Collaborative Research: Constraints on the last Ross Ice Sheet from Glacial Deposits in the Southern Transantarctic Mountains

STONE/0838818该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(公法第111-5条)资助的。该奖项支持一个研究沙克尔顿冰川和比尔德莫尔冰川以前的厚度和退缩历史的项目，这两个冰川穿过横贯北极的山脉(TAMS)流入罗斯海南部。将绘制这些主要出口冰川下游的横向冰凌沉积物的地图并确定其年代，结果将有助于确定冰盖末期的日期，并限制离开横贯北极山脉并流入罗斯海的冰的厚度。该项目的学术价值在于，这些结果将使科学家能够区分不同的冰消退模型，这些模型对以前的冰结构和动力学具有重要影响，并限制罗斯海冰川消融对全球海平面在全新世晚期的贡献。此外，这将有助于更好地了解冰川后海平面变化的幅度和时间，以及南极洲对未来海平面上升的潜在贡献。该项目的更广泛影响是，这项工作将有助于量化自末次盛冰期以来地面冰量的变化，增进对相关冰动态的了解，并研究其对未来海平面变化的影响。该项目将通过两名研究生和本科生的参与来培养未来的科学家，他们将开发自给自足的研究项目。与以前的南极项目一样，将通过课堂访问、基于网络的探险日记、实地来信和与教师的讨论与K-12学生进行互动，并将使该项目能够与广泛的受众分享。这一奖项在南极洲进行了实地考察。

Stone/0838818 This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This award supports a project to study the former thickness and retreat history of Shackleton and Beardmore Glaciers which flow through the Transantarctic Mountains (TAMs) into the southern Ross Sea. Lateral moraine deposits along the lower reaches of these major outlet glaciers will be mapped and dated and the results will help to date the LGM and constrain the thickness of ice where it left the Transantarctic Mountains and flowed into the Ross Sea. The intellectual merit of the project is that the results will allow scientists to distinguish between models of ice retreat, which have important implications for former ice configuration and dynamics, and to constrain the contribution from Ross Sea deglaciation to global sea level through the late Holocene. In addition, this will make a significant contribution to a better understanding of the magnitude and timing of postglacial sea-level change and the potential contribution of Antarctica to sea-level rise in future. The broader impacts of the project are that the work will help quantify changes in grounded ice volume since the LGM, improve understanding of the ice dynamics responsible, and examine their implications for future sea level change. The project will train future scientists through participation of two graduate students and undergraduates who will develop self-contained research projects. As in previous Antarctic projects, there will be interaction with K-12 students through classroom visits, web-based expedition journals, letters from the field, and discussions with teachers and will allow the project to be shared with a wide audience. This award has field work in Antarctica.