NSFGEO-NERC: Collaborative Research: Accelerating Thwaites Ecosystem Impacts for the Southern Ocean (ARTEMIS)

第一部分：非技术性总结：阿蒙森海毗邻西南极冰盖（WAIS），拥有整个南极洲最具生产力的沿海生态系统，从太空中可以看到充满活力的绿色沃茨，大气二氧化碳吸收率比南大洋平均水平高出十倍。该地区也是一个受气候变化和冰川冰损失影响很大的地区。温暖的深海上升流正在造成冰盖下的融化，这导致海平面上升，并增加了该地区的营养输入。这是一个由国家科学基金会地球科学理事会（NSF/GEO）和联合王国国家环境研究理事会（NERC）通过NSF/GEO-NERC牵头机构协议共同资助的项目。该协议允许美国/英国提交一份联合提案，并由研究者拥有最大预算比例的机构进行同行评审。一旦成功地共同确定了一项赔偿金，每个机构将为与本国有关的预算和调查员提供资金。在这项合作中，美国团队将与英国资助的物理海洋学项目一起进行生物地球化学采样，以评估冰川融水中的铁等微量营养素对生态系统生产力和碳循环的贡献。测量结果将被纳入计算机模拟，以研究生态系统对进一步冰川融化的反应。研究结果将有助于预测未来对该地区的影响，并确定阿蒙森海生态系统的气候敏感性是否代表了可推广到大南极的过程的前线。这项研究与大型国际思韦茨冰川合作组织（ITGC）保持一致，并将向整个科学界提供数据。该计划将为本科生，研究生，博士后和早期职业科学家提供科学和通信方面的培训。第二部分：技术总结：阿蒙森海是南极洲最富饶的冰间湖，其大气二氧化碳吸收率比南冰洋平均水平高出十倍。该区域易受气候变化的影响，海冰迅速减少，冰逸不断变化，一些冰川从西南极冰盖流出，融化速度最快，国际思韦茨冰川协作组织正在研究这一过程。阿蒙森海周围冰川流出物的地球化学成分基本上没有研究过。ARTEMIS与英国资助的物理海洋学计划合作，正在使用船上采样微量金属，碳酸盐系统，营养物质，有机物质和微生物，自动驾驶车辆上的生物地球化学传感器收集所需的数据，以了解冰盖融化对沿海生态系统和区域碳循环的影响。这些测量，沿着利用先进的物理海洋学测量，将使该小组能够：1）通过增加对通量和有限微量营养素迁移的估计，弥合海洋地球化学和物理学之间的差距; 2）提供海洋地球化学背景，以扩大对海洋-冰架相互作用的全球意义的理解; 3）确定微量营养素供应的过程和可变性规模，这些过程和可变性驱动二氧化碳吸收增加10倍，以及4）使用优化的实地采样来确定对铁和碳循环至关重要的小规模过程。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

Part I: Non-technical summary: The Amundsen Sea is adjacent to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) and hosts the most productive coastal ecosystem in all of Antarctica, with vibrant green waters visible from space and an atmospheric carbon dioxide uptake rate ten times higher than the Southern Ocean average. The region is also an area highly impacted by climate change and glacier ice loss. Upwelling of warm deep water is causing melt under the ice sheet, which is contributing to sea level rise and added nutrient inputs to the region. This is a project that is jointly funded by the National Science Foundation’s Directorate of Geosciences (NSF/GEO) and the National Environment Research Council (NERC) of the United Kingdom (UK) via the NSF/GEO-NERC Lead Agency Agreement. This Agreement allows a single joint US/UK proposal to be submitted and peer-reviewed by the Agency whose investigator has the largest proportion of the budget. Upon successful joint determination of an award, each Agency funds the proportion of the budget and the investigators associated with its own country. In this collaboration, the US team will undertake biogeochemical sampling alongside a UK-funded physical oceanographic program to evaluate the contribution of micronutrients such as iron from glacial meltwater to ecosystem productivity and carbon cycling. Measurements will be incorporated into computer simulations to examine ecosystem responses to further glacial melting. Results will help predict future impacts on the region and determine whether the climate sensitivity of the Amundsen Sea ecosystem represents the front line of processes generalizable to the greater Antarctic. This study is aligned with the large International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) and will make data available to the full scientific community. The program will provide training for undergraduate, graduate, post-doctoral, and early-career scientists in both science and communication. The team will also develop out-of-school science experiences for middle and high schoolers related to climate change and Antarctica.Part II: Technical summary: The Amundsen Sea hosts the most productive polynya in all of Antarctica, with atmospheric carbon dioxide uptake rates ten times higher than the Southern Ocean average. The region is vulnerable to climate change, experiencing rapid losses in sea ice, a changing icescape and some of the fastest melting glaciers flowing from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, a process being studied by the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. The biogeochemical composition of the outflow from the glaciers surrounding the Amundsen Sea is largely unstudied. In collaboration with a UK-funded physical oceanographic program, ARTEMIS is using shipboard sampling for trace metals, carbonate system, nutrients, organic matter, and microorganisms, with biogeochemical sensors on autonomous vehicles to gather data needed to understand the impact of the melting ice sheet on both the coastal ecosystem and the regional carbon cycle. These measurements, along with access to the advanced physical oceanographic measurements will allow this team to 1) bridge the gap between biogeochemistry and physics by adding estimates of fluxes and transport of limiting micronutrients; 2) provide biogeochemical context to broaden understanding of the global significance of ocean-ice shelf interactions; 3) determine processes and scales of variability in micronutrient supply that drive the ten-fold increase in carbon dioxide uptake, and 4) identify small-scale processes key to iron and carbon cycling using optimized field sampling. Observations will be integrated into an ocean model to enhance predictive capabilities of regional ocean function.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.