Triassic Paleosols, Paleoclimate and Vegetation of Antarctica

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9315228 Retallack This award supports a study of Triassic paleosols in South Victoria Land and in the Shackleton Glacier area of the Transantarctic Mountains in order to extract information about climatic conditions and about extant vegetation. This part of Antarctica is known to represent a continental interior environment that was in a near polar position during the Triassic. This region was hospitable enough to support broadleaf forests as well as large amphibians and reptiles. However, details of the paleoenvironments that would help differentiate between, for example, woodland and shrub-land remain obscure. Detailed study of Quaternary paleosols in many parts of the world has proved very useful to understanding paleoenvironments. Extension of these types of studies to the Triassic is feasible at this time. Comparison of Triassic paleosols from Antarctica to Quaternary and recent soils from temperate regions would improve our understanding of climatic conditions and ecological systems and would provide important information for global circulation climate models. ***