EAGER: Exploring the potential for the 1.1 Ga Copper Harbor Conglomerate to yield information on terrestrial environments during the rise of the eukaryotes

由于与复杂的真核生物起源有关的氧化作用的巨大变化，元古宙期间海洋环境的演变是深入研究的主题。相反，对陆地环境或生态系统知之甚少。缺乏数据和适当的未改变的继承意味着激烈的猜测围绕着少数假设存在的环境条件在这个时候的土地。研究人员希望研究位于地球和生命历史上独特时间和地点的岩石，并且是在冠群真核生物兴起期间探索陆地生物圈和古代大气组成的理想场所。如果数据集不受成岩作用的影响（本研究将直接使用聚集同位素古温度测量法解决这个问题），那么这种继承有可能回答关于生命和气候演化的几个悬而未决的问题。该项目具有许多社会效益。它将支持至少两名女科学家的职业发展，培养一名博士后研究人员，以及包括与一名国际合作者在内的新合作。它将用于扩大参与和促进多样性，包括为代表性不足的学生开展外联活动。项目参与者将对K-12学生进行宣传。它还将支持教育，因为研究结果将纳入对本科生和研究生的讲座。研究人员提出了一个简短的初步探索性调查，以确定密歇根州未埋葬的10亿年前的继承的潜力，用于研究真核生物兴起期间的陆地环境。密歇根州北方1.09 Ga铜港砾岩中的碳酸盐代表了古气候和地球生物学信息的潜在变革档案。该序列包括古冲积扇上发育的陆生叠层石和湖相叠层石。研究人员将对这两个相的一套试点样品进行初步分析，以探索保存和收集有关代理签名的试点数据，包括聚集同位素和氧化还原敏感代理。这项工作将有助于评估这些岩石的保存情况和今后深入研究的效用，以便为地球地球生物进化的关键时期提供代用数据。如果成功的话，研究人员将跟进一个合作，深入研究的继承。未来研究的潜在回报是巨大的，但试图找到和识别这一时期未改变的岩石的风险将排除这种性质的研究通过传统的NSF计划获得资助，直到收集到一套试点数据。

The evolution of marine environments during the Proterozoic is the subject of intense investigation because of dramatic changes in oxygenation linked to the origin of complex eukaryotic life. In contrast, little is known about terrestrial environments or ecosystems. A lack of data and suitably unaltered successions means that intense speculation surrounds the few hypotheses that exist regarding environmental conditions on land at this time. The investigators wish to study rocks that are situated in a unique time and place in the history of Earth and life, and are ideally placed for exploring the terrestrial biosphere during the rise of crown group eukaryotes and the composition of the ancient atmosphere. If the datasets are not compromised by diagenesis (a question this study will address directly using clumped isotope paleothermometry), then this succession has the potential to answer several outstanding questions about the evolution of life and climate. The project has numerous societal benefits. It will support the career development of at least two women scientists, the raining of a postdoctoral researcher, and new collaborations including with an international collaborator. It will be used to broaden participation and to promote diversity, including outreach activities to under-represented students. Project participants will conduct outreach to K-12 students. It will also support education as results will be included in lectures to undergraduate and graduate students. The investigators propose a brief initial exploratory investigation to determine the potential of an unburied 1 billion year old succession from Michigan for the study of terrestrial environments during the rise of the eukaryotes. Carbonates in the 1.09 Ga Copper Harbor conglomerate of northern Michigan represent a potentially transformative archive of paleoclimatic and geobiological information. The succession contains terrestrial stromatolites that developed on an ancient alluvial fan, as well as lacustrine stromatolites. Researchers will conduct preliminary analyses of a suite of pilot samples from both facies to explore preservation and collect pilot data on proxy signatures, including on clumped isotopes and redox sensitive proxies. This work will allow to assess preservation and the utility of future in depth study of these rocks to provide proxy data for a crucial period in Earth's geobiological evolution. If successful, researchers will follow up with a collaborative, in-depth study of the succession. The potential rewards from future research are huge - but the risks of trying to find and identify unaltered rocks from this time period would preclude a study of this nature from being funded through traditional NSF programs until a suite of pilot data is collected.