Meltwater systems of past ice sheets: implications for ice sheet dynamics, meltwater routing and landscape change

过去冰盖的融水系统：对冰盖动力学、融水路径和景观变化的影响

• 批准号: RGPIN-2016-04018
• 负责人: Brennand, Tracy
• 金额: $ 1.75万
• 依托单位: Simon Fraser University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=679839
• 关键词: Meltwater; systems; past; ice; sheets

Present-day ice sheets are melting, and the meltwater generated by them is contributing to sea level rise. Numerical ice sheet models are being used to predict future changes, though the linkages between ice sheet hydrology, ice dynamics and climate remain unclear. My research program provides empirical verification data (e.g., past ice sheet margins, meltwater channel type and character) vital for improving these models and their predictions, and for unraveling the history of past ice sheets. Specifically, the research in this application will:***(1) develop and test a new classification of eskers (sediment casts of ice-walled meltwater channels) that will provide verification data for ice sheet models, allow more robust reconstructions of past ice sheet dynamics, assist remote predictive mapping in Canada's North, and guide aggregate and mineral exploration; and***(2) quantify the amount of water stored in proglacial lakes at the margins of the last ice sheet to cover western Canada (Cordilleran Ice Sheet) and determine where they were dammed and when and how they drained in order to reconstruct past ice sheet decay, provide verification data for numerical ice sheet models and allow assessment of landscape change associated with these events. ***In sum, the results generated by this program are vital to predicting the future behaviour of present-day ice sheets, and will inform our understanding of past ice sheet hydrology and dynamics and landscape evolution. In addition, past meltwater systems left behind important aggregate resources, which are often sampled during drift prospecting campaigns and can form important aquifers. Understanding sediment transport within these systems and thus being able to predict textural changes or transport distances within them will facilitate more cost effective exploration or more defensible resource development. HQP training will result in much needed knowledge transfer to government and industry and facilitate environmentally-responsible development.

现在的冰盖正在融化，它们产生的融水正在导致海平面上升。数值冰盖模型正被用于预测未来的变化，尽管冰盖水文学、冰动力学和气候之间的联系仍不清楚。我的研究计划提供了经验验证数据（例如，过去的冰盖边缘，融水通道类型和特征）对于改进这些模型及其预测，以及解开过去冰盖的历史至关重要。具体而言，本申请的研究将：***（1）开发和测试一种新的eskers分类（冰壁融水通道的沉积物模型），将为冰盖模型提供验证数据，允许更可靠地重建过去的冰盖动态，协助加拿大北部的远程预测测绘，并指导骨料和矿物勘探;和 *（2）量化覆盖加拿大西部的最后一个冰盖边缘的冰前湖中储存的水量（科迪勒拉冰盖），并确定它们在哪里被筑坝，何时以及如何排水，以重建过去的冰盖衰退，为数值冰盖模型提供验证数据，并允许评估与这些事件相关的景观变化。* 总之，该计划产生的结果对于预测当今冰盖的未来行为至关重要，并将为我们了解过去的冰盖水文和动力学以及景观演变提供信息。此外，过去的融水系统留下了重要的集合资源，这些资源往往在漂流勘探活动中取样，并可形成重要的含水层。了解这些系统内的沉积物输运，从而能够预测它们内部的结构变化或输运距离，将有助于更经济有效的勘探或更可靠的资源开发。HQP培训将导致急需的知识转移到政府和行业，并促进对环境负责的发展。