{"dp_type": "Project", "free_text": "CONDUCTIVITY"}
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17 record(s) found
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| Project Title/Abstract/Map | NSF Award(s) | Date Created | PIs / Scientists | Dataset Links and Repositories | Abstract | Geometry | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Habitat Severity and Internal Ice in Antarctic Notothenioid Fishes
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1644196 |
2020-12-15 | Cziko, Paul; DeVries, Arthur | Notothenioid fishes live in the world's coldest marine waters surrounding Antarctica and have evolved strategies to avoid freezing. Past studies have shown that most Antarctic notothenioids produce special antifreeze proteins that prevent the growth of ice crystals that enter the body. While these proteins help prevent individuals from being killed by growing ice crystals, it is unclear how these fish avoid the accumulation of these small ice crystals inside their tissues over time. This project will observe how ice crystal accumulation relates to the harshness of a fish's environment within different habitats of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. The researchers collected fishes and ocean observations at different field sites that cover a range of habitat severity in terms of temperature and iciness. The researchers installed an underwater ocean observatory near McMurdo Station (The McMurdo Oceanographic Observatory, MOO; Nov. 2017 - Nov. 2019) which included a conductivity-temperature-depth sensor (CTD), a high-definition video/still image camera and a research quality hydrophone. The observatory produced oceanographic data, time-lapse images of the immediate environs, and a high-resolution hydroacoustic dataset from the entire deployment. Seawater temperature data loggers were also deployed at other shallow, nearshore sites around McMurdo Sound to provide context and assessment of environmental conditions experienced by the fishes. | POLYGON((163.47 -77.14,163.803 -77.14,164.136 -77.14,164.469 -77.14,164.802 -77.14,165.135 -77.14,165.468 -77.14,165.801 -77.14,166.134 -77.14,166.467 -77.14,166.8 -77.14,166.8 -77.216,166.8 -77.292,166.8 -77.368,166.8 -77.444,166.8 -77.52,166.8 -77.596,166.8 -77.672,166.8 -77.748,166.8 -77.824,166.8 -77.9,166.467 -77.9,166.134 -77.9,165.801 -77.9,165.468 -77.9,165.135 -77.9,164.802 -77.9,164.469 -77.9,164.136 -77.9,163.803 -77.9,163.47 -77.9,163.47 -77.824,163.47 -77.748,163.47 -77.672,163.47 -77.596,163.47 -77.52,163.47 -77.444,163.47 -77.368,163.47 -77.292,163.47 -77.216,163.47 -77.14)) | ||||||||
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Using Bio-acoustics on an Autonomous Surveying Platform for the Examination of Phytoplankton-zooplankton and Fish Interactions in the Western Ross Sea
|
1743035 |
2020-02-27 | Saba, Grace | Terra Nova Bay (western Ross Sea, Antarctica) supports dense populations of several key species in the Ross Sea food web, including copepods, crystal krill (Euphausia crystallorophias), Antarctic silverfish (Pleuragramma antarcticum), and colonies of Adélie and Emperor penguins that feed primarily on crystal krill and silverfish. Absent from our understanding of the Ross Sea food web is zooplankton and silverfish mesoscale distribution, spatial structure of age/maturity classes, and their interactions with physical drivers and each other. The quantitative linkages between primary producers and the higher trophic levels, specifically, the processes responsible for the regulation of abundance and rates of middle trophic levels dominated by copepods and crystal krill (Euphausia crystallorophias), is virtually unknown. Given that the next century will see extensive changes in the Ross Sea’s ice distributions and oceanography as a result of climate change, understanding the basic controls of zooplankton and silverfish abundance and distribution is essential. During a January – March 2018 cruise in the western Ross Sea, we deployed a glider equipped with an echo sounder (Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler) that simultaneously measured depth, temperature, conductivity, chlorophyll fluorescence, and dissolved oxygen. Additionally, net tows, mid-water trawls, and crystal krill grazing experiments were conducted. Our study provided the first glider-based acoustic assessment of simultaneous distributions of multiple trophic levels in the Ross Sea, from which predator-prey interactions and the relationships between organisms and physics drivers (sea ice, circulation features) were investigated. We illustrated high variability in ocean physics, phytoplankton biomass, and crystal krill biomass and aggregation over time and between locations within Terra Nova Bay. Biomass of krill was highest in locations characterized by deeper mixed layers and highest integrated chlorophyll concentrations. Krill aggregations were consistently located at depth well below the mixed layer and chlorophyll maximum. Experiments investigating krill grazing, in combination with krill depth distributions relative to chlorophyll biomass, illuminate high krill grazing rates could be attributed to the occupation of a unique niche whereby they are opportunistically feeding on sinking high concentrations of detritus derived from surface blooms. The information on the abundance, distribution, and interactions of key species in multiple trophic levels resulting from this project provide a conceptual background to understand how this ecosystem might respond to future conditions under climate change. Our project tested the capability of a multi-frequency echo sounder on a glider for the first time. The production of consistent, vertically-resolved, high resolution glider-based acoustic measurements will pave the way for cost-effective, automated examination of entire food webs and ecosystems in regions all over the global ocean. A wide range of users including academic and government scientists, ecosystem-based fisheries managers, and monitoring programs including