Antarctica's Geological History Reflected in Sedimentary Radiogenic Isotopes

该项目研究海底沉积物，以了解南极洲的地质历史。这些沉积物来自南极大陆的冰川侵蚀，可以让我们深入了解99%被冰覆盖的南极洲。这项工作的中心重点是通过结合岩石学、大量沉积物地球化学和放射性成因同位素，以及单个矿物颗粒的同位素年代学，确定东南极洲三个关键地区（Prydz湾、东威德尔海和威尔克斯地）的地壳形成年龄和热历史。一个具体的目标是通过对普里兹湾始新世河流沉积物的研究来描绘甘布尔采夫山脉的组成特征。除了进一步加深我们对南极洲隐藏地形的了解外，这些陆源沉积物还将作为评估大陆风化对海水Hf/Nd同位素系统的影响的天然实验室。该项目的一个重要的更广泛的影响是为研究生和博士后提供令人兴奋的研究项目，使用最先进的地球化学技术。

This project studies sediment from the ocean floor to understand Antarctica's geologic history. Glacially eroded from the Antarctic continent, these sediments may offer insight into the 99% Antarctica covered by ice. The work's central focus is determining crust formation ages and thermal histories for three key areas of East Antarctica--Prydz Bay, eastern Weddell Sea, and Wilkes Land--through a combination of petrography, bulk sediment geochemistry and radiogenic isotopes, as well as isotope chronology of individual mineral grains. One specific objective is characterizing the composition of the Gamburtsev Mountains through studies of Eocene fluvial sediments from Prydz Bay. In addition to furthering our understanding of the hidden terrains of Antarctica, these terrigenous sediments will also serve as a natural laboratory to evaluate the effects of continental weathering on the Hf/Nd isotope systematics of seawater. An important broader impact of the project is providing exciting research projects for graduate and postdoctoral students using state of the art techniques in geochemistry.