High Resolution Biostratigraphic Analysis of Molluscan Fauna Across the K/T Boundary on Seymour Island, Antarctica

该奖项支持对南极洲半岛西摩岛白垩纪-第三纪界线上的软体动物化石的研究。西摩岛在围绕白垩纪-第三纪界线的厚厚的地层剖面中包含了丰富且保存完好的动植物组合，在世界其他地区，白垩纪-第三纪界线是有充分记录的灭绝时期。以前的工作已经产生了丰富的软体动物动物群，但还需要更多的工作来了解和对比白垩纪-第三纪过渡期上下的生物地层学和沉积学。这项工作将试图恢复化石，并在5米以下至5米以上边界的厘米取样尺度上检查沉积学。这些化石结合对测量剖面的沉积学分析，可以确定边界剖面的连续性，也可以尝试对软体动物动物群的变化进行高分辨率分析。这项研究将有助于更好地理解南部高纬度地区白垩纪-第三纪过渡时期软体动物的变化，以及这些变化与其他地区白垩纪-第三纪灭绝的关系。

This award supports a study of molluscan fossils across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary on Seymour Island in the Antarctica Peninsula. Seymour Island contains rich and well preserved faunal and floral assemblages in a thick stratigraphic section that encompasses the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, a time of well documented extinction in other parts of the world. Previous work has yielded a rich molluscan fauna but additional work is needed to understand and correlate the biostratigraphy and sedimentology immediately above and below the Cretaceous-Tertiary transition. This work will attempt to recover fossils and examine the sedimentology on a centimeter sampling scale from 5 meters below to 5 meters above the boundary. These fossils, in conjunction with sedimentologic analysis of the measured section, will allow a determination of the continuity of the boundary section and will also allow an attempt at high resolution analysis of the molluscan faunal changes. This study will lead to an improved understanding of molluscan changes at the Cretaceous-Tertiary transition in high southern latitudes and the relation of these changes to Cretaceous- Tertiary extinction elsewhere.