Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Putting The West Antarctic Ice Sheet Into Context, George H. Denton, Brenda L. Hall

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

This award supports a project to develop new insights into the cause and pattern of events during the last glacial termination in South America and Antarctica. One emerging view is that a warming Southern Ocean (SO), driven by a chain of events initiated in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) and tied to the interhemispheric climate seesaw of the last termination, was the underlying mechanism that drove the West Antarctic ice sheet (WAIS) from its Late Glacial Maximum (LGM) position back to present-day grounding lines. This ocean thermal forcing would have impacted WAIS by accelerating basal melt rates on fringing floating ice …

Collaborative Research: Historic Perspectives On Climate And Biogeography From Deep-Sea Corals In The Drake Passage, Rhian G. Waller

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Polar oceans are the main sites of deep-water formation and are critical to the exchange of heat and carbon between the deep ocean and the atmosphere. This award "Historic perspectives on climate and biogeography from deep-sea corals in the Drake Passage" will address the following specific research questions: What was the radiocarbon content of the Southern Ocean during the last glacial maximum and during past rapid climate change events? and What are the major controls on the past and present distribution of cold-water corals within the Drake Passage and adjacent continental shelves? Testing these overall questions will allow the researchers …

Roosevelt Island Climate Evolution Project (Rice): Us Deep Ice Core Glaciochemistry Contribution (2011- 2014), Paul Andrew Mayewski, Karl J. Kreutz, Andrei V. Kurbatov

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

This award supports a project to analyze a deep ice core which will be drilled by a New Zealand research team at Roosevelt Island. The objectives are to process the ice core at very high resolution to (a) better understand phasing sequences in Arctic/Antarctic abrupt climate change, even at the level of individual storm events; (b) determine the impact of changes in the Westerlies and the Amundsen Sea Low on past/present/future climate change; (c) determine how sea ice extent has varied in the area; (d) compare the response of West Antarctica climate to other regions during glacial/interglacial cycles; and (e) …

Collaborative Research: A Nanostructure Sensor For Measuring Dissolved Iron And Copper Concentrations In Coastal And Offshore Seawater, Mark Wells, Carl Tripp

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Iron and Copper serve as key co-constituents for numerous enzymes in a wide range of biological systems, and their elevated or impoverished levels in aqueous systems have dramatic consequences at organismal, ecosystem, and human health scales. Over the last decade these effects have increasingly been recognized to be important in ocean systems. Identifying sites and times where these metals cause negative environmental outcomes is greatly hampered by their comparatively sparse datasets. This problem is a direct consequence of the analytical challenge of obtaining accurate Fe and Cu determinations in saline waters at very low (trace) concentrations, and the limitations of …

Collaborative Research: Byrd Glacier Flow Dynamics, Gordon S. Hamilton

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

This award supports a project to understand the flow dynamics of large, fast-moving outlet glaciers that drain the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. The project includes an integrated field, remote sensing and modeling study of Byrd Glacier which is a major pathway for the discharge of mass from the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) to the ocean. Recent work has shown that the glacier can undergo short-lived but significant changes in flow speed in response to perturbations in its boundary conditions. Because outlet glacier speeds exert a major control on ice sheet mass balance and modulate the ice sheet contribution to …

Collaborative Research: Glacier-Ocean Coupling In A Large East Greenland Fjord, Gordon S. Hamilton

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

This award will support a study of glacier-fjord interactions in east Greenland. The 'Intellectual Merit' of the proposed study lies in the current understanding that the contribution of the Greenland Ice Sheet to sea level rise more than doubled in the last seven years, mostly because of a widespread and nearly simultaneous acceleration of many glaciers that terminate at tidewater in deep fjords. Understanding the causes of changes in glacier dynamics, and predicting their future trajectories is a topic of enormous scientific and societal importance. The Greenland fjords provide an intimate connection between the ice sheet and the ocean and, …

Ocean Acidification-Category 1- Impact Of Ocean Acidification On Survival Of Early Life Stages Of Planktonic Copepods In The Genus Calanus In The Northern, Jeffrey A. Runge, John P. Christensen

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

While attention concerning impacts of predicted acidification of the world's oceans has focused on calcifying organisms, non-calcifying plankton may also be vulnerable. In this project, the investigator will evaluate the potential for impacts of ocean acidification on the reproductive success of three species of planktonic copepods in the genus Calanus that are prominent in high latitude oceans. C. finmarchicus dominates the mesozooplankton biomass across much of the coastal and deep North Atlantic Ocean. C. glacialis and the larger C. hyperboreus are among the most abundant planktonic copepods in the Arctic Ocean. Previous research showed that hatching success of C. finmarchicus …

Collaborative Proposal: Cameo: Using Interdecadal Comparisons To Understand Trade-Offs Between Abundance And Condition In Fishery Ecosystems, Andrew J. Pershing, Jeffrey A. Runge

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

The investigators will conduct a model-based investigation of the dynamics of a productive pelagic ecosystems in the Gulf of Maine. The middle trophic levels in highly productive marine ecosystems are typically dominated by a few species of pelagic fish, such as sardines and anchovies in upwelling environments or herring and/or capelin in temperate and subpolar regions. These species act as important conduits for energy to higher trophic levels, including larger fish, seabirds, and cetaceans. When abundant, small pelagics can exert significant pressure on their prey, typically large mesozooplankton. Small pelagic fish exhibit complex dynamics and managing these species under an …

Promotingclimate Change Awareness And Adaptive Planning In Atlantic Fisheries Communities Using Dialogue-Based Participatory Vulnerability Analysis, Mapping, And Collaborative Systems Dynamic Modeling, Thomas Webler, Seth Tuler, Esperanza Stancioff, Elizabeth Fly

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

The goals for the proposed project are twofold:

• First, the project will improve understandings of how a changing climate will affect fishing communities’ abilities to maintain marine fisheries and the local economies historically dependent upon them.

• Second, the project will investigate the role of a structured dialogue and participatory modeling process to support decision makers in fishing communities addressing consequences, vulnerabilities, and adaptive strategies in a context of climate stressors.