{"dp_type": "Project", "free_text": "Fossil"}
[{"awards": "1953960 Smith, Selena; 1953993 Atkinson, Brian", "bounds_geometry": null, "dataset_titles": null, "datasets": null, "date_created": "Sat, 19 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "The fossil record indicates that critical events relating to the early diversification of flowering plants occurred during the Cretaceous period (145\u201366 million years ago). Recent discoveries of fossil flowers and fruits from this time period have significantly furthered our understanding of early flowering plant evolution. However, the majority of these discoveries are from the Northern Hemisphere while similar discoveries from the Southern Hemisphere are relatively lacking. This project will address this paucity of data by collecting and describing Late Cretaceous flowering plant fossils from Western Antarctica and placing them in evolutionary frameworks to better understand early flowering plant evolution, biogeographic history, and Antarctica\u2019s role in the formation of modern ecosystems. Western Antarctica is one of the few places in the Southern Hemisphere that is reported to contain Late Cretaceous-aged (100\u201366million years ago) three-dimensionally preserved flowers and fruits. Therefore, the recovery and study of these fossils can meaningfully further our understanding of the early phases of flowering plant evolution. This work will result in the description of new species that will be placed in evolutionary analyses and biogeographic frameworks, which will help clarify the Cretaceous diversification of flowering plants in the Southern Hemisphere. These fossils will provide insights that will allow us to anticipate which plants might thrive in a warming Antarctic and world.", "east": null, "geometry": null, "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Angiosperms; Cretaceous; Antarctica; PLANTS", "locations": "Antarctica", "north": null, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Atkinson, Brian; Smith, Selena", "platforms": null, "repositories": null, "science_programs": null, "south": null, "title": "Collaborative Research: Unearthing Antarctica\u0027s role in the Late Cretaceous Evolution of Flowering Plants", "uid": "p0010486", "west": null}, {"awards": "1939139 Scherer, Reed; 1939146 Siddoway, Christine", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-120 -66,-117.5 -66,-115 -66,-112.5 -66,-110 -66,-107.5 -66,-105 -66,-102.5 -66,-100 -66,-97.5 -66,-95 -66,-95 -67.1,-95 -68.2,-95 -69.3,-95 -70.4,-95 -71.5,-95 -72.6,-95 -73.7,-95 -74.8,-95 -75.9,-95 -77,-97.5 -77,-100 -77,-102.5 -77,-105 -77,-107.5 -77,-110 -77,-112.5 -77,-115 -77,-117.5 -77,-120 -77,-120 -75.9,-120 -74.8,-120 -73.7,-120 -72.6,-120 -71.5,-120 -70.4,-120 -69.3,-120 -68.2,-120 -67.1,-120 -66))", "dataset_titles": "Pliocene diatom abundance, IODP 379-U1532; Population morphometrics of the Southern Ocean diatom Fragilariopsis kerguelensis related to Sea Surface Temperature; U-Pb zircon and apatite fission track dates for IRD (ice-rafted cobbles and mineral grains) from IODP379 drill sites", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "601769", "doi": null, "keywords": "Antarctica; Biogenic Silica; Diatom", "people": "Scherer, Reed Paul; Furlong, Heather", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Pliocene diatom abundance, IODP 379-U1532", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601769"}, {"dataset_uid": "601804", "doi": "10.15784/601804", "keywords": "Amundsen Sea; Antarctica; Cryosphere; Oceanography; Sabrina Coast; Sea Surface Temperature; Southern Ocean", "people": "Ruggiero, Joseph", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Population morphometrics of the Southern Ocean diatom Fragilariopsis kerguelensis related to Sea Surface Temperature", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601804"}, {"dataset_uid": "601828", "doi": "10.15784/601828", "keywords": "Amundsen Sea; Antarctica; Cryosphere; Geochronology; Marie Byrd Land; Subglacial Bedrock; Thermochronology", "people": "Siddoway, Christine", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "U-Pb zircon and apatite fission track dates for IRD (ice-rafted cobbles and mineral grains) from IODP379 drill sites", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601828"}], "date_created": "Tue, 20 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Part I, Non-technical Abstract \u003cbr/\u003eConcerns that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) might be susceptible to releasing its ice as giant icebergs into the Southern Ocean due to a warming climate, raising global sea level, were first expressed more than 40 years ago. To best-assess this threat, scientists need to know whether such events occurred in the geologically recent past, during warm intervals of past glacial-interglacial cycles. Ocean drilling near the most vulnerable sector of the WAIS, in 2019, yielded seafloor geologic records demonstrating times when icebergs dropped large volumes of sands and pebbles, called ice-rafted detritus (IRD) in deep water of the Amundsen Sea. Occurring together with IRD that was eroded from bedrock beneath the ice sheets, there are abundant microfossils of diatoms (algal plankton), which indicate high biological productivity in the open ocean. The new sediment cores provide a complete, uninterrupted record of a time of dramatic fluctuations of ice sheet extent that occurred over the last 3 million years. Therefore, they provide the means to obtain clear answers to the question whether ice sheet collapse occurred in the past and offering clues to its potential future. This project will investigate sediment intervals where IRD coincides with evidence of high diatom production, to test whether these two criteria indicate rapid ice sheet collapse. Geochemical analysis of IRD pebbles will help trace the source of the icebergs to likely on-land sites. By analyzing conditions of high diatom and IRD accumulation in deep ocean sediment, where local coastal influences can be avoided, we will assess oceanographic and climatic conditions associated with past ice sheet collapse events. Diatoms provide powerful evidence of temperature and ocean productivity changes in the past, that, when linked to time, can translate into rates of ice sheet drawdown. These results will provide critical data for designing, constraining and testing the next suite computer models that can determine the likelihood and timing of future ice sheet collapse in a warming world. The project will include training of undergraduate and graduate students from diverse backgrounds, and the public will be introduced to Antarctic science and engaged through several different outreach efforts.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003ePart 2, Technical Abstract\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eNew drillcores from the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica (IODP Expedition 379) contain a continuous record of oceanographic changes and iceberg rafted debris (IRD) spanning the last 5 million years. This study aims to identify the signature of retreat/collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) in these continental margin, deep-sea sediments by quantitatively analyzing, in detail, diatom and IRD records across glacial-interglacial lithostratigraphic transitions to establish the timing and frequency of Late Pliocene and Pleistocene WAIS collapse events. The investigators will secure age constraints and diagnostic observations of marine paleoenvironmental conditions for selected interglacial intervals of cores from sites U1532 and U1533, using high resolution micropaleontology of diatom assemblages coupled with microstratigraphic analysis of IRD depositional events, while petrography, geochronology and thermochronology of iceberg rafted clasts will provide evidence of iceberg sources and pathways. Depositional paleotemperatures will be assessed via a new paleotemperature proxy based on quantitative assessment of morphologic changes in the dominant Southern Ocean diatom Fragilariopsis kerguelensis. Their results will contribute to parameterization of new ice sheet models that seek to reconstruct and forecast West Antarctic Ice Sheet behavior. This project will directly contribute to undergraduate education at an undergraduate-only college and at a public university that serves a demographic typified by first generation university students and underrepresented groups. Spanning geology, geochemistry, sedimentology, paleontology and paleoceanography, the proposed work will allow undergraduate students to develop diverse skills through hands-on research within a collaborative team that is dedicated to societally relevant research. The two graduate students will conduct original research and work alongside/mentor undergraduates, making for a well-rounded research experience that prepares them for success in future academic or employment sectors. The discoveries that come from this deep-sea record from West Antarctica will be communicated by students and investigators at national and international conferences and an array of public science outreach events.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThis award reflects NSF\u0027s statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation\u0027s intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.", "east": -95.0, "geometry": "POINT(-107.5 -71.5)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "ICEBERGS; SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE; Amundsen Sea; MICROFOSSILS", "locations": "Amundsen Sea", "north": -66.0, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": "PHANEROZOIC \u003e CENOZOIC \u003e QUATERNARY; PHANEROZOIC \u003e CENOZOIC \u003e NEOGENE \u003e PLIOCENE", "persons": "Scherer, Reed Paul; Siddoway, Christine", "platforms": null, "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -77.0, "title": "Collaborative Research: Testing the Linchpin of WAIS Collapse with Diatoms and IRD in Pleistocene and Late Pliocene Strata of the Resolution Drift, Amundsen Sea, Antarctica", "uid": "p0010451", "west": -120.0}, {"awards": "1841607 Banwell, Alison; 1841467 MacAyeal, Douglas", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-68.28 -71.1,-68.202 -71.1,-68.124 -71.1,-68.046 -71.1,-67.968 -71.1,-67.89 -71.1,-67.812 -71.1,-67.734 -71.1,-67.656 -71.1,-67.578 -71.1,-67.5 -71.1,-67.5 -71.14999999999999,-67.5 -71.19999999999999,-67.5 -71.25,-67.5 -71.3,-67.5 -71.35,-67.5 -71.39999999999999,-67.5 -71.44999999999999,-67.5 -71.5,-67.5 -71.55,-67.5 -71.6,-67.578 -71.6,-67.656 -71.6,-67.734 -71.6,-67.812 -71.6,-67.89 -71.6,-67.968 -71.6,-68.046 -71.6,-68.124 -71.6,-68.202 -71.6,-68.28 -71.6,-68.28 -71.55,-68.28 -71.5,-68.28 -71.44999999999999,-68.28 -71.39999999999999,-68.28 -71.35,-68.28 -71.3,-68.28 -71.25,-68.28 -71.19999999999999,-68.28 -71.14999999999999,-68.28 -71.1))", "dataset_titles": "Dataset for: Banwell et al. 2024, \u0027Observed meltwater-induced flexure and fracture at a doline on George VI Ice Shelf, Antarctica\u0027, Journal of Glaciology.", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "601771", "doi": "10.15784/601771", "keywords": "Antarctica; Antarctic Peninsula; AWS; Cryosphere; GNSS; GPS Data; Ice-Shelf Flexure; Ice Shelf Fracture; Ice-Shelf Melt; Timelaps Images", "people": "Dell, Rebecca; Stevens, Laura; Willis, Ian; Banwell, Alison; MacAyeal, Douglas", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Dataset for: Banwell et al. 2024, \u0027Observed meltwater-induced flexure and fracture at a doline on George VI Ice Shelf, Antarctica\u0027, Journal of Glaciology.", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601771"}], "date_created": "Thu, 15 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "The evolution of surface and shallow subsurface meltwater across Antarctic ice shelves has important implications for their (in)stability, as demonstrated by the 2002 rapid collapse of the Larsen B Ice Shelf. It is vital to understand the causes of ice-shelf (in)stability because ice shelves buttress against the discharge of inland ice and therefore influence ice-sheet contributions to sea-level rise. Ice-shelf break-up may be triggered by stress variations associated with surface meltwater movement, ponding, and drainage. These variations may cause an ice shelf to flex and fracture. This four-year project will provide key geophysical observations to improve understanding of ice-shelf meltwater and its effects on (in)stability. The work will be conducted on the George VI Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula, where hundreds of surface lakes form each summer. \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eOver a 27-month period, global positioning systems, seismometers, water pressure transducers, automatic weather stations, and in-ice thermistor strings will be deployed to record ice shelf flexure, fracture seismicity, water depths, and surface and subsurface melting, respectively, in and around several surface lakes on the George VI Ice Shelf, within roughly 20 km of the British Antarctic Survey\u0027s Fossil Bluff Station. Field data will be used to validate and extend the team\u0027s approach to modelling ice-shelf flexure and stress, and possible \"Larsen-B style\" ice-shelf instability and break-up.