| NSF Org: |
OCE Division Of Ocean Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | June 8, 2018 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | June 8, 2018 |
| Award Number: | 1836410 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Deborah K. Smith
OCE Division Of Ocean Sciences GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | June 15, 2018 |
| End Date: | January 31, 2019 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $24,700.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $24,700.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1 UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO ALBUQUERQUE NM US 87131-0001 (505)277-4186 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
NM US 87131-0001 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
Marine Geology and Geophysics, ANS-Arctic Natural Sciences |
| Primary Program Source: |
0100XXXXDB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.050 |
ABSTRACT
Better constraining the past climate and tectonic history of the North Pacific/Bering Sea/Arctic Ocean region is critical to understanding modern climatic changes as well as geologic hazards along the Alaskan margin. However, these regions are seriously under-sampled in terms of complete records of change over time, as recorded in marine sediments, which contain evidence of changes occurring in the oceans and on land. Such records can be collected via coring/drilling of seafloor sediments via the NSF-funded drill ship, the R/V Joides Resolution which serves the NSF International Ocean Discovery Program. This workshop improves coordination and maximizing/leveraging expensive ocean drilling expeditions and the science that comes from them. It draws together experts as well as scientists new to ocean drilling to evaluate best options for drilling based on critical scientific questions and existing site-characterization data needed to address them. The workshop specifically targets investigators with broad interests in the North Pacific, Bering Sea, and Arctic Ocean, as well as early career investigators. Potential topics include paleoceanographic reconstructions, changes in marine ecosystems across climate shifts, tectonics, volatile cycling and subduction and geohazards. The workshop involves a series of keynote talks, short visionary/lightning talks that spotlight early career scientists and those new to ocean drilling, and breakout sessions organized both around science themes and geographic sub-regions will develop targeted science questions. Funds are augmented by those the International Ocean Discovery Program US Science Support Program. Broader impacts include support of early career scientists to come to the meeting, leveraging assets of the NSF-funded ocean drilling program the NSF-funded GeoPRISMS program, and the emerging Subduction Zones in 4-Dimensions initiative. It will also enhance science planning intended to document geohazards and their frequency on the Aleutian arc and environs; and support of an early career faculty member in New Mexico, an EPSCoR state (a state that does not receive significant federal funding).
Limited previous drilling in the North Pacific, Bering Sea, and Arctic Ocean hampers scientific understanding of fundamental Earth processes such as: (1) impacts of oceanic exchange between the Arctic and North Pacific Oceans on long-term climate evolution and the dynamics of rapid climate change as seen in marine sediment cores that allow reconstructions of changes in sea level, ocean salinity, temperature, sea-ice extent, and the response of marine ecosystems along this critical junction in the climate system; (2) understanding how ice and sea level respond to warming and cooling and differentiation among paleoenvironments such as grounded glacial ice, floating ice shelves, sea ice, and open waters; (3) documentation of the extent of eruptions, the long term history of the Aleutian islands and the evolution of the mantle magmatic source, histories that are an important starting point for understanding subduction and tectonics in the North Pacific; (4) studies of the time intervals and pattern of subduction zone earthquakes, which is critical for understanding megathrust locking behavior and the submarine landslides and tsunamis triggered by such events; and (5) improved understanding of marine ecosystem thresholds in response to climate change and different levels of atmospheric CO2, both in terms of surface productivity (such as seasonal phytoplankton blooms) and subsurface marine ecosystems during times of different CO2), sea surface temperature, and sea level boundary conditions.
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.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The Northern Pacific, Bering Sea and Western Arctic Ocean contain important records of linked tectonic and paleoceanographic histories. Well-conceived, coordinated drilling expeditions in this region will expand our understanding of several key areas identified in the 2013-2023 Internation Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Science Plan, including the history of exposure and flooding of the Bering Strait, the connection of Arctic Ocean chemistry to the Pacific Ocean, the evolution of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, and the history of Aleutian volcanism and the assessment of geologic hazards - particularly from tsunamis - related to the North Pacific subduction zone. Better constraining the past climate and tectonic history of these regions is critical to understanding modern climatic changes as well as geologic hazards along the Alaska-Aleutian margin, but these regions remain seriously under-sampled by scientific ocean drilling (Fig. 1). Only one IODP expedition (IODP Exp. 323) has been north of the Aleutians since DSDP Leg 19 in 1971, and only one IODP expedition (IODP Exp. 302) has recovered cores from the Arctic Ocean. DSDP Leg 18, ODP Leg 145 (Site 882) and IODP Exp. 341 are the only samples within the Gulf of Alaska, while much of the Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone and the entire eastern Gulf of Alaska region have never been drilled.
The primary goal of this workshop was to develop new proposals and reinvigorate existing proposals for scientific ocean drilling in the region. By focusing on regional coordination across scientific themes, our breakout groups and working sessions encouraged new collaborations to develop coordinated drilling strategies. The location for the proposed work creates a natural opportunity for international collaboration and 76 scientists from the US, Canada, Germany, Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom, Australia, China and Japan participated. We involved numerous scientists who are new to IODP and almost 40% of participants were in their early career stages (students, postdocs, assistant professors).
Plenary sessions on both Day 1 and Day 2 included invited keynote presentations and short visionary talks selected by the conveners and science steering committee based on application materials. Early breakout sessions were organized around science themes and later breakout sessions were organized around geographic sub-regions. This organization allowed participants to identify potential collaborators and form teams in which targeted science questions could be developed and proposals could be initiated. White papers solicited from attendees prior to the meeting further established a platform on which to build the workshop agenda and identify content for short visionary talks.
A particular focus of this meeting was getting new people and early career scientists involved with the drilling program. To support this goal, a short pre-meeting discussion on the evening before Day 1 discussed the process of preparing, submitting and revising drilling proposals, as well as the process that follows a proposal being selected for scheduling. Short online surveys conducted after the first day and at the end of the meeting gave participants a chance to give feedback on their experiences.
Multiple new or reinvigorated proposal ideas were discussed and expanded upon in each sub-region (Arctic, Bering, North Pacific). In total, key hypotheses and science questions were articulated for fifteen proposals, with several in preparation for 2019 IODP-SEP proposal deadlines.
Last Modified: 04/03/2019
Modified by: Lindsay Worthington
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