Princeton University

Associate research scholar Michael Hiscock has received $345,000 from the National Science Foundation to explore the polar ecosystem of the Ross Sea. One of the most productive regions of the Southern Ocean, the sea features extreme gradients over space and time in phytoplankton blooms, which drive the oceanic food chain. These variations in productivity are believed to be dependent on the upwelling of deep, salty water that is rich in nutrients into relatively fresh surface water. In collaboration with scientists at the University of Hawaii, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and Rutgers University, Hiscock will combine measurements made by remote-controlled deep water gliders with shipboard observations to understand the spatial and temporal variations in upwelling, the chemical composition of the water, and the biological consequences of the process. This knowledge may provide insights into the global carbon cycle.

Professor Gerta Keller has received $64,000 from the National Science Foundation to investigate climate change and its biotic effects during the late Cretaceous period in Egypt. This critical time period featured a transition from the Cretaceous greenhouse world to the Cenozoic icehouse world, culminating in one of five major mass extinctions in Earth's history. In Egypt, this transition led to the creation of most of the currently known oil, gas and phosphorite deposits. In collaboration with scholars at South Valley University in Aswan, Egypt, Keller will develop a multi-disciplinary history of the late Cretaceous climate and the related sea level and biotic changes, with a special focus on mineral and organic-rich deposits. The work will yield information about the consequences of climate warming and may also have implications for future oil, gas and mineral explorations.

Professor Allan Rubin has received $271,000 from the National Science Foundation to extend his past work on friction equations that describe earthquake formation to the investigation of "slow slip and tremor" events. These recently discovered seismological phenomena, which generate subtle, non-earthquake tremors as tectonic plates slowly slide past one another, have been detected in subduction zones around the world. Given that slow slip increases the stress on fault systems that could produce damaging earthquakes, Rubin's work may contribute to improvements in earthquake-forecasting capabilities.

Associate research scientist Olga Sergienko was awarded $376,000 from the National Science Foundation to create models that explore the behavior of ice streams -- fast-moving rivers of ice within glaciers -- and the subglacial lakes that form beneath them under certain conditions. Ice streams are responsible for the transportation of ice from inland West Antarctica to the floating Ross Ice Shelf, and their movements and characteristics have critical implications for sea level rise in the future. The most recent report of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change called for a more stringent examination of ice stream behavior to improve the understanding of climate change.