CAREER: Gulf of Maine Temperature Trends and Variability from the early Holocene to the Present

缅因湾支持着从科德角延伸到新斯科舍的高产海洋生态系统。该区域的海洋温度对来自北方的较冷洋流和来自南方的较暖洋流相对流入的变化很敏感，这最终与更大的区域和全球海洋-大气环流有关。从2004年到2013年，缅因湾的变暖速度比世界上99%的海洋都要快，但导致这里最近温度变化的过程还没有被完全了解。对仪器记录（超过100年）以外时间尺度上的海洋学趋势的更深入了解，可以阐明变化的原因，确定过去是否发生过突变，并阐明对过去沿海群落的环境影响。这个项目汇集了一个由研究人员和新英格兰印第安学生组成的多学科团队，他们将在墨西哥湾进行为期10天的研究考察，并利用埋藏在古代海洋沉积物中的地球化学证据深入研究该地区的过去。学生的研究成果和经验，将透过发展创新的多媒体网上故事环境，以及与本地学校合作，与更广泛的社区分享。该项目有可能加强该地区的长期环境预测和规划，该地区的人口和海洋生态系统已相互联系了数千年。利用缅因湾和斯科斯大陆架及斜坡沉积物岩心中有孔虫方解石的镁钙比（Mg/Ca）和d18O，重建了海洋温度和海水氧同位素组成（d18O）的长期记录。高分辨率（间隔约100至200年）记录将从全新世开始至11,600年前至今，提供对长期温度趋势以及任何突变的深入了解。除了传统的全壳地球化学分析外，还将对单个有孔虫标本进行微观分析，为评估环境变异性提供补充数据。在缅因湾进行的一次研究巡航将提供沉积物岩心和浮游生物拖尾材料以及水文数据，以便对地球化学代用物进行改进和区域校准。其中一个关键目标是测试和扩展一种常见的高纬度有孔虫物种Neogloboquadrina incompta的Mg/ ca温度校准。在古海洋学研究的同时，将对沿海考古遗址的文物进行放射性碳定年，以完善该地区捕鱼活动的年表。特别是，沿海社区密集的剑捕鱼的开始和结束将根据新的古温度数据重新确定时间和重新评估。所有工作将由一个由高中生、本科生和研究生组成的团队进行，他们将与瓦巴纳基中心和缅因大学新媒体和互联网技术实验室合作，接受技术和通信培训。除了开发可以广泛分享的在线叙述外，高中生还将练习向不同群体口头展示他们的研究，包括在国家会议上。一个由男女组成的多元化团队，包括佩诺布斯考特民族的一名成员，将合作指导和指导学生完成科学过程，并帮助他们发出能够有效接触不同受众的声音。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。

The Gulf of Maine supports a highly productive marine ecosystem extending from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia. Ocean temperatures in this region are sensitive to changes in the relative influx of colder currents from the north and warmer currents from the south, which are ultimately linked to the greater regional and global ocean-atmosphere circulation. From 2004 to 2013, the Gulf of Maine warmed faster than 99% of the world's oceans, but the processes driving recent temperature change here are not fully understood. A deeper understanding of oceanographic trends on time scales beyond instrumental records (older than ~100 years) can elucidate the causes of change, determine whether abrupt changes have happened in the past, and shed light on environmental impacts on past coastal communities. This project brings together a multi-disciplinary team of researchers and Native American students in New England, who will conduct a 10-day research expedition in the Gulf and delve into the region's past using geochemical evidence buried in ancient marine sediments. Results and research experiences of students will be shared with the broader community via development of an innovative multi-media online storytelling environment and through partnership with local schools. The project has the potential to enhance long-term environmental prediction and planning in an area where human populations and ocean ecosystems have been interlinked for millennia.Long-term records of ocean temperature and seawater oxygen isotope composition (d18O) will be reconstructed from the magnesium to calcium ratio (Mg/Ca) and d18O of fossil foraminiferal calcite derived from a suite of sediment cores from the Gulf of Maine and Scotian Shelf and Slope. High-resolution (~100 to 200-year interval) records will extend from the start of the Holocene ~11,600 years ago to the present, providing insight into long-term temperature trends as well as any abrupt changes. In addition to traditional whole-shell geochemical analysis, micro-analysis of individual foraminiferal specimens will be conducted to provide complementary data for assessing environmental variability. A research cruise in the Gulf of Maine will provide sediment-core and plankton-tow material as well as hydrographic data for refinement and regional calibration of the geochemical proxies. One key goal is to test and extend the Mg/Ca-temperature calibration for a common high-latitude foraminifer species, Neogloboquadrina incompta. In parallel with paleoceanographic research, artifacts from coastal archaeological sites will be radiocarbon-dated to refine the chronology of fishing practices in the region. In particular, the beginning and end of intensive sword-fishing in coastal communities will be re-dated and reassessed in light of new paleotemperature data. All work will be carried out by a team of high school, undergraduate, and graduate students who will gain both technical and communications training in partnership with the Wabanaki Center and the New Media and Internet Technologies Lab at the University of Maine. In addition to developing online narratives that can be widely shared, high school students will practice presenting their research verbally to different groups, including at national meetings. A diverse team of women and men, including a member of the Penobscot Nation, will collaborate to guide and mentor students through the scientific process and to help them develop a voice that can effectively reach diverse audiences.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.