Collaborative Research: Climate, Ice Dynamics and Biology using a Deep Ice Core from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Ice Divide

泰勒/0944348该奖项支持延长WAIS分水岭科学协调办公室(SCO)的资金。科学协调办公室(SCO)的成立是为了代表研究界，并通过与负责后勤、钻探和核心管理的支持组织合作来促进该项目。在过去的五年中，26个项目得到了单独资助，以开展这项工作，并收集了该地点3470米总冰中的1511米。这项提议寻求资金，以继续上海合作组织和完成WAIS分水岭冰芯项目所需的相关实地行动。上海合作组织第二个五年的任务包括规划和监督后勤、钻探和岩芯管理；协调实地研究活动；协助实地管理岩芯；向个别项目分配样品；协调采样工作；收集、归档和分发有关项目的数据和其他信息；主办年度科学会议；以及促进研究小组之间的协作努力。WAIS Divide项目的智力价值在于，更好地预测人为造成的温室气体增加将如何改变气候，需要更好地理解以前温室气体的自然变化如何影响过去的气候。关于以前气候变化的信息被用来验证用于预测未来气候的气候模型的物理和结果。南极冰芯是古大气样品的唯一来源，可以用来确定以前的二氧化碳浓度。冰芯还包含气候系统的其他组成部分的记录，如古空气和海洋温度、气溶胶的大气负荷以及大气传输指标。WAIS Divide冰芯项目旨在获得上一次冰川周期(最后约10万年)期间温室气体的最佳记录。之所以选择这个地点，是因为它拥有最好的平衡：年降雪量高(23厘米冰当量/年)，低灰尘南极冰不损害二氧化碳记录，以及有利的冰川学。该项目的主要科学目标是调查温室气体对气候的强迫作用、气候变化的启动、西南极冰盖的稳定性以及冰芯中的低温生物学。该项目产生了许多更广泛的影响。已建立的教育材料提供商(教师？域名)将开发和分发与该项目和气候变化有关的网络资源，供K？12课堂使用。这些资源将由视频和互动图形组成，解释如何以及为什么收集冰芯，以及它们告诉我们关于未来气候变化的信息。国家媒体成员将加入实地小组，上海合作组织将协助向公众提供信息。该项目的视频将被收集并提供给一般使用。最后，将为冰冻圈学生和早期职业科学家创造机会，让他们参与实地活动和岩心分析。冰芯档案将用于未来的项目，政策制定者可以利用该项目的科学发现做出明智的决定。

Taylor/0944348This award supports renewal of funding of the WAIS Divide Science Coordination Office (SCO). The Science Coordination Office (SCO) was established to represent the research community and facilitates the project by working with support organizations responsible for logistics, drilling, and core curation. During the last five years, 26 projects have been individually funded to work on this effort and 1,511 m of the total 3,470 m of ice at the site has been collected. This proposal seeks funding to continue the SCO and related field operations needed to complete the WAIS Divide ice core project. Tasks for the SCO during the second five years include planning and oversight of logistics, drilling, and core curation; coordinating research activities in the field; assisting in curation of the core in the field; allocating samples to individual projects; coordinating the sampling effort; collecting, archiving, and distributing data and other information about the project; hosting an annual science meeting; and facilitating collaborative efforts among the research groups. The intellectual merit of the WAIS Divide project is to better predict how human-caused increases in greenhouse gases will alter climate requires an improved understanding of how previous natural changes in greenhouse gases influenced climate in the past. Information on previous climate changes is used to validate the physics and results of climate models that are used to predict future climate. Antarctic ice cores are the only source of samples of the paleo-atmosphere that can be used to determine previous concentrations of carbon dioxide. Ice cores also contain records of other components of the climate system such as the paleo air and ocean temperature, atmospheric loading of aerosols, and indicators of atmospheric transport. The WAIS Divide ice core project has been designed to obtain the best possible record of greenhouse gases during the last glacial cycle (last ~100,000 years). The site was selected because it has the best balance of high annual snowfall (23 cm of ice equivalent/year), low dust Antarctic ice that does not compromise the carbon dioxide record, and favorable glaciology. The main science objectives of the project are to investigate climate forcing by greenhouse gases, initiation of climate changes, stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, and cryobiology in the ice core. The project has numerous broader impacts. An established provider of educational material (Teachers? Domain) will develop and distribute web-based resources related to the project and climate change for use in K?12 classrooms. These resources will consist of video and interactive graphics that explain how and why ice cores are collected, and what they tell us about future climate change. Members of the national media will be included in the field team and the SCO will assist in presenting information to the general public. Video of the project will be collected and made available for general use. Finally, an opportunity will be created for cryosphere students and early career scientists to participate in field activities and core analysis. An ice core archive will be available for future projects and scientific discoveries from the project can be used by policy makers to make informed decisions.