West Antartctic Ice Shelf- Ocean Interactions

概述和知识价值：该项目扩展并结合了历史和最近的海洋数据集，以调查沿南极西部冰盖的太平洋大陆边缘沿着的冰-海洋相互作用。综合的重点是显着不同的环境上和附近的寒冷罗斯海和温暖的阿蒙森海大陆架，在那里现有的测量可追溯到1958年和1994年，分别在更广泛覆盖的罗斯海大陆架，多个重新占领的海洋站和断面被用来扩展我们的知识，长期的海洋淡水化和质量平衡的世界？最大的冰架。 在更崎岖的阿蒙森海大陆架上，它包含了地球？由于南极洲的冰架融化速度最快，对观测到的温盐变化的持续研究也在寻找外大陆架浅滩和脆弱的冰架接地区之间的联系。这项跨学科的工作更新了以前的研究冰架对海洋热强迫的响应，并使用化学示踪剂来测量变化的货架，深水和底层水的转换和productionrates.Broader Impacts：最近和潜在的未来海平面上升率是主要的大规模影响的冰和海洋的变化所揭示的观测在研究领域。最重要的问题是，全球和地区海平面是否会逐渐上升，从而减少碳的使用以避免最坏的后果，还是会迅速上升，导致重大的社会和经济动荡。外国船只获得的合作和数据也被用来更好地了解这些陆架海和冰架快速变化的原因，沿着相关的更广泛的影响。重新网格化、重新编辑或新整理的数据将被存档，并在必要时通过演示文稿、出版物和新闻稿提供结果。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

Overview and Intellectual merit:This project extends and combines historical and recent ocean data sets to investigate ice-ocean-interactions along the Pacific continental margin of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The synthesis focuses on the strikingly different environments on and near the cold Ross Sea and warm Amundsen Sea continental shelves, where available measurements reach back to ~1958 and 1994, respectively.On the more extensively covered Ross Sea continental shelf, multiple reoccupations of ocean stations and transects are used to extend our knowledge of long-term ocean freshening and the mass balance of the world?s largest ice shelf. On the more rugged Amundsen Sea continental shelf, which contains the earth?s fastest melting ice shelves, continuing research on observed thermohaline variability also pursues connections between outer shelf shoals and vulnerable ice shelf grounding zones. This interdisciplinary work updates a prior study of ice shelf response to ocean thermal forcing, and uses chemical tracers to measure changes in shelf, deep and bottom water transformations and production rates.Broader Impacts :Recent and potential future rates of sea level rise are the primary broad-scale impacts of the ice and ocean changes revealed by observations in the study area. The overriding question is whether global and regional sea levels will accelerate gradually, allowing carbon usage reductions to head off the worst consequences, or so rapidly that they will contribute to major social and economic upheavals.Collaborations and data acquired by foreign vessels are also utilized tobetter understand the causes of rapid change in these shelf seas and ice shelves, along with associated wider implications. Data that are re-gridded, re-edited or newly collated will be archived, and results made available via presentations, publications, and press releases if warranted. This proposal does not require fieldwork in the AntarcticThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.