A Geosystems Approach to Paleobotany, Isotope Geochemistry, and Paleoecology of the Late Oligocene Chilga Deposits, Northwest Ethiopian Plateau

埃塞俄比亚西北部高原晚渐新世奇尔加矿床的古植物学、同位素地球化学和古生态学地球系统方法

• 批准号: 0617306
• 负责人: Bonnie Jacobs
• 金额: $ 30.05万
• 依托单位: Southern Methodist University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-09-01 至 2010-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0617306&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Geosystems; Approach; Paleobotany; Isotope; Geochemistry

A Geosystems Approach to Paleobotany, Isotope Geochemistry, and Paleoecology of the Late Oligocene Chilga Deposits, Northwest Ethiopian PlateauBonnie Jacobs and Neil TaborSouthern Methodists UniversityEAR-0617306This award is co-funded by NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering.ABSTRACTAncient biotic response to geographic and climatic events has implications for predicting the effects of current global change on modern ecosystems. The tropical regions are of special concern because that is where Earth's greatest percentage of biodiversity resides. Fossils hold the key to past community ecology, and can be used to document past climates.This project will greatly improve documentation of paleoecology, paleoclimate, and floral communities in eastern Africa between 28 and 27 million years ago. To do this, PIs plan to focus on a wealth of plant fossils in an area near Chilga, in northwestern Ethiopia, by involving students and specialists in paleobotany, paleosols (fossil soils), isotopes, dating, and the rock record. This collaboration will allow them to obtain independent estimates of landscape characteristics, ecology, and climate from paleosols and isotopes that can be compared and integrated with information from plant and vertebrate fossils. Fossil leaves provide estimates of precipitation and vegetation on the landscape. Paleosols and isotopes provide estimates of climate and the physical landscape. Plant fossils will help document aspects of floristics and evolution not currently available for tropical Africa. The plant fossils occur as leaf litter assemblages with cellular detail, wood, and flowers, fruit and seed casts co-occurring with vertebrate fossils; and silicified (petrified) wood assemblages representing standing forests. PIs will test three hypotheses: 1. Fossil floras and the geochemistry of paleosols from Chilga provide data that yield quantitatively consistent records of climate. 2. Contemporaneous, but separate, leaf assemblages from the same depositional settings provide estimates of precipitation that are within a standard error of each other. 3. Taxa found separately today in the forests of West and East Africa (and excluding NW Ethiopia), were present at Chilga 28 million years ago.Ethiopian students will participate in a field school learning from paleontologists, geologists, and graduate students beginning in year one. This will advance plans for a paleotoursim heritage site. Collectively, PIs efforts will improve infrastructure and positively impact the local economy. Project members have participated in 3 Ethiopian conferences about Ethiopian paleontology, paleotourism, and tropical African botany. The geological map created by this project will be available for publication by the Ethiopian Mapping Authority. All new geochronologic, stratigraphic and paleontological data will be entered into the Paleostrat and Paleobiology databases. PIs will send daily reports from the field to an SMU web site publicized through the Texas Earth Science Teachers Association and other associates. This award was co-funded by the Office of International Science and Engineering.

用地球系统方法研究埃塞俄比亚西北高原晚渐新世Chilga沉积物的古植物学、同位素地球化学和古生态学邦尼·雅各布斯和尼尔·塔伯南卫理大学该奖项是由美国国家科学基金会国际科学与工程办公室共同资助的。古代生物对地理和气候事件的响应对预测当前全球变化对现代生态系统的影响具有重要意义。热带地区尤其值得关注，因为那里是地球上生物多样性比例最高的地方。化石是了解过去群落生态的关键，可以用来记录过去的气候。这个项目将极大地改善对东非2800万到2700万年前的古生态、古气候和植物群落的记录。为了做到这一点，pi计划将重点放在埃塞俄比亚西北部Chilga附近地区的大量植物化石上，包括古植物学、古土壤（化石土壤）、同位素、年代测定和岩石记录方面的学生和专家。这种合作将使他们能够从古土壤和同位素中获得对景观特征、生态和气候的独立估计，这些估计可以与植物和脊椎动物化石的信息进行比较和整合。树叶化石提供了对地表降水和植被的估计。古土壤和同位素提供了对气候和自然景观的估计。植物化石将有助于记录植物区系学和进化的各个方面，这些方面目前还没有热带非洲的资料。植物化石以带有细胞细节的凋落叶组合形式出现，木材、花朵、果实和种子铸件与脊椎动物化石共同出现；和硅化（石化）木材组合代表直立森林。pi将测试三个假设：1。来自智利的化石植物区系和古土壤地球化学提供的数据产生了定量一致的气候记录。2. 来自同一沉积环境的同时期但独立的叶片组合提供的降水估计在彼此的标准误差范围内。3. 今天在西非和东非（不包括埃塞俄比亚西北部）的森林中分别发现的分类群出现在2800万年前的Chilga。埃塞俄比亚学生将参加实地学校，从一年级开始向古生物学家、地质学家和研究生学习。这将推进古旅游遗址的规划。总的来说，ppi的努力将改善基础设施，并对当地经济产生积极影响。项目成员参加了3次埃塞俄比亚古生物学、古旅游和热带非洲植物学会议。这个项目绘制的地质图将由埃塞俄比亚测绘局出版。所有新的地质年代学、地层学和古生物学数据将被输入古地层和古生物学数据库。pi每天将现场报告发送到新大的网站上，该网站通过德州地球科学教师协会和其他合作伙伴进行宣传。该奖项由国际科学与工程办公室共同资助。