NSF Org:	OPP Office of Polar Programs (OPP)
Recipient:	UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS
Initial Amendment Date:	August 1, 2023
Latest Amendment Date:	August 1, 2023
Award Number:	2317931
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	Lauren Culler lculler@nsf.gov  (703)292-8057 OPP  Office of Polar Programs (OPP) GEO  Directorate for Geosciences
Start Date:	September 1, 2023
End Date:	August 31, 2025 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$325,875.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$325,875.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 2023 = $325,875.00
History of Investigator:	Samuel Mark (Principal Investigator) szm18@pitt.edu
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	University of Alaska Fairbanks Campus 2145 N TANANA LOOP FAIRBANKS AK  US  99775-0001 (907)474-7301
Sponsor Congressional District:	00
Primary Place of Performance:	University of Alaska Fairbanks Fairbanks AK  US  99775-6080
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:	00
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	FDLEQSJ8FF63
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s):	POST DOC/TRAVEL
Primary Program Source:	0100CYXXDB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s):	1079, 5280, 5112, 5294, 5247
Program Element Code(s):	524700
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.078

ABSTRACT

Permanently frozen ground (permafrost) in the northern regions of the world holds about twice as much carbon as what currently exists in Earth?s atmosphere. As climate warms, this carbon may be released as greenhouse gases. Rapid warming events, which occurred during the end of the last Ice Age, provide useful ?natural experiments? for understanding how much permafrost-derived greenhouse gases will exacerbate ongoing warming. Paleoclimate proxy records provide insight on the timing, intensity, and location of past warming events in permafrost-laden regions and valuable context for past episodes of permafrost thaw. Evidence of past permafrost thaw is preserved in several different forms, i.e., in cave deposits, lakes that formed from thawing permafrost, and in erosional patterns. This climate and landscape history can be compared to data derived from ice cores, which detail the sources and concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases. This project combines data from permafrost thaw records, paleoclimate evidence, and ice core-based greenhouse gas concentrations to better understand the effects of warming and permafrost thaw on the deglacial carbon cycle.

This project synthesizes existing records of permafrost thaw and evaluates them alongside paleoclimate records in the NSF-funded Rapid Arctic Warming (OPP-1947981, OPP-1948005) database to better understand how warming and permafrost instability influence the global carbon cycle. Previous research has largely focused on ?bottom-up? records of permafrost thaw or on ?top-down? ice core-based greenhouse gas reconstructions. Here, these disparate approaches are integrated and evaluated alongside the climatic context of deglacial warming and greenhouse gas increases. Records from the Rapid Arctic Warming database provide quantitative constraints on climatic conditions which the PI will use in permafrost modelling experiments. This work advances understanding of threats to permafrost stability and resulting impacts on atmospheric greenhouse gases.

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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