Collaborative Research: High Precision U-Pb Geochronology of the Jurassic Ferrar Large Igneous Province, Antarctica

该项目利用南极费拉尔火成岩侵入体中锆石的高精度U-Pb测年来确定它的形成时间以及它是否造成了重大的物种灭绝事件。世界上最大的侵入活动之一？S，费拉尔火山还与冈瓦那最后一个超级大陆的解体有关。来自该项目的数据将显示费拉尔和类似的入侵是如何形成的，以及它们可能导致大规模灭绝。费拉河的入侵被初步认为与1.83亿年前的托尔西亚灭绝事件有关，该事件被认为是由费拉尔河与地下煤层相交时释放出的甲烷引起的。更广泛的影响是本科生、研究生和博士后参与研究，研究机构和主要是本科生机构之间的新合作，以及K12的推广。

Abstract This project uses high-precision, U-Pb dating of zircons from the Ferrar igneous intrusion of Antarctica to determine when it formed and whether it caused a major extinction event. Amongst the world?s largest intrusions, the Ferrar is also associated with breakup of Gondwana, the last supercontinent. Data from this project will show how the Ferrar and similar intrusions form and their potential to cause mass extinctions. Intrusion of the Ferrar has been tentatively linked to the Toarcian extinction event of 183 million years ago, thought to have been caused by methane released when the Ferrar intersected subterranean coal beds. The broader impacts are undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral involvement in research, new collaborations between a research and primarily undergraduate institution, and K12 outreach.