Collaborative Research: Integrative Study of Marine Ice Sheet Stability and Subglacial Life Habitats - Robotic Access to Grounding-zones for Exploration and Science (RAGES)

合作研究：海洋冰盖稳定性和冰下生命栖息地的综合研究 - 机器人进入勘探和科学接地区（RAGES）

• 批准号: 0838947
• 负责人: Slawek Tulaczyk
• 金额: $ 43.15万
• 依托单位: University of California-Santa Cruz
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-09-01 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0838947&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Integrative; Study; Marine

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The RAGES project (Robotic Access to Grounding zones for Exploration and Science) is one of three research components of the WISSARD (Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling) integrative initiative that is being funded by the Antarctic Integrated System Science Program of NSF's Office of Polar Programs, Antarctic Division. The overarching scientific objective of WISSARD is to assess the role of water beneath a West Antarctic ice stream in interlinked glaciological, geological, microbiological, geochemical, and oceanographic systems. The RAGES component of WISSARD concentrates on the stability of ice stream grounding zones (GZ), the area where the ice, ocean waters and glacial and sea floor sediment interact. Based on our present limited data and modeling efforts, GZs can be perturbed by (i) internal ice stream dynamics, (ii) filling/draining cycles of subglacial lakes, (iii) increased melting by warming ocean waters, and/or (iv) rates of subglacial sediment (till) supply to the GZ. GZs are seen as high priority targets to investigate due to their unknown contributions to ice sheet stability under future global warming scenarios. The three main science goals for RAGES are to assess: (a) West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) stability relative to the magnitudes of the four main variables listed above; (b) the degree to which grounding-zone sedimentary systems house important records of past WAIS dynamics; and (c) the importance of microbial activity and subglacial geochemical weathering in supplying nutrients to the WAIS grounding zone, the Ross Ice Shelf (RIS) cavity, and the highly productive Southern Ocean that may ultimately influence global biogeochemical cycles. The RAGES field sampling plan integrates surface geophysical surveys with borehole and subglacial sampling and measurements. The boreholes provide: (1) samples of subglacial water, sediments, and basal ice for biological, geochemical, glaciological, sedimentological, and micropaleontological analyses; (2) measures of subglacial and sub-ice-shelf cavity physical and chemical conditions and their spatial variability; and (3) data on sediment types, state and change of the subglacial water discharge, oceanography, and basal ice at the grounding line and within the nearby sub-ice-shelf cavity. Unique tools to be deployed include a multisensor Sub-Ice ROVer (Remotely Operated Vehicle) and long-term, sub-ice oceanographic moorings.INTELLECTUAL MERIT: The latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recognized that the greatest uncertainties in assessing future global sea-level change stem from a poor understanding of ice sheet dynamics and ice sheet vulnerability to oceanic and atmospheric warming. Disintegration of the WAIS (West Antarctic Ice Sheet) alone would contribute 3-5 m to global sea-level rise, making WAIS a focus of scientific concern due to its potential susceptibility to internal or ocean-driven instability. The overall WISSARD project will test the overarching hypothesis that active water drainage connects various subglacial environments and exerts major control on ice sheet flow, geochemistry, metabolic and phylogenetic diversity, and biogeochemical transformations. BROADER IMPACTS: Societal Relevance: Global warming, melting of ice sheets and consequential sea-level rise are of high societal relevance. Science Resource Development: After a 9-year hiatus WISSARD will provide the US-science community with a renewed capability to access and study sub-ice sheet environments. Developing this technological infrastructure will benefit the broader science community and assets will be accessible for future use through the NSF-OPP drilling contractor. The RAGES project represents a significant advance in polar technology by incorporating the use of complex new instrumentation like the Sub-Ice ROVer and subglacial ocean/lake mooring systems. Furthermore, these projects will pioneer an approach implementing recommendations from the National Research Council committee on Principles of Environmental Stewardship for the Exploration and Study of Subglacial Environments (2007). Education and Outreach (E/O): These activities are grouped into four categories: i) increasing student participation in polar research by fully integrating them in our research programs; ii) introducing new investigators to the polar sciences by incorporating promising young investigators in our programs, iii) promotion of K-12 teaching and learning programs by incorporating various teachers and NSTA programs, and iv) reaching a larger public audience through such venues as popular science magazines, museum based activities and videography and documentary films. In summary, WISSARD will promote scientific exploration of Antarctica by conveying to the public the excitement of accessing and studying what may be some of the last unexplored aquatic environments on Earth, and which represent a potential analogue for extraterrestrial life habitats on Europa and Mars.

