EAGER: Preliminary Investigation of the Stott and Timmermann Hypothesis that Hydrothermal Carbon Fluxes Influenced Glacial/Interglacial DELTA 14C Variability

大量的研究试图通过海洋过程来解释冰期/间冰期大气二氧化碳（CO2）循环，这些海洋过程将CO2从深海转移到/转移到深海。虽然研究继续追求这种机制，但最近的研究引入了需要考虑地质过程的新观察结果。最近的一个结合地质过程的假设（Stott和Timmermann， 2011）认为，高纬度地区固定的海洋温度变化调节了太平洋中深度的二氧化碳水合物稳定性，并在此过程中调节了在覆盖热液系统的沉积物中积累的富含二氧化碳的流体的积累和释放。然而，由于没有从西太平洋已知热液系统附近的地点获得的岩心，不可能充分验证这一假设。这个EAGER项目由南加州大学的一名教员领导，他也是这篇概念论文的合著者之一。该项目将资助与一组德国科学家合作，从棉兰老岛附近的西热带太平洋收集沉积物岩心。这些材料可以用来验证有争议的热液二氧化碳假说。如果旧碳信号的地质来源能够被识别出来，并最终与水柱信号联系起来，它可能会改变我们对固体地球与气候之间联系的看法。资金支持首席研究员研究小组的两名成员参加研究考察，并从核心中生成关键的初步数据。更广泛的影响包括国际合作和南加州大学研究生的部分支持。

A large number of studies have sought explanations for glacial/interglacial atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) cycles via ocean processes that transfer CO2 to/from the deep ocean. While research continues to pursue such mechanisms, recent studies have introduced new observations that require consideration of geologic processes as well. One recent hypothesis that incorporates geologic processes (Stott and Timmermann, 2011) posited that changes in ocean temperatures, which are fixed at high latitudes, regulate CO2-hydrate stability at intermediate depths in the Pacific Ocean and in doing so, modulate the accumulation and release of CO2-rich fluids that accumulate within the sediments that blanket hydrothermal systems. However, without the availability of cores from the sites near known hydrothermal systems in the western Pacific, it has not been possible to adequately test this hypothesis. This EAGER project, led by the faculty member at the University of Southern California who co-authored the concept paper, will fund collaboration with a team of German scientists to collect sediment cores from the western tropical Pacific, near Mindinao. These materials should enable testing of the controversial hydrothermal CO2 hypothesis. If a geologic source for the old carbon signal could be identified and conclusively linked to the water column signals, it could potentially transform the way we think of the connections between the solid Earth and climate. Funding supports participation in the research expedition for two members of the principal investigator's research group, along with generation of key preliminary data from the cores. Broader impacts include international collaborations and partial support of a graduate student at the University of Southern California.