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThis award reflects NSF\u0027s statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation\u0027s intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.", "east": -67.5, "geometry": "POINT(-67.89 -71.35)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "ICE SHEETS; Antarctica; ICE MOTION; Ice-Shelf Flexure; GPS Data", "locations": "Antarctica", "north": -71.1, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Glaciology; Antarctic Glaciology", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Banwell, Alison; Macayeal, Douglas", "platforms": null, "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -71.6, "title": "NSFGEO-NERC: Ice-shelf Instability Caused by Active Surface Meltwater Production, Movement, Ponding and Hydrofracture", "uid": "p0010449", "west": -68.28}, {"awards": "2302832 Reilly, Brendan", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-70 -55,-67 -55,-64 -55,-61 -55,-58 -55,-55 -55,-52 -55,-49 -55,-46 -55,-43 -55,-40 -55,-40 -56.1,-40 -57.2,-40 -58.3,-40 -59.4,-40 -60.5,-40 -61.6,-40 -62.7,-40 -63.8,-40 -64.9,-40 -66,-43 -66,-46 -66,-49 -66,-52 -66,-55 -66,-58 -66,-61 -66,-64 -66,-67 -66,-70 -66,-70 -64.9,-70 -63.8,-70 -62.7,-70 -61.6,-70 -60.5,-70 -59.4,-70 -58.3,-70 -57.2,-70 -56.1,-70 -55))", "dataset_titles": "NRM, ARM, IRM, and magnetic susceptibility investigations on U1537 and U1538 cube samples; Rock magnetic data from IODP Exp. 382 Sites U1537 and U1538 to support Reilly et al. \"A geochemical mechanism for \u003e10 m offsets of magnetic reversals inferred from the comparison of two Scotia Sea drill sites\"", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "200412", "doi": "10.7288/V4/MAGIC/19778", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "MagIC (EarthRef)", "science_program": null, "title": "NRM, ARM, IRM, and magnetic susceptibility investigations on U1537 and U1538 cube samples", "url": "http://dx.doi.org/10.7288/V4/MAGIC/19778"}, {"dataset_uid": "200411", "doi": "10.5281/zenodo.10035106", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "Zenodo", "science_program": null, "title": "Rock magnetic data from IODP Exp. 382 Sites U1537 and U1538 to support Reilly et al. \"A geochemical mechanism for \u003e10 m offsets of magnetic reversals inferred from the comparison of two Scotia Sea drill sites\"", "url": "https://zenodo.org/records/10035107"}], "date_created": "Wed, 12 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "The potential for future sea level rise from melting and collapse of Antarctic ice sheets and glaciers is concerning. We can improve our understanding of how water is exchanged between Antarctic ice sheets and the ocean by studying how ice sheets behaved in past climates, especially conditions that were similar to or warmer than those at present. For this project, the research team will document Antarctica\u0027s response across an interval when Earth transitioned from the warm Pliocene into the Pleistocene ice ages by combining marine and land evidence for glacier variations from sites near the Antarctic Peninsula, complimented by detailed work on timescales and fossil evidence for environmental change. An important goal is to test whether Antarctica\u0027s glaciers changed at the same time as glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere as Earth\u0027s most recent Ice Age intensified, or alternatively responded to regional climate forcing in the Southern Hemisphere. Eleven investigators from seven US institutions, as well as Argentine collaborators, will study new sediment cores from the International Ocean Discovery Program, as well as legacy cores from that program and on-land outcrops on James Ross Island. The group embraces a vertically integrated research program that allows high school, undergraduate, graduate, post-docs and faculty to work together on the same projects. This structure leverages the benefits of near-peer mentoring and the development of a robust collaborative research network while allowing all participants to take ownership of different parts of the project. All members of the team are firmly committed to attracting researchers from under-represented groups and will do this through existing channels as well as via co-creating programming that centers the perspectives of diverse students in conversations about sea-level rise and climate change.\r\n\r\nThe proposed research seeks to understand phasing between Northern and Southern Hemisphere glacier and climate changes, as a means to understand drivers and teleconnections. The dynamics of past Antarctic glaciation can be studied using the unique isotope geochemical and mineralogic fingerprints from glacial sectors tied to a well-constrained time model for the stratigraphic successions. The proposed work would further refine the stratigraphic context through coupled biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic work. The magnitude of iceberg calving and paths of icebergs will be revealed using the flux, geochemical and mineralogic signatures, and 40Ar/39Ar and U-Pb geochronology of ice-rafted detritus. These provenance tracers will establish which sectors of Antarctica\u0027s ice sheets are more vulnerable to collapse, and the timing and pacing of these events will be revealed by their stratigraphic context. Additionally, the team will work with Argentine collaborators to connect the marine and terrestrial records by studying glacier records intercalated with volcanic flows on James Ross Island. These new constraints will be integrated with a state of the art ice-sheet model to link changes in ice dynamics with their underlying causes. Together, these tight stratigraphic constraints, geochemical signatures, and ice-sheet model simulations will provide a means to compare to the global records of climate change, understand their primary drivers, and elucidate the role of the Antarctic ice sheet in a major, global climatic shift from the Pliocene into the Pleistocene.", "east": -40.0, "geometry": "POINT(-55 -60.5)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "PALEOMAGNETISM; SEDIMENTS; Scotia Sea", "locations": "Scotia Sea", "north": -55.0, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": "PHANEROZOIC \u003e CENOZOIC \u003e NEOGENE \u003e PLIOCENE; PHANEROZOIC \u003e CENOZOIC \u003e QUATERNARY; PHANEROZOIC \u003e CENOZOIC \u003e QUATERNARY \u003e PLEISTOCENE; PHANEROZOIC \u003e CENOZOIC \u003e QUATERNARY \u003e HOLOCENE; PHANEROZOIC \u003e CENOZOIC \u003e NEOGENE; PHANEROZOIC \u003e CENOZOIC", "persons": "Reilly, Brendan", "platforms": null, "repo": "MagIC (EarthRef)", "repositories": "MagIC (EarthRef); Zenodo", "science_programs": null, "south": -66.0, "title": "Collaborative Research: Linking Marine and Terrestrial Sedimentary Evidence for Plio-pleistocene Variability of Weddell Embayment and Antarctic Peninsula Glaciation", "uid": "p0010424", "west": -70.0}, {"awards": "2025724 Harwood, David; 2020728 Huber, Brian; 2026648 Tobin, Thomas", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-56.93 -64.2,-56.894 -64.2,-56.858 -64.2,-56.822 -64.2,-56.786 -64.2,-56.75 -64.2,-56.714 -64.2,-56.678 -64.2,-56.642 -64.2,-56.606 -64.2,-56.57 -64.2,-56.57 -64.214,-56.57 -64.22800000000001,-56.57 -64.242,-56.57 -64.256,-56.57 -64.27000000000001,-56.57 -64.284,-56.57 -64.298,-56.57 -64.312,-56.57 -64.32600000000001,-56.57 -64.34,-56.606 -64.34,-56.642 -64.34,-56.678 -64.34,-56.714 -64.34,-56.75 -64.34,-56.786 -64.34,-56.822 -64.34,-56.858 -64.34,-56.894 -64.34,-56.93 -64.34,-56.93 -64.32600000000001,-56.93 -64.312,-56.93 -64.298,-56.93 -64.284,-56.93 -64.27000000000001,-56.93 -64.256,-56.93 -64.242,-56.93 -64.22800000000001,-56.93 -64.214,-56.93 -64.2))", "dataset_titles": null, "datasets": null, "date_created": "Thu, 15 Sep 2022 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Non-technical description: \u003cbr/\u003eThis 4-year project is evaluating evidence of extinction patterns and depositional conditions from a high southern latitude Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) outcrop section found on Seymore Island, in the Western Antarctic Peninsula. The team is using sediment samples collected below the weathering horizon to evaluate detailed sedimentary structures, geochemistry, and microfossils in targeted stratigraphic intervals. The study will help determine if the K-Pg mass extinction was a single or double phased event and whether Seymour Island region in the geological past was a restricted, suboxic marine environment or an open well-mixed shelf. The award includes an integrated plan for student training at all levels, enhanced by a highlighted partnership with a high school earth sciences teacher working in a school serving underrepresented students.\u003cbr/\u003eTechnical description:\u003cbr/\u003e The proposed research is applying multiple techniques to address an overarching research question for which recent studies are in disagreement: Is the fossil evidence from a unique outcropping on Seymour Island, Antarctica consistent with a single or double phased extinction? In a two-phased model, the first extinction would affect primarily benthic organisms and would have occurred ~150 kiloyears prior to a separate extinction at the K-Pg boundary. However, this early extinction could plausibly be explained by an unrecognized facies control that is obscured by surficial weathering. This team is using microfossil evidence with detailed sedimentary petrology and geochemistry data to evaluate if the fossil evidence from Seymour Island is consistent with a single or double phased extinction process. The team is using detailed sedimentary petrology and geochemistry methods to test for facies changes across the K-PG interval that would explain the apparent early extinction. Samples of core sedimentary foraminifera, siliceous microfossils, and calcareous nannofossils are being evaluated to provide a high-resolution stratigraphic resolution and to evaluate whether evidence for an early extinction is present. Additionally, the team is using multiple geochemical methods to evaluate whether there is evidence for intermittent anoxia or euxinia and/or physical restriction of the Seymore region basin. Data from this analysis will indicate if this region was a restricted, suboxic marine environment or an open well-mixed shelf.", "east": -56.57, "geometry": "POINT(-56.75 -64.27000000000001)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Seymour Island; PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTIONS; SEDIMENTARY ROCKS; MICROFOSSILS; FIELD INVESTIGATION", "locations": "Seymour Island", "north": -64.2, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems; Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Tobin, Thomas; Totten, Rebecca", "platforms": "LAND-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e FIELD SITES \u003e FIELD