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理解304-2.8亿年前从石炭纪到二叠纪(C-P)过渡期间发生的戏剧性气候变化的关键。Cutler Group岩石的地质测绘已有150多年的历史，但其独特的化石组合--包括富有魅力的帆背哺乳动物祖先(迪米特龙)和第一批大型脊椎动物草食动物(水龙)--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超大陆西部陆地生态的基本气候过程，并为研究气候变化对低纬度陆地冷血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性地层学：目标1：确定C-P界线的地层位置，并将Cutler群与地质时间尺度进行对比。目的2：确定该地区C-P气候干燥的速度和强度及其与晚古生代冰期盛期的关系。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为土著社区服务的教育合作伙伴开展农村外联活动，包括怀特霍斯高中和雪松台地熊之友教育中心。PIs将与Jemez Pueblo的学生一起进行夏季实地体验，以了解熊市地区的地质情况；在犹他州圣胡安县的社区中心和图书馆举办K-12教师工作坊和社区外联活动；并为熊市教育中心创建特别展览和制作视频。这项研究还将在盐湖城犹他州自然历史博物馆的“恐龙”和“幕后”以及洛杉矶县自然历史博物馆的姊妹“恐龙节”上分享。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.