Collaborative Research: Calcareous Nannofossil Biostratigraphy and Paleoenvironmental History of the Cape Roberts Project Cores

该奖项支持对钙质超微化石的基本表征，作为罗伯茨角项目(CRP)发现的钻芯生物地层框架开发的一部分。这是国际南极地球科学界的一个重大项目，旨在通过在维多利亚陆地盆地侧翼的四个地点进行钻探，对3000万至1亿年前的地层记录进行采样。该奖项旨在通过研究钙质超微化石提供快速年代和古环境信息来支持钻探计划。这项研究将在南极麦克默多站的克拉里科学与工程中心(CSEC)系统地对回收的沉积岩心进行采样，并分析它们的钙质超微化石含量。在两个钻探季节结束时编写一份初步报告卷时，将包括这项工作的结果，作为岩心初步特征的一部分。钙质超微化石的生物地层学记录跨越了整个岩层，并以CRP为核心。最近对南极洲周围海洋钻探地点的钙质超微化石进行的工作已经对南大洋的古近纪和上白垩纪进行了精细的分区，这将为罗伯茨角钻探发现的半深海和远洋沉积物提供一个高分辨率的生物地层框架。这项研究与来自其他化石群的数据、磁性地层数据和其他年龄测定方法相结合，将提供对其他地质调查必不可少的综合年龄控制。此外，钙质超微化石是地表水温度和生产力的良好古环境指标。对定量人口普查数据的统计分析将用于推断古近纪和白垩纪期间的古环境变化。这些数据与其他化石群和沉积学研究的数据相结合，将有助于评估距今3000万年至1亿年的关键时期的气候变化。

This award supports basic characterization of calcareous nannofossils as part of the development of the biostratigraphic framework for drill core recovered by the Cape Roberts Project (CRP). This is a major program within the international Antarctic earth science community, designed to sample the stratigraphic record that spans the time interval 30 to 100 million years ago, by drilling four sites on the flank of the Victoria Land basin. This award is to support the drilling program by providing rapid age and paleoenvironmental information through the study of calcareous nannofossils. This research will systematically sample the recovered sedimentary cores and analyze their calcareous nannofossil content at the Crary Science and Engineering Center (CSEC) at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. The preparation of an Initial Reports volume at the end of each of the two drilling seasons will include the results of this work as part of the initial characterization of the cores. The calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphic record spans the entire interval to be cored by the CRP. Recent work on calcareous nannofossils from ocean drilling sites around Antarctica has yielded a refined zonation for the Paleogene and Upper Cretaceous of the Southern Ocean that will provide a high-resolution biostratigraphic framework for hemipelagic and pelagic sediments recovered by Cape Roberts drilling. This research, when combined with data from other fossil groups, magnetostratigraphic data, and other age-dating methods, will provide integrated age control that is essential for other geological investigations. In addition, calcareous nannofossils are excellent paleoenvironmental indicators for surface water temperature and productivity. Statistical analysis of quantitative population census data will be used to infer paleoenvironmental variations during the Paleogene and Cretaceous. These data, in combination with data from other fossil groups and sedimentological studies, will be useful f or assessing climatic change through the critical period of 30-100 million years before present.