INVESTIGATION", "repositories": null, "science_programs": null, "south": -64.34, "title": "Collaborative Research: Coring Seymour Island (CSI) Antarctica: Evaluating Causes and Effects of the End Cretaceous Mass Extinction", "uid": "p0010377", "west": -56.93}, {"awards": "2012247 Groff, Dulcinea; 2012444 Cimino, Megan; 2012365 Johnston, David", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-65 -64.5,-64.8 -64.5,-64.6 -64.5,-64.4 -64.5,-64.2 -64.5,-64 -64.5,-63.8 -64.5,-63.6 -64.5,-63.4 -64.5,-63.2 -64.5,-63 -64.5,-63 -64.55,-63 -64.6,-63 -64.65,-63 -64.7,-63 -64.75,-63 -64.8,-63 -64.85,-63 -64.9,-63 -64.95,-63 -65,-63.2 -65,-63.4 -65,-63.6 -65,-63.8 -65,-64 -65,-64.2 -65,-64.4 -65,-64.6 -65,-64.8 -65,-65 -65,-65 -64.95,-65 -64.9,-65 -64.85,-65 -64.8,-65 -64.75,-65 -64.7,-65 -64.65,-65 -64.6,-65 -64.55,-65 -64.5))", "dataset_titles": null, "datasets": null, "date_created": "Sun, 24 Jul 2022 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "This award is funded in whole or part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). \r\nPart I: Non-technical description: \r\nAdlie penguin colonies are declining and disappearing from the western Antarctic Peninsula. However, not all colonies in a certain area decline or disappear at the same rate. This research project will evaluate the influence of terrestrial surface properties on Adlie penguin colonies, leveraging five decades of research on seabirds near Palmer Station where an Adlie colony on Litchfield Island became extinct in 2007 while other colonies nearby are still present. The researchers will combine information obtained from remote sensing, UAS (Unoccupied Aircraft System, or drones) high-resolution maps, reconstruction of past moss banks and modeling with machine learning tools to define suitable penguin and peatbank moss habitats and explore the influence of microclimate on their distributions. In particular, the researchers are asking if guano from penguin colonies could act as fertilizers of moss banks in the presence of localized wind patters that can carry airborne nitrogen to the mosses. Modeling will relate penguin and peatbank moss spatial patterns to environmental variables and provide a greater understanding of how continued environmental change could impact these communities. The project allows for documentation of terrestrial Antarctic ecosystems in support of seabirds and provisioning of such information to the broader science community that seeks to study penguins, educating graduate and undergraduate students and a post-doctoral researcher. The research team includes two young women as Principal Investigators, one of them from an under-represented ethnic minority, first time Antarctic Principal Investigator, from an EPSCoR state (Wyoming), broadening participation in Antarctic research. Researchers will serve as student mentors through the Duke Bass Connections program entitled Biogeographic Assessment of Antarctic Coastal Habitats. This program supports an interdisciplinary team of graduate and undergraduate students collaborating with project faculty and experts on cutting-edge research bridging the classroom and the real world.\r\n\r\nPart II: Technical description: \r\nThis research aims to understand the changes at the microclimate scale (meters) by analyzing present and past Adlie penguin colonies and moss peatbanks in islands around Palmer Station in the western Antarctic Peninsula interlinked systems that are typically considered in isolation. By integrating in situ and remote data, this project will synthesize the drivers of biogeomorphology on small islands of the Antarctic Peninsula, a region of rapid change where plants and animals often co-occur and animal presence often determines the habitation of plants. A multi-disciplinary approach combine field measurements, remote sensing, UAS (Unoccupied Aircraft Systems) maps, paleoecology and modeling with machine learning to define suitable habitats and the influence of microclimates on penguin and peatbank distributions. The link between the two aspects of this study, peatbanks and penguins, is the potential source of nutrients for peat mosses from penguin guano. Peatbank and penguin distribution will be modeled and all models will be validated using in situ information from moss samples that will identify mechanistic processes. This project leverages 5 decades of seabird research in the area and high-definition remote sensing provided by the Polar Geospatial center to study the microclimate of Litchfield Island where an Adlie colony became extinct in 2007 when other colonies nearby are still present. The research team includes two early career women as Principal Investigators, one of them from an under-represented ethnic minority, first time Antarctic Principal Investigator, from an EPSCoR state (Wyoming). Researchers will serve as mentors for students through the Duke Bass Connections program entitled Biogeogrpahic Assessment of Antarctic Coastal Habitats which bridges the classroom and the real world.\r\n\r\nThis award reflects NSF\u0027s statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation\u0027s intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.", "east": -63.0, "geometry": "POINT(-64 -64.75)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Palmer Station; Antarctic Peninsula; COASTAL; STABLE ISOTOPES; TOPOGRAPHIC EFFECTS; PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTIONS; MACROFOSSILS; PLANTS; PENGUINS; ISOTOPES; VISIBLE IMAGERY; RADIOCARBON; Anvers Island", "locations": "Antarctic Peninsula; Anvers Island; Palmer Station", "north": -64.5, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems; Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems; Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Groff, Dulcinea; Cimino, Megan; Johnston, David", "platforms": null, "repositories": null, "science_programs": null, "south": -65.0, "title": "Collaborative Research: Common Environmental Drivers Determine the Occupation Chronology of Ad\u00e9lie Penguins and Moss Peatbanks on the Western Antarctic Peninsula", "uid": "p0010354", "west": -65.0}, {"awards": "1543367 Shubin, Neil", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((158.3 -77.5,158.54000000000002 -77.5,158.78 -77.5,159.02 -77.5,159.26 -77.5,159.5 -77.5,159.74 -77.5,159.98 -77.5,160.22 -77.5,160.45999999999998 -77.5,160.7 -77.5,160.7 -77.605,160.7 -77.71,160.7 -77.815,160.7 -77.92,160.7 -78.025,160.7 -78.13,160.7 -78.235,160.7 -78.34,160.7 -78.445,160.7 -78.55,160.45999999999998 -78.55,160.22 -78.55,159.98 -78.55,159.74 -78.55,159.5 -78.55,159.26 -78.55,159.02 -78.55,158.78 -78.55,158.54000000000002 -78.55,158.3 -78.55,158.3 -78.445,158.3 -78.34,158.3 -78.235,158.3 -78.13,158.3 -78.025,158.3 -77.92,158.3 -77.815,158.3 -77.71,158.3 -77.605,158.3 -77.5))", "dataset_titles": "Vertebrate Fossils from the Aztec Siltstone (Mid-Late Devonian); Vertebrate Fossils from the Aztec Siltstone (Mid-Late Devonian) 2 (2018-2019)", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "601580", "doi": "10.15784/601580", "keywords": "Acanthodii; Antarctica; Chondrichthyes; Early Vertebrates; Osteolepiformes; Paleontology; Placodermi; Transantarctic Mountains; Vertebrate Evolution", "people": "Daeschler, Ted", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Vertebrate Fossils from the Aztec Siltstone (Mid-Late Devonian)", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601580"}, {"dataset_uid": "601584", "doi": "10.15784/601584", "keywords": "Acanthodii; Antarctica; Chondrichthyes; Early Vertebrates; Osteolepiformes; Paleontology; Placodermi; Transantarctic Mountains; Vertebrate Evolution", "people": "Daeschler, Ted", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Vertebrate Fossils from the Aztec Siltstone (Mid-Late Devonian) 2 (2018-2019)", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601584"}], "date_created": "Fri, 17 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "This research will provide new insights into the relationships and history of sharks, fish and limbed animals. Understanding these relationships forms the backbone for both basic and applied science because fish often serve as models of human traits and diseases. Some of the main lines of evidence for these relationships come from fossils in rocks over 380 million years old that were originally deposited as ancient rivers and streams. Because rocks of this type and age are abundantly exposed along a number of the dry valleys and mountains of Antarctica, the investigation of these areas holds exceptional promise for discoveries that can have a broad impact. The fieldwork will involve geological mapping and assessment of the rocks with detailed reconnaissance for the fossils that they may hold. Fossil discoveries form the backbone for public communication of the methods and results of scientific research-- these studies will be used as vehicles for training of students at multiple levels as well as communication of science to the broader non-science citizen base.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThe discovery, description, and analysis of Middle to Late Devonian (390-355 Million years ago) vertebrates and depositional environments provide important data on the emergence of novel anatomical structures, faunas, and habitats during a critical interval in the history of life and earth. Biological innovation during this time includes the early evolution of freshwater fish, the origins of major groups of vertebrates (e.g., sharks, lobe and ray-finned fish, tetrapods), and the expansion and elaboration of non-marine ecosystems. Accordingly, expanding our knowledge of vertebrate diversity during the Middle and Late Devonian will provide new evidence on the relationships of the major groups of vertebrates, the assembly of novelties that ultimately enabled tetrapods to invade land, the origin and early evolution of sharks and their relatives, and the assembly and expansion of non-marine ecosystems generally. The Aztec Siltstone of Antarctica Middle-Late Devonian; Givetian-Frasnian Stages) has exceptional potential to produce new paleontological evidence of these events and to illuminate the temporal, ecological, and geographic context in which they occurred. It is essentially fossiliferous throughout its known exposure range, something that is rare for Middle-Late Devonian non-marine rocks anywhere in the world. In addition, fine-grained meandering stream deposits are abundantly exposed in the Aztec Siltstone and are recognized as an important locus for the discovery of well-preserved Devonian fish, including stem tetrapods and their relatives. Given the exceedingly fossiliferous nature of the Aztec Siltstone, the large number of taxa known only from partial material, and the amount of promising exposure yet to be worked, a dedicated reconnaissance, collection, and research effort is designed to recover important new fossil material and embed it in a stratigraphic and sedimentological context. The first major objective of this study is the recovery, preparation, and description of Middle-Late Devonian fossil taxa. Ensuing investigation of the phylogenetic affinities, taphonomic occurrence, and stratigraphic position of fossil assemblages will allow both local and global comparisons of biotic diversity. These analyses will inform: 1) higher level phylogenetic hypotheses of jawed vertebrates, 2) biostratigraphic and biogeographic analysis of the distribution of the Middle-Late Devonian fish, and 3) paleobiological investigation of the elaboration of terrestrial and freshwater habitats. The broader impacts are derived from the utility of paleontology and Antarctic expeditionary science as educational tools with powerful narratives. Specific goals include affiliations with local urban secondary schools (using established relationships for broadening participation) and collegiate and graduate training. Wider dissemination of knowledge to the general public is a direct product of ongoing interactions with national and international media (print, television, internet).", "east": 160.7, "geometry": "POINT(159.5 -78.025)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Amd/Us; AMD; FIELD