该奖项根据 2009 年《美国复苏和再投资法案》（公法 111-5）提供资金。 RAGES 项目（机器人进入探索和科学接地区）是 WISSARD（Whillans 冰流冰下通道研究钻探）综合计划的三个研究组成部分之一，该计划由美国国家科学基金会极地办公室南极综合系统科学计划资助计划，南极分部。 WISSARD 的首要科学目标是评估南极西部冰流下方的水在相互关联的冰川学、地质学、微生物学、地球化学和海洋学系统中的作用。 WISSARD 的 RAGES 部分重点关注冰流接地区 (GZ) 的稳定性，该区域是冰、海水以及冰川和海底沉积物相互作用的区域。根据我们目前有限的数据和建模工作，GZ 可能会受到以下因素的干扰：(i) 内部冰流动力学，(ii) 冰下湖泊的填充/排水循环，(iii) 海水变暖导致的融化增加，和/或 (iv)向广州供应冰下沉积物的速率。由于在未来全球变暖情景下，广州地区对冰盖稳定性的贡献未知，因此被视为优先研究目标。 RAGES 的三个主要科学目标是评估： (a) 西南极冰盖 (WAIS) 相对于上述四个主要变量大小的稳定性； (b) 接地带沉积系统保存过去 WAIS 动态重要记录的程度； (c) 微生物活动和冰下地球化学风化在向 WAIS 接地区、罗斯冰架 (RIS) 空腔和高产南大洋提供养分方面的重要性，最终可能影响全球生物地球化学循环。 RAGES 现场采样计划将表面地球物理调查与钻孔和冰下采样和测量相结合。钻孔提供：（1）冰下水、沉积物和基底冰样本，用于生物、地球化学、冰川学、沉积学和微古生物学分析； (2) 冰下和冰架下空腔的物理和化学条件及其空间变异性的测量； (3) 关于沉积物类型、冰下水排放状态和变化、海洋学以及接地线和附近冰架下空腔内的基底冰的数据。将部署的独特工具包括多传感器冰下ROVer（遥控飞行器）和长期冰下海洋系泊装置。 知识价值：政府间气候变化专门委员会的最新报告认识到，评估未来全球气候变化的最大不确定性海平面变化源于对冰盖动力学以及冰盖对海洋和大气变暖的脆弱性了解不足。仅 WAIS（南极洲西部冰盖）的崩解就会导致全球海平面上升 3-5 m，这使得 WAIS 由于其潜在的内部或海洋驱动的不稳定因素而成为科学关注的焦点。 整个 WISSARD 项目将测试一个总体假设，即主动排水连接着各种冰下环境，并对冰盖流动、地球化学、代谢和系统发育多样性以及生物地球化学转变发挥主要控制作用。 更广泛的影响：社会相关性：全球变暖、冰盖融化以及随之而来的海平面上升具有高度的社会相关性。科学资源开发：在中断 9 年之后，WISSARD 将为美国科学界提供访问和研究冰盖下环境的新能力。开发这种技术基础设施将使更广泛的科学界受益，并且资产将可以通过 NSF-OPP 钻井承包商获取以供未来使用。 RAGES 项目通过结合使用复杂的新型仪器（例如冰下 ROVer 和冰下海洋/湖泊系泊系统），代表了极地技术的重大进步。此外，这些项目将开创一种方法，实施国家研究委员会冰下环境探索和研究环境管理原则委员会（2007）的建议。教育和推广（E/O）：这些活动分为四类：i）通过将极地研究完全融入我们的研究计划来增加学生对极地研究的参与； ii) 通过在我们的项目中纳入有前途的年轻研究人员，向极地科学引入新的研究人员； iii) 通过纳入各种教师和 NSTA 项目，促进 K-12 教学和学习项目； iv) 通过受欢迎的场所吸引更多的公众受众科学杂志、博物馆活动以及录像和纪录片。总之，WISSARD 将通过向公众传达访问和研究可能是地球上最后一些未开发的水生环境的兴奋感来促进南极洲的科学探索，这些环境代表了欧罗巴和火星上外星生命栖息地的潜在类似物。