Collaborative Research: Integrating Geomorphological and Paleoecological Studies to Reconstruct Neogene Environments of the Transantarctic Mountains

合作研究：整合地貌学和古生态学研究重建横贯南极山脉的新近纪环境

• 批准号: 0739693
• 负责人: Allan Ashworth
• 金额: $ 44.26万
• 依托单位: North Dakota State University Fargo
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-07-15 至 2015-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0739693&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Integrating; Geomorphological; Paleoecological

AbstractThis project studies the last vestiges of life in Antarctica from exceptionally well-preserved fossils of tundra life--mosses, diatoms, ostracods, Nothofagus leaves, wood, and insect remains recently discovered in ancient lake sediments from the McMurdo Dry Valleys. The area will be studied by an interdisciplinary team to elucidate information about climate and biogeography. These deposits offer unique and direct information about the characteristics of Antarctica during a key period in its history, the time when it was freezing. This information is critical for correlation with indirect proxies, such as though obtained from drill cores, for climate and state of the ice sheet. The results will also help understand the origin and migration of similar organisms found in South America, India and Australia.In terms of broader impacts, this project supports an early career researcher, undergraduate and graduate student research, various forms of outreach to K12 students, and extensive international collaboration. The work also has societal relevance in that the outcomes will offer direct constraints on Antarctica's ice sheet during a time with atmospheric CO2 contents similar to those of the earth in the coming centuries, and thus may help predictive models of sea level rise.

摘要本项目研究南极洲最后的生命遗迹，这些生物来自保存完好的苔原生物化石--最近在麦克默多干谷的古湖泊沉积物中发现的苔藓、硅藻、介形虫、假法甲属植物的叶子、木材和昆虫遗骸。该地区将由一个跨学科的小组进行研究，以阐明有关气候和地理的信息。这些沉积物提供了关于南极洲历史上一个关键时期的特征的独特和直接的信息，当时它正在冻结。这些信息对于与间接代理（例如从钻孔岩心中获得的）进行相关性至关重要，可以用于气候和冰盖状态。研究结果还将有助于了解在南美洲，印度和澳大利亚发现的类似生物的起源和迁移。在更广泛的影响方面，该项目支持早期职业研究人员，本科生和研究生研究，各种形式的K12学生推广，以及广泛的国际合作。这项工作也具有社会意义，因为其结果将在未来几个世纪大气二氧化碳含量与地球相似的时间内对南极洲冰盖提供直接限制，从而可能有助于海平面上升的预测模型。