INVESTIGATION; Transantarctic Mountains; USA/NSF; MACROFOSSILS; Fossils; USAP-DC", "locations": "Transantarctic Mountains", "north": -77.5, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": "PHANEROZOIC \u003e PALEOZOIC \u003e DEVONIAN", "persons": "Shubin, Neil; Daeschler, Edward B", "platforms": "LAND-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e FIELD SITES \u003e FIELD INVESTIGATION", "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -78.55, "title": "Middle-Late Devonian Vertebrates of Antarctica", "uid": "p0010340", "west": 158.3}, {"awards": "1745082 Beilman, David; 1745068 Booth, Robert", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-64.4 -62.4,-63.910000000000004 -62.4,-63.42 -62.4,-62.93000000000001 -62.4,-62.440000000000005 -62.4,-61.95 -62.4,-61.46 -62.4,-60.97 -62.4,-60.480000000000004 -62.4,-59.99 -62.4,-59.5 -62.4,-59.5 -62.7,-59.5 -63,-59.5 -63.3,-59.5 -63.6,-59.5 -63.900000000000006,-59.5 -64.2,-59.5 -64.5,-59.5 -64.80000000000001,-59.5 -65.10000000000001,-59.5 -65.4,-59.99 -65.4,-60.480000000000004 -65.4,-60.97 -65.4,-61.46 -65.4,-61.95 -65.4,-62.440000000000005 -65.4,-62.93000000000001 -65.4,-63.42 -65.4,-63.910000000000004 -65.4,-64.4 -65.4,-64.4 -65.10000000000001,-64.4 -64.80000000000001,-64.4 -64.5,-64.4 -64.2,-64.4 -63.900000000000006,-64.4 -63.6,-64.4 -63.3,-64.4 -63,-64.4 -62.7,-64.4 -62.4))", "dataset_titles": "LMG2002 Expedtition Data", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "200222", "doi": "10.7284/908802", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "R2R", "science_program": null, "title": "LMG2002 Expedtition Data", "url": "https://www.rvdata.us/search/cruise/LMG2002"}], "date_created": "Fri, 10 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Warming on the western Antarctic Peninsula in the later 20th century has caused widespread changes in the cryosphere (ice and snow) and terrestrial ecosystems. These recent changes along with longer-term climate and ecosystem histories will be deciphered using peat deposits. Peat accumulation can be used to assess the rate of glacial retreat and provide insight into ecological processes on newly deglaciated landscapes in the Antarctic Peninsula. This project builds on data suggesting recent ecosystem transformations that are linked to past climate of the western Antarctic Peninsula and provide a timeline to assess the extent and rate of recent glacial change. The study will produce a climate record for the coastal low-elevation terrestrial region, which will refine the major climate shifts of up to 6 degrees C in the recent past (last 12,000 years). A novel terrestrial record of the recent glacial history will provide insight into observed changes in climate and sea-ice dynamics in the western Antarctic Peninsula and allow for comparison with off-shore climate records captured in sediments. Observations and discoveries from this project will be disseminated to local schools and science centers. The project provides training and career development for a postdoctoral scientist as well as graduate and undergraduate students.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThe research presents a new systematic survey to reconstruct ecosystem and climate change for the coastal low-elevation areas on the western Antarctic Peninsula (AP) using proxy records preserved in late Holocene peat deposits. Moss and peat samples will be collected and analyzed to generate a comprehensive data set of late-Holocene climate change and ecosystem dynamics. The goal is to document and understand the transformations of landscape and terrestrial ecosystems on the western AP during the late Holocene. The testable hypothesis is that coastal regions have experienced greater climate variability than evidenced in ice-core records and that past warmth has facilitated dramatic ecosystem and cryosphere response. A primary product of the project is a robust reconstruction of late Holocene climate changes for coastal low-elevation terrestrial areas using multiple lines of evidence from peat-based biological and geochemical proxies, which will be used to compare with climate records derived from marine sediments and ice cores from the AP region. These data will be used to test several ideas related to novel peat-forming ecosystems (such as Antarctic hairgrass bogs) in past warmer climates and climate controls over ecosystem establishment and migration to help assess the nature of the Little Ice Age cooling and cryosphere response. The chronology of peat cores will be established by radiocarbon dating of macrofossils and Bayesian modeling. The high-resolution time series of ecosystem and climate changes will help put the observed recent changes into a long-term context to bridge climate dynamics over different time scales.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThis award reflects NSF\u0027s statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation\u0027s intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.", "east": -59.5, "geometry": "POINT(-61.95 -63.900000000000006)", "instruments": "IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e CORERS \u003e SEDIMENT CORERS", "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONS; ISOTOPES; USAP-DC; PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTIONS; SEDIMENTS; Amd/Us; FIELD INVESTIGATION; Antarctic Peninsula; AMD; TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS; USA/NSF; RADIOCARBON", "locations": "Antarctic Peninsula", "north": -62.4, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Beilman, David; Booth, Robert", "platforms": "LAND-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e FIELD SITES \u003e FIELD INVESTIGATION", "repo": "R2R", "repositories": "R2R", "science_programs": null, "south": -65.4, "title": "Collaborative Research: Reconstructing Late Holocene Ecosystem and Climate Shifts from Peat Records in the Western Antarctic Peninsula", "uid": "p0010337", "west": -64.4}, {"awards": "1951090 Stukel, Michael", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-80 -63,-78.2 -63,-76.4 -63,-74.6 -63,-72.8 -63,-71 -63,-69.2 -63,-67.4 -63,-65.6 -63,-63.8 -63,-62 -63,-62 -63.7,-62 -64.4,-62 -65.1,-62 -65.8,-62 -66.5,-62 -67.2,-62 -67.9,-62 -68.6,-62 -69.3,-62 -70,-63.8 -70,-65.6 -70,-67.4 -70,-69.2 -70,-71 -70,-72.8 -70,-74.6 -70,-76.4 -70,-78.2 -70,-80 -70,-80 -69.3,-80 -68.6,-80 -67.9,-80 -67.2,-80 -66.5,-80 -65.8,-80 -65.1,-80 -64.4,-80 -63.7,-80 -63))", "dataset_titles": "BCO-DMO Project Page", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "200294", "doi": null, "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "BCO-DMO", "science_program": null, "title": "BCO-DMO Project Page", "url": "https://www.bco-dmo.org/project/838048"}], "date_created": "Fri, 03 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Algae in the surface ocean convert carbon dioxide into organic carbon through photosynthesis. The biological carbon pump transports this organic carbon from the atmosphere to the deep ocean where it can be stored for tens to hundreds of years. Annually, the amount transported is similar to that humans are currently emitting by burning fossil fuels. However, at present we cannot predict how this important process will change with a warming ocean. These investigators plan to develop a 15+ year time-series of vertical carbon transfer for the Western Antarctic Peninsula; a highly productive Antarctic ecosystem. This region is also rapid transition to warmer temperatures leading to reduced sea ice coverage. This work will help researchers better understand how the carbon cycle in the Western Antarctic Peninsula will respond to climate change. The researchers will develop the first large-scale time-series of carbon flux anywhere in the ocean. This research will also support the education and training of a graduate student and support the integration of concepts in Antarctic research into two undergraduate courses designed for non-science majors and advanced earth science students. The researchers will also develop educational modules for introducing elementary and middle-school age students to important concepts such as gross and net primary productivity, feedbacks in the marine and atmospheric systems, and the differences between correlation and causation. Results from this proposal will also be incorporated into a children?s book, ?Plankton do the Strangest Things?, that is targeted at 5-7 year olds and is designed to introduce them to the incredible diversity and fascinating adaptations of microscopic marine organisms.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003e This research seeks to leverage 6 years (2015-2020) of 234Th samples collected on Palmer LTER program, 5 years of prior measurements (2009-2010, 2012-2014), and upcoming cruises (2021-2023) to develop a time-series of summertime particle flux in the WAP that stretches for 15 years. The 238U-234Th disequilibrium approach utilizes changes in the activity of the particle-active radio-isotope 234Th relative to its parent nuclide 238U to quantify the flux of sinking carbon out of the surface ocean (over a time-scale of ~one month). This proposal will fund 234Th analyses from nine years? worth of cruises (2015-2023) and extensive analyses designed to investigate the processes driving inter-annual variability in the BCP. These include: 1) physical modeling to quantify the importance of advection and diffusion in the 234Th budget, 2) time-series analyses of particle flux, and 3) statistical modeling of the relationships between particle flux and multiple presumed drivers (biological, chemical, physical, and climate indices) measured by collaborators in the Palmer LTER program. This multi-faceted approach is critical for linking the measurements to models and for predicting responses to climate change. It will also test the hypothesis that export flux is decreasing in the northern WAP, increasing in the southern WAP, and increasing when integrated over the entire region as a result of earlier sea ice retreat and a larger ice-free zone. The project will also investigate relationships between carbon export and multiple potentially controlling factors including: primary productivity, algal biomass and taxonomic composition, biological oxygen saturation, zooplankton biomass and taxonomic composition, bacterial production, temperature, wintertime sea ice extent, date of sea ice retreat, and climate modes.