those conducted by OOI, IOOS, and NOAA will benefit from this project. This project also provided the opportunity to focus on broadening participation in research and articulating the societal benefits through education and innovative outreach programs. A data set from this project is being included in the new NSF-funded Polar CAP initiative, that will be used by a diverse and young audience to increase understanding of the polar system and the ability to reason with data. Finally, this project provided a unique field opportunity and excellent hand-on training for a post-doctoral researcher, a graduate student, and two undergraduate students. | POLYGON((164 -72.2,165 -72.2,166 -72.2,167 -72.2,168 -72.2,169 -72.2,170 -72.2,171 -72.2,172 -72.2,173 -72.2,174 -72.2,174 -72.74,174 -73.28,174 -73.82,174 -74.36,174 -74.9,174 -75.44,174 -75.98,174 -76.52,174 -77.06,174 -77.6,173 -77.6,172 -77.6,171 -77.6,170 -77.6,169 -77.6,168 -77.6,167 -77.6,166 -77.6,165 -77.6,164 -77.6,164 -77.06,164 -76.52,164 -75.98,164 -75.44,164 -74.9,164 -74.36,164 -73.82,164 -73.28,164 -72.74,164 -72.2)) | ||||||||
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Laser Dust Logging of a South Pole Ice Core
|
1443566 |
2019-10-31 | Bay, Ryan |
|
This award supports the deployment and analysis of data from an oriented laser dust logger in the South Pole ice core borehole to complement study of the ice core record. Before the core is even processed, data from the borehole probe will immediately determine the depth-age relationship, augment 3D mapping of South Pole stratigraphy, aid in searches for the oldest ice in Antarctica, and reveal layers of volcanic or extraterrestrial fallout. Regarding the intellectual merit, the oriented borehole log will be essential for investigating features in the ice sheet that may have implications for ice core chronology, ice flow, ice sheet physical properties and stability in response to climate change. The tools and techniques developed in this program have applications in glaciology, biogeoscience and exploration of other planetary bodies. The program aims for a deeper understanding of the consequences and causes of abrupt climate change. The broader impacts of the project are that it will include outreach and education, providing a broad training ground for students and post-docs. Data and metadata will be made available through data centers and repositories such as the National Snow and Ice Data Center web portal. <br/><br/>The laser dust logger detects reproducible paleoclimate features at sub-centimeter depth scale. Dust logger data are being used for synchronizing records and dating any site on the continent, revealing accumulation anomalies and episodes of rapid ice sheet thinning, and discovering particulate horizons of special interest. In this project we will deploy a laser dust logger equipped with a magnetic compass to find direct evidence of preferentially oriented dust. Using optical scattering measurements from IceCube calibration studies at South Pole and borehole logs at WAIS Divide, we have detected a persistent anisotropy correlated with flow and crystal fabric which suggests that the majority of insoluble particulates must be located within ice grains. With typical concentrations of parts-per-billion, little is known about the location of impurities within the polycrystalline structure of polar ice. While soluble impurities are generally thought to concentrate at inter-grain boundaries and determine electrical conductivity, the fate of insoluble particulates is much less clear, and microscopic examinations are extremely challenging. These in situ borehole measurements will help to unravel intimate relationships between impurities, flow, and crystal fabric. Data from this project will further develop a unique record of South Pole surface roughness as a proxy for paleowind and provide new insights for understanding glacial radar propagation. This project has field work in Antarctica. | POINT(90 -90) | |||||||
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Collaborative Research: Uncovering the Ross Ocean and Ice Shelf Environment and Tectonic setting Through Aerogeophysical Surveys and Modeling (ROSETTA-ICE)
|
1443497 1443534 1443498 1443677 |
2019-07-03 | Bell, Robin; Frearson, Nicholas; Das, Indrani; Tinto, Kirsteen; Fricker, Helen; Padman, Laurence; Springer, Scott; Siddoway, Christine | The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest existing ice shelf in Antarctica, and is currently stabilizing significant portions of the land ice atop the Antarctic continent. An ice shelf begins where the land ice goes afloat on the ocean, and as such, the Ross Ice Shelf interacts with the ocean and seafloor below, and the land ice behind. Currently, the Ross Ice Shelf slows down, or buttresses, the fast flowing ice streams of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS), a marine-based ice sheet, which if melted, would raise global sea level by 3-4 meters. The Ross Ice Shelf average ice thickness is approximately 350 meters, and it covers approximately 487,000 square kilometers, an area slightly larger than the state of California. The Ross Ice Shelf has disappeared during prior interglacial periods, suggesting in the future it may disappear again. Understanding the dynamics, stability and future of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet therefore requires in-depth knowledge of the Ross Ice Shelf. The ROSETTA-ICE project brings together scientists from 4 US institutions and from the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited, known as GNS Science, New Zealand. The ROSETTA-ICE data on the ice shelf, the water beneath the ice shelf, and the underlying rocks, will allow better predictions of how the Ross Ice Shelf will respond to changing climate, and therefore how the WAIS will behave in the future. The interdisciplinary ROSETTA-ICE team will train undergraduate and high school students in cutting edge research techniques, and will also work to educate the public via a series of vignettes integrating ROSETTA-ICE science with the scientific and human history of Antarctic research.