| NSF Org: |
OPP Office of Polar Programs (OPP) |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | January 31, 2023 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | January 31, 2023 |
| Award Number: | 2224681 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Kelly Brunt
kbrunt@nsf.gov (703)292-0000 OPP Office of Polar Programs (OPP) GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | February 1, 2023 |
| End Date: | January 31, 2027 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $560,876.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $560,876.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1500 ILLINOIS ST GOLDEN CO US 80401-1887 (303)273-3000 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
1500 ILLINOIS ST GOLDEN CO US 80401-1887 |
| 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): | ANT Earth Sciences |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.078 |
ABSTRACT
Sediments that collect on the seafloor provide a wealth of information about past and present environmental change. Around Antarctica, these seafloor sediments are influenced by an ice sheet that grinds and transports sediments from the continent?s interior into the surrounding ocean. Since the Last Glacial Maximum (about 20,000 years ago) when the ice sheet extended hundreds to thousands of kilometers seaward, ice has retreated inland to the configuration we observe today and left behind signatures of its growth and decline, as well as indicators of ocean change, in the seafloor sediments. Ongoing glacial and ocean processes are reflected in the characteristics of contemporary sediments, whereas older sediments beneath the seafloor offer a longer temporal perspective of changes to the ice sheet and surrounding ocean. Using data generated from archived sediment cores that are predominantly housed in the Antarctic Core Collection at Oregon State University, we aim to confirm if recent sediments clearly reflect the specific instrumental and historical field-based observations of ocean and glacial change seen in different regions of Antarctica. These modern changes will be placed into context with those recorded by sediments deposited on the seafloor hundreds to thousands of years ago.
This project will explore interlinked physical, biological, and geochemical properties of seafloor sediments to address the influence of glacial and oceanographic processes on ice-proximal marine sedimentation during the 20th and 21st centuries and since the Last Glacial Maximum, with a focus on sediment fluxes, meltwater drainage, ice-rafted debris deposition, and radiocarbon chronologies. We will integrate multi-proxy analyses to interrogate the seafloor sediment record around Antarctica, targeting regions offshore of relatively fast-flowing and fast-changing glacial systems today and regions offshore of slower flowing, more stable (i.e., unchanging or relatively minimally changing) parts of the ice sheet. This work will leverage the application of new techniques and knowledge to legacy sediment cores that NSF has invested greatly in collecting and archiving. This project is led by three early-career women project investigators who seek to foster collaborative and open research practices and professional growth of the project team which will include three graduate students, numerous undergraduate students, and a postdoctoral research associate. The project team will co-produce educational materials with Math4Science, an organization that connects STEM professionals with public secondary education students and their math and science teachers through curricula; and develop and implement best practices in working with marine sediment core data through a collaboration with the Oregon State University Marine and Geology Repository and the United States Antarctic Program - Data Center.
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.
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