Collaborative Research: Straight to the Source- Mineral Weathering in Snowbanks and Supraglacial Ice, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

合作研究：直奔源头——南极洲麦克默多干谷雪堆和冰上冰的矿物风化

• 批准号: 2148066
• 负责人: Anna Bergstrom
• 金额: $ 26.04万
• 依托单位: Boise State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-08-01 至 2025-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2148066&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Straight; Source; Mineral

Glacial erosion produces large quantities of sediment that can change the chemistry of surrounding land and ocean ecosystems. While the nutrients underneath glaciers are known to be important for nearby biological communities, comparatively less is known about the chemistry and importance of glacier surfaces and snowpack, which can trap dust - small particles of rock that are deposited by wind and with snowfall. The dust is darker than ice and snow and therefore can warm during sunny periods and melt the surrounding frozen water, generating small amounts of liquid water. During cloudy and cold periods, solar radiation can no longer heat the particles and the liquid water around the dust freezes again. These thawing and freezing cycles can break down the dust and release nutrients, such as iron, which can potentially be used by organisms in the ice or can be transported to streams, lakes, and/or the ocean during periods of high melt. This research will combine computer modeling and laboratory experiments to understand 1) what happens (chemically and physically) to glacier and snowpack dust during freezing and thawing and 2) how to model freezing and thawing of water and dust in glacier ice. Two traveling exhibits exploring the connections between science and art will result from this project, allowing for diverse audiences to connect with the Antarctic continent and understand how small-scale science influences large-scale systems. The results of this study will determine the geochemistry of glacial meltwater due to freezing and thawing, and whether the meltwater contains critical nutrients for surrounding ecosystems.Despite low temperatures and the relative scarcity of liquid water, glacial systems can be a major source of trace metals, nutrients and other weathering products to proglacial and marine systems. While the importance of weathering has been established in subglacial and proglacial environments, less is understood about weathering mechanisms or the composition of major and trace nutrients at the most upstream source: within snow and supraglacial ice. Wind deposits fine-grained sediment on ice surfaces, which can then melt or become incorporated into the ice profile and experience a range of thermal regimes and freeze-thaw conditions. Daily freeze-thaw cycling drives physical and chemical weathering of sediment grains, yet few studies have explicitly examined the frequency and intensity of freeze-thaw cycles and how they control major ion and trace metal release, alteration, and mobility. This interdisciplinary study will use geochemical and energy balance modeling, freeze-thaw experimentation, and scanning electron microscopy to advance knowledge of mineral weathering in ice and snow active layers. Existing samples collected from the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, an ecosystem that relies on runoff derived from supraglacial ice and snow melt, will be utilized. Two traveling exhibits exploring the connections between science and art will result from this project, the first focused on connecting the macro-scale Antarctic continent to micro-scale microscopy images, and the second a contemporary art exhibit that will explore the Antarctic continent and our perceptions of scale. Findings from this research will contribute to knowledge of nutrient bioavailability and delivery to proglacial environments and polar oceans, watershed-scale weathering in glacial systems, and the conditions that create microsites for life on glaciers and other icy systems.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.

冰川侵蚀产生了大量的沉积物，可以改变周围陆地和海洋生态系统的化学成分。虽然众所周知，冰川下的营养物质对附近的生物群落很重要，但人们对冰川表面和积雪的化学成分和重要性的了解相对较少。冰川表面和积雪可以捕获灰尘--风和降雪沉积的岩石小颗粒。尘埃比冰雪更暗，因此在阳光充足的时候会变暖，融化周围的冰冻水，产生少量的液态水。在多云和寒冷的时期，太阳辐射不再能加热颗粒，尘埃周围的液态水再次冻结。这些融化和冻结循环可以分解尘埃并释放铁等营养物质，这些营养物质可能被冰中的生物利用，或者在高度融化期间被输送到溪流、湖泊和/或海洋中。这项研究将把计算机模拟和实验室实验结合起来，以了解1)冰川和积雪尘埃在冻结和融化过程中(化学和物理上)发生的变化，以及2)如何对冰川冰中水和尘埃的冻结和融化进行建模。这个项目将产生两个探索科学和艺术之间联系的巡回展览，让不同的观众与南极大陆联系起来，了解小范围的科学如何影响大范围的系统。这项研究的结果将确定冰川融水因冻结和融化而产生的地球化学，以及融化的水是否含有对周围生态系统至关重要的营养物质。尽管温度较低，液态水相对稀缺，但冰川系统可能是冰川和海洋系统痕量金属、营养物质和其他风化产物的主要来源。虽然在冰下和冰前环境中风化的重要性已经确定，但人们对风化机制或最上游来源--雪和冰上冰中主要和微量营养物质的组成了解较少。风将细粒沉积物沉积在冰面上，然后这些沉积物可以融化或融入冰面，经历一系列的热状态和冻融条件。每日冻融循环推动沉积物颗粒的物理和化学风化，但很少有研究明确研究冻融循环的频率和强度，以及它们如何控制主要离子和痕量金属的释放、蚀变和迁移。这项跨学科的研究将使用地球化学和能量平衡模型、冻融实验和扫描电子显微镜来推进冰雪活动层中矿物风化的知识。将利用从南极洲麦克默多干燥山谷收集的现有样本，该生态系统依赖于冰上冰雪融化产生的径流。这个项目将产生两个探索科学和艺术之间联系的巡回展览，第一个专注于将宏观的南极大陆与微观尺度的显微图像联系起来，第二个展览将探索南极大陆和我们对规模的感知的当代艺术展览。这项研究的发现将有助于了解营养物质的生物有效性和向冰川环境和极地海洋的输送、冰川系统中分水岭规模的风化作用，以及在冰川和其他冰川系统上创造微小生命场所的条件。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。