<br/><br/>The ROSETTA-ICE survey will acquire gravity and magnetics data to determine the water depth beneath the ice shelf. Radar, LIDAR and imagery systems will be used to map the Ross Ice Shelf thickness and fine structure, crevasses, channels, debris, surface accumulation and distribution of marine ice. The high resolution aerogeophysical data over the Ross Ice Shelf region in Antarctica will be acquired using the IcePod sensor suite mounted externally on an LC-130 aircraft operating from McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Field activities will include ~36 flights on LC-130 aircraft over two field seasons in Antarctica. The IcePod instrument suite leverages the unique experience of the New York Air National Guard operating in Antarctica for NSF scientific research as well as infrastructure and logistics. The project will answer questions about the stability of the Ross Ice Shelf in future climate, and the geotectonic evolution of the Ross Ice Shelf Region, a key component of the West Antarctic Rift system. The comprehensive benchmark data sets acquired will enable broad, interdisciplinary analyses and modeling, which will also be performed as part of the project. ROSETTA-ICE will illuminate Ross ice sheet-ice shelf-ocean dynamics as the system nears a critical juncture but still is intact. Through interacting with an online data visualization tool, and comparing the ROSETTA-ICE data and results from earlier studies, we will engage students and young investigators, equipping them with new capabilities for the study of critical earth systems that influence global climate. | POLYGON((-180 -77,-177 -77,-174 -77,-171 -77,-168 -77,-165 -77,-162 -77,-159 -77,-156 -77,-153 -77,-150 -77,-150 -77.9,-150 -78.8,-150 -79.7,-150 -80.6,-150 -81.5,-150 -82.4,-150 -83.3,-150 -84.2,-150 -85.1,-150 -86,-153 -86,-156 -86,-159 -86,-162 -86,-165 -86,-168 -86,-171 -86,-174 -86,-177 -86,180 -86,178.1 -86,176.2 -86,174.3 -86,172.4 -86,170.5 -86,168.6 -86,166.7 -86,164.8 -86,162.9 -86,161 -86,161 -85.1,161 -84.2,161 -83.3,161 -82.4,161 -81.5,161 -80.6,161 -79.7,161 -78.8,161 -77.9,161 -77,162.9 -77,164.8 -77,166.7 -77,168.6 -77,170.5 -77,172.4 -77,174.3 -77,176.2 -77,178.1 -77,-180 -77)) | ||||||||
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Collaborative Research: Seasonal Sea Ice Production in the Ross Sea, Antarctica
|
1543483 1341717 1341725 1341513 1341606 |
2019-06-10 | Ackley, Stephen; Bell, Robin; Weissling, Blake; Xie , Hongjie; Nuss, Wendell; Maksym, Edward; Stammerjohn, Sharon; Cassano, John; Guest, Peter; Sedwick, Peter | The one place on Earth consistently showing increases in sea ice area, duration, and concentration is the Ross Sea in Antarctica. Satellite imagery shows about half of the Ross Sea increases are associated with changes in the austral fall, when the new sea ice is forming. The most pronounced changes are also located near polynyas, which are areas of open ocean surrounded by sea ice. To understand the processes driving the sea ice increase, and to determine if the increase in sea ice area is also accompanied by a change in ice thickness, this project will conduct an oceanographic cruise to the polynyas of the Ross Sea in April and May, 2017, which is the austral fall. The team will deploy state of the art research tools including unmanned airborne systems (UASs, commonly called drones), autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs). Using these tools and others, the team will study atmospheric, oceanic, and sea ice properties and processes concurrently. A change in sea ice production will necessarily change the ocean water below, which may have significant consequences for global ocean circulation patterns, a topic of international importance. All the involved institutions will be training students, and all share the goal of expanding climate literacy in the US, emphasizing the role high latitudes play in the Earth's dynamic climate.<br/><br/>The main goal of the project is to improve estimates of sea ice production and water mass transformation in the Ross Sea. The team will fully capture the spatial and temporal changes in air-ice-ocean interactions when they are initiated in the austral fall, and then track the changes into the winter and spring using ice buoys, and airborne mapping with the newly commissioned IcePod instrument system, which is deployed on the US Antarctic Program's LC-130 fleet. The oceanographic cruise will include stations in and outside of both the Terra Nova Bay and Ross Ice Shelf polynyas. Measurements to be made include air-sea boundary layer fluxes of heat, freshwater, and trace gases, radiation, and meteorology in the air; ice formation processes, ice thickness, snow depth, mass balance, and ice drift within the sea ice zone; and temperature, salinity, and momentum in the ocean below. Following collection of the field data, the team will improve both model parameterizations of air-sea-ice interactions and remote sensing algorithms. Model parameterizations are needed to determine if sea-ice production has increased in crucial areas, and if so, why (e.g., stronger winds or fresher oceans). The remote sensing validation will facilitate change detection over wider areas and verify model predictions over time. Accordingly this project will contribute to the international Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS) goal of measuring essential climate variables continuously to monitor the state of the ocean and ice cover into the future. | POLYGON((-180 -55,-177 -55,-174 -55,-171 -55,-168 -55,-165 -55,-162 -55,-159 -55,-156 -55,-153 -55,-150 -55,-150 -57.3,-150 -59.6,-150 -61.9,-150 -64.2,-150 -66.5,-150 -68.8,-150 -71.1,-150 -73.4,-150 -75.7,-150 -78,-153 -78,-156 -78,-159 -78,-162 -78,-165 -78,-168 -78,-171 -78,-174 -78,-177 -78,180 -78,178 -78,176 -78,174 -78,172 -78,170 -78,168 -78,166 -78,164 -78,162 -78,160 -78,160 -75.7,160 -73.4,160 -71.1,160 -68.8,160 -66.5,160 -64.2,160 -61.9,160 -59.6,160 -57.3,160 -55,162 -55,164 -55,166 -55,168 -55,170 -55,172 -55,174 -55,176 -55,178 -55,-180 -55)) | ||||||||
