The PETM-CIE and shallow-water biotic changes in the eastern Neotethys Ocean (Tibet/China and Ladakh/India)

该项目主要研究古新世-始新世边界碳同位素漂移（CIE）的触发机制以及相关的浅水生物变化。我们的研究表明，CIE事件在西藏和拉达克地区保存完好，并与印度-亚洲大陆碰撞（IIACC）和大有孔虫灭绝与起源（LFEO）事件相吻合。为了研究热带新特提斯洋东部的CIE并解释CIE、IIACC和LFEO之间可能的联系，将研究北方印度被动大陆边缘（古鲁-甘巴-廷格里-拉达克）的四个浅海区和亚洲南部活动大陆边缘（左江顶）的一个浅海区。地球化学和同位素分析（碳和氧同位素，TOC，CaCO 3含量，微量元素，生物标志物，粘土矿物成分）和古生物学，生物地层学，沉积学和微相的研究将被整合，以揭示古环境和生物变化的原因，在印度-亚洲板块会聚和最终碰撞的过程中。该项目将评估IIACC和东部新特提斯洋逐渐缩小对古环境和生物变化以及接近赤道区域的区域洋流系统的影响。通过大量高分辨率PETM剖面的研究，将有助于加深对古新世晚期-始新世早期地球-生物圈以及海洋-大气系统相互作用的认识。

The project is mainly addressed to the mechanisms triggering the Carbon Isotope Excursion (CIE) and associated shallow water biotic changes at the Paleocene - Eocene boundary. Our former studies have shown that the CIE event was well preserved in Tibet and Ladakh, and it coincided with the initial India-Asia Continental Collision (IIACC) and the Larger Foraminiferal Extinction and Origination event (LFEO). To investigate the CIE in the eastern tropical Neotethys Ocean and decipher the possible linkage among the CIE, the IIACC, and the LFEO, four shallow marine areas on the northern Indian passive continental margin (Guru-Gamba-Tingri-Ladakh) and one from the southern Asian active continental margin (Tso Jiangding) will be studied. Geochemical and isotopic analyses (Carbon and Oxygen isotopes, TOC, CaCO3 content, trace elements, biomarker, clay mineral composition) and studies of palaeontology, biostratigraphy, sedimentology and microfacies will be integrated to reveal the causes of paleoenvironmental and biotic changes in the course of the India-Asia plate convergence and their final collision. The project will evaluate effects of the IIACC and the progressively narrowing of the eastern Neotethys Ocean on palaeoenvironmental and biotic changes as well as regional ocean current systems close to the equatorial realm. In the light of a number of remarkably high-resolution PETM sections, the project may promote our understanding of the interactions of geo- and biosphere as well as ocean-atmosphere system during the late Paleocene-early Eocene.