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

该奖项将支持圣地亚哥州立大学地质科学系戴维·L·金布罗教授和新西兰地质调查局安德鲁·J·图洛克博士之间为期一年的合作项目。科学家们将对新西兰的结晶基岩进行放射性测年，以期获得更多关于新西兰与冈瓦那超大陆碎裂有关的地质事件的信息，更广泛地说，有助于更好地了解环太平洋地区的大陆地壳演化。这项活动是在美国-新西兰合作科学计划下进行的。研究人员将测量矿物锆石中的铀铅(U-铅)同位素丰度，这是这里要研究的花岗岩中的一种常见微量成分。锆石U-Pb法是确定地质事件年龄关系的一种可靠的、应用广泛的技术。这对研究新西兰的深成岩特别有用，这些岩石中的其他同位素系统可能已经被花岗岩初始结晶后的热和热液事件“重置”。圣地亚哥州立大学有对矿物进行U-Pb测年的设施，但新西兰没有，因此科学家之间正在进行的这方面合作将在图洛克博士访问圣地亚哥进行研究期间进行。这项奖励的资金将帮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.