Collaborative Research: Calibrating the Pace of Paleotropical Environmental and Ecological Change During Earth’s Previous Icehouse

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Sedimentary rocks in southeastern Utah are key to understanding dramatic climate change that occurred 304-280 million years ago during the transition from the Carboniferous to Permian periods (C–P). Cutler Group rocks have been geologically mapped for over 150 years, but their unique fossil assemblages—including charismatic sail-backed mammal ancestors (Dimetrodon) and the first large-bodied vertebrate herbivores (diadectids)—have only recently begun to be placed into a global context. This project will illuminate the fundamental climate processes that influenced terrestrial ecology in the western Pangean supercontinent, and provide new baselines for studying the impacts of climate change on terrestrial cold-blooded communities at low latitudes.Project goals combine paleontology, isotope geochemistry, and magnetostratigraphy: Aim 1: Identify the stratigraphic position of the C–P boundary and correlate the Cutler Group to the geologic timescale. Aim 2: Determine the pace and intensity of C–P climate drying in the region and its relationship to the Late Paleozoic Ice Age maximum. Aim 3: Elucidate the patterns and processes driving the evolution of paleoequatorial C–P vertebrate communities. Grant activities also support rural outreach with educational partners who largely serve native communities, including Whitehorse High School and the Friends of Cedar Mesa Bears Ears Education Center. The PIs will run a summer field experience with Jemez Pueblo students to learn about the geology of the Bears Ears region; conduct K–12 teacher workshops and community outreach events at community centers and libraries in San Juan County, Utah; and create a special exhibit and produce a video for the Bears Ears Education Center. The research will also be shared at the Natural History Museum of Utah’s ‘DinoFest’ and ‘Behind the Scenes’ in Salt Lake City, and at its sister ‘Dino Fest’ at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.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.