Antarctica's Geological History Reflected in Sedimentary Radiogenic Isotopes

该项目研究海底沉积物，以了解南极洲的地质历史。这些沉积物是从南极大陆冰川侵蚀而来，可以让我们深入了解99%被冰覆盖的南极洲。这项工作的中心重点是确定东南极洲三个关键地区的地壳形成年龄和热历史-普里兹湾、威德尔海东部和威尔克斯地-通过岩相学、大量沉积物地球化学和放射性同位素以及个别矿物颗粒的同位素年代学相结合。一个具体的目标是通过研究Prenz湾始新世河流沉积物来确定Gamburtsev山脉的组成。除了进一步了解南极洲的隐藏地形，这些陆源沉积物也将作为一个天然的实验室，以评估大陆风化对海水的Hf/Nd同位素系统的影响。该项目的一个重要的更广泛的影响是为研究生和博士后学生提供令人兴奋的研究项目，使用最先进的地球化学技术。

This project studies sediment from the ocean floor to understand Antarctica's geologic history. Glacially eroded from the Antarctic continent, these sediments may offer insight into the 99% Antarctica covered by ice. The work's central focus is determining crust formation ages and thermal histories for three key areas of East Antarctica--Prydz Bay, eastern Weddell Sea, and Wilkes Land--through a combination of petrography, bulk sediment geochemistry and radiogenic isotopes, as well as isotope chronology of individual mineral grains. One specific objective is characterizing the composition of the Gamburtsev Mountains through studies of Eocene fluvial sediments from Prydz Bay. In addition to furthering our understanding of the hidden terrains of Antarctica, these terrigenous sediments will also serve as a natural laboratory to evaluate the effects of continental weathering on the Hf/Nd isotope systematics of seawater. An important broader impact of the project is providing exciting research projects for graduate and postdoctoral students using state of the art techniques in geochemistry.