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解释冰川/间冰期大气二氧化碳（CO2）循环，这些海洋过程将CO2转移到深海/从深海转移。虽然研究继续追求这些机制，但最近的研究引入了新的观察结果，需要考虑地质过程。最近的一个假设结合了地质过程（Stott和Timmermann，2011年），认为在高纬度地区固定的海洋温度变化调节了太平洋中等深度的二氧化碳水合物稳定性，从而调节了覆盖热液系统的沉积物中富含二氧化碳的流体的积累和释放。然而，由于没有西太平洋已知热液系统附近地点的岩心，无法充分检验这一假设。这个EAGER项目由南加州大学的一名教员领导，他是这篇概念论文的合著者，该项目将资助与一个德国科学家小组的合作，从靠近Mindinao的热带太平洋西部收集沉积物岩心。这些材料应该能够测试有争议的热液CO2假说。如果能够确定旧碳信号的地质来源，并最终将其与水柱信号联系起来，那么它可能会改变我们对固体地球与气候之间联系的看法。资金支持主要研究者研究小组的两名成员参加研究考察，沿着从岩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一名研究生的部分支持。

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.