Collaborative Research: High-Precision U-Pb Zircon Geochronology of the Late Triassic Chinle Fluvial System of the Colorado Plateau

合作研究：科罗拉多高原晚三叠世钦勒河系的高精度锆石U-Pb年代学Samuel Bowring，MIT，USA-1024196 David Fastovsky，Univ.罗得岛，USA-1023788摘要提出了一个对保存在美国西南部晚三叠世钦勒组中的凝灰质岩石进行高精度锆石U-Pb年代学的计划。Chinle是一个河流沉积序列，保存了丰富的化石记录，揭示了恐龙动物群的优势和现代生物群的形成。然而，重建Chinle记录的古环境和生物进化的克里思和模式一直存在问题。这在很大程度上是因为虽然已经建立了详细的岩石地层学和生物地层学，但它们没有很好地进行地质年代学校准。高分辨率同位素测年的关键含盐Chinle露头，如PI建议，将允许它包含的信息财富被整合到全球三叠纪的时间尺度。钦勒河保存了地球历史上一个关键时期的陆地生物进化和古气候的独特记录。其连续的生物地层组合，被编入陆地脊椎动物群，是理解早期恐龙进化的核心，在一个显着的环境变化时期。拟议的高精度的时间校准的Chinle岩石和生物地层将大大提高其效用，并将允许他们融入全球晚三叠世的时间尺度。EARTHTIME标准和示踪剂解决方案将用于促进实验室之间的比较。拟议的工作与一个国家公园有关，该公园有可能以解释性展览和文献的形式，使每年约500 000名来自各阶层的游客了解这项研究的结果。PI还致力于教育居住在土地上的美洲原住民社区，这部分是研究的主题。

Collaborative Research: High-Precision U-Pb Zircon Geochronology of the Late Triassic Chinle Fluvial System of the Colorado PlateauSamuel Bowring, MIT, EAR-1024196David Fastovsky, Univ. Rhode Island, EAR-1023788 ABSTRACTPIs propose a program of high-precision U-Pb zircon geochronology on tuffaceous rocks preserved in the Late Triassic Chinle Formation of the southwestern United States. The Chinle is a fluvial sedimentary sequence that preserves a rich fossil record that reveals the ascendancy of dinosaur faunas and the shaping of the modern biota. Reconstructing the tempo and mode of paleoenvironmental and biotic evolution recorded in the Chinle, however, has been problematic. This is largely because although a detailed lithostratigraphy and biostratigraphy have been constructed, they are not well calibrated geochronologically. High-resolution isotopic dating of key fossiliferous Chinle outcrops, such as PIs propose, would allow the wealth of information that it contains to be integrated into the global Triassic timescale. The Chinle preserves a unique record of terrestrial biotic evolution and paleoclimate in a critical time interval of Earth history. Its sequential biostratigraphic assemblages, codified as Land Vertebrate Faunachrons, are core to the understanding of the early dinosaur evolution during a period of remarkable environmental change. Proposed high-precision temporal calibration of the Chinle litho- and bio-stratigraphy will greatly enhance their utility and will allow their integration into the global late Triassic time scale. EARTHTIME standards and tracer solutions will be used facilitating comparison between labs. The work proposed is associated with a national park with the potential of exposing an estimated 500,000 visitors per year from a wide spectrum of people to the results of this study in the form of interpretive exhibits and literature. PIs are also committed to the education of Native American communities who inhabit the land which is in part the subject of the research.