High Resolution Biostratigraphic Analysis of Molluscan Fauna Across the K/T Boundary on Seymour Island, Antarctica

该奖项支持了对南极洲半岛西摩岛上横跨南极-第三纪边界的软体动物化石的研究。 西摩岛包含丰富和保存完好的动物群和植物群在一个厚厚的地层部分，包括恐龙-第三纪的边界，一个时间在世界其他地方有充分的记录灭绝。 以前的工作已经产生了丰富的软体动物区系，但需要更多的工作，以了解和相关的生物地层学和沉积学上紧挨着上方和下方的白垩纪-第三纪过渡。 这项工作将试图恢复化石，并以厘米采样尺度从边界以下5米到边界以上5米检查沉积学。 这些化石，结合测量部分的沉积学分析，将允许确定边界部分的连续性，也将允许尝试在软体动物区系变化的高分辨率分析。 这项研究将导致更好地了解软体动物的变化，在白垩纪-第三纪过渡在南部高纬度地区和这些变化的关系，白垩纪-第三纪灭绝其他地方。

This award supports a study of molluscan fossils across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary on Seymour Island in the Antarctica Peninsula. Seymour Island contains rich and well preserved faunal and floral assemblages in a thick stratigraphic section that encompasses the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, a time of well documented extinction in other parts of the world. Previous work has yielded a rich molluscan fauna but additional work is needed to understand and correlate the biostratigraphy and sedimentology immediately above and below the Cretaceous-Tertiary transition. This work will attempt to recover fossils and examine the sedimentology on a centimeter sampling scale from 5 meters below to 5 meters above the boundary. These fossils, in conjunction with sedimentologic analysis of the measured section, will allow a determination of the continuity of the boundary section and will also allow an attempt at high resolution analysis of the molluscan faunal changes. This study will lead to an improved understanding of molluscan changes at the Cretaceous-Tertiary transition in high southern latitudes and the relation of these changes to Cretaceous- Tertiary extinction elsewhere.