U.S.-New Zealand Cooperative Research on the Development of the Continental Crust in the Western Province of New Zealand

该奖项将支持一个为期一年的合作项目， 大卫教授L. Kimbrough，San Francisco地质科学系 Diego州立大学和Andrew J. Tulloch博士，新西兰 地质调查局。 科学家们将进行放射性测年 新西兰的结晶基底岩石， 获取更多新西兰地质事件信息 与冈瓦纳超大陆的分裂有关 更广泛地说，有助于更好地理解 环太平洋地区大陆地壳演化 的 活动发生在美国-新西兰合作科学 程序. 研究人员将测量铀铅（U-Pb）同位素丰度 在矿物锆石，一种常见的微量成分在花岗岩 岩石在这里进行研究。 锆石U-Pb法是一种可靠、 确定地质年代关系的广泛应用技术 事件 它在研究深成岩石中特别有用， 新西兰，这些岩石中的其他同位素系统可能有 被“重置”的热和热液事件之后， 花岗岩体的初始结晶。 设施 对圣地亚哥州的矿物进行U-Pb测年 大学，虽然不是在新西兰，所以这方面的 科学家之间的持续合作将在 在塔洛克博士到圣地亚哥进行研究访问时 资金来源于此 奖将协助提供必要的材料和用品， 以及本科生参与研究。

This award will support a one-year collaborative project between Professor David L. Kimbrough, Department of Geological Sciences, San Diego State University, and Dr. Andrew J. Tulloch, New Zealand Geological Survey. The scientists will carry out radiometric dating of crystalline basement rocks of New Zealand, with a view toward obtaining more information about geological events in New Zealand associated with the fragmentation of the Gondwana supercontinent, and, more generally, contributing to a better understanding of continental crustal evolution in the circum-Pacific region. The activity takes place under the U.S.-New Zealand Cooperative Science Program. The researchers will measure uranium-lead (U-Pb) isotopic abundances in the mineral zircon, a common trace constituent in the granitic rocks to be studied here. The zircon U-Pb method is a reliable and widely applied technique for determining age relations of geologic events. It is especially useful in studying the plutonic rocks of New Zealand, where other isotope systems in these rocks may have been "reset" by thermal and hydrothermal events subsequent to the initial crystallization of the granite bodies. Facilities for carrying out U-Pb dating of minerals exist at San Diego State University, though not in New Zealand, and so this aspect of the ongoing cooperation between the scientists will be carried out during a research visit by Dr. Tulloch to San Diego. Funds from this award will assist in providing for necessary materials and supplies, as well as for undergraduate student involvement in the research.