Understanding Earth Systems in the early Paleozoic using high-resolution stratigraphy

我提议一项为期5年的研究计划，研究跨越奥陶系-志留系边界的物理、生物和化学过程。这个时间间隔与显生宙三次主要冰川作用之一和显生宙三次最大灭绝事件之一相吻合。和现在的冰窖一样，早古生代的冰窖也有气候脉动和海平面循环，这是由南半球大陆冰盖的盛衰驱动的。然而，它是在二氧化碳含量大约比现在高10到15倍的大气中形成的，这是独一无二的。在这样的温室条件下，在主要陆地生物圈形成之前，大陆尺度的冰川作用证明了复杂的气候动力学和气候系统对大气成分以外因素的敏感性。这项研究计划的总体目标是回答21世纪关于地球历史上最具活力的时期之一的海洋-大气-生物圈系统的问题。像安提科斯蒂岛那样的碳酸盐沉积岩，如果排序和解释正确，代表了一个相当多的信息宝库，可以破译深层地质时代海洋-大气-生物圈系统的因果关系。我的研究项目为学生提供了一个极好的机会，让他们在Anticosti岛这个一流的地质实验室工作，获得碳酸盐沉积学、地层学和古生物学的基本技能，并像我以前的学生一样，满足工业界、政府和学术界潜在雇主的要求。*****

I am proposing a 5-year research program to examine physical, biological, and chemical processes spanning the Ordovician-Silurian boundary. This time interval coincides with one of the three major Phanerozoic glaciations and one of the three largest Phanerozoic extinction events. The early Paleozoic Icehouse, like the current icehouse, had climatic pulses and sea-level cycles driven by the waxing and waning of continental ice sheets initiated in the southern hemisphere. Its initiation under an atmosphere with carbon dioxide level roughly 10 to 15 times higher than the present-day, however, is unique. Continental-scale glaciations under such greenhouse conditions and prior to the development of a major terrestrial biosphere attest to the complex climate dynamics and the susceptibility of the climate system to factors beyond atmospheric composition. The overall goal of this research program is to answer 21st century questions about the ocean-atmosphere-biosphere system during one of the most dynamic intervals in Earth history. Carbonate sedimentary rocks like those well exposed on Anticosti Island are, if ordered and interpreted correctly, represent a storehouse of considerable information to decipher the cause-and-effect relationships within the ocean-atmosphere-biosphere system in the deep geological time. My research program represents an excellent opportunity for students to work on Anticosti Island, a superb geological laboratory, to acquire essential skills in carbonate sedimentology, stratigraphy and paleontology and to meet, as my former students did, the requirements of potential employers in industry, government and academia.*****