Collaborative Research: Analysis of McCall Glacier Ice Core and Related Modern Process Studies

这是一个涉及四个机构的合作项目。这项研究解决了与阿拉斯加北极东部气候有关的两个主要问题：1）根据麦考尔冰川的冰芯重建，该地区过去250年来的气候，陆地生态和污染物输送是如何变化的？以及2）我们如何才能克服的挑战，核心代用解释从冰芯取自小型多温谷冰川通过现代过程的研究？为了回答这些问题，研究人员对冰核代理、大气动力学、现代过程和数值冰流模型进行了跨学科分析。一个152米长的岩芯已经钻过麦考尔冰川，并分析了35种化学代用品。拟议的工作将集中在1）解释这些代理，2）分析核心中的花粉，3）过程研究，以确定花粉的来源麦考尔冰川，4）将过去50年的天气和气候记录与核心的上部联系起来，5）继续对冰川和当地天气观测进行三维流动建模，6）进行季节性融化对岩芯代用记录产生影响的现代过程研究。该项目将资助两名研究生。

This is a collaborative project involving four institutions. The proposed research addresses two major questions related to climate in the eastern Alaskan Arctic: 1) How has climate, terrestrial ecology, and pollutant transport changed over the past 250 years in this region, based on ice core reconstructions from McCall Glacier? and 2) How well can we overcome the challenges of core proxy interpretations from ice cores taken from small polythermal valley glaciers through modern-process studies? To answer these questions the investigators conduct an inter-disciplinary analysis of ice core proxies, atmospheric dynamics, modern processes, and numerical ice flow modeling. A 152-meter long core has already been drilled through McCall Glacier and analyzed for 35 chemical proxies. The proposed work will focus on 1) interpretation of these proxies, 2) analysis of pollen in the core, 3) process studies to identify sources of pollen to McCall Glacier, 4) tying the weather and climate record of the past 50 years to the upper section of the core, 5) continuing 3D flow modeling of the glacier and local weather observations, 6) conducting modern process investigations of the effects of seasonal melt on the generation of the core proxy record. The project will support two graduate students.