EAGER: Ice Core Site Selection Attempt on the Mt. Logan Summit Plateau

EAGER：洛根山峰会高原的冰芯选址尝试

• 批准号: 1916967
• 负责人: Dominic Winski
• 金额: $ 6.21万
• 依托单位: University of Maine
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-04-01 至 2023-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1916967&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; Ice; Core; Site; Selection

This project uses funds, under the auspices of the EArly Concept Grant For Exploratory Research (EAGER) program, to aid the potential recovery and analysis of a new ice core, in collaboration with Canadian scientists, from Mt. Logan in the high Arctic.In 2017, the Mt. Logan ice core was catastrophically destroyed in a storage freezer malfunction at the Canadian Ice Core Archive (University of Alberta). This ill-timed loss occurred when several new critical questions had evolved from recent observations. The University of Alberta recently secured funding to attempt a new expedition to recover new ice core. The U.S. researchers have established a collaborative partnership with University of Alberta researchers to participate in all aspects of the ice core recovery, analysis, and interpretation. A critical first step, however, is a comprehensive, state-of-the-art glaciological study (including geophysical observations and numerical modeling) of the Mt. Logan summit plateau area for potential drill site selection in 2019. Such modeling is the impetus for the current EAGER request.Given the low snow accumulation and deep, cold ice (~200m), the Mount Logan plateau may contain some of the oldest Arctic glacier ice on Earth. The researchers believe this effort will maximize available resources to obtain one of the best long-term climate records in the Arctic.Before the researchers can realize any benefit from acquiring a new ice core, they must complete some critical background tasks that include: 1) developing bedrock topography maps of the Mt. Logan summit plateau sites; 2) mapping near-surface spatial accumulation rate patterns; 3) tracing internal isochrones at each site; 4) collecting near-surface snow chemistry measurements at each site; and 5) selecting a drill site for a new Mt. Logan ice core.Recent advancements in drill site selection and ice core processing provide the researchers with a unique opportunity to select an optimal site and obtain a new ice core record that contains decadal to century resolution for more than 30,000 years. The researchers have experience securing and analyzing high elevation ice cores and the Mt. Logan summit plateau is a difficult place to access and work. The combination of high skill level among the research team and high potential scientific potential payoff places this request for support in the high risk-high reward category aligned with the EAGER program. The activities are scientifically important and fit well into the potentially transformative, high-risk but potential high payoff research attributes of the EAGER program.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.

该项目在探索研究早期概念基金（EAGER）项目的支持下，与加拿大科学家合作，帮助在北极高海拔地区的洛根山对新冰芯进行潜在的回收和分析。2017年，加拿大冰芯档案馆（阿尔伯塔大学）的洛根山冰芯在一次冷藏故障中被灾难性地摧毁。这种不合时宜的损失发生在几个新的关键问题从最近的观察中演变出来的时候。阿尔伯塔大学最近获得了一笔资金，试图进行一次新的考察，以恢复新的冰芯。美国研究人员与阿尔伯塔大学的研究人员建立了合作伙伴关系，参与冰芯恢复、分析和解释的各个方面。然而，关键的第一步是对洛根山山顶高原地区进行全面的、最先进的冰川学研究（包括地球物理观测和数值模拟），以便在2019年选择潜在的钻探地点。这种建模是当前EAGER请求的推动力。考虑到低积雪量和深而冷的冰（约200米），洛根山高原可能包含地球上最古老的北极冰川。研究人员认为，这一努力将最大限度地利用现有资源，获得北极最好的长期气候记录之一。在研究人员意识到获得新冰芯的任何好处之前，他们必须完成一些关键的背景任务，包括：1)绘制洛根山山顶高原遗址的基岩地形图；2)绘制近地表空间累积速率格局；3)追踪各测点内部等时线；4)收集各站点近地表积雪化学测量数据；5)选择新的洛根山冰芯的钻探地点。钻探地点选择和冰芯处理的最新进展为研究人员提供了一个独特的机会，可以选择一个最佳地点，并获得一个新的冰芯记录，其中包含了超过30,000年的十年至世纪分辨率。研究人员有保护和分析高海拔冰芯的经验，而洛根山山顶高原是一个难以进入和工作的地方。研究团队的高技能水平和高潜在的科学潜在回报的结合，将这种支持请求置于与EAGER计划一致的高风险-高回报类别中。这些活动在科学上是重要的，并且很好地符合EAGER项目潜在的变革性、高风险但潜在的高回报的研究属性。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。