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Using Electrical Conductance Measurements to Develop the South Pole Ice Core Chronology
|
1443232 |
2018-05-08 | Waddington, Edwin D.; Fudge, T. J. |
|
Ice cores record detailed histories of past climate variations. The South Pole ice core will allow investigation of atmospheric trace gases and fill an important gap in understanding the pattern of climate variability across Antarctica. An accurate timescale that assigns an age to the ice at each depth in the core is essential to interpretation of the ice-core records. This work will use electrical methods to identify volcanic eruptions throughout the past ~40,000 years in the core by detecting the enhanced electrical conductance in those layers due to volcanic impurities in the ice. These eruptions will be pattern-matched to other cores across Antarctica, synchronizing the timing of climate variations among cores and allowing the precise timescales developed for other Antarctic ice cores to be transferred to the South Pole ice core. The well-dated records of volcanic forcing will be combined with records of atmospheric gases, stable water-isotopes, and aerosols to better understand the large natural climate variations of the past 40,000 years. <br/> <br/>The electrical conductance method and dielectric profiling measurements will be made along the length of each section of the South Pole ice core at the National Ice Core Lab. These measurements will help to establish a timescale for the core. Electrical measurements will provide a continuous record of volcanic events for the entire core including through the brittle ice (550-1250m representing ~10,000-20,000 year-old ice) where the core quality and thin annual layers may prevent continuous melt analysis and cause discrete measurements to miss volcanic events. The electrical measurements also produce a 2-D image of the electrical layering on a longitudinal cut surface of each core. These data will be used to identify any irregular or absent layering that would indicate a stratigraphic disturbance in the core. A robust chronology is essential to interpretation of the paleoclimate records from the South Pole ice core. The investigators will engage teachers through talks and webinars with the National Science Teachers Association and will share information with the public at events such as Polar Science Weekend at the Pacific Science Center. Results will be disseminated through publications and conference presentations and the data will be archived and publicly available. | POLYGON((110 -89,117 -89,124 -89,131 -89,138 -89,145 -89,152 -89,159 -89,166 -89,173 -89,180 -89,180 -89.1,180 -89.2,180 -89.3,180 -89.4,180 -89.5,180 -89.6,180 -89.7,180 -89.8,180 -89.9,180 -90,173 -90,166 -90,159 -90,152 -90,145 -90,138 -90,131 -90,124 -90,117 -90,110 -90,110 -89.9,110 -89.8,110 -89.7,110 -89.6,110 -89.5,110 -89.4,110 -89.3,110 -89.2,110 -89.1,110 -89)) | |||||||
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Revealing Late Holocence Climate Variability in Antarctica from Borehole Paleothermometry
|
1142085 |
2017-09-11 | Alley, Richard |
|
Alley/1142085<br/><br/>This award supports a project to continue the collection and analyses of firn temperature data from three automated firn thermal profiling units deployed in Dronning Maud Land sector of East Antarctica as part of the Norway-US IPY Traverse project between 2007 and 2009. The intellectual merits of this project are as follows: 1) to constrain and improve the parameterization of firn thermal properties (thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity) that are required for the borehole paleothermometry, 2) to study the change in firn temperature since the deployment of thermal profiling units ~5 years ago and derive the surface temperature trend for that time period, and 3) to compare and contrast the surface temperatures and their trends derived from the measured firn temperatures and satellite thermal infrared data for the past three decades. The project also involves acquiring and deploying an automated system to record transient temperatures at multiple depths in the top 16 meters of the shallow borehole at Dome Fuji, to provide useful data and to prepare for the possibility of conducting temperature-logging in the existing deep (3035 m) and shallow (112 m) boreholes at Dome Fuji in the near future. The preparation of the shallow borehole and the installation of the automated system will be carried out by collaborators from the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE) in 2012-13 Antarctic field season. The data collected by this automated system will be used to constrain the thermal properties of upper firn layer at Dome Fuji, as well as comparing with data from other sites, increasing the geographic extent of these studies. The broader impacts of the project include presentation of results at scientific conferences and publication of results in peer-reviewed journals. Public outreach will include targeted work with science teachers and middle school students. | None | |||||||
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Collaborative Research: Establishing the Chronology and Histories of Accumulation and Ice Dynamics for the WAIS Divide Core
|
0944191 0944197 |
