Maestrichtian to Cenozoic Calcareous Nannofossil Biogeo- graphy of the South Atlantic Ocean Basin based on New Ocean Drill Sites

该奖项支持对南大西洋高质量钻探岩芯的钙质超微化石组合的分析，以帮助重建马斯特里赫期至中新世(7400万至500万年前)该盆地表层水的温度梯度。调查将确定主要地表水团的特征，并根据生物梯度推断出可与稳定同位素技术独立得出的纬度温度梯度进行比较的纬度温度梯度。这应该会为研究海洋随时间变化的热结构提供新的见解。这些数据对试图重建全球热量收支变化和伴随着南极大陆逐渐孤立而来的新生代气候恶化的研究具有重要意义。这项研究将详细记录地表水团随时间的纬度变化，作为追踪全球气候恶化步骤的一种手段。//

This award supports the analysis of calcareous nannofossil assemblages from high quality DSDP/ODP drill cores from the South Atlantic to help reconstruct the thermal gradient of surface waters of that basin for the Maestrichtian to Miocene time interval (74 to 5 million years ago). The investigation will characterize major surface water masses and infer from biological gradients latitudinal thermal gradients that can be compared against those derived independently from stable isotope techniques. This should provide new insights into the thermal structure of the oceans through time. Such data have important implications for studies that attempt to reconstruct changes in the global heat budget and the deterioration of Cenozoic climates that accompanied the progressive isolation of the Antarctic continent. The study will record in detail latitudinal shifts in surface water masses through time as a means of tracing steps in the deterioration of global climates. //