Collaborative Research: EAGER: GASHES: Getz Antarctic Submarine Hydrothermal Vents Exploratory Study

合作研究：EAGER：GASHES：Getz 南极海底热液喷口探索性研究

• 批准号: 2303978
• 负责人: Brice Loose
• 金额: $ 27.91万
• 依托单位: University of Rhode Island
• 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: 2023-01-15 至 2024-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2303978&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; EAGER; GASHES; Getz

Antarctica contains the largest reservoir of glacial ice on the planet - enough to raise sea level by 58 meters or almost 200 feet. While the interior of the continent is uninhabited, its coastline is teeming with life. Aquatic plants support a vibrant ecosystem, which includes large seabirds like albatross, Elephant and Weddell seals, as well as orcas, and penguins. Both the glacier ice and the ecosystem may be affected by volcanic activity beneath the Antarctic continent, and this project seeks to improve our knowledge of volcanism in one part of Antarctica, the Amundsen Sea. Volcanic heat can influence the way glacier ice is distributed and how quickly it can flow from land to sea. In addition, undersea or under-ice volcanoes provide important nutrients to feed ocean plankton and other organisms at the base of the food chain. This project will explore evidence for undersea volcanism in the Amundsen Sea. Gases such as helium, dissolved in seawater, will be tested for evidence that volcanic activity is present in the Amundsen Sea. If this evidence can be established, the project will seek to evaluate where the volcanism is located and how volcanic fluid leaks into the ocean, including into the part of the ocean that receives sunlight for growth.This project seeks further evidence of submarine or subglacial and syn-glacial rift features, perhaps connected to the greater West Antarctic Rift System. Helium isotopes are a sensitive diagnostic tracer of hydrothermal plume pathways into the ocean column. Noble gases provide high-fidelity tracing of ice and atmospheric processes in the ocean. Together, they can trace the pathways of hydrothermal fluid and reveal any relationship between glacially-derived freshwater and hydrothermal plumes. This project will measure and interpret discrete water samples collected during a research vessel expedition to the Amundsen Sea that took place between January and March 2022. The project will measure the five stable noble gases (Helium, Neon, Argon, Krypton, Xenon) and helium isotopes dissolved in seawater surrounding a submarine geologic feature at the front of the Getz Ice Shelf, and in adjacent coastal waters. The project will look for prior for evidence of hydrothermal fluid in the Amundsen Sea, evaluate whether mantle material is presently being released, explore the evidence that iron in hydrothermal fluid is being mixed into the water column, and determine how meltwater inputs to the Antarctic Coastal Current evolve along major Amundsen ice shelves.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.

南极洲拥有地球上最大的冰川冰库 - 足以使海平面上升 58 米或近 200 英尺。 虽然非洲大陆的内陆无人居住，但其海岸线却充满生机。 水生植物支撑着充满活力的生态系统，其中包括信天翁、象海豹和威德尔海豹等大型海鸟，以及逆戟鲸和企鹅。 冰川冰和生态系统都可能受到南极大陆下方火山活动的影响，该项目旨在提高我们对南极洲阿蒙森海火山活动的了解。 火山热量会影响冰川冰的分布方式及其从陆地流向海洋的速度。此外，海底或冰下火山为海洋浮游生物和食物链底部的其他生物提供重要的营养物质。 该项目将探索阿蒙森海海底火山活动的证据。 将测试溶解在海水中的氦气等气体，以寻找阿蒙森海存在火山活动的证据。 如果这一证据能够成立，该项目将寻求评估火山活动的位置以及火山流体如何渗入海洋，包括渗入接受阳光生长的海洋部分。该项目寻求海底或冰下和火山喷发的进一步证据。同冰川裂谷特征，可能与更大的西南极裂谷系统有关。氦同位素是进入海洋柱的热液羽流路径的敏感诊断示踪剂。稀有气体可以对海洋中的冰和大气过程进行高保真追踪。它们一起可以追踪热液的路径，并揭示冰川产生的淡水和热液羽流之间的关系。该项目将测量和解释 2022 年 1 月至 3 月期间阿蒙森海科考船探险期间收集的离散水样。该项目将测量五种稳定的惰性气体（氦、氖、氩、氪、氙）和氦溶解在盖茨冰架前部海底地质特征周围以及邻近沿海水域的海水中的同位素。该项目将事先寻找阿蒙森海热液的证据，评估地幔物质目前是否正在释放，探索热液中的铁混合到水柱中的证据，并确定融水如何输入南极沿海地区。目前沿着阿蒙森主要冰架演化。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。