2017-04-25 | Fudge, T. J.; Taylor, Kendrick C.; Waddington, Edwin D.; Conway, Howard | This award supports a project to help to establish the depth-age chronology and the histories of accumulation and ice dynamics for the WAIS Divide ice core. The depth-age relationship and the histories of accumulation and ice dynamics are coupled. An accurate age scale is needed to infer histories of accumulation rate and ice-thickness change using ice-flow models. In turn, the accumulation-rate history is needed to calculate the age difference of ice to determine the age of the trapped gases. The accumulation history is also needed to calculate atmospheric concentrations of impurities trapped in the ice and is an important characteristic of climate. The history of ice-thickness change is also fundamental to understanding the stability of the WAIS. The primary goals of the WAIS Divide ice core project are to investigate climate forcing by greenhouse gases, the initiation of climate changes, and the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). An accurate age scale is fundamental for achieving these goals. The first objective of this project is to establish an annually resolved depth-age relationship for the past 40,000 years. This will be done by measuring variations in electrical conductivity along the ice core, which are caused by seasonal variations in chemistry. We expect to be able to resolve annual layers back to 40,000 years before present (3,000 m depth) using this method. The second objective is to search for stratigraphic disturbances in the core that would compromise the paleoclimate record. Irregular layering will be identified by measuring the electrical conductivity of the ice in a vertical plan through the core. The third objective is to derive a preliminary chronology for the entire core. For the deeper ice we will use an ice-flow model to interpolate between known age markers, such as dated volcanic horizons and tie points from the methane gas chronology. The fourth objective is to derive a refined chronology simultaneously with histories of accumulation and ice-sheet thickness. An ice-flow model and all available data will be used to formulate an inverse problem, in which we infer the most appropriate histories of accumulation and ice-thickness, together with estimates of uncertainties. The flow model associated with those preferred histories then produces the best estimate of the chronology. The research contributes directly to the primary goals of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Initiative. The project will help develop the next generation of scientists through the education and training of one Ph.D. student and several undergraduate students. This project will result in instrumentation for measuring the electrical conductivity of ice cores being available at the National Ice Core Lab for other researchers to use on other projects. All collaborators are committed to fostering diversity and currently participate in scientific outreach and most participate in undergraduate education. Outreach will be accomplished through regularly scheduled community and K-12 outreach events at UW, talks and popular writing by the PIs, as well as through our respective press offices. | POLYGON((-180 -79,-173.3 -79,-166.6 -79,-159.9 -79,-153.2 -79,-146.5 -79,-139.8 -79,-133.1 -79,-126.4 -79,-119.7 -79,-113 -79,-113 -79.1,-113 -79.2,-113 -79.3,-113 -79.4,-113 -79.5,-113 -79.6,-113 -79.7,-113 -79.8,-113 -79.9,-113 -80,-119.7 -80,-126.4 -80,-133.1 -80,-139.8 -80,-146.5 -80,-153.2 -80,-159.9 -80,-166.6 -80,-173.3 -80,180 -80,150.9 -80,121.8 -80,92.7 -80,63.6 -80,34.5 -80,5.4 -80,-23.7 -80,-52.8 -80,-81.9 -80,-111 -80,-111 -79.9,-111 -79.8,-111 -79.7,-111 -79.6,-111 -79.5,-111 -79.4,-111 -79.3,-111 -79.2,-111 -79.1,-111 -79,-81.9 -79,-52.8 -79,-23.7 -79,5.4 -79,34.5 -79,63.6 -79,92.7 -79,121.8 -79,150.9 -79,-180 -79)) | ||||||||
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Collaborative Research: Weddell seals as autonomous sensors of the winter oceanography of the Ross Sea
|
0838937 0838911 0838892 |
2013-11-11 | Burns, Jennifer; Hofmann, Eileen |
|
Abstract <br/>This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). <br/><br/>Marine mammals of the Southern Ocean have evolved diverse life history patterns and foraging strategies to accommodate extreme fluctuations in the physical and biological environment. In light of ongoing climate change and the dramatic shifts in the extent and persistence of sea ice in the Ross Sea, it is critical to understand how Weddell seals, Leptonychotes weddellii, a key apex predator, select and utilize foraging habitats. Recent advances in satellite-linked animal-borne conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) tags make it possible to simultaneously collect data on seal locations, their diving patterns, and the temperature and salinity profiles of the water columns they utilize. In other ecosystems, such data have revealed that marine predators selectively forage in areas where currents and fronts serve to locally concentrate prey resources, and that these conditions are required to sustain populations. Weddell seals will be studied in McMurdo Sound and at Terra Nova Bay, Ross Sea and will provide the first new data on Weddell seal winter diving behavior and habitat use in almost two decades. The relationship between an animal's diving behavior and physical habitat has enormous potential to enhance monitoring studies and to provide insight into how changes in ice conditions (due either to warming or the impact of large icebergs, such as B15) might impact individual time budgets and foraging success. The second thrust of this project is to use the profiles obtained from CTD seal tags to model the physical oceanography of this region. Current mathematical models of physical oceanographic processes in the Southern Ocean are directed at better understanding the role that it plays in global climate processes, and the linkages between physical and biological oceanographic processes. However, these efforts are limited by the scarcity of oceanographic data at high latitudes in the winter months; CTD tags deployed on animals will collect data at sufficient spatial and temporal resolution to improve data density. The project will contribute to two IPY endorsed initiatives: MEOP (Marine Mammals as Explorers of the Ocean Pole to Pole) and CAML (Census of Antarctic Marine Life). In addition, the highly visual nature of the data and analysis lends itself to public and educational display and outreach, particularly as they relate to global climate change, and we have collaborations with undergraduate and graduate training programs, the Seymour Marine Discovery Center, and the ARMADA program to foster these broader impacts. | POLYGON((160 -68,162 -68,164 -68,166 -68,168 -68,170 -68,172 -68,174 -68,176 -68,178 -68,180 -68,180 -68.8,180 -69.6,180 -70.4,180 -71.2,180 -72,180 -72.8,180 -73.6,180 -74.4,180 -75.2,180 -76,178 -76,176 -76,174 -76,172 -76,170 -76,168 -76,166 -76,164 -76,162 -76,160 -76,160 -75.2,160 -74.4,160 -73.6,160 -72.8,160 -72,160 -71.2,160 -70.4,160 -69.6,160 -68.8,160 -68)) | |||||||
