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

Kreutz/0636740 Dunbar/0636767该奖项支持一个项目，以执行连续的微粒浓度和粒度分布测量（使用库尔特计数器和最先进的激光探测器方法），与微粒（铁，锌，钴，镉，铜）相关的生物相关微量元素的分析，以及对WAIS分水岭冰芯的火山灰测量。这个最初的三年项目包括分析冰芯跨越仪器（~1850年至今）到全新世中期（~5000年BP）的时期，样本分辨率从每年到十年。 该项目的智力价值在于，它将有助于在若干时间尺度上建立气候、来自陆地和火山源的大气气溶胶、海洋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。 大气矿物尘在直接辐射强迫中起着重要但不确定的作用，本项目产生的微粒数据集将使我们能够研究南太平洋气溶胶负荷，大气动力学和沙尘源区气候的变化。南极洲、整个南半球和全球范围内的气溶胶性质变化的阶段性尚不清楚，主要是由于每年记录的数量有限，而且缺乏与记录相关的火山灰框架。 拟议研究的更广泛影响是对气候科学问题的跨学科方法，并将有助于几个WAIS划分科学主题以及更广泛的古气候和海洋学社区。因为研究课题有一个大的和直接的社会相关性，该项目将形成在UMaine和NMT包括机构网站，公开演讲，当地K-12学校互动，媒体采访和新闻发布，以及流行文学的各种外展工作的核心。至少有一名博士生和一名硕士生将直接由本项目支持，包括实地考察，岩心处理，实验室分析和数据解释/出版。我们预计，每年有一名研究生将通过WAIS Divide Science Coordination Office申请核心处理器/助理司钻职位，而本科生的参与将导致几个Capstone经验项目（UMaine毕业要求）。该项目产生的数据和想法将被纳入这两个机构的本科和研究生课程。

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.