DELVE: Development and validation of first generation chemical sensors for icy ecosystems

冰川和冰盖是地球表面最少探索的部分之一，现在已知尽管环境条件具有挑战性（例如极端寒冷，干燥，冻结和冰盖下的高压），但仍有大量微生物。这些微生物中的许多加速化学风化并为下游生态系统提供营养。更好地了解这些过程被广泛认为是重要的理解：1）冰川/冰盖对碳和营养物质循环的全球影响2）极端环境中的生物多样性和生命（例如南极冰下湖泊）和3）冰盖下的水流从融水化学推断。目前，冰川学家可用于推进这些领域知识的工具包非常有限，需要技术飞跃才能充分参与未来的科学活动。在以前工作的基础上，该提案旨在开发用于冰川和冰盖的第一代紧凑型化学传感器。虽然这项技术的大部分已被评估用于海洋，但尚未评估或修改用于冰冷环境。我们将采用这项技术并评估其在结冰条件下的性能（例如，在低温下，在冻融条件下，在高压下以及使用冰川融水样品类型）。随后将进行设计更改和进一步测试，最终在挪威北极斯瓦尔巴特群岛对原型仪器进行最终演示。这些发展将为未来的冰川科学提供关键和限速技术，并将应用于冰下湖泊勘探（例如南极洲的冰下埃尔斯沃思湖），海洋冰下作业（例如冰下自动潜水），以及广泛的冰下生态系统，需要进行原位测量。这项工作是高影响力的国际科学活动的先驱，这些活动要求开发采用全面化学传感器阵列的专用测量系统（例如，埃尔斯沃思湖勘探计划，“拉特福德冰流的基本条件：河床访问，监测和冰盖历史”（BEVdd H）以及美国资助的WISSARD计划，我们与之有密切联系）。它还与淡水环境中的水质监测密切相关，将通过与联合王国环境署的合作进行探索。

Glaciers and ice sheets are one of the least explored parts of the Earth's surface, and are now known to harbor significant populations of micro-organisms despite the challenging environmental conditions (e.g. extreme cold, desiccation, freezing and high pressure under ice sheets). Many of these microbes accelerate chemical weathering and supply nutrients to downstream ecosystems. A better knowledge of these processes is widely recognized as important for understanding: 1) global impacts of glaciers/ice sheets on the cycling of carbon and nutrients 2) biodiversity and life in extreme environments (e.g. Antarctic Subglacial Lakes) and 3) water flow beneath ice sheets as inferred from meltwater chemistry. Currently, the toolkits available to glaciologists to advance knowledge in these areas are very limited, and a technological leap is required to engage fully in future science campaigns. Building on previous work, this proposal aims to develop the first generation of compact chemical sensors for use in glaciers and ice sheets. While much of this technology has been evaluated for use in the oceans, it has not been assessed or modified for application in icy environments. We will take this technology and evaluate its performance under icy conditions (e.g. at low temperature, under freeze/thaw, at high pressure and with glacial meltwater sample types). This will be followed by design changes and further testing, culminating in a final demonstration of prototype instruments in Svalbard, Norwegian Arctic. These developments will provide key and rate limiting technology for future glacial science, and will have application in subglacial lake exploration (e.g. Subglacial Lake Ellsworth, Antarctica), in marine under-ice operations (e.g. Autosub under ice), and across a wide range of icy ecosystems where in situ measurements are desirable. This work is a forerunner to high impact international science campaigns requiring the development of purpose-built measuring systems that employ a comprehensive array of chemical sensor (e.g. the Lake Ellsworth Exploration Programme, the 'Basal Conditions on Rutford Ice Stream: Bed Access, Monitoring and Ice Sheet History' (BEAMISH) and the US-funded WISSARD programme, with which we have strong links). It also has strong relevance to water quality monitoring in freshwater environments, which will be explored via collaboration with the Environment Agency, UK.