Doctoral Dissertation Research: Using Ice-Core Data to Reconstruct Atmospheric Mercury Deposition Over the Past 17,000 Years.

博士论文研究：利用冰芯数据重建过去 17,000 年的大气汞沉积。

• 批准号: 1232844
• 负责人: Erich Osterberg
• 金额: $ 1.6万
• 依托单位: Dartmouth College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-01 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1232844&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Using; Ice

The objective of this doctoral dissertation project is to reveal the natural and human controls on mercury deposition to northwestern North America. Human emissions of mercury, mostly from mining, smelting, and coal-burning, are currently rising, predominantly from Asia. The transport of mercury from Asia to northwestern North America may pose an emerging ecological and health hazard, contributing to already high levels of mercury in rivers and fish. However, in order to assess the impact of rising mercury pollution on the ecosystem, it is essential to also determine natural mercury levels through time, derived from volcanism, weathering, and forest fires. The Prospector Russell Col (PRCol) ice core, collected from the summit of Mt. Logan in the Yukon Territory of Canada in 2001 and 2002, is ideal for this study because of its location downwind from Asian pollution sources and its well-dated record spanning the past 17,000 years. This study will use clean sampling techniques and state-of-the-art analysis methods to measure mercury concentrations in the PRCol ice core at 1 to 100-year time scales. Mercury concentrations in this ice core will be compared to records of volcanic eruptions, forest fires, dust, and climate to determine the controls on natural changes in mercury levels. The impact of human mercury pollution on this region will be determined by comparing the concentrations of mercury deposited during the 20th century to concentrations deposited during the prior 17,000 years, before large-scale human mercury pollution. The influence of climate patterns such as El Nino on mercury transport and deposition will be investigated by comparing climate parameters and mercury concentrations during the 20th century.Determining the magnitude and trend of recent mercury contamination is a fundamental step in addressing the global issue of mercury pollution in the environment. Results of this research will be disseminated through academic publications and conferences. An undergraduate research assistant will be trained to assist in this research and to complete a related sub-project. The PIs will do outreach at local middle schools about their research, combining it with discussions of careers in the geosciences. International collaboration will be established through close work between the PIs and the Canadian researchers who collected and have already done some analysis of data derived from the ice core. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this project will provide support to enable a promising graduate student to establish an independent researchcareer.

该博士学位论文项目的目的是揭示北美西北部的汞沉积的自然和人类控制。 汞的人类排放量主要来自采矿，冶炼和燃煤，目前主要来自亚洲。 从亚洲到北美西北部的汞运输可能会构成新兴的生态和健康危害，从而导致河流和鱼类中已经很高的汞。 但是，为了评估汞污染对生态系统的影响，还必须确定随着时间的推移自然汞水平，这是源自火山，风化和森林火灾的影响。 探矿者罗素（Russell Col）（PRCOL）冰核心于2001年和2002年从洛根山（Logan）山顶上收集，是这项研究的理想选择，因为它的位置来自亚洲污染源的阵风及其过去17，000年的良好记录。 这项研究将使用干净的采样技术和最先进的分析方法，以1至100年的时间尺度测量Prcol Ice Core中的汞浓度。 该冰芯中的汞浓度将与火山喷发，森林火灾，灰尘和气候的记录进行比较，以确定汞水平自然变化的控制。 人类汞污染对该地区的影响将通过将20世纪沉积的汞浓度与在大规模的人类汞污染之前的浓度进行比较。 通过比较20世纪的气候参数和汞浓度，将研究气候模式（例如El Nino）对汞运输和沉积的影响。确定最近汞污染的大小和趋势是解决全球汞污染环境问题的基本步骤。 这项研究的结果将通过学术出版物和会议传播。一名本科研究助理将接受培训，以协助这项研究并完成相关的子项目。 PI将在当地中学进行有关他们的研究的宣传，并将其与地球科学中的职业讨论相结合。 国际合作将通过PIS与加拿大研究人员之间的近距离工作建立，他们已经对冰芯衍生的数据进行了一些分析。作为博士学位论文研究改进奖，该项目将提供支持，使有前途的研究生能够建立独立的研究员。