Collaborative Research: High Precision U-Pb Geochronology of the Jurassic Ferrar Large Igneous Province, Antarctica

摘要本项目使用高精度的锆石U-Pb定年法，从南极洲的费拉尔火成岩侵入体，以确定它何时形成，以及它是否导致了一个重大的灭绝事件。在世界上？费拉尔是最大的侵入体，也与冈瓦纳大陆的分裂有关，冈瓦纳是最后一个超大陆。该项目的数据将显示Ferrar和类似的入侵是如何形成的，以及它们造成大规模破坏的潜力。费拉河的侵入被初步认为与1.83亿年前的托阿西亚灭绝事件有关，被认为是由费拉河淹没地下煤层时释放的甲烷引起的。更广泛的影响是本科生，研究生和博士后参与研究，研究和主要本科院校之间的新合作，以及K12外展。

Abstract This project uses high-precision, U-Pb dating of zircons from the Ferrar igneous intrusion of Antarctica to determine when it formed and whether it caused a major extinction event. Amongst the world?s largest intrusions, the Ferrar is also associated with breakup of Gondwana, the last supercontinent. Data from this project will show how the Ferrar and similar intrusions form and their potential to cause mass extinctions. Intrusion of the Ferrar has been tentatively linked to the Toarcian extinction event of 183 million years ago, thought to have been caused by methane released when the Ferrar intersected subterranean coal beds. The broader impacts are undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral involvement in research, new collaborations between a research and primarily undergraduate institution, and K12 outreach.