RUI: Antarctic Paleobotany: Permian Floral Characteristics in a Sedimentary Setting

该项目将涉及对南极洲中部横贯南极山脉和南部维多利亚地样品中的上二叠统沉积物中的植物化石Glossopteridales进行研究。 舌羊齿类是一个重要的化石类群，因为它们可能是显花植物的祖先。 二叠纪沉积岩（距今295-270 Ma）是重要的，因为它们记录了一个快速生物变化的时期，即晚古生代结束和中生代温室环境开始。 拟议中的研究将完全依赖于在最近的实地考察中收集的标本，以中部跨南极山脉（CTM; 2010年？2011年）和南部维多利亚地（SVL; 2012年？2013年）。只有少数标本被研究过，但已经产生了解剖学上保存完好的具有完整花粉锥的舌羊齿类，这在以前从未被发现过。 此外，在CTM和SVL中都发现了一些以前从未在南极洲观察到的种子结构。 该项目将允许比较CTM与其他古纬度地区的全植物化石glossopterids，并将记录全球变化时期两个沉积盆地（CTM SVL）内部和之间的植物多样性，总体目标是将环境变化与化石形态联系起来。 更广泛的影响：这个项目的更广泛的影响将包括指导本科生在研究项目中，在一个机构与大量的少数民族入学。公共宣传将侧重于通过？拓展你的视野？在堪萨斯和密苏里州的项目，以及在堪萨斯城地区的学校互动演示。 首席PI是一个为少数民族服务的机构的早期职业科学家。

This project will involve examination of Glossopteridales, fossil plants from Upper Permian deposits, in samples from the central Transantarctic Mountains and Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. The glossopterids are an important fossil group because they are possible ancestors to the flowering plants. Permian sedimentary rocks (295-270 Ma before present) are important because they record a time of rapid biotic change, as the Late Paleozoic Age ended and the Mesozoic greenhouse environment began. The proposed research will rely entirely on specimens collected during recent field excursions to the central Transantarctic Mountains (CTM; 2010?2011) and southern Victoria Land (SVL; 2012?2013). Only a few of the specimens have been studied, but already have yielded anatomically well-preserved glossopterids with a complete pollen cone, which has never been found before. Additionally, several seed-bearing structures, which have never before been observed in Antarctica, have been found in both CTM and SVL. The project will allow comparison of whole-plant fossil glossopterids from the CTM with other paleo-latitudes, and will document the floral diversity within and between two depositional basins (CTM & SVL) during a time of global change, with the overall goal of linking environmental changes with fossil morphology. Broader impacts: The Broader Impacts of this project will include mentoring undergraduates in research projects, at an institution with a substantial minority enrollment. Public outreach will focus on involving middle/high school students through the ?Expanding Your Horizons? programs in Kansas and Missouri, as well as interactive presentations at schools in the Kansas City Area. The lead PI is an early-career scientist at an institution that serves minorities.