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

摘要本项目利用南极费拉火成岩侵入岩的高精度锆石U-Pb定年，确定其形成时间和是否造成了一次大灭绝事件。在世界上？作为世界上最大的入侵，费拉也与最后一个超大陆冈瓦纳的分裂有关。这个项目的数据将显示费拉和类似的入侵是如何形成的，以及它们造成大规模灭绝的潜力。费拉河的入侵暂时与1.83亿年前的托瓦西亚灭绝事件联系在一起，该事件被认为是由费拉河与地下煤层相交时释放的甲烷引起的。更广泛的影响是本科生、研究生和博士后对研究的参与，研究机构和主要本科机构之间的新合作，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.