Subsidence, Tilting, Sedimentation, and Oligocene-middle Miocene paleo-depth of Ross Sea

知识价值：该项目将产生新的罗斯海地震地层学汇编，包括新的解释，可用于提供西南极洲和罗斯海构造和冰川演化的边界条件。主要目标包括汇编和解释所有现有的西罗斯海地震反射数据，并结合地球物理模型对整个800公里宽的罗斯海进行古水深重建。具体的任务将包括：将现有的工作扩展到反射器的旅行时间映射，确定地震数据中通过海平面指示下沉的关系，构建将旅行时间转换为厚度的速度模型，并使用速度模型来估计沉积物的密度和孔隙度，以进行反剥离分析。建模/反剥离工作将用于约束过去的水深测量。将提供数字解释和地层网格，作为出版物的补充。通过这种方式，这项研究的结果可以用于热沉降建模和被侵蚀的岩石恢复到罗斯湾和玛丽伯德地的其他部分。数字产品可以在出版之前以一种不会影响出版机会的方式提供给建模者。更广泛的影响：这项工作的结果将对南极洲的古地理重建非常重要，因此将对广泛的研究人员，特别是在罗斯海地区工作的研究人员有用。这些数字产品可用于测试南极西部冰盖过去波动的模型，并用于规划未来的沉积物钻探项目。从申请者中选出的两名本科生将参加在罗德岛大学举行的暑期实习。外展还将包括一个新的网站和一个或多个与罗斯海海底特征相关的维基百科条目。该项目包括与意大利国家海洋和地理实验研究所（OGS）的Chiara Sauli博士等人进行国际合作。

Intellectual Merit:This project will produce a new compilation of Ross Sea seismic stratigraphy, including new interpretations, that can be used to provide boundary conditions on the tectonic and glacial evolution of West Antarctica and the Ross Sea. The principal goals include compilation of, and interpretation of, all available existing seismic reflection data for the Western Ross Sea, coupled with geophysical modeling to produce paleo-bathymetric reconstructions for the entire 800 km-wide Ross Sea. Specific tasks will include: extending existing work on mapping travel time to reflectors, identifying relations in the seismic data that indicate subsidence through sea level, constructing velocity models for converting travel time to thickness, and using the velocity models to estimate density and porosity of sediments for backstripping analysis. Modeling/backstripping efforts will be used to constrain past bathymetry. Digital interpretations and stratigraphic grids will be provided as supplements to publications. In that way the results of this study can be used in thermal subsidence modeling and restoration of eroded rock to other parts of Ross Embayment and Marie Byrd Land by others. Digital products may be provided in advance of publication to modelers in a way that will not hurt publication chances.Broader impacts: The results of this work will be important for paleo-geographic reconstructions of Antarctica and will therefore be of use to a broad range of researchers, particularly those working in the Ross Sea region. The digital products can be used to test models for the past fluctuations of West Antarctic ice sheets, and in planning for future sediment drilling projects. Two undergraduates to be chosen from applicants will be involved in summer internships held at the University of Rhode Island. Outreach will also include a new website and one or more Wikipedia entries related to Ross Sea sub-sea floor characteristics. The project includes an international collaboration with Dr. Chiara Sauli and others at Instituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS) in Italy.