Collaborative Research: EAGER: Processing, Interpretation and Dissemination of the Proof-of-Concept Transient Electromagnetic Survey of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Region

智力优势：MCM-SkyTEM项目使用航空瞬变电磁方法绘制了2011-12年南半球麦克默多干谷和罗斯岛巴恩角的电阻率图。SkyTEM系统安装在直升机上，能够对传统地面方法无法访问的地形上的地下电阻率结构进行广泛的地球物理测量。获得的电阻率测量区分了高阻地质材料，如冰川冰、基岩和永冻土，以及导电材料，如未冻结的沉积物或深至约300米的液态卤水的永久冻土。私人投资机构要求提供资金，以得出与麦克默多干燥山谷、地球上类似的寒冷地区和其他行星体潜在地下微生物栖息地的物理和化学条件有关的数据产品。他们将利用这些数据产品来描述麦克默多干旱河谷的水文历史以及该区域的地下水文连通性，以调查对养分和微生物运输的影响。个人信息系统将使研究界能够访问这些数据产品。更广泛的影响：极地微生物栖息地具有很高的社会和科学价值，因为它们是地球和其他行星体生命极限的重要试验场。项目交付内容将包括为本科生和研究生提供的教具。作为该项目的一部分，两名博士生将获得高级研究培训。参与这一项目的专业人员和学生还将通过在当地K-12学校介绍和接触当地媒体有关SkyTEM研究的故事，提供非正式的公共外联机会。

Intellectual Merit: The MCM-SkyTEM project mapped resistivity in the McMurdo Dry Valleys and at Cape Barne on the Ross Island during the 2011-12 austral season using an airborne transient electromagnetic method. The SkyTEM system is mounted to a helicopter enabling a broad geophysical survey of subsurface resistivity structure over terrain that is inaccessible to traditional ground-based methods. Resistivity measurements obtained distinguish between highly resistive geologic materials such as glacier ice, bedrock and permafrost, and conductive materials such as unfrozen sediments or permafrost with liquid brine to depths of about 300 m. The PIs request funding to derive data products relevant to physical and chemical conditions in potential subsurface microbial habitats of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, similar cold regions on Earth and other planetary bodies. They will use these data products to characterize the hydrologic history of McMurdo Dry Valleys as well as the subsurface hydrologic connectivity in the region to investigate the implications for nutrient and microbial transport. The PIs will make these data products accessible to the research community. Broader impacts: Polar microbial habitats are of high societal and scientific interest because they represent important testing grounds for the limits of life on Earth and other planetary bodies. Project deliverables will include teaching aids for undergraduate and graduate students. Two Ph.D. students will obtain advanced research training as part of this project. The PIs and students on this project will also engage in informal public outreach opportunities by presenting at local K-12 schools and reaching out to local media outlets on stories relating to SkyTEM research.