Collaborative Research: Geological Hazards, Climate Change, and Human/Ecosystems Resilience in the Islands of the Four Mountains, Alaska.

合作研究：阿拉斯加四山群岛的地质灾害、气候变化和人类/生态系统复原力。

• 批准号: 1301929
• 负责人: Breanyn MacInnes
• 金额: $ 3.53万
• 依托单位: Central Washington University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-09-15 至 2016-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1301929&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Geological; Hazards; Climate

Assessing the degree to which geological hazards in the Aleutian archipelago disrupted prehistoric human and ecological systems has important lessons for current inhabitants of the northern Pacific Rim. The Islands of Four Mountains region embodies environmental instabilities that, in the last 10,000 years, include changing subarctic climate, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, and sea level fluctuations. Compared to adjacent regions to the east and west, strong ocean currents and smaller island size magnify ecologically-driven resource extremes, perhaps creating a physical bottleneck and the cultural boundary that persisted into the early 20th century. These islands provide an excellent opportunity to assess the development of prehistoric human adaptations to geological hazards and environmental change. That such research has not already occurred is understandable. The same volcanic activity, precipitous coastlines, high winds, and strong riptides that may have posed profound risks to prehistoric individuals hinder modern research expeditions. The Four Mountain prehistoric sites are little studied but are highly significant in light of new geologic data indicating volcanic activity during human migration and societal development in the Aleutian archipelago. A team of professional and student archaeologists, geologists, ecologists, and zoologists will conduct a comprehensive, interdisciplinary three-year investigation in the Islands of the Four Mountains. Extensive new radiocarbon, geological, paleoenvironmental, and cultural data expected from these sites will yield novel insights into the record of geological hazards, human coping mechanisms, changing subsistence, and adaptations during the prehistoric and European contact periods.The Islands of the Four Mountains are located in an ecologically and economically important region of the world - the north Pacific and Bering Sea. People on two continents rely on fish from its marine ecosystem, and, given the sensitivity of airplanes to volcanic ash and of coastal cities to tsunamis, its geologic hazards potentially affect all nations of the northern Pacific Rim. Comprehensive research on long-term human-environmental interactions in the Bering Sea region, set against a backdrop of accelerated global change, is vital to understanding the dynamics of Aleutian biological and human systems and effectively addressing the social, political, and economic issues that arise from changes in those system dynamics today. The island group lies in a zone of high catastrophic potential in that one of its volcanoes, Mt. Cleveland, has erupted explosively more than 20 times in the last decade (as recently as May 2013) and during the time of prehistoric human habitation. The Aleutian plate boundary is the site of four earthquakes having a magnitude greater than 8 and dozens with magnitudes greater than 7, and these have generated tsunamis historically and prehistorically. Through partnerships with the Alaska Volcano Observatory, the Aleut Corporation, Museum of the Aleutians, and the Keck Geology Consortium this project will bring scientists, Native Americans, students and policy makers together in education and collaboration.

评估阿留申群岛的地质灾害对史前人类和生态系统的破坏程度，对北方环太平洋地区的现有居民有重要的借鉴意义。四山群岛地区体现了环境的不稳定性，在过去的10，000年里，包括变化的亚北极气候，火山爆发，地震，海啸和海平面波动。与东部和西部的邻近地区相比，强大的洋流和较小的岛屿面积放大了生态驱动的资源极端，可能造成了持续到世纪初的物理瓶颈和文化边界。 这些岛屿为评估史前人类适应地质灾害和环境变化的发展提供了极好的机会。这样的研究还没有发生是可以理解的。同样的火山活动，陡峭的海岸线，大风，强烈的激流，可能会对史前人构成深刻的风险，阻碍了现代的研究探险。四山史前遗址很少被研究，但根据新的地质数据表明阿留申群岛人类迁移和社会发展期间的火山活动，这是非常重要的。一个由专业和学生考古学家，地质学家，生态学家和动物学家组成的团队将在四山群岛进行为期三年的全面，跨学科的调查。 从这些遗址中获得的大量新的放射性碳、地质、古环境和文化数据，将使我们对史前和欧洲接触时期的地质灾害记录、人类应对机制、生存变化和适应能力产生新的认识。四山群岛位于世界上一个生态和经济重要的地区--北太平洋和白令海。两个大陆的人们依赖其海洋生态系统中的鱼类，而且，鉴于飞机对火山灰和沿海城市对海啸的敏感性，其地质灾害可能影响到北方太平洋沿岸的所有国家。在全球变化加速的背景下，对白令海地区长期人类与环境相互作用的全面研究，对于了解阿留申生物和人类系统的动态，以及有效解决当今这些系统动态变化所产生的社会，政治和经济问题至关重要。该群岛位于一个高灾难潜力区，其中一座火山，Mt。克利夫兰火山在过去十年（最近的一次是2013年5月）和史前人类居住期间爆发了20多次。阿留申板块边界发生过4次震级大于8级的地震和数十次震级大于7级的地震，这些地震在历史上和史前都曾引发过海啸。通过与阿拉斯加火山观测站、阿留申群岛公司、阿留申群岛博物馆和凯克地质联合会的合作，该项目将使科学家、美洲原住民、学生和决策者在教育和合作方面走到一起。