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Advanced Microstructural Characterization of Polar Ice Cores
|
0738975 |
2012-11-26 | Baker, Ian; Obbard, Rachel; Sieg, Katherine |
|
This award supports a project to fully characterize the microstructure in ice cores, in particular the microstructural locations of impurities, grain orientations and strain gradients. This work will complement the optical observations, electrical conductivity measurement, and precise, detailed measurements of the soluble ion and gas contents that are performed by others. Linking the concentrations of soluble ions and gases, measured to a few parts per billion, to the optically determined annual layer structure and the stable isotope data in ice cores has enabled a great deal to be established about the concentrations and depth/age distributions of particles, trace gases and impurities for several polar ice cores. Ice core studies carried out by several groups contribute immensely to our understanding of paleoclimate and, to our ability to predict future climate change. The work will build on previous measurements and technique development in this area, as well as focusing on new techniques to characterize ice cores. The work will use both scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and confocal scanning optical microscopy coupled with Raman spectroscopy (RS) to determine the microstructural locations of impurities and correlate this information with depth/age, and impurity type and concentration for several polar ice cores. The Broader Impacts of the proposed work are that knowledge of the location of impurities coupled with the grain orientation (both c- and a-axis) and grain misorientation information will allow paleoclimatologists to better interpret ice core data and other scientists to understand and model the physical and mechanical properties of natural ice sheets. Other Broader Impacts of the work are that the work will be performed and lead to the education of a Ph.D. student. At the end of the project, as well as the knowledge gained from coursework, the graduate student will have experience in ice core specimen preparation and characterization using scanning electron microscopy, x-ray microanalysis, confocal scanning microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and ion chromatography. Results from the research will be published in refereed journals, presented at conferences, and placed on a web page. | None | |||||||
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Collaborative Research: Microparticle/tephra analysis of the WAIS Divide ice core
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0636740 0636767 |
2012-06-19 | Koffman, Bess; Kreutz, Karl; Hamilton, Gordon S.; Breton, Daniel; Dunbar, Nelia | This award supports a project to perform continuous microparticle concentration and size distribution measurements (using coulter counter and state-of-the-art laser detector methods), analysis of biologically relevant trace elements associated with microparticles (Fe, Zn, Co, Cd, Cu), and tephra measurements on the WAIS Divide ice core. This initial three-year project includes analysis of ice core spanning the instrumental (~1850-present) to mid- Holocene (~5000 years BP) period, with sample resolution ranging from subannual to decadal. The intellectual merit of the project is that it will help in establishing the relationships among climate, atmospheric aerosols from terrestrial and volcanic sources, ocean biogeochemistry, and greenhouse gases on several timescales which remain a fundamental problem in paleoclimatology. The atmospheric mineral dust plays an important but uncertain role in direct radiative forcing, and the microparticle datasets produced in this project will allow us to examine changes in South Pacific aerosol loading, atmospheric dynamics, and dust source area climate. The phasing of changes in aerosol properties within Antarctica, throughout the Southern Hemisphere, and globally is unclear, largely due to the limited number of annually dated records extending into the glacial period and the lack of a<br/>tephra framework to correlate records. The broader impacts of the proposed research are an interdisciplinary approach to climate science problems, and will contribute to several WAIS Divide science themes as well as the broader paleoclimate and oceanographic communities. Because the research topics have a large and direct societal relevance, the project will form a centerpiece of various outreach efforts at UMaine and NMT including institution websites, public speaking, local K-12 school interaction, media interviews and news releases, and popular literature. At least one PhD student and one MS student will be directly supported by this project, including fieldwork, core processing, laboratory analysis, and data interpretation/publication. We expect that one graduate student per year will apply for a core handler/assistant driller position through the WAIS Divide Science Coordination Office, and that undergraduate student involvement will result in several Capstone experience projects (a UMaine graduation requirement). Data and ideas generated from the project will be integrated into undergraduate and graduate course curricula at both institutions. | POINT(112.11666 -79.46666) | ||||||||
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Collaborate Research:Modified Circumpolar Deep Water Intrusions as an Iron Source to the Summer Ross Sea Ecosystem
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0839039 |
2012-01-17 | Kohut, Josh |
