Collaborative Proposal: Late Cenozoic Volcanism and Glaciation at Minna Bluff, Antarctica: Implications for Antarctic Cryosphere History

本项目研究南极洲罗斯湾西部明娜海崖的冰川火山沉积。其目标是确定罗斯冰架的历史，该冰架由东南极洲和西南极洲的主要冰盖提供。除了确定这些冰盖如何在动态气候变化的时期，冰川火山序列可能会限制冰盖参数，如厚度，水文和基础热制度的数值模型是至关重要的。这项为期三年的研究将使用40 Ar/39 Ar测年法绘制、分析和确定关键单元的年龄。还将进行冰川沉积物36 Cl定年和蚀变稳定同位素评价的试点研究。该项目提供了罗斯冰架行为的补充记录，以ANDRILL的采样。它还改善了麦克默多地区火山地层学的一般记录，这对解释干旱山谷中发现的地貌、冰川沉积物和古冰很重要。该项目的更广泛影响包括提高社会对全球气候变化、海平面上升以及研究生和本科生教育的理解。外展工作包括为公立学校和社区团体举办教育项目，为当地科学博物馆举办展览，以及建立项目网站。

This project studies glaciovolcanic deposits at Minna Bluff in the western Ross Embayment of Antarctica. Its goal is to determine the history of the Ross Ice Shelf, which is fed by the major ice sheets from both East and West Antarctica. Apart from determining how these ice sheets waxed and waned during a period of dynamic climate change, glaciovolcanic sequences may constrain ice sheet parameters that are critical to numerical models such as thickness, hydrology, and basal thermal regime. This three-year study would map, analyze, and determine the age of key units using 40Ar/39Ar dating. Pilot studies would also be conducted for 36Cl dating of glacial deposits and stable isotope evaluations of alteration. The project offers a complementary record of Ross Ice Shelf behavior to that sampled by ANDRILL. It also improves the general record of McMurdo area volcanostratigraphy, which is important to interpreting landforms, glacial deposits, and ancient ice found in the Dry Valleys.The broader impacts of this project include improving society's understanding of global climate change, sea level rise, and graduate and undergraduate student education. Outreach efforts include educational programs for public schools and community groups, exhibits for a local science museum, and a project website.