Permian-Triassic Paleobotany and Paleoclimate of the Central Transantarctic Mountains

0003620泰勒该奖项由极地计划办公室的南极地质和地球物理计划提供，支持研究横贯南极山脉的二叠纪和三叠纪化石植物材料的项目。总体目标是更好地了解二叠-三叠纪植物群，以及这与一般植物进化和二叠-三叠纪古环境条件的关系。在过去的30多年里，横贯南极山脉中部的陆相岩石是一个重要的化石发现来源，包括保存了细胞细节的二叠纪和三叠纪过矿化泥炭，生长位置硅化的化石林，保存了植物角质层的压缩植物区系，以及新生代天狼星群的巨型化石，以及大陆的第一个侏罗纪恐龙。罕见的并列遗址，包括许多不同类型的植物化石保存（过矿化，压缩/印象遗迹，原地森林，木乃伊化木材），异常高的保存质量和遗址的丰富性使该地区在世界上独一无二。尤其重要的是，在世界范围内，人们对二叠纪和三叠纪（2.8 - 2.1亿年）的植物知之甚少。该研究将集中于先前在横贯南极山脉中部的比尔德莫尔冰川地区收集的二叠纪和三叠纪植物化石的生物多样性、结构和古气候。具体来说，调查计划将：1)提供重建几种植物的机会，并将它们置于进化背景中，包括几种种子植物群的生殖器官，这些植物群被认为是开花植物的前身。2)利用二叠纪和三叠纪植物作为过去气候的记录，可以根据假设的物理气候模型进行测试。这将通过分析树木年轮以及仔细检查单个植物的结构和形态来完成。将特别关注植物的特征，使它们能够适应高纬度地区的生长，包括极端的极地光照制度。3)通过以上研究，可以更准确地了解这些二叠纪和三叠纪群落及其与其他生态系统的关系，即与同一时代南半球（冈瓦纳）其他植物群的关系。这种多方面的方法还将提供基于粪化石（化石粪便颗粒）的植物/动物相互作用的信息，以及作为分解者或共生者的真菌之间的关系。

0003620TaylorThis award, provided by the Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program of the Office of Polar Programs, supports a project to study Permian and Triassic fossil plant material from the Transantarctic Mountains. The overall goal is to achieve a better understanding of Permo-Triassic flora and how this relates to general plant evolution and Permo-Triassic paleoenvironmental conditions. The terrestrial rocks of the central Transantarctic Mountains have been a source of outstanding fossil discoveries over the last 30+ years, including Permian and Triassic permineralized peat with cellular detail preserved, fossil forests silicified in growth position, and compression floras with plant cuticle preservation, as well as megafossils from the Cenozoic age Sirius Group, and the first Jurassic dinosaur from the continent. The rare juxtaposition of sites that include many different types of plant fossil preservation (permineralization, compressed/impressed remains, in situ forests, mummified wood), the exceptionally high quality of the preservation, and the richness of the sites make this area unique in the world. It is especially important in that, on a worldwide basis, relatively little is known about plants from the Permian and Triassic (280-210 million years).The proposed research will center on the biodiversity, structure, and paleoclimate of previously collected Permian and Triassic plant fossils from the Beardmore Glacier area in the central Transantarctic Mountains. Specifically the program of investigation will:1) Provide the opportunity to reconstruct several plants and place them within an evolutionary context, including the reproductive organs of several seed plant groups that have been suggested as precursors of flowering plants.2) Use Permian and Triassic plants as records of past climates that can be tested against hypothesized physical climate models. This will be accomplished by analyzing tree rings as well as by close examination of the structure and morphology of individual plants. Particular attention will be paid to plant features that allowed them to adapt to growth at high latitudes, including the extreme polar light regime.3) As a result of the above, it will be possible to more accurately understand these Permian and Triassic communities and their relationships to other ecosystems, i.e., other southern hemisphere (Gondwana) floras of the same age. This multifaceted approach will also provide information about plant/animal interactions, based on coprolites (fossil fecal pellets), and the relationships of fungi that functioned as either decomposers or mutualists.