Collaborative Research: Sensitivity of local ice caps in central East Greenland to Holocene climate change

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。该奖项将支持对东格陵兰中部斯科尔斯比桑德地区（~70-72°N，22-28°W）沿着从沿海海洋环境到格陵兰冰盖附近大陆条件的一条横断面的全新世冰川波动进行调查。拟议研究的“智力价值”在于有可能肯定，否则，广泛持有的观点，即今天在格陵兰岛观察到的冰川和冰盖变化的规模在全新世并不独特。斯科尔斯比松德地区目前的冰川衰退暴露了亚化石植被，这些植被生长在冰川比现在小的时候。这些新出现的记录提供了一个难得的机会来研究这些温暖时期的生物群，更重要的是，冰川对与目前一样高或更高的温度的反应。在Scoresby Sund地区，包括一个网站相邻的伦兰冰芯，在整个环境梯度的网站网络的年表的发展可以提供深入了解最近的冰盖分布模式。然而，要将这些问题置于背景中，需要一个较长的时间框架。因此，出现了另外两个目标。首先，将格陵兰晚全新世冰川波动与其他北方半球中高纬度地区的冰川波动进行比较。这将评估格陵兰的冰川是否比其他高纬度地区的冰川更敏感或更不敏感。第二，记录全新世格陵兰冰川波动的连续模式。当与古气候指标（如GRIP钻孔古温度记录）对比时，可以评估Scoresby Sund冰川对比现在更温暖的时期（如所谓的全新世气候最佳时期（约5000-9000年前））的反应。这项研究有许多“更广泛的影响”。它将有助于达特茅斯学院、缅因州大学和辛辛那提大学的研究生和本科生的教育发展，并与达特茅斯学院的IGERT项目相配合。PI还将访问小学，并就气候变化进行公开讲座。这项研究的结果将被添加到一个互动的，基于网络的学习系统和独立的信息亭部署在阿迪亚国家公园。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This award will support an investigation of Holocene glacier fluctuations in the Scoresby Sund region of central East Greenland (~70-72°N, 22-28°W) along a transect from a coastal maritime setting to the continental conditions adjacent to the Greenland Ice Sheet. The 'Intellectual Merit' of the proposed study lies in the potential to affirm, or otherwise, the widely-held view that the scale of glacier and ice sheet change being observed today in Greenland is not unique in the Holocene. The current recession of glaciers in the Scoresby Sund region is exposing sub-fossil vegetation that grew at times when glaciers were smaller than at present. These emerging records yield a rare opportunity to examine both the biota of these warm times and, more critically, the response of the glaciers to temperatures as high as, or higher than, at present. Development of a chronology for a network of sites in the Scoresby Sund region, including a site adjacent to the Renland ice core, across an environmental gradient can provide insights into recent patterns of ice sheet distribution. However, to place these in context requires a longer temporal framework. Thus, two additional objectives emerge. First, compare late-Holocene glacier fluctuations in Greenland with glacier fluctuations in other mid-to-high Northern Hemisphere locations. This will assess whether glaciers in Greenland are more or less sensitive than their counterparts in other high-latitude locations. Second, document a continuous pattern of glacier fluctuations in Greenland during Holocene time. When contrasted with paleoclimate indicators, such as the GRIP borehole paleotemperature record, how Scoresby Sund glaciers responded to warmer-than-present times, such as the so-called Holocene Climatic Optimum (~5000-9000 years ago), can be assessed. The proposed study has numerous 'Broader Impacts'. It will contribute to the educational development of graduate and undergraduate students at Dartmouth College, the University of Maine, and the University of Cincinnati, and tie in with the IGERT program at Dartmouth College. The PIs will also visit elementary schools and present public lectures on climate change. The results of the study will be added to an interactive, Web-based learning system and stand-alone kiosk deployed at Acadia National Park.