RUI: Collaborative Research: Paleontology and DepositionalEnvironments of a Lower/Middle Triassic Continental Red Bed Sequence (Moenkopi Formation, Southern Colorado Plateau)

随着古生代的结束，大多数主要的海道已经关闭，一个巨大的陆地“盘古大陆”已经形成。在接下来的时期（三叠纪），人们对这块大陆的环境知之甚少。首席研究人员在这里提出了一种合作的方法，使用古生物学和沉积学来研究这片土地的经典构造之一，莫恩科皮。通过合作的努力，这项研究在这一领域有别于其他研究。研究沉积物和脊椎动物化石是了解古环境的一个很好的方法。奇怪的是，尽管在19世纪晚期就有脊椎动物化石在这一地层中出现的记录，但对动物群的研究却只是零星的。同样，在地层学的初步工作以描述开始之后，只完成了有限的详细工作。

With the end of the Paleozoic most major seaways had closed and an enormous landmass "Pangea" had developed. Little detail of the environment of this land mass is known for the following period (the Triassic). The Principal Investigators propose here a collaborative approach using both paleontology and sedimentology to examine one of the classic formations of this land mass, the Moenkopi. The study is set apart from others in this area by the collaborative effort. Study of sediments as well as fossil vertebrates is an excellent approach to understanding paleoenvironments. Curiously, although the presence of vertebrate fossils in this formation was recorded late in the 19th century, only sporadic work on the faunas has ensued. Similarly, after initial work on the stratigraphy beginning with its description, only limited detailed work has been completed.