Collaborative Investigation of Beata Ridge (Caribbean Plate): Stratigraphy of an Oceanic Large Igneous Province

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

9530087 Duncan Robert Duncan of Oregon State University is supported to participate in a planned research submersible (R/V Nautile) expedition with French researchers to sample and analyze samples of the deep crust exposed in the Beata Escarpment in the Caribbean Sea. Duncan's work will emphasize the precise dating of samples from the ridge using the Argon-40/Argon-39 technique in which his lab specializes; he will also analyze samples for rare earth elements. The objective of Duncan's research is to test a model based primarily on samples rocks collected on land surrounding the Caribbean that much of the seafloor underlying the Caribbean was formed very rapidly about 88 million years ago by a large volcanic outpouring related to the Galapagos mantle plume. In addition to the specific studies proposed here of samples to be collected by submersible, the project will assist in identifying precise sites for proposed deep ocean drilling by the Ocean Drilling Program, an international collaborative research effort led by NSF using the research drilling vessel JOIDES Resolution. ***