Collaborative Research: NSFGEO-NERC: The history of the Earth's magnetic field strength over the last five million years: Filling in the southern hemisphere gap

合作研究：NSFGEO-NERC：过去五百万年地球磁场强度的历史：填补南半球的空白

• 批准号: 2245629
• 负责人: Courtney Sprain
• 金额: $ 12.77万
• 依托单位: University of Florida
• 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: 2023-07-15 至 2025-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2245629&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; NSFGEO; NERC; history

Earth's magnetic field, generated in the Earth’s core, plays a vital role in our daily lives. It not only guides compass needles, but it also acts as a protective shield, deflecting harmful solar and cosmic particles. However, fundamental questions about the history and variation of this magnetic field remain unanswered. One intriguing hypothesis is the presence of a persistent hemispheric asymmetry, supported by long-term data compilations spanning five million years. To delve into these mysteries, this project will undertake a comprehensive research project, employing innovative experimental and analytical strategies while focusing on the Southern Hemisphere to address significant gaps in reliable data. This endeavor aims to provide a clearer picture of the ancient magnetic field and its evolution over time. Apart from unraveling the Earth's magnetic history, this project has broader significance for both science and society. Understanding the behavior of the magnetic field holds great potential for advancing various fields of study, such as geophysics, climate science, and space weather forecasting. By meticulously collecting and analyzing new samples from Southern Hemisphere locations, combined with a comprehensive reanalysis of existing datasets, the research team aims to refine our knowledge of the magnetic field's strength over the last five million years. These efforts will enhance our ability to interpret paleomagnetic records and improve the accuracy of models used in diverse scientific disciplines. Furthermore, this project is committed to fostering education, diversity, and knowledge dissemination. It actively supports participation of underrepresented groups and promotes the work of an early career female scientist. Extensive educational resources, including teaching curricula and open-source software packages, will be further developed, allowing Earth Science majors to learn about paleomagnetism and Python programming. The team is also deeply engaged in the development of the MagIC database, facilitating open access to valuable paleomagnetic data and encouraging collaboration within the scientific community. By adhering to the principles of Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR) data and Open Code, the project ensures that all data generated, and the code used to interpret the data, will be readily accessible, enabling further research and discoveries. This is a collaborative proposal between scientists at the University of California San Diego, University of Florida, and Liverpool University, and is therefore co-funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the United Kingdom’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).This research project aims to address the fundamental questions surrounding the Earth's magnetic field. Specifically, it focuses on understanding the presence of a persistent hemispheric asymmetry, which has been supported by long-term data compilations covering a span of five million years. The project proposes a multi-pronged approach, encompassing experimental, analytical, and sampling missions targeting the Southern Hemisphere. The research team will employ an optimized experimental and analysis strategy, combined with new sampling missions, to address gaps in the global paleomagnetic database. By collecting samples from Southern Hemisphere locations, they aim to enhance the representation of this region in the database and improve the understanding of the magnetic field's behavior. Additionally, the team will conduct a meticulous analysis of existing datasets to obtain a more accurate depiction of the ancient magnetic field over time. To ensure the reliability of the obtained estimates of ancient field strength, the project incorporates rigorous data analysis and robust experimental protocols. Furthermore, the researchers will provide precise dates for successful paleomagnetic intensity estimates, contributing to the overall quality and accuracy of the data.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.

地核产生的地球磁场在我们的日常生活中发挥着至关重要的作用，它不仅引导指南针，而且还充当保护罩，偏转有害的太阳和宇宙粒子。一个有趣的假设是存在持续的半球不对称性，这一假设得到了跨越五百万年的长期数据汇编的支持，为了深入研究这些谜团，该项目将进行一项全面的研究。该项目采用创新的实验和分析策略，同时关注南半球，以解决可靠数据的重大差距。除了揭示地球的磁历史之外，这项工作还旨在提供有关古代磁场及其随时间演变的更清晰的图景。该项目对科学和社会都具有更广泛的意义。通过仔细收集和分析南半球的新样本，了解磁场的行为对于推进地球物理学、气候科学和空间天气预报等各个领域的研究具有巨大的潜力。研究小组旨在完善我们对过去五百万年磁场强度的了解，并结合对现有数据集的全面重新分析，这些努力将增强我们解释古地磁记录的能力，并提高不同领域使用的模型的准确性。此外，该项目致力于促进教育、多样性和知识传播，并积极支持代表性不足的群体的参与，并促进早期职业女性科学家的工作，包括教学课程和开源。软件包将得到进一步开发，使地球科学专业的学生能够了解古地磁学和 Python 编程。该团队还深入参与 MagIC 数据库的开发，促进有价值的古地磁数据的开放获取，并鼓励科学界内部的合作。该项目遵循可查找、可访问、可互操作和可重用（公平）数据和开放代码的原则，确保生成的所有数据以及用于解释数据的代码都可以轻松访问，从而实现进一步的研究和发现。这是加州大学圣地亚哥分校、佛罗里达大学和利物浦大学科学家之间的合作提案，因此由美国国家科学基金会 (NSF) 和英国自然环境研究委员会 (NERC) 共同资助。该研究项目旨在解决围绕地球磁场的基本问题，重点是了解持续存在的半球不对称性，这一点得到了涵盖五百万年的长期数据汇编的支持。多管齐下研究小组将采用优化的实验和分析策略，结合新的采样任务，通过从南半球收集样本来解决全球古地磁数据库中的空白。他们的目标是增强数据库中该区域的代表性，并提高对磁场行为的理解。此外，该团队将对现有数据集进行细致的分析，以确保随着时间的推移获得更准确的古代磁场表示。所得结果的可靠性该项目结合了严格的数据分析和可靠的实验协议，对古代磁场强度进行了估计，此外，研究人员将为成功的古地磁强度估计提供精确的日期，从而提高数据的整体质量和准确性。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并具有通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。