U.S.-Egypt Cooperative Research: Late Cretaceous Paleoecology of Egypt

该奖项是为了支持新泽西州普林斯顿大学地球科学系的Gerta Keller教授和埃及阿斯万南谷大学地质系的Hassan El-Amin Mohamed和Abdel-Aziz a . Tantawy教授的合作项目。双方计划研究最初沉积在白垩纪特提斯海道，后来暴露在埃及各地的岩石。该研究有助于了解古生态、气候和海平面波动、生物变化和伴随的富矿物和富有机质沉积。本研究的主要目的是在综合运用古生物学、地质学、矿物学和地球化学等多种现代方法的基础上，对晚白垩世古环境的这些方面进行研究。这些结果有望对白垩纪晚期的气候变化、海平面波动和生物多样性的逐渐减少（最终导致6500万年前白垩纪动物的大规模灭绝）提供关键的见解。范围：该奖项将允许一位在北非白垩纪时期研究方面具有丰富研究经验的著名美国地质学家与一所新埃及大学的一个活跃小组合作。埃及小组与德国和瑞士的地质学家合作，在埃及具有这一领域的研究经验，能够对这一努力作出重大贡献。该提案符合INT的目标，即在有利于双方的领域增加美国与外国的合作。该项目得到了美国-埃及联合基金项目的支持，该项目向两国的科学家和工程师提供赠款，以开展这些合作活动。

9811030KellerDescription: This award is for support of a cooperative project by Professor Gerta Keller of the Department of Geosciences at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey and Professors Hassan El-Amin Mohamed and Abdel-Aziz A. Tantawy of the Geology Department at South valley University in Aswan, Egypt. The two sides plan to study the rocks originally deposited in the Cretaceous Tethyan seaway and later exposed throughout Egypt. The study can provide insight into the paleoecology, climate and sea level fluctuations, the biotic changes and attendant mineral and organic-rich deposits. The main objective is to investigate these aspects of the late Cretaceous paleoenvironment based on an integrated multi-disciplinary study that includes a wide array of modern methods from paleontology, geology, mineralogy and geochemistry. The results are expected to yield critical insights into late Cretaceous climate changes, sea level fluctuations and the progressive terminal decrease in biotic diversity that ultimately led to the mass extinction of the Cretaceous fauna 65 million years ago.Scope: This award will allow collaboration between an eminent US geologist with extensive research experience in the study of the Cretaceous period in North Africa and an active group at a new Egyptian University. The Egyptian team has experience in studies in this field in Egypt in collaboration with geologists from Germany and Switzerland, and would be able to contribute significantly to this effort. This proposal meets the INT objective of increasing US-foreign collaboration in areas that benefit both sides. This project is being supported under the US-Egypt Joint Fund Program, which provides grants to scientists and engineers in both countries to carry out these cooperative activities.