Collaborative Research: An Ice Core from Hercules Dome, East Antarctica

这个项目的目标是从南极洲的大力士冰穹钻取冰芯。赫拉克勒斯冰穹的地理环境使其非常适合研究南极西部冰盖在很长一段时间内的大小变化。南极洲西部冰盖的底部位于海平面以下，这使得南极洲的这一部分容易受到南大洋相对温暖的深水的融化。 一个重要的研究问题是，西南极冰盖是否在地球上最后一个长期温暖时期（大约125，000年前）崩溃，当时海洋更温暖，海平面比今天高出几米。支持或反对这种崩溃的证据将记录在冰的化学和物理性质中。大力神冰穹冰芯将在南极洲的三到四个野外季节使用有效的钻探技术获得。该赠款包括对项目管理、钻前科学界参与、冰芯回收以及教育和外展活动的支持。大力士冰穹位于东南极冰盖的边缘，南纬86度，西经105度的横贯南极山脉以南。赫拉克勒斯冰穹的冰川学条件很简单，河床有明确的分层，最适合在1600米至2800米的深度恢复最后一次间冰期的深冰芯。来自大力神圆顶的冰芯将为冰芯分析师和其他人提供一个研究机会，以在一些科学优先事项上取得进展，包括最后一次间冰期的环境条件，气体和气溶胶的历史，以及过去15万年来温度和积雪变化的幅度和时间。加上美国和国际研究人员在过去几十年中获得的冰芯网络，大力神冰穹的结果将改进对边界条件的估计，这些边界条件是实施和验证冰盖模型所必需的，而冰盖模型对预测未来的南极冰是至关重要的。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值进行评估，更广泛的影响审查标准。

The goal of this project is to drill and recover an ice core from Hercules Dome, Antarctica. The geographic setting of Hercules Dome makes it well-situated to investigate changes in the size of the West Antarctic ice sheet over long time periods. The base of the West Antarctic ice sheet lies below sea level, which makes this part of Antarctica vulnerable to melting from the relatively warm deep water of the Southern Ocean. An important research question is whether the West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapsed during Earth's last prolonged warm period, about 125,000 years ago, when the ocean was warmer and sea level was several meters higher than today. Evidence for or against such a collapse will be recorded in the chemistry and physical properties of the ice. The Hercules Dome ice core will be obtained over three to four field seasons in Antarctica using efficient drilling technology. This grant includes support for project management, pre-drilling science community engagement, ice-core recovery, and education and outreach activities. Hercules Dome is located at the edge of the East Antarctic ice sheet, south of the Transantarctic Mountains at 86 degrees South, 105 degrees West. Glaciological conditions at Hercules Dome are simple, with well-defined layering to the bed, optimal for the recovery of a deep ice core reaching to the last interglacial period at depths between 1600 and 2800 meters. An ice core from Hercules Dome will provide a research opportunity for ice-core analysts and others to make progress on a number of science priorities, including the environmental conditions of the last interglacial period, the history of gases and aerosols, and the magnitude and timing of changes in temperature and snow accumulation over the last 150,000 years. Together with the network of ice cores obtained by U.S. and international researchers over the last few decades, results from Hercules Dome will yield improved estimates of the boundary conditions necessary for the implementation and validation of ice-sheet models critical to the projection of future Antarctic ice-sheet change and sea level.This 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.