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThis award reflects NSF\u0027s statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation\u0027s intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.", "east": -62.0, "geometry": "POINT(-71 -66.5)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Amd/Us; AMD; FIELD INVESTIGATION; Palmer Station; USAP-DC; BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES; USA/NSF", "locations": "Palmer Station", "north": -63.0, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Stukel, Michael", "platforms": "LAND-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e FIELD SITES \u003e FIELD INVESTIGATION", "repo": "BCO-DMO", "repositories": "BCO-DMO", "science_programs": null, "south": -70.0, "title": "Quantifying Processes Driving Interannual Variability in the Biological Carbon Pump in the Western Antarctic Peninsula", "uid": "p0010332", "west": -80.0}, {"awards": "1443557 Isbell, John", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-180 -85,-177.1 -85,-174.2 -85,-171.3 -85,-168.4 -85,-165.5 -85,-162.6 -85,-159.7 -85,-156.8 -85,-153.9 -85,-151 -85,-151 -85.2,-151 -85.4,-151 -85.6,-151 -85.8,-151 -86,-151 -86.2,-151 -86.4,-151 -86.6,-151 -86.8,-151 -87,-153.9 -87,-156.8 -87,-159.7 -87,-162.6 -87,-165.5 -87,-168.4 -87,-171.3 -87,-174.2 -87,-177.1 -87,180 -87,179 -87,178 -87,177 -87,176 -87,175 -87,174 -87,173 -87,172 -87,171 -87,170 -87,170 -86.8,170 -86.6,170 -86.4,170 -86.2,170 -86,170 -85.8,170 -85.6,170 -85.4,170 -85.2,170 -85,171 -85,172 -85,173 -85,174 -85,175 -85,176 -85,177 -85,178 -85,179 -85,-180 -85))", "dataset_titles": "A LITHOFACIES ANALYSIS OF A SOUTH POLAR GLACIATION IN THE EARLY PERMIAN: PAGODA FORMATION, SHACKLETON GLACIER REGION, ANTARCTICA; A new stratigraphic framework built on U-Pb single-zircon TIMS agesand implications for the timing ofthe penultimate icehouse (Paran\u00e1 Basin, Brazil); Constraining late Paleozoic ice extent in the Paganzo Basin of western Argentina utilizing U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology for the lower Paganzo Group strata; Coupled stratigraphic and U-Pb zircon age constraints on the late Paleozoic icehouse-to-greenhouse turnover in south-central Gondwana; Isotopes to ice: Constraining provenance of glacial deposits and ice centers in west-central Gondwana; Late Permian soil-forming paleoenvironments on Gondwana: A review; Provenance of late Paleozoic glacial/post-glacial deposits in the eastern Chaco-Paran\u00e1 Basin, Uruguay and southernmost Paran\u00e1 Basin, Brazil; Supplemental material: Nitrogen-fixing symbiosis inferred from stable isotope analysis of fossil tree rings from the Oligocene of Ethiopia; When does large woody debris influence ancient rivers? Dendrochronology\r\napplications in the Permian and Triassic, Antarctica", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "200273", "doi": "10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.04.020", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "Publication", "science_program": null, "title": "Isotopes to ice: Constraining provenance of glacial deposits and ice centers in west-central Gondwana", "url": "https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018217309008?via%3Dihub"}, {"dataset_uid": "200274", "doi": "10.1130/G39213.1", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "Publication", "science_program": null, "title": "Supplemental material: Nitrogen-fixing symbiosis inferred from stable isotope analysis of fossil tree rings from the Oligocene of Ethiopia", "url": "https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-standard/45/8/687/207623/Nitrogen-fixing-symbiosis-inferred-from-stable"}, {"dataset_uid": "200272", "doi": "10.1016/j.jsames.2020.102899", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "Publication", "science_program": null, "title": "Constraining late Paleozoic ice extent in the Paganzo Basin of western Argentina utilizing U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology for the lower Paganzo Group strata", "url": "https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0895981120304429?via%3Dihub#mmc1"}, {"dataset_uid": "200271", "doi": "10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109544", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "Publication", "science_program": null, "title": "When does large woody debris influence ancient rivers? Dendrochronology\r\napplications in the Permian and Triassic, Antarctica", "url": "https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018219304006?via%3Dihub"}, {"dataset_uid": "200270", "doi": "10.1016/j.jsames.2020.102989", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "Publication", "science_program": null, "title": "Provenance of late Paleozoic glacial/post-glacial deposits in the eastern Chaco-Paran\u00e1 Basin, Uruguay and southernmost Paran\u00e1 Basin, Brazil", "url": "https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0895981120305320#mmc1"}, {"dataset_uid": "200269", "doi": "10.1130/G46740.1", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "Publication", "science_program": null, "title": "Coupled stratigraphic and U-Pb zircon age constraints on the late Paleozoic icehouse-to-greenhouse turnover in south-central Gondwana", "url": "https://gsapubs.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Supplemental_material_Coupled_stratigraphic_and_U-Pb_zircon_age_constraints_on_the_late_Paleozoic_icehouse-to-greenhouse_turnover_in_south-central_Gondwana/12542069"}, {"dataset_uid": "200268", "doi": "10.1130/B31775.1.", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "Publication", "science_program": null, "title": "A new stratigraphic framework built on U-Pb single-zircon TIMS agesand implications for the timing ofthe penultimate icehouse (Paran\u00e1 Basin, Brazil)", "url": "https://gsapubs.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Supplemental_material_A_new_stratigraphic_framework_built_on_U-Pb_single-zircon_TIMS_ages_and_implications_for_the_timing_of_the_penultimate_icehouse_Paran_Basin_Brazil_/12535916"}, {"dataset_uid": "200267", "doi": "10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110762", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "Publication", "science_program": null, "title": "Late Permian soil-forming paleoenvironments on Gondwana: A review", "url": "https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018221005472?via%3Dihub"}, {"dataset_uid": "200266", "doi": "10.2110/jsr.2021.004", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "Publication", "science_program": null, "title": "A LITHOFACIES ANALYSIS OF A SOUTH POLAR GLACIATION IN THE EARLY PERMIAN: PAGODA FORMATION, SHACKLETON GLACIER REGION, ANTARCTICA", "url": "https://www.sepm.org/publications"}], "date_created": "Fri, 31 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "The research focus of this collaborative proposal was to collect fossil plants, fossil wood, stratigraphic, sedimentologic, paleosol, and geochemical data from plants and the rocks that contain them in order to reconstruct the extent of the Gondwana glaciation in the Shackleton Glacier (SHK) area, the invasion and subsequent flourishing of life following glacial retreat, changes to the physical environment, and the eventual recovery of plant life after the Late Permian biotic events. Only in Antarctica does a complete polar-to-near-polar succession occur across this climatic and biologic transition. The SHK is an important one as it is one of the few regions in the world where the Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB) is exposed within terrestrial rocks. In addition, outcrops in the SHK area extend from the glacigenic deposits of the Upper Carboniferous-Lower Permian through to the Upper Triassic and thus record ecosystems and the plants that inhabited them from the Gondwana icehouse into the Late Permian-Early Triassic greenhouse and into presumed \"full recovery\" of floras from the PTB extinctions in the Late Triassic.\r\n\r\nThe project encompassed a multidisciplinary plan that used various types of paleobotanical expertise, integrated with detailed sedimentology, stratigraphy, and geochemistry, in order to reconstruct Permian-Triassic plant communities and their paleoenvironments. This interdisciplinary approach is a powerful tool to uncover details of Antarctica\u2019s complex late Paleozoic and Mesozoic environmental, climatic, and biotic history which included: 1) glaciation/deglaciation, 2) development and evolution of a post-glacial landscape and biota, 3) environmental and biotic change associated with the end-Permian mass extinction events, 4) earliest ecosystems in the Triassic, 5) greenhouse conditions in the Triassic, 6) full \u2019recovery\u2019 of floras and ecosystems by the Late Triassic, and, through all of these events, 7) development and changes in a foreland basin system. Three interrelated focus areas, each delimited by distinct hypotheses and action strategies, provided the framework to trace floral diversity and environmental evolution after the retreat of glaciers through to the Late Triassic. Antarctica is the only place on Earth that includes extensive outcrops of high-paleolatitude terrestrial rocks, combined with widespread and well-preserved plant fossils, and that spans this crucial time.\r\n\r\nThe research and broader impacts of this proposal were integrated into action strategies that have been successful in the past. Compression floras were collected (constrained by stratigraphy) both quantitatively and qualitatively in order to obtain biodiversity and abundance data, and as a data source for paleoecological analysis. Even in formations where megafossils were unknown (e.g., Lower Permian), fossil wood is present so that anatomy and geochemistry of tree rings were examined. Standard sedimentologic and stratigraphic analyses were performed, as well as paleosol analyses, including mineralogic and major- and trace-element geochemistry. Collections will also be made for U-Pb zircon geochronology to better constrain geologic and biotic events.\r\n\r\nThe Broader Impacts of the project involved education and outreach initiatives that included women and under-represented groups in the excitement of Antarctic earth sciences: 1) Continuing successful public outreach, teaching, and mentoring of women and under-represented students in Antarctic research; 2) Participation in workshops for under-represented groups via the Expanding Your Horizons Program in Kansas, the TRIO program (KU), and the STELAR summer workshop (UWM) for high-school students. 3) Outreach via the KU Natural History Museum; 4) Exploring Antarctic geosciences through continued presentations to pre K-12 school groups, and field and lab activities at UWM, as well as links from McMurdo Station and satellite conferences from the field with K-12 science classes in Wisconsin and Illinois.", "east": 170.0, "geometry": "POINT(-170.5 -86)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Shackleton Glacier; SEDIMENTARY ROCKS; GLACIATION", "locations": "Shackleton Glacier", "north": -85.0, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Isbell, John", "platforms": null, "repo": "Publication", "repositories": "Publication", "science_programs": null, "south": -87.0, "title": "Collaborative Research: Permian and Triassic Icehouse to Greenhouse Paleoenvironments and Paleobotany in the Shackleton Glacier Area, Antarctica", "uid": "p0010287", "west": -151.0}, {"awards": "2114786 Warnock, Jonathan", "bounds_geometry": null, "dataset_titles": null, "datasets": null, "date_created": "Thu, 09 Sep 2021 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "The potential for future sea level rise from melting and collapse of Antarctic ice sheets and glaciers is concerning. We can improve our understanding of how water is exchanged between Antarctic ice sheets and the ocean by studying how ice sheets behaved in past climates, especially conditions that were similar to or warmer than those at present. For this project, the research team will document Antarctica\u2019s response across an interval when Earth transitioned from the warm Pliocene into the Pleistocene ice ages by combining marine and land evidence for glacier variations from sites near the Antarctic Peninsula, complimented by detailed work on timescales and fossil evidence for environmental change. An important goal is to test whether Antarctica\u2019s glaciers changed at the same time as glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere as Earth\u0027s most recent Ice Age intensified, or alternatively responded to regional climate forcing in the Southern Hemisphere. Eleven investigators from seven US institutions, as well as Argentine collaborators, will study new sediment cores from the International Ocean Discovery Program, as well as legacy cores from that program and on-land outcrops on James Ross Island. The group embraces a vertically integrated research program that allows high school, undergraduate, graduate, post-docs and faculty to work together on the same projects. This structure leverages the benefits of near-peer mentoring and the development of a robust collaborative research network while allowing all participants to take ownership of different parts of the project. All members of the team are firmly committed to attracting researchers from under-represented groups and will do this through existing channels as well as via co-creating programming that centers the perspectives of diverse students in conversations about sea-level rise and climate change.