Collaborative Research: Comparing Upper Ordovician-Lower Silurian Carbonate Platforms in Estonia and the Great Basin: A Test of the Synchrony of Sequences and Faunal Changes

合作研究：比较爱沙尼亚上奥陶统-下志留统碳酸盐岩台地与大盆地：对层序和动物群变化同步性的测试主要研究人员之前在大盆地的工作中记录了与北美其他地方描述的不整合的岩石单元（层序）。动物群落的重组与序列边界一致，表明最大物理破坏与群落水平变化之间存在因果关系。本研究将测试序列与其他大陆块群落重组的相关性，地方性（局部）与世界性（全球）动物群的群落变化程度，以及群落变化的可能机制。该提案的核心是通过与五位爱沙尼亚同事的合作研究，对波罗的海剖面进行详细的沉积学、层序地层学和古生物学研究。爱沙尼亚部分位于不同的大陆块上，包含地方性的奥陶纪和世界性的志留纪动物，并在奥陶纪末期发生了一次主要的古生代灭绝事件。此外，已有大量的古生物学和沉积学资料（包括同位素地层学），可以在露头（提供良好的动物信息）和岩心（提供从陆架区到盆地几乎完整的地层覆盖）中进行研究。这些特征将有助于建立一个地层模型，在这个模型中可以很容易地建立动物分布，并与大盆地模式进行比较。该提案包括资助九名科学家进行为期三年的合作：两名首席研究员、一名博士后研究员、一名MS学生和五名爱沙尼亚科学家。（部分费用可能由nsfu国际项目部承担。）它将显著促进美国和东欧科学家之间的国际合作，并为主要研究人员和MSstudent提供国际研究经验。此外，奥陶系部分的研究还将为新成立的国际全球相关项目410（奥陶系全球生物多样性）做出贡献，该项目的主要研究人员和爱沙尼亚科学家都很活跃。

Collaborative Research: Comparing Upper Ordovician-Lower Silurian Carbonate Platforms in Estonia and the Great Basin: A Test of the Synchrony of Sequences and Faunal Changes The principal investigatorsU previous work in the Great Basin documented unconformity-bound rock units (sequences) that correlate to those described elsewhere in North America. Reorganizations of faunal communities coincided with sequence boundaries, suggesting a causal link between maximum physical disruption and community-level changes. This study will test the correlation of sequences to community reorganizations in other continental blocks, the extent of community changes in endemic(localized) versus cosmopolitan (worldwide) faunas, and the possible mechanisms for community change. The heart of the proposal is a detailed sedimentological, sequence stratigraphy, and paleontological study of the Baltic section through a collaborative study with five Estonian colleagues. The Estonian section was located on a different continental block, contains both endemic Ordovician and cosmopolitan Silurian faunas, and brackets one of the major Paleozoic extinction events at the end of the Ordovician. In addition, there is a large amount of existing paleontological and sedimentological data (including isotope stratigraphy), and it can be studied in both outcrop (providing good faunal information) and core (providing nearly complete stratigraphic coverage from shelf areas into the basin). These characteristics will allow development of a stratigraphic model withinwhich faunal distributions can be readily established and compared to the Great Basin patterns. The proposal includes funding for a three-year collaboration among nine scientists: two principal investigators, one post-doctoral investigator, one MS student, and five Estonian scientists. (Some costs may be covered by NSFUs Division of International Programs.) It will significantly foster international collaboration between US and Eastern European scientists, and provide the principal investigators and the MSstudent international research experience. In addition, the Ordovician part of this study will also contribute to the newly established International Global Correlation Project 410 (Ordovician Global Biodiversity) in which both the principal investigators and Estonianscientists are active.