REU Site: Collaborative Research: Dune Undergraduate Geomorphology and Geochronology (DUGG) Project in Wisconsin

该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(公法111-5)提供资金的。这个项目将探讨沙丘是如何以及为什么在威斯康星州的不同环境中形成的。该项目的目标包括向学生提供重要的地球科学实地和实验室培训，包括：实地勘察、假设生成、选址、探地雷达、沉积物采样、实验室分析及其结果的传播。除了本科生培训的主要作用外，DUGG项目也很重要，因为导致中西部上段沙丘形成的地质和气候因素仍然知之甚少。从历史上看，这些矿床没有得到详细的研究，因为在其中发现的可测年物质很少。然而，光激发发光(OSL)测年技术的进步，可以直接估计沙丘最后一次活动的时间，大大提高了我们估计该地区沙丘形成时间的能力。DUGG学生不仅将有助于我们对该地区沙丘历史的了解，还将为冰川消融、冰川冲刷平原的废弃、冰川湖泊的排水和密歇根湖西部海岸线的开发提供最小年龄估计。DUGG使用当前的教学模式，这将使社会受益，因为它强化了21世纪的技能，为学生过渡到后工业知识社会和以项目为导向的世界做好准备。该提案包括资助学生参加区域和国家会议，以传播他们的成果，并由本科生研究委员会对该项目进行外部评估。除了地球科学方面的本科生培训外，DUGG项目还将有助于了解景观如何应对气候变化。沙丘沉积物非常适合于该项目中使用的测年技术，了解它们最近的地质历史将有助于预测它们可能如何应对当前和未来的气候变化。重要的是，学生们将负责对他们在野外采样的沉积物进行测年，让他们体验现代沉积物测年实验室的运作方式。此外，沙丘是更广泛的景观的一个组成部分，当它们形成时，了解它们将有助于支持其他景观特征和地质事件的发展。这对于更好地理解最近地质历史上覆盖威斯康星州的大冰盖的崩塌和密歇根湖海岸线的演变尤为重要。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This project will address how and why dunes formed in various environments in the state of Wisconsin. The goals of this project include providing students with significant earth science field and laboratory training including: field reconnaissance, hypothesis generation, site selection, ground penetrating radar, sediment sampling, laboratory analysis and the dissemination of their results. In addition to its primary role of undergraduate training, the DUGG project is important because the geologic and climatic factors responsible for dune formation in the Upper Midwest remain poorly understood. Historically, these deposits have not been studied in detail because few datable materials are found within them. However, advances in Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating techniques, which can directly estimate when dunes were last active, are greatly improving our ability to estimate when the region's dunes formed . DUGG students will not only contribute to our understanding of the region's dune history, but also provide minimum age estimates for deglaciation, abandonment of glacial outwash plains, drainage of proglacial lakes and the development of the western Lake Michigan shoreline. DUGG uses current pedagogic models that will benefit society because it enforces 21st century skills to prepare students for the transition to a post-industrial knowledge society and project-oriented world. The proposal includes funds for students to attend regional and national meetings for dissemination of their results and external assessment of the project by the Council of Undergraduate Research. In addition to undergraduate training in Earth Science, the DUGG project will aid in understanding how landscapes respond to climate change. Dune sediments are ideally suited for the dating technique employed in this project and understanding their recent geologic history will help predict how they might respond to current and future climate changes. Importantly, students will be responsible for dating sediments they sampled in the field, allowing them to experience how a modern sediment dating laboratory operates. In addition, dunes are a component of the broader landscape and understanding when they formed will help bracket the development of other landscape features and geologic events. This is particularly important for better understanding both the collapse of large ice sheets that covered Wisconsin in the recent geologic past and the evolution of Lake Michigan's shoreline.