Maastrichtian and Paleocene-Eocene Environmental Changes in the Tethys Region of Tunisia, US-Tunisia Cooperative Research

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Description: This project supports cooperation between Dr. Gerta Keller, Department of Geological and Geophysical Sciences, Princeton University, and Dr. Dalila Zaghbib-Turki, Department of Geology, Faculty of Science at the University of Tunis. The project is to study the Paleocene-Eocene (P-E) maximum warming and the Maastrichtian maximum cooling in the expanded high sedimentation records of Tunisia, in order to provide a record from the marginal Tethys that allows testing of current climate change scenarios. Analytical methods will include high resolution biostratigraphy, quantitative assessment of benthic and planktic foraminiferal changes, and stable isotopic analysis of benthic and planktic foraminifera and clay mineral analysis. Scope: This project allows a cooperative activity that provides the US team access to some of the most continuous P-E and Maastrichtian low-latitude sections, and allows the Tunisian Team access to laboratory facilities at Princeton University. The project enhances cooperative science and the training of post-docs and graduate students, and provides the scientific community with a critical database for testing various hypotheses regarding the P-E greenhouse warming and Maastrictian glaciation. The project meets the objectives of the Division of International Programs in linking US scientists with foreign scientists when the expertise and capabilities are complementary, and where the project could lead to long term collaboration and to mutually beneficial results.