Collaborative Research: MEGA - Mercury biogeochemical cycling and export from Greenland to the Arctic

合作研究：MEGA - 汞生物地球化学循环以及从格陵兰岛到北极的出口

• 批准号: 2232980
• 负责人: Jon Hawkings
• 金额: $ 67.03万
• 依托单位: University of Pennsylvania
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-05-01 至 2026-04-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2232980&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; MEGA; Mercury; biogeochemical

Mercury is a toxic element that is of concern for the health of the environment and humans. There are particularly high amounts of mercury in Arctic food webs due to the transport of mercury in the atmosphere to the Arctic, primarily from mining and industrial regions. The main source of mercury to the Arctic is thought to be human emissions to the atmosphere (for example, from processing of material in gold mining and fossil fuel burning), but there may also be large natural sources of mercury that could change with climate warming. Glaciers and ice sheets, large rivers of ice, have recently been identified in Greenland as possible sources of mercury to the Arctic through glacier physical grinding (as they bulldoze their way through the landscape) and melt, but data is still sparse and these existing datasets highlight significant uncertainty. In the MEGA project, the investigators will sample (i) a range of glacial meltwater rivers across Greenland, (ii) the oceans these meltwaters flow into, and (iii) the air next to the water sampling sites, to understand whether these natural mercury inputs are important and/or are likely to change with increased glacier melting in a warming climate. This new data will improve our knowledge of the importance of glaciers and ice sheets in the Earth System, and provide critical process information using modern measurement techniques. The MEGA project will ultimately help us understand how mercury moves and changes through Arctic systems. MEGA will support two PhD students, several undergraduates, and a number of early career scientific researchers. It will establish an international collaboration between US, Danish, German, Czech and Greenlandic researchers, and provide unique opportunities for teachers from under resourced high schools in West Philadelphia to participate in Arctic research.Mercury is a toxic element that accumulates and magnifies in food webs, making it of particular concern to human populations. Concentrations of mercury in the Arctic region are of particular concern for policymakers because they are high in Arctic marine organisms. This is important for Arctic communities that rely on fishing and hunting for significant proportions of their diet. The major source of mercury to the Arctic is atmospheric deposition of anthropogenic mercury from lower latitudes (for example, from artisanal gold mining and fossil fuel burning), transported to the polar regions by prevailing atmospheric circulation. More recently, natural sources of mercury, such as from permafrost melting, have received attention as potentially important components of the Arctic mercury cycle that could change in a warming climate. However, large gaps in scientific knowledge surround these climatically sensitive but potentially significant natural sources of mercury, particularly glaciers and ice sheets. The Greenland Ice Sheet is by far the largest ice mass in the northern hemisphere, covering over 20% of the land surface in the Arctic. Recent research suggests the ice sheet may be an important source of mercury to surrounding ocean ecosystems, but the data is limited and additional research is needed. The MEGA project will produce the first complete model of mercury mobilization, movement and transformations from source (ice) to sink (ocean). The investigators will develop a robust numerical budget for mercury in Greenland by sampling (i) meltwater rivers flowing from the ice sheet, (ii) the coastal areas these rivers enter, and (iii) the atmosphere from where mercury can be deposited/transported. MEGA will use innovative methodological techniques like the chemical fingerprint of the mercury (e.g., mercury isotope ratios) to provide information that contextualizes the importance of the Greenland Ice Sheet processes in the Arctic mercury cycle. The MEGA project will support a diverse range of researchers, including undergraduate students, two graduate students, an early career postdoctoral researcher, and four early career faculty. The project will also develop collaborations, networking and capacity building between US researchers/institutions and researchers/institutions from Greenland, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Germany. MEGA will also embed two K-12 educators from Philadelphia in fieldwork to cultivate interests in STEM, Arctic research, and Earth systems science, helping inspire their teaching curriculum and their students.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.

汞是对环境和人类健康的关注的有毒元素。由于大气中的汞运输到北极地区，北极食品网中的汞量特别高，主要是从采矿和工业地区运输。北极的汞的主要来源被认为是对大气的人类排放（例如，通过在金矿开采和化石燃料燃烧中的材料加工中），但也可能有大量的汞源，可能会随着气候变暖而改变。冰川和冰盖，大的冰河，最近在格陵兰岛被发现是通过冰川物理磨削来向北极的汞来源（因为它们在景观中推翻了自己的方式）和融化，但数据仍然很稀疏，这些现有数据集突出了重大不确定性。在大型项目中，调查人员将采样（i）整个格陵兰岛的一系列冰川融水河流，（ii）这些融化的海洋流入，（iii）水采样地点旁边的空气，以了解这些天然汞输入是否重要，并且可能随着温暖的气候而增加冰川葡萄酒会随着速度而变化。这些新数据将提高我们对冰川和冰盖在地球系统中的重要性的了解，并使用现代测量技术提供关键的过程信息。大型项目最终将帮助我们了解汞如何通过北极系统移动和变化。巨型将支持两名博士生，几名大学生和许多早期职业科学研究人员。它将在美国，丹麦，德国，捷克和格陵兰研究人员之间建立国际合作，并为西费城资源不足的高中的教师提供独特的机会，参加北极研究。Mercury是一种有毒的元素，它在食品网中积累和放大，这使得人口特别关注。北极地区的汞浓度特别关注决策者，因为它们在北极海洋生物中很高。这对于依靠钓鱼和寻找大量饮食的北极社区很重要。北极的汞的主要来源是来自下纬度的人为汞的大气沉积（例如，从手工黄金开采和化石燃料燃烧），通过盛行的大气循环运输到极地地区。最近，汞的自然来源（例如从多年冻土熔化）受到了关注，这是北极汞循环的潜在重要组成部分，在温暖的气候下可能会改变。但是，科学知识的巨大差距围绕着这些气候敏感但潜在的自然汞，尤其是冰川和冰盖。格陵兰冰盖是迄今为止北半球最大的冰块，覆盖了北极地区的20％以上。最近的研究表明，冰盖可能是周围海洋生态系统的汞的重要来源，但是数据是有限的，需要其他研究。 Mega项目将产生第一个完整的汞动员，移动和从源（ICE）转变为水槽（海洋）的模型。调查人员将通过采样（i）从冰盖流出的融化河流来制定浓郁的汞数字预算，（ii）这些河流进入的沿海地区，以及（iii）可以沉积/运输汞的大气。 Mega将使用创新的方法学技术，例如汞的化学指纹（例如汞同位素比），以提供将北极汞循环中格陵兰冰盖工艺的重要性背景而出的信息。大型项目将支持各种各样的研究人员，包括本科生，两名研究生，一名早期职业博士后研究员和四个早期职业教师。该项目还将在美国研究人员/机构与格陵兰，丹麦，捷克共和国和德国的研究人员/研究人员/机构之间建立合作，网络和能力建设。 Mega还将嵌入来自费城的两名K-12教育者在野外工作中培养对STEM，北极研究和地球系统科学的兴趣，从而帮助启发他们的教学课程和他们的学生。这项奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是通过基金会的知识分子和更广泛的影响来评估CRITERIA CRITERIA的评估，并被认为是值得的。