Characterization of the Fauna of the Middle Cambrian Nelson Limestone

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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.