Collaborative Research: West Antarctic Ice Sheet stability, Alpine Glaciation, and Climate Variability: a Terrestrial Perspective from Cosmogenic-nuclide Dating in McMurdo Sound

智力优势：私人投资机构建议用一个陆地项目来补充ANDRILL海洋记录，该项目将对西南极冰盖(WAIS)和麦克默多海峡高山冰川过去的波动提供时间控制。该项目将开发高分辨率的漂流地图，这些漂流来自麦克默多海峡岛屿和半岛上的海冰和高山冰川。此外，PIS将获取这些绘制的漂移层和高山冰川的多碎屑/多核素宇宙成因分析，并使用区域气候模拟来阐明麦克默多地区在冰层扩张和消退期间可能出现的各种环境条件。PI将利用保存在发现山、黑岛和布朗半岛两侧的冰盖和高山冰川波动的地质记录。从陆基冰层沉积的漂浮物将对WAIS以前的进退造成空间限制。来自高山冰川的冰雹被认为是间冰期的起源，可能会产生该地区水文变化的一级记录。综合实地数据，该团队建议提高罗斯湾现有区域尺度气候模型的分辨率。总体方法和预期结果将为连接南极洲这一关键区域的海洋和陆地记录提供第一步。广泛影响：拟议工作的结果将与波士顿大学、哥伦比亚大学和伍斯特州立大学的推广计划相结合。该团队将积极与美国自然历史博物馆合作，在博物馆外展活动中突出这一项目。该团队还将包括一名PolarTREC教师作为研究团队成员。地貌结果将在波士顿大学S南极数字图像分析实验室以3D形式展示。这项研究将成为波士顿大学博士论文的基础。

Intellectual Merit: The PIs propose to complement the ANDRILL marine record with a terrestrial project that will provide chronological control for past fluctuations of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) and alpine glaciers in McMurdo Sound. The project will develop high-resolution maps of drifts deposited from grounded marine-based ice and alpine glaciers on islands and peninsulas in McMurdo Sound. In addition, the PIs will acquire multi-clast/multi-nuclide cosmogenic analyses of these mapped drift sheets and alpine moraines and use regional climate modeling to shed light on the range of possible environmental conditions in the McMurdo region during periods of grounded ice expansion and recession. The PIs will make use of geological records for ice sheet and alpine glacier fluctuations preserved on the flanks of Mount Discovery, Black Island, and Brown Peninsula. Drifts deposited from grounded, marine-based ice will yield spatial constraints for former advances and retreats of the WAIS. Moraines from alpine glaciers, hypothesized to be of interglacial origin, could yield a first-order record of hydrologic change in the region. Synthesizing the field data, the team proposes to improve the resolution of existing regional-scale climate models for the Ross Embayment. The overall approach and anticipated results will provide the first steps towards linking the marine and terrestrial records in this critical sector of Antarctica.Broader impacts: Results from the proposed work will be integrated with outreach programs at Boston University, Columbia University, and Worcester State University. The team will actively collaborate with the American Museum of Natural History to feature this project prominently in museum outreach. The team will also include a PolarTREC teacher as a member of the research team. The geomorphological results will be presented in 3D at Boston University?s Antarctic Digital Image Analyses Lab. The research will form the basis of a PhD dissertation at Boston University.