CAREER: Integrating research and education to evaluate Neoproterozoic-Cambrian tectonism and sedimentary basins in western Laurentia

该项目旨在提高对罗迪纳新元古代超大陆分裂的时间和性质的理解，这是一个有争议的话题，对海洋化学和生命的同期变化具有重要意义。该项目的结果将包括来自北美西部几个地区的综合地层、地质年代学和地球化学数据集。这些原始数据集将依次用于生成这些区域的新沉降曲线。综合起来，这些产物可以用来区分Laurentia古大陆西缘新元古代-寒武纪裂陷的不同模式。协同教育计划将侧重于通过分层指导制度、开发包容性的实地课程和实地论坛，改善在研究和课程作业中获得户外实地工作的机会。该项目的更广泛影响将侧重于通过与巴尔的摩独创性项目（Baltimore Ingenuity project）的合作，增强服务不足人群的能力，扩大巴尔的摩市对地球科学的参与。巴尔的摩独创性项目是一个当地的非营利组织，旨在招募和培养对STEM有高潜力和兴趣的初高中学生，以及历史上服务不足的人群。罗迪尼亚新元古代超大陆的分裂时间和性质一直存在争议，古地理重建与罗迪尼亚核心古大陆Laurentia西部边缘保存的地质记录存在重大不一致。评价这些对Laurentia边缘构造历史的不同解释，需要对Laurentia西部新元古代-寒武系盆地沉降、裂谷相关构造和火山作用的构造地层背景和时代模型进行重大改进，这需要新的地质年代学约束和更好地校准这些沉积盆地内的不整合面。本文的研究目标是通过战略性地关注位于美国西部、墨西哥北部和不列颠哥伦比亚省的特定新元古代-寒武纪沉积盆地的地质历史，来区分不同的西部劳伦西亚构造模型。选择这些地区是因为它们沿边缘的关键地理位置，以及在这些序列中发现和描述的双峰火山岩。该项目的目标将通过整合地质制图、区域地层学、页岩地球化学、U-Pb年代学和沉降建模来解决一些长期存在的关于劳伦西亚西部裂谷动力学的争论，并改进新元古代晚期超大陆分裂的时间和地理模型。拟议的科学研究议程与拟议的教育和指导计划是协同的，其重点是通过以下方式改善获得户外实地工作的机会：1)分层指导系统；2)包容性实地课程的开发和教学；3)死亡谷实地论坛；4)综合研究、指导和更广泛的影响。该项目将为他在构造学、沉积盆地发展和北美西部地球生命变化研究方面的综合研究和实地教育奠定基础。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to improve understanding of the timing and nature of the breakup of the Neoproterozoic supercontinent of Rodina, a contentious topic that has important implications for coeval changes in ocean chemistry and life. The results of this project will include integrated stratigraphic, geochronological, and geochemical datasets from several regions in western North America. These original datasets will, in turn, be used to generate new subsidence curves for each of these areas. Combined, these products can be used to discriminate between different models that have been proposed for Neoproterozoic–Cambrian rifting on the western margin of the paleocontinent of Laurentia. The synergistic educational plan will focus on improving access to Outdoor Field Work in research and coursework through a tiered mentoring system, development of inclusive field-based courses, and a field forum. The Broader Impacts of this project will focus on empowering underserved populations and broadening participation in the geosciences within Baltimore City through collaboration with the Baltimore Ingenuity Project, a local non-profit which recruits and cultivates middle and high school students with high potential and interest in STEM and from historically underserved populations. The timing and nature of the breakup of the Neoproterozoic supercontinent of Rodinia has remained contentious, with major inconsistencies existing between paleogeographic reconstructions and the geologic records preserved along the western margin of Laurentia, the paleocontinent at the core of Rodinia. Evaluating these divergent interpretations for the tectonic histories of Laurentia’s margins requires significant improvements to the tectonostratigraphic context and age models for Neoproterozoic–Cambrian basin subsidence, rift-related tectonism, and volcanism in western Laurentia, which demand new geochronological constraints and better calibration of unconformities within these sedimentary basins. The research goal of this proposal is to discriminate between different proposed tectonic models for western Laurentia by strategically focusing on the geologic histories of specific Neoproterozoic–Cambrian sedimentary basins located in the western USA, northern Mexico, and British Columbia. These regions are chosen because of their key geographic locations along the margin and because of identified and described bimodal volcanic rocks in these successions. The goals of this project will be achieved by integrating geologic mapping, regional stratigraphy, shale geochemistry, U–Pb geochronology, and subsidence modeling to resolve some of the long-standing debates about rift dynamics in western Laurentia and to improve temporal and geographic models for late Neoproterozoic supercontinent breakup. The proposed scientific research agenda is synergistic with the proposed educational and mentorship plans, which focus on improving access to Outdoor Field Work through: 1) a tiered mentoring system, 2) development and teaching of inclusive field-based courses, 3) a Death Valley Field Forum, and 4) integrated research, mentoring, and Broader Impacts. The project will support cementing a foundation for a career of integrated research and field-based education on studying tectonism, sedimentary basin development, and Earth-life changes in western North America.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.