Integration and Enhancement of the Antarctic Collection at the Museum of Texas Tech University

该奖项由极地方案办公室南极地质和地球物理方案提供资金，用于统一和升级其南极收藏品；适当储存和保管；开发电子数据库；以及网络接入。该奖项将支持一名收藏经理两年时间，安装现代的、档案质量的钢柜，并重新安置、保存和对整个收藏进行条形码处理。这些变化将极大地增加重要而独特的南极收藏的可用性和研究潜力，并将有助于保护丰富的文化、历史和科学遗产。南极收藏是美国最好的档案、地质和古生物收藏之一。这些档案收藏是在50年的时间里积累起来的，除了南极研究样本外，还包括地图和稀有书籍。从莫德皇后山脉、玛丽·伯德大陆和埃尔斯沃斯大陆造山带收集到的全面的火成岩和变质岩集合，对于了解横贯北极山脉和西南极的古构造演化具有重要意义。这些古生物收藏包括来自Allan Hills的精美植物化石，这表明南极洲有冈德瓦尼亚遗产。西摩岛白垩纪脊椎动物的几种全息模式，包括已知的最古老的南极鸟类北极鸟，为高纬度异时性提供了额外的证据。

This award, provided by the Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program of the Office of Polar Programs, provides funds for the unification and upgrading of its Antarctic collection; its proper storage and curation; development of an electronic database; and network access. This award will support a collection manager for two years, installing modern, archival-quality steel cabinets, and rehousing, conserving, and barcoding the entire collection. These changes will vastly increase the availability and research potential of a significant and unique Antarctic collection, and they will help to preserve a rich cultural, historical, and scientific legacy. The Antarctic collection constitutes one of the best repositories of archival, geological and paleontological holdings in the nation. The archival collection was amassed over a fifty-year span and contains maps and rare books in addition to Antarctic research samples. The comprehensive igneous and metamorphic rock collection gathered from the orogenic belts of Queen Maud Range, Marie Byrd Land, and Ellsworth Land is important for understanding the paleotectonic evolution of the Transantarctic Mountains and West Antarctica. The paleontological collection includes exquisite plant fossils from the Allan Hills, which indicate a Gondwanian heritage for Antarctica. Several holotypes of Cretaceous vertebrates from Seymour Island, including Polarornis, the oldest known Antarctic bird, provide additional evidence for high latitude heterochroneity.