Paleoenvironmental and Paleoclimatic Analysis of the Beacon Supergroup, Beardmore Glacier Area, Central Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica

智力优势：本提案将研究比尔德莫尔冰川区（BGA）灯塔超群大陆和海洋沉积物中鱼化石的多样性、丰度和分层模式。pi将侧重于包含各种鱼化石和古土壤的大陆地层。鱼化石将被评估其建筑和表面形态，并将与现代和古代痕迹进行比较，以解释示踪者行为和古环境背景。这些单元内的鱼化石分布可能表明了地层横向变异的影响、沉积事件的大小和频率、沉积物中的水分以及气候变化的影响。通过比较全球变暖和变冷时期沉积的地层单元测量剖面中鱼化石的洞穴大小、产状、层序和成土意义，确定鱼化石的古气候意义。将BGA地层与在低古纬度沉积的地层等效岩石进行比较，这些岩石具有先前确定的古气候背景。该项目的目标是解决两个主要问题：在高古纬度和低古纬度之间，海洋和大陆沉积物的鱼类多样性、丰度和分层存在什么差异，以及在晚古生代和中生代，特别是在河流和湖泊环境中，与当时海洋领域的栖息地利用相比，大陆沉积物中栖息地的利用是否缺乏？更广泛的影响：本研究将提高对亚环境尺度古环境的解释能力，了解高纬度地区土壤生物群和生态系统的演变，确定高纬度地区生物在土壤形成中的作用，探索气候变化对土壤群落中生物体型和多样性的影响，并开发新的高纬度地区古气候解释工具。这一提议有很强的教育成分。

Intellectual Merit: This proposal will study the diversity, abundance, and tiering patterns of ichnofossils in continental and marine deposits of the Beacon Supergroup in the Beardmore Glacier Area (BGA). The PIs will focus on continental strata that contain a variety of ichnofossils and paleosols. Ichnofossils will be evaluated for their architectural and surficial morphologies, and will be compared to modern and ancient traces to interpret the tracemaker behavior and paleoenvironmental setting. Distribution of ichnofossils within these units may indicate the effect of lateral variability of pedogenesis, the magnitude and frequency of depositional events, and the amount of moisture within the sediment, as well as the effects of climate change. The paleoclimatic significance of ichnofossils will be determined by comparing the burrow size, occurrence, tiering, and pedogenic significance of ichnofossils in measured sections of stratigraphic units deposited during global warming and cooling episodes. Comparisons will be made between BGA formations to stratigraphically equivalent rocks deposited at low paleolatitudes with previously determined paleoclimatic settings. The objectives of this project are to address two major questions: what differences existed in ichnodiversity, abundance, and tiering in marine and continental deposits between high- and low-paleolatitudes, and was there a dearth of habitat usage in continental deposits during the late Paleozoic and Mesozoic, particularly in fluvial and lacustrine environments compared to the habitat usage in the marine realm at that time? Broader impacts: This study will enhance the ability to interpret paleoenvironments to the subenvironmental scale, understand the evolution of soil biota and ecosystems at high paleolatitudes, determine the role of organisms in soil formation at high paleolatitudes, explore the effects of climate change on the body size and diversity of organisms in the soil communities, and develop new tools to interpret paleoclimate in high latitudes. There is a strong education component associated with this proposal.