Characterization of the Fauna of the Middle Cambrian Nelson Limestone

9909302Lieberman该奖项由极地项目办公室的南极地质和地球物理项目提供，为南极寒武纪无脊椎动物化石的研究提供支持。寒武纪是南极大陆主要的构造活动时期。通过几条地质研究路线，目前对南极洲这种构造活动的性质以及寒武纪南极地质学的认识有了相当大的进展。然而，谜团仍然存在，这些谜团部分与南极洲由一些微大陆块和断层边界区域组成的事实有关，这些区域在寒武纪的位置以及它们与南极洲碰撞的时间并不精确。这项研究的直接目标是彻底描述和分析（专着）中寒武世三叶虫动物群的纳尔逊石灰岩的基础上最近收集在彭萨科拉山脉。这将是解决寒武纪南极地质学之谜的重要的第一步，因为它将使三个目标得以实现。首先，动物群的元素将被放置到一个预先存在的纳尔逊石灰岩层序地层框架。其次，该动物群的元素将用于帮助扩展南极洲中寒武纪生物地层学。第三，动物群的元素将用于确定彭萨科拉山脉和中寒武世的各种南极微大陆和古陆之间的动物群相似性模式。目标1和2将增加我们对南极洲事件发生时间的了解，这些与第三个目标沿着将有助于增加我们对南极洲不同部分在中寒武世的相对位置的了解。这些目标中的每一个也将增加我们对寒武纪南极地质的总体了解。将被专著的动物群是在收藏在堪萨斯大学，他们是伴随着精确的位置数据。这项工作将受益于与堪萨斯大学其他科学家的合作，他们在寒武纪生物地层学方面具有重要的专业知识。

9909302LiebermanThis award, provided by the Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program of the Office of Polar Programs, provides support for a study of Cambrian invertebrate fossils from Antarctica. The Cambrian period was a time of major tectonic activity within the Antarctic continent. Current understanding of the nature of this tectonic activity in Antarctica, and Cambrian Antarctic geology in general, has advanced considerably through several lines of geological research. However, enigmas still remain, and these are partly related to the fact that Antarctica is comprised of some micro-continental blocks and fault bounded regions whose position during the Cambrian, and the time when they collided with Antarctica, is not precisely constrained. The immediate objective of this research is to thoroughly describe and analyze (monograph) the Middle Cambrian trilobite fauna from the Nelson Limestone based on recent collections made in the Pensacola Mountains. This will be an important first step in addressing some of the enigmas of Cambrian Antarctic geology because it will allow three objectives to be attained. First, the elements of the fauna will be placed into a pre-existing sequence-stratigraphic framework for the Nelson Limestone. Second, the elements of this fauna will be used to help expand a Middle Cambrian biostratigraphy for Antarctica. Third, the elements of the fauna will be used to determine patterns of faunal similarity between the Pensacola Mountains and the Middle Cambrian of various Antarctic microcontinents and terranes. Objectives 1 and 2 will increase our understanding of the timing of events in Antarctica, and these, along with the third objective, will help increase our understanding of the relative position of the different parts of Antarctica in the Middle Cambrian. Each of these objectives will also increase our general understanding of Cambrian Antarctic geology. The fauna that will be monographed is in collections housed at the University of Kansas, and they are accompanied by precise locality data. The work will benefit from collaborations with other scientists at the University of Kansas who have significant expertise related to Cambrian biostratigraphy.