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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).<br/><br/>An interdisciplinary team of researchers will focus on describing the high productivity patchiness observed in phytoplankton blooms in the mid to late summer in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Key hypotheses to be tested and extended are that intrusions of nutrient and micro nutrient (e.g. Fe) rich water masses of the Antarctic modified circumpolar deep water (CDW) up onto continental shelves act to control the biogeochemical response of a large area of the productive Ross Sea coastal region. It is believed that this enhanced productivity may be a significant contributing factor to the global carbon cycle. <br/><br/>A novel sampling strategy to be used to test the above hypotheses will employ a remotely controlled deep (1000m) glider (AUV) to locate and map CDW in near real time measuring C (conductivity), T (temperature), D (pressure) and apparent optical properties, and which will serve to direct further ship-based sampling. <br/><br/>The adaptive coordination of a polar research vessel with an AUV additionally provides an opportunity to engage in formal and informal education and public outreach on issues in polar research. | None | |||||||
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The Role of Snow in Antarctic Sea Ice Development and Ocean-Atmosphere Energy Exchange
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9316767 |
2010-05-04 | Jeffries, Martin |
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The goal of this investigation is to understand the role of snow in sea ice development processes and air-ice-ocean heat exchange interactions in the seasonal and perennial sea ice zones of the Ross Sea, the Amundsen Sea, and the Bellingshausen Sea. Observations and measurements of the characteristics of sea ice and snow will be combined with numerical models of sea-ice flooding and the entrainment of snow into the ice cover in order to gain an understanding of the sea-ice heat and mass balance, and to quantify the energy exchange within the antarctic sea-ice cover. The snow measurement program, using the RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer, will include depth, grain size and morphology, density, temperature, thermal conductivity, water content, and stable isotope ratio. The ice measurement program will include thickness, salinity, temperature, density, brine content, and included gas volume, as well as such structural properties as the fraction of frazil, platelet, and congelation ice in the seasonal antarctic pack ice. Differences in ice types are the result of differences in the environment in which the ice forms: frazil ice is formed in supercooled sea water, normally through wind or wave-induced turbulence, while platelet and congelation ice is formed under quiescent conditions. The fraction of frazil ice is an important variable in the energy budget of the upper ocean, and contributes significantly to the stabilization of the surface layers. The numerical models will involve the thermodynamics of phase changes from liquid water to ice, along with the resulting energy transfer, brine expulsion, and the modulating effect of a snow cover. The results are expected to have broad relevance and application to understanding the effects of sea-ice processes in global change, and atmospheric, oceanographic, and remote sensing investigations of the Southern Ocean. | POLYGON((-180 -43.56571,-144 -43.56571,-108 -43.56571,-72 -43.56571,-36 -43.56571,0 -43.56571,36 -43.56571,72 -43.56571,108 -43.56571,144 -43.56571,180 -43.56571,180 -46.304308,180 -49.042906,180 -51.781504,180 -54.520102,180 -57.2587,180 -59.997298,180 -62.735896,180 -65.474494,180 -68.213092,180 -70.95169,144 -70.95169,108 -70.95169,72 -70.95169,36 -70.95169,0 -70.95169,-36 -70.95169,-72 -70.95169,-108 -70.95169,-144 -70.95169,-180 -70.95169,-180 -68.213092,-180 -65.474494,-180 -62.735896,-180 -59.997298,-180 -57.2587,-180 -54.520102,-180 -51.781504,-180 -49.042906,-180 -46.304308,-180 -43.56571)) | |||||||
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Mesoscale Circulation, Tides and Mixing on the Western Antarctic Peninsula Shelf: A Component of WINDSSOCK (ESR proposal #99-48)
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9910102 |
2010-05-04 | Padman, Laurence |
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This project is a contribution to a coordinated attempt to understand the interactions of biological and physical dynamics by developing relationships among the evolution of the antarctic winter ice and snow cover, biological habitat variability, and the seasonal progression of marine ecological processes. The work will be carried out in the context of the Southern Ocean Experiment of the Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics Study (Globec), a large, multi-investigator study of the winter survival strategy of krill under the antarctic sea ice in the vicinity of Marguerite Bay on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula.<br/><br/>There are several aspects to this project: One is the collection, analysis, and archiving of Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP), and Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) data in order to characterize mesoscale circulation features and the regional hydrography. Another is to develop an accurate and fully validated model of tidal currents in Marguerite Bay. A third is to provide a data set of small-scale processes such as shear instabilities, tidal stirring, mesoscale eddies, and double diffusion, that are required for the effective parameterization of the vertical diffusivities of heat, salt, and nutrients. The results of this project will provide a unified data set that satisfies the data requirement of the coordinated chemical and biological studies which will link water column and sea ice processes with the biology of krill and its predators. The results further will help to link these winter observations to similar observations made in summer and elsewhere around Antarctic in the international context of the Globec program. The overall objective is to develop a comprehensive ecosystem model that will test our understanding of the system, determine its sensitivities, and to provide an organizing mechanism for integrating the Southern Ocean Globec observations. <br/>*** | None | |||||||
