Collaborative Research: Quantifying Rates of Neoproterozoic Global Change, Ethiopia

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Collaborative Research: Quantifying Rates of Neoproterozoic Global Change, EthiopiaByAdam Maloof, Princeton University, EAR-1323158Nicholas Swanson-Hysell, Univ. California, Berkeley, EAR-1325230ABSTRACTWhile carbon and strontium isotope, magnetostratigraphic, and paleontological records exist for the early Neoproterozoic Era, and are the primary bases for correlation of stratigraphic sections around the world, radiometric calibration is limited. Most carbonate platforms well-suited for the development of chemostratigraphic data are developed on passive margins far from explosive volcanic activity that might deliver zircon-rich ash to the basin. The Tambien Group of northern Ethiopia is ideal for solving this problem because it is a thick carbonate-containing succession deposited in a back-arc basin proximal to active volcanism. We will develop integrated chemostratigraphic, paleomagnetic and U-Pb geochronological data from the Tambien Group of northern Ethiopia to provide a new backbone for stratigraphic correlation in the 100 million years preceding Cryogenian glaciation (~820-720 Ma). Our overarching goal is to understand how and when potentially unique geochemical and paleogeographic boundary conditions were developed that allowed for global glaciation at the onset of the Cryogenian Period. This grant was jointly supported by the International Science and Engineering Division.