Collaborative Research: Terrestrial Paleoenvironmental Record Through the Permian-Triassic Transition of Texas and New Mexico

该奖项根据 2009 年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法 111-5）提供资金。该项目涉及伯克利地质年代学中心、加利福尼亚大学、新墨西哥大学、新墨西哥州立大学和南卫理公会大学的科学家之间的合作。该项目的总体目标是确定德克萨斯州西北部和新墨西哥州东南部沉积地层中保存的陆地环境在短暂的时间间隔内的环境条件，包括古生代和中生代之间的过渡，即地球历史上已知的最大规模灭绝发生的时期。古地磁学与地质年代学相结合的详细程序（使用 40Ar/39Ar 和 U/Pb 方法）用于提供高分辨率的区域年代地层框架。在年代地层学的支持下，将开发军需地层沉积条件和环境的区域模型。对化石花粉（如果存在）的分析将阐明跨越灭绝范围的时间间隔内的生态条件（和变化）。氧和碳的同位素用于量化大气二氧化碳浓度和表面空气温度。研究结果将有助于阐明地球系统的环境耐受性，并有助于了解地球历史上已知的最严重的生物灾难的原因。作为研究的现场和实验室部分的参与者，参与机构的本科生和研究生将接受该项目所采用的不同科学学科的实践培训。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This project involves a collaboration between scientists at the Berkeley Geochronology Center, University of California, University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University, and Southern Methodist University. The project?s overarching goal is to determine environmental conditions in terrestrial environments preserved in sedimentary strata of northwestern Texas and southeastern New Mexico, over a brief time interval including the transition between the Paleozoic and Mesozoic Eras, when the greatest mass extinctions known in Earth?s history occurred. A detailed program of paleomagnetism integrated with geochronology (using the 40Ar/39Ar and U/Pb methods) are used to provide a high resolution, regional chronostratigraphic framework. Supported by the chronostratigraphy, a regional model of depositional conditions and environments for the Quartermaster Formation will be developed. Analysis of fossil pollen, where present, will elucidate ecological conditions (and changes) across the time interval spanning the extinction horizon. Isotopes of oxygen and carbon are used to quantify atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and surface air temperatures. The results will help clarify the environmental tolerances of the Earth system, and aid understanding of the causes of the most profound biotic catastrophe known in our planet?s history. As participants in field and laboratory components of the research, undergraduate and graduate students at the participating institutions will receive hands-on training in the diverse scientific disciplines employed in the project.