Collaborative Research: Surveying and drilling the submerged reefs of the western Indian Ocean-applications to sea level history, monsoon history, and radiocarbon calibration

合作研究：西印度洋水下珊瑚礁的勘测和钻探——在海平面历史、季风历史和放射性碳校准中的应用

• 批准号: 0649498
• 负责人: Christopher Charles
• 金额: $ 5.95万
• 依托单位: University of California-San Diego Scripps Inst of Oceanography
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-09-01 至 2008-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0649498&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Surveying; drilling; submerged

Chris Charles and Rick FairbanksSubmerged fossil coral reefs are both a diagnostic measure of past sea level change and an unparalleled archive of tropical climate change. In many regions of the tropics, the submerged reef sequences were deposited throughout the major natural climate experiment of the last deglaciation. However, thus far, successful surveying and sampling of these reefs has only been achieved in a few locations. This award will equip a cruise to the Seychelles for the purpose of surveying and drilling submerged reefs in the western Indian Ocean that were likely deposited over the last 50,000 years. The objectives of the cruise activities are three-fold: (1) To understand the structure, age, and extent of fossil reefs--in essence, the response of the reefs to the known sea level variations of the last ice age cycle (2) To acquire coral samples that captured the state of the surface during times of greatly different forcing. (3) To acquire samples that allow paired radiocarbon and U/Th dating and that therefore might be used to calibrate the radiocarbon time scale. The operations, involving CHIRP seismic profiling and dredging, will be conducted off the eastern flank of the Seychelles Bank. This region features bathymetric (and other anecdotal) evidence for submerged reef terraces. The cruise will serve as an ideal platform for student training and will include two underrepresented minority students. This project is supported by the Marine Geology & Geophysics Program of the Ocean Sciences Division.

克里斯·查尔斯和里克·费尔班克斯的水下化石珊瑚礁既是过去海平面变化的诊断指标，也是热带气候变化的无与伦比的档案。在热带的许多地区，在最后一次冰川消融的主要自然气候实验中，水下生物礁序列被沉积。然而，到目前为止，只在少数几个地点成功地对这些珊瑚礁进行了调查和取样。这笔合同将装备一艘前往塞舌尔的邮轮，用于调查和钻探西印度洋可能在过去50,000年间沉积的暗礁。巡航活动的目标有三个：(1)了解化石珊瑚礁的结构、年龄和范围--本质上是珊瑚礁对上一个冰河时代周期已知的海平面变化的反应(2)获取珊瑚样本，这些珊瑚样本捕捉到了截然不同的强迫时期的表面状态。(3)获取可进行配对放射性碳测年和U/Th测年的样品，从而可用于校准放射性碳时间标尺。这些作业包括Chirp地震剖面图和疏浚，将在塞舌尔银行东侧进行。这一地区的特点是水深测量(和其他轶事)的证据，暗礁阶地。邮轮将成为学生培训的理想平台，将包括两名代表不足的少数族裔学生。该项目得到了海洋科学部海洋地质与地球物理项目的支持。