\r\nThe proposed research seeks to understand phasing between Northern and Southern Hemisphere glacier and climate changes, as a means to understand drivers and teleconnections. The dynamics of past Antarctic glaciation can be studied using the unique isotope geochemical and mineralogic fingerprints from glacial sectors tied to a well-constrained time model for the stratigraphic successions. The proposed work would further refine the stratigraphic context through coupled biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic work. The magnitude of iceberg calving and paths of icebergs will be revealed using the flux, geochemical and mineralogic signatures, and 40Ar/39Ar and U-Pb geochronology of ice-rafted detritus. These provenance tracers will establish which sectors of Antarctica\u2019s ice sheets are more vulnerable to collapse, and the timing and pacing of these events will be revealed by their stratigraphic context. Additionally, the team will work with Argentine collaborators to connect the marine and terrestrial records by studying glacier records intercalated with volcanic flows on James Ross Island. These new constraints will be integrated with a state of the art ice-sheet model to link changes in ice dynamics with their underlying causes. Together, these tight stratigraphic constraints, geochemical signatures, and ice-sheet model simulations will provide a means to compare to the global records of climate change, understand their primary drivers, and elucidate the role of the Antarctic ice sheet in a major, global climatic shift from the Pliocene into the Pleistocene.", "east": null, "geometry": null, "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "MICROFOSSILS; FIELD SURVEYS; Weddell Sea Embayment; USA/NSF; SEA ICE; USAP-DC; PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTIONS; SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE; AMD; Amd/Us", "locations": "Weddell Sea Embayment", "north": null, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Warnock, Jonathan", "platforms": "LAND-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e FIELD SITES \u003e FIELD SURVEYS", "repositories": null, "science_programs": null, "south": null, "title": "Collaborative Research: Linking Marine and Terrestrial Sedimentary Evidence for Plio-pleistocene Variability of Weddell Embayment and Antarctic Peninsula Glaciation", "uid": "p0010260", "west": null}, {"awards": "1745064 Perez-Huerta, Alberto; 1745080 Gillikin, David; 1745057 Walker, Sally", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-180 -60,-144 -60,-108 -60,-72 -60,-36 -60,0 -60,36 -60,72 -60,108 -60,144 -60,180 -60,180 -63,180 -66,180 -69,180 -72,180 -75,180 -78,180 -81,180 -84,180 -87,180 -90,144 -90,108 -90,72 -90,36 -90,0 -90,-36 -90,-72 -90,-108 -90,-144 -90,-180 -90,-180 -87,-180 -84,-180 -81,-180 -78,-180 -75,-180 -72,-180 -69,-180 -66,-180 -63,-180 -60))", "dataset_titles": "Analysis of striae groups and interstrial increments from Adamussium colbecki valves from Explorers Cove and Bay of Sails; Annual growth of Adamussium colbecki from Explorers Cove and Bay of Sails; Linking Modern Benthic Communities and Taphonomic Processes to the Stratigraphic Record of Antarctic Cores; Nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen isotopes in the shell of the Antarctic scallop Adamussium colbecki as a proxy for sea ice cover in Antarctica.; Stable isotopes of Oxygen and Carbon in Adamissium colbecki from Explorers Cove and Bay of Sails", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "600077", "doi": "10.15784/600077", "keywords": "Antarctica; Biota; Glaciers/ice Sheet; Glaciers/Ice Sheet; McMurdo Sound; Oceans; Sample/collection Description; Sample/Collection Description", "people": "Walker, Sally", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Linking Modern Benthic Communities and Taphonomic Processes to the Stratigraphic Record of Antarctic Cores", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/600077"}, {"dataset_uid": "601468", "doi": "10.15784/601468", "keywords": "Adamussium Colbecki; Antarctica; Growth; McMurdo Sound; Shell Fish", "people": "Cronin, Kelly; Walker, Sally", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Annual growth of Adamussium colbecki from Explorers Cove and Bay of Sails", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601468"}, {"dataset_uid": "601469", "doi": "10.15784/601469", "keywords": "Adamussium Colbecki; Antarctica; McMurdo", "people": "Cronin, Kelly; Walker, Sally", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Analysis of striae groups and interstrial increments from Adamussium colbecki valves from Explorers Cove and Bay of Sails", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601469"}, {"dataset_uid": "601761", "doi": "10.15784/601761", "keywords": "Adamussium Colbecki; Antarctica; Bay Of Sails; Carbon; Explorers Cove; McMurdo Sound; Oxygen; Stable Isotopes", "people": "Perez-Huerta, Alberto; Camarra, Steve; Puhalski, Emma; Gillikin, David; Cronin, Kelly; Bowser, Samuel S.; Walker, Sally; Andrus, Fred; Verheyden, Anouk", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Stable isotopes of Oxygen and Carbon in Adamissium colbecki from Explorers Cove and Bay of Sails", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601761"}, {"dataset_uid": "601764", "doi": null, "keywords": "Adamussium Colbecki; Antarctica; Biota; Carbon Isotopes; Explorers Cove; Nitrogen Isotopes; Oxygen Isotope; Scallop", "people": "Walker, Sally; Puhalski, Emma; Gillikin, David; Camarra, Steve; Cronin, Kelly; Verheyden, Anouk", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen isotopes in the shell of the Antarctic scallop Adamussium colbecki as a proxy for sea ice cover in Antarctica.", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601764"}], "date_created": "Fri, 06 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "The goal of this project is to discover whether the Antarctic scallop, Adamussium colbecki, provides a guide to sea-ice conditions in nearshore Antarctica today and in the past. Scallops may grow slower and live longer in habitats where sea ice persists for many years, limited by food, compared to habitats where sea ice melts out annually. Also, the chemicals retained in the shell during growth may provide crucial habitat information related to not only changing sea-ice conditions but also the type of food, whether it is recycled from the seafloor or produced by algae blooming when sea ice has melted. Unlocking the ecological imprint captured within the shell of the Antarctic Scallop will increase our understanding of changing sea-ice conditions in Antarctica. Further, because the Antarctic scallop had relatives living at the time when the Antarctic ice sheet first appeared, the scallop shell record may contain information on the stability of the ice sheet and the history of Antarctic shallow seas. Funding will also be integral for training a new generation of geoscientists in fossil and chemical forensics related to shallow sea habitats in Antarctica.\r\n\r\nScallops are worldwide in distribution, are integral for structuring marine communities have an extensive fossil record dating to the late Devonian, and are increasingly recognized as important paleoenvironmental proxies because they are generally well preserved in the sediment and rock record. The primary goal of this project is to assess the differences in growth, lifespan, and chemistry (stable isotopes, trace elements) archived in the shell of the Antarctic scallop that may be indicative of two ice states: persistent (multiannual) sea ice at Explorers Cove (EC) and annual sea ice (that melts out every year) at Bay of Sails (BOS), western McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. This project will investigate growth and lifespan proxies (physical and geochemical) and will use high-resolution records of stable oxygen isotopes to determine if a melt-water signal is archived in A. colbecki shells and whether that signal captures the differing ice behavior at two sites (EC versus BOS). Stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in association with trace elements will be used to examine subannual productivity spikes indicative of phytoplankton blooms, which are predicted to be more pronounced during open ocean conditions. Small growth increments in the outer calcite layer will be assessed to determine if they represent fortnightly growth, if so, they could provide a high-resolution proxy for monthly environmental processes. Unlocking the environmental archive preserved in A. colbecki shells may prove to be an important proxy for understanding changing sea-ice conditions in Antarctica\u0027s past. Funding will support a Ph.D. student and undergraduates from multiple institutions working on independent research projects. Web content focused on Antarctic marine communities will be designed for museum outreach, reaching thousands of middle-school children each year.\r\n", "east": 180.0, "geometry": "POINT(0 -89.999)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Amd/Us; PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTIONS; AMD; Dry Valleys; USAP-DC; LABORATORY; USA/NSF", "locations": "Dry Valleys", "north": -60.0, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Walker, Sally; Gillikin, David; Perez-Huerta, Alberto; Andrus, Fred", "platforms": "OTHER \u003e PHYSICAL MODELS \u003e LABORATORY", "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -90.0, "title": "Collaborative research: The Antarctic Scallop as Key to Paleoenvironments and Sea Ice Conditions: Understanding the Modern to Predict the Past", "uid": "p0010238", "west": -180.0}, {"awards": "1744871 Robinson, Rebecca", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-180 -60,-144 -60,-108 -60,-72 -60,-36 -60,0 -60,36 -60,72 -60,108 -60,144 -60,180 -60,180 -63,180 -66,180 -69,180 -72,180 -75,180 -78,180 -81,180 -84,180 -87,180 -90,144 -90,108 -90,72 -90,36 -90,0 -90,-36 -90,-72 -90,-108 -90,-144 -90,-180 -90,-180 -87,-180 -84,-180 -81,-180 -78,-180 -75,-180 -72,-180 -69,-180 -66,-180 -63,-180 -60))", "dataset_titles": "Diatom assemblage from IODP Site U1357; Diatom-bound and bulk sedimentary N isotopes from ODP Site 1098, Western Antarctic Peninsula; Diatom-bound and bulk sedimentary nitrogen isotopes from IODP Site U1357; Dissolved nutrients, cell counts, and nitrogen isotope measurements from Chaetoceros socialis culture experiments; ODP Site 1098 deglacial diatom assemblage; Sediment chemistry of ODP Site 1098", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "601778", "doi": "10.15784/601778", "keywords": "Antarctica; Antarctic Peninsula; Cryosphere", "people": "Dove, Isabel", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Sediment chemistry of ODP Site 1098", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601778"}, {"dataset_uid": "601817", "doi": "10.15784/601817", "keywords": "Antarctica; Cryosphere; Wilkes Land", "people": "Dove, Isabel; Robinson, Rebecca; Kelly, Roger", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Diatom-bound and bulk sedimentary nitrogen isotopes from IODP Site U1357", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601817"}, {"dataset_uid": "601816", "doi": "10.15784/601816", "keywords": "Antarctica; Antarctic Peninsula; Cryosphere; Geochemistry; Sediment", "people": "Jones, Colin; Dove, Isabel; Kelly, Roger; Robinson, Rebecca", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Diatom-bound and bulk sedimentary N isotopes from ODP Site 1098, Western Antarctic Peninsula", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601816"}, {"dataset_uid": "601777", "doi": "10.15784/601777", "keywords": "Antarctica; Antarctic Peninsula; Cryosphere; Sediment Core Data", "people": "Dove, Isabel", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "ODP Site 1098 deglacial diatom assemblage", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601777"}, {"dataset_uid": "601818", "doi": "10.15784/601818", "keywords": "Antarctica; Cryosphere; Geochemistry; Sediment; Wilkes Land", "people": "Dove, Isabel", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Diatom assemblage from IODP Site U1357", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601818"}, {"dataset_uid": "601727", "doi": "10.15784/601727", "keywords": "Antarctica", "people": "Dove, Isabel", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Dissolved