Collaborative Research: Calibrating the Pace of Paleotropical Environmental and Ecological Change During Earth’s Previous Icehouse

犹他州东南部的沉积岩是了解3.04 - 2.8亿年前从石炭纪到二叠纪过渡时期（C-P）发生的剧烈气候变化的关键。卡特勒群的岩石已经在地质学上绘制了150多年，但它们独特的化石组合——包括魅力十足的帆背哺乳动物祖先（双齿龙）和第一个大型脊椎食草动物（双齿龙）——直到最近才开始被置于全球背景下。该项目将阐明影响盘古大陆西部陆地生态的基本气候过程，为研究气候变化对低纬度陆生冷血生物群落的影响提供新的基线。项目目标结合古生物学、同位素地球化学和磁地层学：目标1：确定C-P边界的地层位置，并将卡特勒群与地质时间尺度联系起来。目的2：确定该地区碳磷气候干燥的速度和强度及其与晚古生代冰期极大期的关系。目的3：阐明古赤道C-P脊椎动物群落演化的模式和过程。赠款活动还支持与主要服务于土著社区的教育合作伙伴进行农村推广，包括白马高中和雪松梅萨熊耳教育中心之友。这些pi将与杰梅斯普韦布洛的学生一起进行夏季实地考察，了解熊耳地区的地质情况；在犹他州圣胡安县的社区中心和图书馆举办K-12教师讲习班和社区外展活动；并为熊耳教育中心制作了一个特别的展览和视频。这项研究还将在犹他州自然历史博物馆的“恐龙节”和盐湖城的“幕后”以及洛杉矶县自然历史博物馆的姊妹“恐龙节”上进行分享。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Sedimentary rocks in southeastern Utah are key to understanding dramatic climate change that occurred 304-280 million years ago during the transition from the Carboniferous to Permian periods (C–P). Cutler Group rocks have been geologically mapped for over 150 years, but their unique fossil assemblages—including charismatic sail-backed mammal ancestors (Dimetrodon) and the first large-bodied vertebrate herbivores (diadectids)—have only recently begun to be placed into a global context. This project will illuminate the fundamental climate processes that influenced terrestrial ecology in the western Pangean supercontinent, and provide new baselines for studying the impacts of climate change on terrestrial cold-blooded communities at low latitudes.Project goals combine paleontology, isotope geochemistry, and magnetostratigraphy: Aim 1: Identify the stratigraphic position of the C–P boundary and correlate the Cutler Group to the geologic timescale. Aim 2: Determine the pace and intensity of C–P climate drying in the region and its relationship to the Late Paleozoic Ice Age maximum. Aim 3: Elucidate the patterns and processes driving the evolution of paleoequatorial C–P vertebrate communities. Grant activities also support rural outreach with educational partners who largely serve native communities, including Whitehorse High School and the Friends of Cedar Mesa Bears Ears Education Center. The PIs will run a summer field experience with Jemez Pueblo students to learn about the geology of the Bears Ears region; conduct K–12 teacher workshops and community outreach events at community centers and libraries in San Juan County, Utah; and create a special exhibit and produce a video for the Bears Ears Education Center. The research will also be shared at the Natural History Museum of Utah’s ‘DinoFest’ and ‘Behind the Scenes’ in Salt Lake City, and at its sister ‘Dino Fest’ at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.