Patterned Ground, Dry Valleys, Antarctica: An Evaluation of the Scientific Merit of >30 Year-Old Study Sites

该奖项支持了一个难得的机会，以寻找在干旱山谷，一个偏远的和eqsentially uninstrumented地区的十年气候变化的表现，世界，并检查活动的多边形图案地面的长期动态。 这一机会取决于30多年前由罗伯特·F。这些标记阵列是否具有相当大的科学前景取决于它们的当前状态，以及找到它们的能力。 鉴于目前南极洲研究活动的加强，加上人们越来越关注尽量减少过去和现在的研究活动对环境的影响，评估它们的科学价值特别及时。 在这方面，人们自然会质疑维持很久以前建立的监测点的好处，并消除过去活动的痕迹，包括土壤位移标记，只要它们不再有用。 ***

This award supports a rare opportunity to search for manifestations of decadal climate change in the Dry Valleys, a remote and eqsentially un-instrumented region of the world, and to examine the long-term dynamics of active polygonal patterned ground. The opportunity hinges on extensive arrays of soil displacement markers installed over 30 years ago by Robert F. Black; whether these marker arrays have considerable scientific promise depends on their current state, and on the ability to find them. Assessing their scientific merit is particularly timely in view of the current intensification of research activity in Antarctica combined with the increasing concern for minimizing environmental impacts on research activities, past and present. In this context, it is natural to question the merit of maintaining monitoring sites established long ago, and to remove traces of past activities, including soil displacement markers provided they are no longer useful. ***