nutrients, cell counts, and nitrogen isotope measurements from Chaetoceros socialis culture experiments", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601727"}], "date_created": "Wed, 28 Jul 2021 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "The chemical composition of diatom fossils in the Southern Ocean provides information about the environmental history of Antarctica, including sea ice extent, biological production, and ocean nutrient distribution. The sea ice zone is an important habitat for a group of diatoms, largely from the genus Chaetoceros, that have a unique life cycle stage under environmental stress, when they produce a structure called a resting spore. Resting spores are meant to reseed the surface ocean when conditions are more favorable. The production of these heavy resting spores tends to remove significant amounts of carbon and silicon, essential nutrients, out of the surface ocean. As a result, this group has the potential to remove carbon from the surface ocean and can impact the sedimentary record scientists use to reconstruct environmental change. \r\n\r\nThis project explores the role of resting spores and nutrients in the sedimentary record using the nitrogen isotopic signature of these fossils and how those measurements are used to estimate carbon cycle changes. Measurements of nitrogen stable isotopes of nitrate, biomass, and diatom-bound nitrogen and silicon-to-nitrogen ratios of individual species grown in the laboratory are used to quantify how resting spores record nutrient drawdown in the water column and to what degree their signature is biased toward low nutrient conditions. Laboratory incubations were conducted with surface sediment containing Chaetoceros spp.. The emergence of vegetative cells and subsequent formation of resting spores is manipulated with the addition of nutrients, primarily nitrate. The resulting samples, both of vegetative cells and resting spores were measured for diatom-bound d15N. Resting spore d15N values are consistently lower than the vegetative d15N \r\n from the same incubations. The incubation results will be used to quantify nutrient drawdown in sea ice environments during two contrasting intervals in earth history, the last ice age and the warm Pliocene. The project provided training and research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students. Research efforts in Antarctic earth sciences are disseminated through an interactive display at the home institution and during university sponsored events.\r\n\r\nThis work addresses uncertainties in how Chaetoceros resting spores record surface nutrient conditions in their nitrogen stable isotopic composition, the relative impact of their specific signal with respect to the full sedimentary assemblage, and their potential to bias or enhance environmental reconstructions in the sea ice zone. \r\n", "east": 180.0, "geometry": "POINT(0 -89.999)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Amd/Us; USAP-DC; Antarctica; ISOTOPES; MARINE SEDIMENTS; LABORATORY; USA/NSF; NITROGEN; AMD", "locations": "Antarctica", "north": -60.0, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Robinson, Rebecca", "platforms": "OTHER \u003e PHYSICAL MODELS \u003e LABORATORY", "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -90.0, "title": "The nitrogen isotopic composition of diatom resting spores in Southern Ocean sediments: A source of bias and/or paleoenvironmental information?", "uid": "p0010234", "west": -180.0}, {"awards": "1947094 Sidor, Christian", "bounds_geometry": null, "dataset_titles": null, "datasets": null, "date_created": "Wed, 30 Jun 2021 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "The research supported by this grant centers on the evolution of fossil amphibians (temnospondyls) from the Early Triassic, a crucial time interval in the evolution of life on Earth following the end-Permian mass extinction, specifically based on fossil material from Antarctica, a high-latitude paleoenvironment that may have served as a refuge for tetrapods across the extinction event. Previous records of temnospondyls, mostly reported several decades ago, are highly fragmentary, and their original interpretations are considered dubious or demonstrably erroneous by contemporary workers. The Antarctic record of temnospondyls is of great import in understanding the biotic recovery in terrestrial environments for several reasons. Firstly, temnospondyls, like amphibians today, were highly speciose in the Triassic but were also some of the most susceptible to environmental perturbations and instability. Therefore, temnospondyls provide key insights into the paleoenvironmental conditions, either in place of or alongside other lines of data. Secondly, the record of temnospondyls from the Early Triassic is quite rich, but it is also restricted to a few densely sampled regions, such as the Karoo Basin of South Africa. In order to ascertain whether observed patterns such as an unusual abundance of small-bodied taxa or a lack of faunal overlap between different depositional basins (endemism) are real or merely artifactual, study of additional, less sampled regions takes on great import. Recent collection of substantial new temnospondyl material from several horizons in the Triassic exposure of Antarctica provides the requisite data to begin to address these questions. Finally, correlating the Triassic rocks of Antarctica with those of adjacent regions is largely reliant on comparisons of faunal assemblages. In particular, the middle Fremouw Formation, one of the horizons from which new temnospondyl material was collected, remains of uncertain relation and age due to the paucity of described material. ", "east": null, "geometry": null, "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Temnospondyls; MACROFOSSILS; USA/NSF; FIELD SURVEYS; Permian Extinction; Triassic; Amd/Us; USAP-DC; AMD; ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES; Shackleton Glacier", "locations": "Shackleton Glacier", "north": null, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": "PHANEROZOIC \u003e PALEOZOIC \u003e PERMIAN", "persons": "Sidor, Christian", "platforms": "LAND-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e FIELD SITES \u003e FIELD SURVEYS", "repositories": null, "science_programs": null, "south": null, "title": "A non-amniote perspective on the recovery from the end-Permian extinction at high latitudes: paleobiology of Early Triassic temnospondyls from Antarctica", "uid": "p0010217", "west": null}, {"awards": "1341475 Smith, Nathan; 2001033 Makovicky, Peter; 1341376 Tabor, Neil; 1341645 Makovicky, Peter; 1341304 Sidor, Christian", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-180 -84,-178 -84,-176 -84,-174 -84,-172 -84,-170 -84,-168 -84,-166 -84,-164 -84,-162 -84,-160 -84,-160 -84.3,-160 -84.6,-160 -84.9,-160 -85.2,-160 -85.5,-160 -85.8,-160 -86.1,-160 -86.4,-160 -86.7,-160 -87,-162 -87,-164 -87,-166 -87,-168 -87,-170 -87,-172 -87,-174 -87,-176 -87,-178 -87,180 -87,178.5 -87,177 -87,175.5 -87,174 -87,172.5 -87,171 -87,169.5 -87,168 -87,166.5 -87,165 -87,165 -86.7,165 -86.4,165 -86.1,165 -85.8,165 -85.5,165 -85.2,165 -84.9,165 -84.6,165 -84.3,165 -84,166.5 -84,168 -84,169.5 -84,171 -84,172.5 -84,174 -84,175.5 -84,177 -84,178.5 -84,-180 -84))", "dataset_titles": "Lower Triassic Antarctic vertebrate fossils at Field Museum, Chicago, IL", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "601511", "doi": "10.15784/601511", "keywords": "Allan Hills; Antarctica; Fremouw Formation; Lystrosaurus; Permo-Triassic Extinction; Prolacerta; Sample Location; Thrinaxofon; Triassic", "people": "Makovicky, Peter", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Lower Triassic Antarctic vertebrate fossils at Field Museum, Chicago, IL", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601511"}], "date_created": "Tue, 29 Jun 2021 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "This project will advance our understanding of Antarctic life during the Permian and Triassic. We will apply an interdisciplinary approach to address relationships between environmental change, faunal composition, and biogeographic patterns in the context of the high-latitude strata preserved in the Buckley and Fremouw formations in the Shackleton Glacier region. We will use multiple types of data to assess paleoenvironment, including: 1) paleosol morphology; 2) paleosol geochemistry; 3) pedogenic organic matter; and 4) fossil wood chronology and stable isotopes. The Fremouw Formation of Antarctica preserves the highest paleolatitude tetrapod fauna of the entire Triassic (~70\u00b0 S) and thus has the potential to shed important light on the evolution of polar life during the early Mesozoic. We will collect new fossils from known localities to understand the relationship between Antarctic and southern African tetrapod faunas. Furthermore, we will refine the stratigraphic, sedimentological, and geochronological framework for these Mesozoic faunas, which will include using U/Pb detrital zircon dating to provide the first dates for these vertebrate assemblages. In the lab, we will examine the biology of Triassic vertebrates from Antarctica by comparing their bone and tusk histology to conspecifics from lower paleolatitudes. In addition, we will test Bergmann\u2019s Rule with six species (viz. Lystrosaurus curvatus, L. maccaigi, L. murrayi, Prolacerta broomi, Procolophon trigoniceps, and Thrinaxodon liorhinus). The Early Triassic presents a unique opportunity to perform such investigations as there is no other geologic interval in which species occurring in Antarctica can be compared to conspecifics across a range of paleolatitudes.", "east": -160.0, "geometry": "POINT(-177.5 -85.5)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "REPTILES; FIELD SURVEYS; USA/NSF; PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTIONS; Triassic; USAP-DC; TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS; MACROFOSSILS; Amd/Us; Fossils; Shackleton Glacier; LAND RECORDS; ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES; AMD", "locations": "Shackleton Glacier", "north": -84.0, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Sidor, Christian; Smith, Nathan; Makovicky, Peter; Tabor, Neil", "platforms": "LAND-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e FIELD SITES \u003e FIELD SURVEYS", "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -87.0, "title": "Collaborative Research: Understanding the evolution of high-latitude Permo-Triassic paleoenvironments and their vertebrate communities", "uid": "p0010213", "west": 165.0}, {"awards": "1842049 Kim, Sora; 1842176 Bizimis, Michael; 1842059 Huber, Matthew; 1842115 Jahn, Alexandra", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-56.693516 -64.209061,-56.6823452 -64.209061,-56.6711744 -64.209061,-56.6600036 -64.209061,-56.6488328 -64.209061,-56.637662 -64.209061,-56.6264912 -64.209061,-56.6153204 -64.209061,-56.6041496 -64.209061,-56.5929788 -64.209061,-56.581808 -64.209061,-56.581808 -64.2143344,-56.581808 -64.2196078,-56.581808 -64.2248812,-56.581808 -64.2301546,-56.581808 -64.235428,-56.581808 -64.2407014,-56.581808 -64.2459748,-56.581808 -64.2512482,-56.581808 -64.2565216,-56.581808 -64.261795,-56.5929788 -64.261795,-56.6041496 -64.261795,-56.6153204 -64.261795,-56.6264912 -64.261795,-56.637662 -64.261795,-56.6488328 -64.261795,-56.6600036 -64.261795,-56.6711744 -64.261795,-56.6823452 -64.261795,-56.693516 -64.261795,-56.693516 -64.2565216,-56.693516 -64.2512482,-56.693516 -64.2459748,-56.693516 -64.2407014,-56.693516 -64.235428,-56.693516 -64.2301546,-56.693516 -64.2248812,-56.693516 -64.2196078,-56.693516 -64.2143344,-56.693516 -64.209061))", "dataset_titles": "Data from: Probing the ecology and climate of the Eocene Southern Ocean with sand tiger sharks Striatolamia macrota", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "200183", "doi": "https://doi.org/10.6071/M34T1Z", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "Dryad", "science_program": null, "title": "Data from: Probing the ecology and climate of the Eocene Southern Ocean with sand tiger sharks Striatolamia macrota", "url": "https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.6071/M34T1Z"}], "date_created": "Tue, 15 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "The Earth\u0027s climate has changed through time and during the Eocene Epoch (56 to 34 million years ago) there was a transition from \u0027greenhouse\u0027 to \u0027icehouse\u0027 conditions. During the Eocene, a shift to cooler temperatures at high latitudes resulted in the inception of polar glaciation. This in turn affected the environment for living organisms. This project looks to uncover the interaction between biological, oceanographic, and climate systems for the Eocene in Antarctica using chemical analysis of fossil shark teeth collected during past expeditions. The combination of paleontological and geochemical analyses will provide insight to the past ecology and ocean conditions; climate models will be applied to test the role of tectonics, greenhouse gas concentration and ocean circulation on environmental change during this time period. The study contributes to understanding the interaction of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide and ocean circulation. This project also seeks to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion within the geosciences workforce with efforts targeted to undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral, and early career faculty.