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

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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.