Collaborative Research: EAGER: GASHES: Getz Antarctic Submarine Hydrothermal Vents Exploratory Study

南极洲拥有地球上最大的冰川水库--足以使海平面上升58米或近200英尺。虽然非洲大陆内陆无人居住，但其海岸线充满了生机。水生植物支撑着一个充满活力的生态系统，其中包括信天翁、大象和威德尔海豹等大型海鸟，以及虎鲸和企鹅。冰川冰和生态系统都可能受到南极大陆下方火山活动的影响，该项目旨在提高我们对南极洲阿蒙森海火山活动的了解。火山热能影响冰川冰的分布方式，以及冰川从陆地流向海洋的速度。此外，海底或冰下火山为海洋浮游生物和食物链底部的其他生物提供了重要的营养物质。该项目将探索阿蒙森海海底火山活动的证据。溶解在海水中的氦等气体将进行测试，以寻找阿蒙森海存在火山活动的证据。如果这一证据能够成立，该项目将寻求评估火山活动的位置以及火山流体是如何渗入海洋的，包括进入接收阳光生长的海洋部分。该项目寻求海底或冰下和合冰裂谷特征的进一步证据，可能与更大的西南极裂谷系统有关。氦同位素是热液羽流进入海柱路径的灵敏诊断示踪剂。稀有气体提供了对海洋中的冰和大气过程的高保真追踪。它们结合在一起，可以追踪热液流体的路径，并揭示冰川形成的淡水和热液羽流之间的任何关系。该项目将测量和解释在2022年1月至3月期间对阿蒙森海进行的考察船考察期间收集的离散水样。该项目将测量在盖兹冰架前部海底地质特征周围的海水中和邻近沿海水域中溶解的五种稳定的惰性气体(氦、氖、氩、氪、氙气)和氦同位素。该项目将预先寻找阿蒙森海热液流体的证据，评估地幔物质目前是否正在释放，探索热液流体中的铁正在混合到水柱中的证据，并确定输入南极海岸流的融水如何沿着主要的阿蒙森冰架演化。这一裁决反映了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。

Antarctica contains the largest reservoir of glacial ice on the planet - enough to raise sea level by 58 meters or almost 200 feet. While the interior of the continent is uninhabited, its coastline is teeming with life. Aquatic plants support a vibrant ecosystem, which includes large seabirds like albatross, Elephant and Weddell seals, as well as orcas, and penguins. Both the glacier ice and the ecosystem may be affected by volcanic activity beneath the Antarctic continent, and this project seeks to improve our knowledge of volcanism in one part of Antarctica, the Amundsen Sea. Volcanic heat can influence the way glacier ice is distributed and how quickly it can flow from land to sea. In addition, undersea or under-ice volcanoes provide important nutrients to feed ocean plankton and other organisms at the base of the food chain. This project will explore evidence for undersea volcanism in the Amundsen Sea. Gases such as helium, dissolved in seawater, will be tested for evidence that volcanic activity is present in the Amundsen Sea. If this evidence can be established, the project will seek to evaluate where the volcanism is located and how volcanic fluid leaks into the ocean, including into the part of the ocean that receives sunlight for growth.This project seeks further evidence of submarine or subglacial and syn-glacial rift features, perhaps connected to the greater West Antarctic Rift System. Helium isotopes are a sensitive diagnostic tracer of hydrothermal plume pathways into the ocean column. Noble gases provide high-fidelity tracing of ice and atmospheric processes in the ocean. Together, they can trace the pathways of hydrothermal fluid and reveal any relationship between glacially-derived freshwater and hydrothermal plumes. This project will measure and interpret discrete water samples collected during a research vessel expedition to the Amundsen Sea that took place between January and March 2022. The project will measure the five stable noble gases (Helium, Neon, Argon, Krypton, Xenon) and helium isotopes dissolved in seawater surrounding a submarine geologic feature at the front of the Getz Ice Shelf, and in adjacent coastal waters. The project will look for prior for evidence of hydrothermal fluid in the Amundsen Sea, evaluate whether mantle material is presently being released, explore the evidence that iron in hydrothermal fluid is being mixed into the water column, and determine how meltwater inputs to the Antarctic Coastal Current evolve along major Amundsen ice shelves.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.