US-Tanzania Planning Visit: Investigating high-latitude climate change recorded in upper Paleozoic non-marine strata of East Africa

该奖项支持俄克拉荷马大学的Michael Soreghan博士和两名美国研究生的计划访问，以便与坦桑尼亚同事一起开发新的地球科学合作研究项目。美国团队将与达累斯萨拉姆大学和坦桑尼亚地质调查局的Hudson Nkotagu博士会面，为未来向NSF提交的国际合作研究提案制定计划。拟议研究的可能结果将是1)晚古生代区域气候变化的详细记录；2)某些湖相岩石的层序地层学模型，以预测这些地层中经济上可行的煤和铀矿床的分布。这项研究的最终结果将为高纬度盘古大陆过去的气候变化提供高分辨率的陆地记录，可以与来自高纬度海洋领域和整个盘古热带地区更好的研究记录相比较。推进我们对“深部时间”(前第四纪)气候的理解的主要关键之一是需要更好的年龄限制，因为缺乏关键气候记录的相关性使得无法对深部时间气候进行高分辨率的、空间上广泛的研究。因此，拟议的规划实地工作的一个直接结果将是与M.Schmitz博士(博伊西州立大学)合作，改善对这些年代较短的湖泊地层的年龄限制。此外，对相变的详细分析和对这些相变的气候控制，将为评价这些盆地中含煤和含铀地层的分布提供预测模型。拟议研究的结果最终关系到低纬和高纬度气候变化是否同步和/或谁对变化反应更敏感的问题，因此与最近和未来的气候变化都有关。通过改进煤和含铀地层的沉积模型，结果还将对坦桑尼亚具有潜在的经济价值。除了科学影响之外，拟议中的实地考察还将为非洲科学家以及非洲和美国学生提供一种提高地质实地考察技能的机制。实地经验和研究项目是任何地质学培训的重要组成部分，但在许多非洲大学的地质学课程中非常有限。国际科学与工程协会长期以来一直对科学教育和将活跃的科学融入课堂很感兴趣，该项目的成果和经验将被纳入普通教育、专业和研究生课程。该奖项由国际科学与工程办公室非洲、近东和南亚项目资助。

This award supports a planning visit for Dr. Michael Soreghan at the University of Oklahoma and two US graduate students to develop new collaborative research projects in the geosciences with Tanzanian colleagues. The US team will meet with Dr. Hudson Nkotagu at the University of Dar es Salaam and the Tanzanian Geological Survey to develop plans for future international collaborative research proposals to NSF. The probable outcomes of the proposed research will be 1) a detailed record of regional climate change for the late Paleozoic; and 2) a sequence stratigraphic model for certain lacustrine rocks in order to predict the distribution of economically viable deposits of coal and uranium within these strata.Intellectual Merit. Ultimate results of this research will provide a high-resolution terrestrial record of past climate change for high-latitude Pangaea that can be compared to better studied records from the high-latitude marine realm and the (paleo)tropics across Pangaea. One of the main keys to advancing our understanding of "deep time" (pre-Quaternary) climate is the need for better age constraints, since lack of correlation of key climate records has precluded high-resolution, spatially extensive studies of deep-time climate. Thus an immediate outcome of the proposed planning fieldwork will be improved age constraints for these poorly dated lacustrine strata in collaboration with Dr. M. Schmitz (Boise State University). In addition, a detailed analysis of facies changes and the climatic control on these facies transitions will provide a predictive model for evaluating the distribution of the coal and uranium bearing strata in these basins.Broader Impacts. Results of the proposed research ultimately bears on the question of whether low- and high-latitude climate change is synchronous and/or which responds more sensitively to change, and thus is relevant to both recent and future climate change. Results will also have potential economic value to Tanzania through enhanced depositional models of coal and uranium-bearing strata. In addition to scientific impacts, the proposed field trip will provide a mechanism to enhance geological field skills for African scientists and African and U.S. students. Field experiences and research projects are a critical component of any geologic training, but are very limited in the geological curricula of many African universities. The PI has a long-standing interest in science education and in incorporating active science in the classroom, and the results and experiences from this project will be incorporated in general education, major, and graduate-level courses.This award is being funded by the Office of International Science and Engineering's, Africa, Near East, and South Asia program.