EAGER: Exploring the potential for the 1.1 Ga Copper Harbor Conglomerate to yield information on terrestrial environments during the rise of the eukaryotes

元古代海洋环境的演变是深入研究的主题，因为与复杂的真核生命起源有关的氧合作用发生了戏剧性的变化。相比之下，人们对陆地环境或生态系统知之甚少。缺乏数据和适当的未改变的继承意味着，围绕着目前存在的关于陆地环境条件的少数几个假设进行了激烈的猜测。研究人员希望研究岩石，这些岩石在地球和生命的历史上处于独特的时间和地点，是探索冠类真核生物兴起期间陆地生物圈和古代大气组成的理想位置。如果数据集没有受到成岩作用的影响(这项研究将直接使用块状同位素古测温法来解决这个问题)，那么这个序列就有可能回答关于生命和气候进化的几个悬而未决的问题。该项目有许多社会效益。它将支持至少两名女科学家的职业发展，培训一名博士后研究员，并支持新的合作，包括与一名国际合作者的合作。它将被用来扩大参与和促进多样性，包括向代表性不足的学生开展外联活动。项目参与者将向K-12学生开展外联活动。它还将支持教育，因为结果将包括在本科生和研究生的讲座中。研究人员提议进行一次简短的初步探索性调查，以确定密歇根州10亿年前未被埋葬的遗产在真核生物崛起期间用于研究陆地环境的可能性。密歇根北部1.09Ga铜港砾岩中的碳酸盐代表了潜在的古气候和地质生物信息的变革性档案。该序列包括在古冲积扇上发育的陆相叠层石，以及湖相叠层石。研究人员将对来自这两个相的一套试点样本进行初步分析，以探索保存情况，并收集关于代理签名的试点数据，包括成团同位素和氧化还原敏感代理的数据。这项工作将能够评估这些岩石的保存情况和未来对这些岩石的深入研究的效用，为地球地球生物演化的关键时期提供替代数据。如果成功，研究人员将对继任进行合作和深入的研究。未来研究的潜在回报是巨大的--但试图寻找和识别这段时间内未改变的岩石的风险将使这种性质的研究无法通过传统的NSF项目获得资助，直到收集到一套试点数据。

The evolution of marine environments during the Proterozoic is the subject of intense investigation because of dramatic changes in oxygenation linked to the origin of complex eukaryotic life. In contrast, little is known about terrestrial environments or ecosystems. A lack of data and suitably unaltered successions means that intense speculation surrounds the few hypotheses that exist regarding environmental conditions on land at this time. The investigators wish to study rocks that are situated in a unique time and place in the history of Earth and life, and are ideally placed for exploring the terrestrial biosphere during the rise of crown group eukaryotes and the composition of the ancient atmosphere. If the datasets are not compromised by diagenesis (a question this study will address directly using clumped isotope paleothermometry), then this succession has the potential to answer several outstanding questions about the evolution of life and climate. The project has numerous societal benefits. It will support the career development of at least two women scientists, the raining of a postdoctoral researcher, and new collaborations including with an international collaborator. It will be used to broaden participation and to promote diversity, including outreach activities to under-represented students. Project participants will conduct outreach to K-12 students. It will also support education as results will be included in lectures to undergraduate and graduate students. The investigators propose a brief initial exploratory investigation to determine the potential of an unburied 1 billion year old succession from Michigan for the study of terrestrial environments during the rise of the eukaryotes. Carbonates in the 1.09 Ga Copper Harbor conglomerate of northern Michigan represent a potentially transformative archive of paleoclimatic and geobiological information. The succession contains terrestrial stromatolites that developed on an ancient alluvial fan, as well as lacustrine stromatolites. Researchers will conduct preliminary analyses of a suite of pilot samples from both facies to explore preservation and collect pilot data on proxy signatures, including on clumped isotopes and redox sensitive proxies. This work will allow to assess preservation and the utility of future in depth study of these rocks to provide proxy data for a crucial period in Earth's geobiological evolution. If successful, researchers will follow up with a collaborative, in-depth study of the succession. The potential rewards from future research are huge - but the risks of trying to find and identify unaltered rocks from this time period would preclude a study of this nature from being funded through traditional NSF programs until a suite of pilot data is collected.