Collaborative Research: P2C2--Geothermics of Climate Change

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Funding is provided to develop long-term temporal records of ground surface temperatures by using temperature-depth profiles from geophysical boreholes as a means to constrain climate variability over timescales longer than the instrumental record. Specifically, the researchers will: (1) continue operation of the Emigrant Pass Observatory (EPO) in arid northwestern Utah where meteorological data and ground temperatures are being monitored; (2) investigate the ground thermal regime and land-atmosphere coupling across a climatic gradient in the, Cascades, Oregon; (3) repeat the logging of selected boreholes to test how to isolate the transient climate events associated with climate change; (4) investigate the observed variability in reduced temperature profiles; and (5) investigate processes leading to the discrepancy of warming estimates derived from multi-proxy reconstructions and temperature-depth profiles.The broader impacts involve a strong educational mentoring portion and an equally strong intellectual portion. Scientifically, this research could help lead to a more sophisticated understanding between temperature-depth reconstructions of ground surface temperatures and multi-proxy records of climate change. Educationally, the project will support a graduate student whose background in contemporary global change issues will be broadened by developing quantitative skills cross disciplinary interactions across the solid Earth geophysics and atmospheric sciences. The project will also involve graduate research assistants in the University of Utah, NSF supported GK-12 project titled WEST (Water, the Environment, Science, and Teaching) led by one of the PIs (Chapman). WEST students interact with Salt Lake City School District teachers and K-12 pupils, lead field trips, create laboratory exercises, and establish meteorological stations at local schools.