The Bighorn Basin Coring Project (BBCP) Phase I: Workshop; Northwest College, Powell, WY; Summer 2007

这项提议将资助2007年夏天在怀俄明州鲍威尔举行的为期4天的研讨会，讨论比格伦盆地古近纪早期(古新世至始新世早期)矿床取芯的科学、后勤和管理框架。大约35名科学家、学生和行业代表将参加。研讨会还将讨论推动钻井后研究的重要问题，将通过单独的提案寻求资金。智力价值：古新世-始新世最高温度(PETM)(以及更新发现的模仿深海岩心中观察到的PETM的小幅度碳同位素漂移)，在比霍恩盆地保存得非常完好，是世界上最完整的早古近纪大陆层序。盆地沉积包括厚约50m的PETM层段。这一早期古近纪地层记录的岩心将有可能开发出高分辨率(采样间隔1,000-10,000年)的温度(氧同位素)、碳循环(碳同位素)和生物变化(如花粉)的替代记录，以前所未有的方式研究温室条件下大陆沉积系统的高频气候和生物变异性。这将是在大陆背景下从这段时间内发现的唯一科学核心。更广泛的影响：建议的与会者名单包括来自学术界、工业界和外国科学家的学生和代表。这次活动将促进不同社区之间的互动，并将把地球化学家、地球年代学家、地层学家和古生物学家聚集在一起。提倡者很清楚像地球时间和地球系统这样的努力，并将花一些议程时间来讨论公众参与的外联战略。

This proposal would fund a 4-day workshop in Powell, Wyoming during the summer of 2007 to discuss the scientific, logistical, and administrative framework for coring the early Paleogene (Paleocene to early Eocene) deposits of the Bighorn Basin. Approximately 35 scientists, students, and industry representatives would take part. The workshop will also discuss the important questions driving the post-drilling research, funding for which would be sought through separate proposals. Intellectual Merit: The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), (as well as the more newly discovered small amplitude carbon isotope excursions that mimic the PETM observed in deep-sea cores), is extremely well preserved in the Bighorn Basin as the most complete early Paleogene continental sequence in the world. The basin sediments include a ~50 meter thick PETM interval. Cores of this early Paleogene stratigraphic record would make it possible to develop high resolution (1,000-10,000 year sampling interval) proxy records for temperature (oxygen isotopes), carbon cycling (carbon isotopes), and biotic change (e.g. pollen) from unweathered material to investigate, in an unprecedented way, the high-frequency climatic and biotic variability of a continental depositional system during greenhouse conditions. This would be the only scientific core recovered from this interval in a continental setting. Broader Impacts: The proposed attendee list includes students and representatives from academia, industry, and foreign scientists. The event will stimulate interaction between different communities, and will bring together geochemists, geochronoogists, stratigraphers and paleontologists. The proposers are well aware of efforts like Earthtime and Geosystems, and will devote some agenda time to discussing outreach strategies for public engagement.