Collaborative Research: Sea-Level Changes along the Atlantic Coast of the United States: Implications for Glacial Isostatic Adjustment Models and Current Rates of Sea-Level Change

这个项目将建立一个美国大西洋沿岸的相对海平面数据库，并将其与加拿大大西洋、美国墨西哥湾沿岸和加勒比自末次冰期以来的数据结合起来。这些数据将用于验证和完善冰川均衡调整（GIA）模型。迫切需要重新评估美国大西洋沿岸以前海平面的观测证据的质量，以及解释这些数据所固有的概念。此外，沉积物压实和潮差变化等其他因素很少被考虑在内。这种RSL历史上的缺陷表明，我们对过去百万年海平面、其驱动机制和空间变量表达的理解存在重大差距。它们也构成了GIA过程动力学模型的一个极其重要的限制，这些模型目前被用来评估海平面变化的潮汐计和卫星记录，以孤立气候变暖的贡献。更广泛的影响：由于该项目整合了广泛的学科（如地貌学、地层学、地球物理学、数学和物理海洋学），拟议的研究将为pi和学生之间提供独特的指导机会。本科生和毕业生将通过宾夕法尼亚州立大学、杜兰大学和宾夕法尼亚大学的跨学科学位课程，全面参与研究和开展项目，并有机会进入多伦多大学和美国地质调查局伍兹霍尔科学中心的理论地球动力学小组。他们所获得的经验和培训将为那些计划在环保公司或政府机构开始职业生涯的学生提供新的视角，同时指导那些攻读高级学位的学生。WWW资源将为学术界、政府和工业科学家、教育工作者、学生、政策制定者和更大的用户社区提供对海平面数据库、GIA模型、工具、服务、出版物和报告的开放访问。海平面观测和GIA模式将对评估国家灾害作出重要和独特的贡献。

This project will establish a relative sea-level (RSL) database from the Atlantic Coast of the United States and combine it with data from Atlantic Canada, the United States Gulf Coast and the Caribbean since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). These data will be used to validate and refine Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA) models. There is an urgent need for a re-assessment of the quality of the observational evidence of former sea levels from the Atlantic Coast of the United States, as well as concepts inherent in the interpretation of the data. Furthermore, other factors such as sediment compaction and tidal range variations have rarely been taken into account. Such deficiencies in RSL histories represent a significant gap in our understanding of sea level over the past million years, its driving mechanisms and spatially variable expression. They also constitute an extremely important limitation to the dynamical models of the GIA process that are currently employed to evaluate tide-gauge and satellite records of sea-level change so as to isolate the contribution due to climate warming. Broader Impacts: The proposed research will provide unique mentoring opportunities between the PIs and students because the project integrates a wide range of disciplines (e.g. geomorphology, stratigraphy, geophysics, mathematics and physical oceanography). Undergraduates and graduates will be integrally involved in the research and conduct projects through the interdisciplinary degree programs of Pennsylvania State University, Tulane University and University of Pennsylvania, and have access to the theoretical geodynamics group at the University of Toronto and the United States Geological Survey, Woods Hole Science Center. The experience and training they receive will provide fresh perspectives to students planning to embark on careers with environmental firms or government agencies, while mentoring those going on for advanced degrees. A WWW resource will deliver open access to the sea-level database, GIA models, tools, services, publications and reports for academic, government and industrial scientists, educators, students, policy makers and the larger user community. The sea-level observations and the GIA model will form an important and unique contribution to the assessment of national hazards.