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U.S./Chinese Ship of Opportunity Sampling Program Phase II
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0230284 |
2010-02-20 | Yuan, Xiaojun; Martinson, Douglas |
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This work is the continuation of a joint project with the Polar Research Institute of China to make measurements of the structure of the upper ocean in the northern Weddell Sea along the route taken by the PRI's antarctic supply vessel, R/V Xue Long. The observations, obtained from expendable instruments, complement existing hydrographic observations along various transects through the northwestern Weddell Sea region and data from moored current meter arrays in the Weddell-Scotia confluence zone. This effort builds upon a successful series of expendable bathythermographs and conductivity-temperature-depth probes obtained by the science party on board the R/V Xue Long for the past four years.<br/>The west-to-east transit of the Weddell Sea by the ship makes it possible to obtain a series of ocean soundings that are otherwise unobtainable. The information is particularly important because strong correlative links between the upper ocean temperature and salinity, the sea ice edge, and extra-polar climate features have been established. It has been shown that the Indian Ocean sector is an anomalous region with respect to connections between antarctic and lower latitude climatic features and indices. Here the Antarctic Circumpolar Current makes its closest approach to the continent and the Antarctic Circumpolar Wave is least well expressed in the existing data. The necessary instrumentation, both software and hardware, has been installed in the ship and an excellent working relationship with Chinese antarctic scientists has been developed. | POLYGON((-40 -35,-24 -35,-8 -35,8 -35,24 -35,40 -35,56 -35,72 -35,88 -35,104 -35,120 -35,120 -38.5,120 -42,120 -45.5,120 -49,120 -52.5,120 -56,120 -59.5,120 -63,120 -66.5,120 -70,104 -70,88 -70,72 -70,56 -70,40 -70,24 -70,8 -70,-8 -70,-24 -70,-40 -70,-40 -66.5,-40 -63,-40 -59.5,-40 -56,-40 -52.5,-40 -49,-40 -45.5,-40 -42,-40 -38.5,-40 -35)) | |||||||
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Investigation of the Glacial History of the Siple Coast Using Radar-Detected Internal Layers and the Ice Core from Siple Dome
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0229490 |
2007-04-30 | Conway, Howard; Sylvester, John; Winebrenner, Dale | No dataset link provided | This award supports a project to improve understanding of post-glacial retreat and thinning of the Siple Coast region. Research has shown how age-depth relationships from ice cores can be extrapolated over wide areas by tracking continuous radar layers. By comparing radar-derived timescales with one from a model of ice- flow, glacial conditions over regional scales were inferred. High-resolution radar profiles have been collected across most of the inter-stream ridges in the Siple Coast region, and an age- depth relationship has been established from the Siple Dome ice core. Application of the techniques used by others is problematic because the ice streams that surround Siple Dome have disrupted the continuity of the internal layers. A specific goal of this project is to search for other less direct ways to match radar layers between unconnected profiles. The correspondence between radar reflections and measurements of electrical conductivity and volcanic sulfates along the Siple Dome core will be investigated. The strategy is to search for distinctive patterns in the echoes that will facilitate layer matching. Preliminary results are encouraging: at least four distinct echoes at Siple Dome can be matched to spikes in the conductivity profile and the signature of one (at 210m depth, which is ~1,800 yrs BP) closely resembles that of a layer at ~200m on Ridge BC. Matching layers (and hence timescales) across the ice streams will allow reconstruction of spatial patterns of past flow, thinning and accumulation rate in the Siple Coast region, which is needed to predict future possible changes of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Data necessary for the proposed work are already available; additional fieldwork in Antarctica is not required. The project will take two years to complete and will provide core education for a doctoral student in Earth and Space Sciences, with an emphasis on radioglaciology. | None | |||||||
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Electrical and Optical Measurements on the Siple Dome Ice Core
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9526420 |
2003-05-08 | Taylor, Kendrick C. |
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This award is for support for the measurement of electrical and optical properties of the Siple Dome ice core. The electrical methods can be used to determine the concentration of the hydrogen ions and the concentration of a weighted sum of all ions. The electrical measurements can resolve features as small as 1 cm. The albedo of the core is also measured with a laser system that can resolve features as small as 0.5 cm. The high spatial resolution of these methods makes them ideal for resolving narrow features in the core, which can be missed in larger composite samples. The measurements will be particularly useful for assisting to date the core and to identify short duration features in the record, such as volcanic eruptions. These measurements will also provide useful information for assessing the temporal variability of Holocene accumulation rate and atmospheric circulation. | None |
