The Peruvian Fossil Forest Piedra Chamana: A Record of Continental Conditions during the Middle Eocene

该奖项为实地和实验室研究相结合提供资金，以重建始新世中期低纬度地区的环境和气候，使用化石木材（即，产于秘鲁北方安第斯山脉的单子叶植物和双子叶植物。 这项研究的科学前提是，虽然大陆和海洋的代用记录已经确定了始新世中期高纬度地区温暖气候的存在，但这一时期热带纬度地区的条件并没有得到很好的记录。 此外，气候模式很难模拟始新世高纬度地区的温暖程度，也很难模拟低纬度地区的温暖程度。 因此，化石森林是一个重要的记录，记录了在世界范围内显着温暖的时期和始新世后期变化之前的热带条件。秘鲁遗址的多样性非常适合进行古气候重建。该项目将促进美国和秘鲁科学家之间的思想和分析技术的国际交流，加强重要科学标本的保护，并为美国研究生提供独特的学习经历。 此外，该项目代表了美国国家科学基金会、克拉克大学、美国国家公园管理局和秘鲁圣马科斯国立大学之间的强有力的支持性合作，这将有助于有效地推进研究。

This award provides funds for a combination of field and laboratory studies to reconstruct the environment and climate of a Middle Eocene low-latitude site, using fossil wood (i.e., monocots and dicots) from the northern Peruvian Andes. The scientific premise for the research is that while continental and oceanic proxy records have established the existence of warm climates at high latitudes during the Middle Eocene, conditions at tropical latitudes during this period are not as well documented. It has, in addition, been difficult for climate models to simulate the degree of high-latitude warmth indicated for the Eocene and also the much lesser extent of warming in the lower latitudes. The fossil forest is thereby an important record of tropical conditions during a time of notable warmth worldwide and before the changes of the latter part of the Eocene. The diversity of taxa at the Peru site is ideally suited for paleoclimate reconstructions.This project will facilitate international exchange of ideas and analytical techniques between US and Peruvian scientists, enhance the conservation of important scientific specimens, and provide a unique learning experience for a US graduate student. In addition, the project represents a strong and supportive collaboration between the US National Science Foundation, Clark University, the US National Park Service, and the National University San Marcos in Peru that will help the research progress effectively.