)。该项目产生的数据和想法将纳入两所大学的本科生和研究生课程。

Kreutz/0636740Dunbar/0636767This award supports a project to perform continuous microparticle concentration and size distribution measurements (using coulter counter and state-of-the-art laser detector methods), analysis of biologically relevant trace elements associated with microparticles (Fe, Zn, Co, Cd, Cu), and tephra measurements on the WAIS Divide ice core. This initial three-year project includes analysis of ice core spanning the instrumental (~1850-present) to mid- Holocene (~5000 years BP) period, with sample resolution ranging from subannual to decadal. The intellectual merit of the project is that it will help in establishing the relationships among climate, atmospheric aerosols from terrestrial and volcanic sources, ocean biogeochemistry, and greenhouse gases on several timescales which remain a fundamental problem in paleoclimatology. The atmospheric mineral dust plays an important but uncertain role in direct radiative forcing, and the microparticle datasets produced in this project will allow us to examine changes in South Pacific aerosol loading, atmospheric dynamics, and dust source area climate. The phasing of changes in aerosol properties within Antarctica, throughout the Southern Hemisphere, and globally is unclear, largely due to the limited number of annually dated records extending into the glacial period and the lack of atephra framework to correlate records. The broader impacts of the proposed research are an interdisciplinary approach to climate science problems, and will contribute to several WAIS Divide science themes as well as the broader paleoclimate and oceanographic communities. Because the research topics have a large and direct societal relevance, the project will form a centerpiece of various outreach efforts at UMaine and NMT including institution websites, public speaking, local K-12 school interaction, media interviews and news releases, and popular literature. At least one PhD student and one MS student will be directly supported by this project, including fieldwork, core processing, laboratory analysis, and data interpretation/publication. We expect that one graduate student per year will apply for a core handler/assistant driller position through the WAIS Divide Science Coordination Office, and that undergraduate student involvement will result in several Capstone experience projects (a UMaine graduation requirement). Data and ideas generated from the project will be integrated into undergraduate and graduate course curricula at both institutions.