Initiating a New Collaboration between East Carolina University and Universiti Malaysia Terengganu: Post-Glacial Variations in the East Asian Monsoon

该奖项提供资金，以支持规划访问和随后的初步实地工作，以建立一个跨学科的团队之间的联合研究工作，从东卡罗莱纳大学（ECU）和海洋学研究所在马来西亚大学丁加奴（UMT），这是在马来西亚半岛的东海岸。 计划中的研究计划和相关教育活动旨在通过对巽他大陆架盆地海底地层的化学分析来了解东亚季风的冰后期变化。UMT拥有一艘新的研究船，将用于实地工作。收集到的数据将作为向NSF提交更完整研究建议的基础。 巽他大陆架和东南亚的古气候资料目前还很少。 与UMT的合作及其研究船的使用提供了一个机会，可以扩大地质数据库，并将该地区的结果与南中国海更深处的现有知识进行比较。东亚季风和不断变化的海平面对东南亚的人口产生了重大影响，特别是通过洪水和海岸侵蚀。更好地了解这些因素过去的变化可以帮助人们为未来的挑战做好准备。计划中的合作将吸引ECU的年轻教师以及本科生和研究生。最后，这是一个促进美国科学界与马来西亚同行更广泛接触的绝佳机会，这是相对罕见的。

This award provides funding to support a planning visit and subsequent preliminary field work to establish a joint research effort between an interdisciplinary team from East Carolina University (ECU) and the Institute of Oceanography at the Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), which is on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia. The planned program of research and associated educational activities are aimed at understanding post-glacial variations of the East Asian Monsoon through chemical analyses of sub-seafloor strata in the basins of the Sunda Shelf. UMT owns a new research vessel that will be used in the field work. The data collected will be the basis for more complete research proposal to NSF. Little information is currently available concerning the paleoclimate of the Sunda Shelf and SE Asia. The collaboration with UMT and access to its research ship provide an opportunity to broaden the geological database and to compare the results in this region with existing knowledge from the deeper South China Sea to the north. The East Asian Monsoon and changing sea levels have a major impact on the populations of SE Asia, particularly through flooding and coastal erosion. A better understanding of past variations in these factors can help populations prepare for future challenges. The planned collaboration will engage both young faculty members from ECU as well as undergraduate and graduate students. Finally, this is an excellent opportunity to promote broader engagement of the US scientific community with Malaysian counterparts, which has been relatively rare.