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThe research goal is to elucidate the processes leading from the Eocene greenhouse to Oligocene icehouse conditions. Previous explanations for this climate shift centers on Antarctica, where tectonic configurations influenced oceanic gateways, ocean circulation reduced heat transport, and/or greenhouse gas declines prompted glaciation. The team will reconstruct watermass, current, and climate fluctuations proximal to the Antarctic Peninsula using geochemical indicators (oxygen and neodymium isotope composition) from fossil shark teeth collected from Seymour Island. The approach builds on previous shark paleontological studies, incorporates geochemical analyses for environmental reconstruction (i.e., temperature gradients and ocean circulation), and tests hypotheses on Earth System dynamics using novel global climate model simulations with geochemical tracers. This project will advance global climate modeling capabilities with experiments that consider Eocene tectonic configuration within isotope-enabled climate model simulations. A comparison of geochemical results from Eocene climate simulations and empirical records of shark teeth will reveal processes and mechanisms central to the Eocene Antarctic climatic shift.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThis award reflects NSF\u0027s statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation\u0027s intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.", "east": -56.581808, "geometry": "POINT(-56.637662 -64.235428)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "FISH; USA/NSF; OXYGEN ISOTOPE ANALYSIS; WATER MASSES; Amd/Us; AMD; USAP-DC; OXYGEN ISOTOPES; LABORATORY; Seymour Island; Sharks; Striatolamia Macrota", "locations": "Seymour Island", "north": -64.209061, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Integrated System Science; Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": "PHANEROZOIC \u003e CENOZOIC \u003e PALEOGENE \u003e EOCENE", "persons": "Kim, Sora; Scher, Howard; Huber, Matthew; Jahn, Alexandra", "platforms": "OTHER \u003e PHYSICAL MODELS \u003e LABORATORY", "repo": "Dryad", "repositories": "Dryad", "science_programs": null, "south": -64.261795, "title": "Collaborative Research: Integrating Eocene Shark Paleoecology and Climate Modeling to reveal Southern Ocean Circulation and Antarctic Glaciation", "uid": "p0010146", "west": -56.693516}, {"awards": "1908548 Feakins, Sarah; 1908399 Bizimis, Michael", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((74.787 -67.27617,74.816483 -67.27617,74.845966 -67.27617,74.875449 -67.27617,74.904932 -67.27617,74.934415 -67.27617,74.963898 -67.27617,74.993381 -67.27617,75.022864 -67.27617,75.052347 -67.27617,75.08183 -67.27617,75.08183 -67.31817,75.08183 -67.36017,75.08183 -67.40217,75.08183 -67.44417,75.08183 -67.48617,75.08183 -67.52817,75.08183 -67.57017,75.08183 -67.61217,75.08183 -67.65417,75.08183 -67.69617,75.052347 -67.69617,75.022864 -67.69617,74.993381 -67.69617,74.963898 -67.69617,74.934415 -67.69617,74.904932 -67.69617,74.875449 -67.69617,74.845966 -67.69617,74.816483 -67.69617,74.787 -67.69617,74.787 -67.65417,74.787 -67.61217,74.787 -67.57017,74.787 -67.52817,74.787 -67.48617,74.787 -67.44417,74.787 -67.40217,74.787 -67.36017,74.787 -67.31817,74.787 -67.27617))", "dataset_titles": "Ejtibbett/EOTproxymodel: Proxy Model Comparison for the Eocene-Oligocene Transition [Computational Notebook]; Paleoceanography and biomarker data from the Antarctic Peninsula over the past 37-3 million years; Prydz Bay East Antarctica, biomarkers and pollen, 36-33 million years; Sabrina Coast East Antarctica, Pollen and Biomarker Data from 59-38 million years ago; Southern High Latitude Temperature Proxies from the Late Eocene and Early Oligocene [Dataset]", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "200206", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "NCEI", "science_program": null, "title": "Prydz Bay East Antarctica, biomarkers and pollen, 36-33 million years", "url": "https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo-search/study/32052"}, {"dataset_uid": "200317", "doi": "10.25921/n9kg-yw91", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "NCEI", "science_program": null, "title": "Paleoceanography and biomarker data from the Antarctic Peninsula over the past 37-3 million years", "url": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/paleo-search/study/35613"}, {"dataset_uid": "200334", "doi": "10.5281/zenodo.7254786", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "Zenodo", "science_program": null, "title": "Ejtibbett/EOTproxymodel: Proxy Model Comparison for the Eocene-Oligocene Transition [Computational Notebook]", "url": "https://zenodo.org/record/7254786#.Y2BLAeTMI2w"}, {"dataset_uid": "200335", "doi": "10.5281/zenodo.7254536", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "Zenodo", "science_program": null, "title": "Southern High Latitude Temperature Proxies from the Late Eocene and Early Oligocene [Dataset]", "url": "https://zenodo.org/record/7254536#.Y2BLgOTMI2w"}, {"dataset_uid": "200259", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "NCEI", "science_program": null, "title": "Sabrina Coast East Antarctica, Pollen and Biomarker Data from 59-38 million years ago", "url": "https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/34772"}], "date_created": "Sat, 05 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "The East Antarctic Ice Sheet holds the largest volume of freshwater on the planet, in total enough to raise sea level by almost two hundred feet. Even minor adjustments in the volume of ice stored have major implications for coastlines and climates around the world. The question motivating this project is how did the ice grow to cover the continent over thirty million years ago when Antarctica changed from a warmer environment to an ice-covered southern continent? The seafloor of Prydz Bay, a major drainage basin of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS), has been drilled previously to recover sediments dating from millions of years prior to and across the time when inception of continental ice sheets occurred in Antarctica. The last remnants of plant material found as \u0027biomarkers\u0027 in the ocean sediments record the chemical signatures of rain and snowfall that fed the plants and later the expanding glaciers. Sediment carried by glaciers was also deposited on the seafloor and can be analyzed to discover how glaciers flowed across the landscape. Here, the researchers will identify precipitation changes that result from, and drive, ice sheet growth. This study will gather data and further analyze samples from the seafloor sediment archives of the International Ocean Discovery Program\u0027s (IODP) core repositories. Ultimately these findings can help inform temperature-precipitation-ice linkages within climate and ice sheet models. The project will support the training of three female, early career scientists (PhD \u0026 MS students, and research technician) and both PIs and the PhD student will continue their engagement with broadening participation efforts (e.g., Women in Science and Engineering Program; local chapters of Society for the advancement of Native Americans and Chicanos in Science and other access programs) to recruit undergraduate student participants from underrepresented minorities at both campuses and from local community colleges. Antarctic earth science education materials will be assisted by professional illustrations to be open access and used in public education and communication efforts to engage local communities in Los Angeles CA and Columbia SC. \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThe researchers at the University of Southern California and the University of South Carolina will together study the penultimate moment of the early Cenozoic greenhouse climate state: the ~4 million years of global cooling that culminated in the Eocene/Oligocene transition (~34 Ma). Significant gaps remain in the understanding of the conditions that preceded ice expansion on Antarctica. In particular, the supply of raw material for ice sheets (i.e., moisture) and the timing, frequency, and duration of precursor glaciations is poorly constrained. This collaborative proposal combines organic and inorganic proxies to examine how Antarctic hydroclimate changed during the greenhouse to icehouse transition. The central hypothesis is that the hydrological cycle weakened as cooling proceeded. Plant-wax hydrogen and carbon isotopes (hydroclimate proxies) and Hf-Nd isotopes of lithogenous and hydrogenous sediments (mechanical weathering proxies) respond strongly and rapidly to precipitation and glacial advance. This detailed and sensitive combined approach will test whether there were hidden glaciations (and/or warm events) that punctuated the pre-icehouse interval. Studies will be conducted on Prydz Bay marine sediment cores in a depositional area for products of weathering and erosion that were (and are) transported through Lambert Graben from the center of Antarctica. The project will yield proxy information about the presence of plants and the hydroclimate of Antarctica and the timing of glacial advance, and is expected to show drying associated with cooling and ice-sheet growth. The dual approach will untangle climate signals from changes in fluvial versus glacial erosion of plant biomarkers. This proposal is potentially transformative because the combination of organic and inorganic proxies can reveal rapid transitions in aridity and glacial expansion, that may have been missed in slower-response proxies and more distal archives. The research is significant as hydroclimate seems to be a key player in the temperature-cryosphere hysteresis.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThis award reflects NSF\u0027s statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation\u0027s intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.", "east": 75.08183, "geometry": "POINT(74.934415 -67.48617)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "MICROFOSSILS; Prydz Bay; PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTIONS; Sabrina Coast; DROUGHT/PRECIPITATION RECONSTRUCTION; ISOTOPES; AIR TEMPERATURE RECONSTRUCTION", "locations": "Prydz Bay; Sabrina Coast", "north": -67.27617, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Feakins, Sarah; Scher, Howard", "platforms": null, "repo": "NCEI", "repositories": "NCEI; Zenodo", "science_programs": null, "south": -67.69617, "title": "Collaborative Research: Organic and Inorganic Geochemical Investigation of Hydrologic Change in East Antarctica in the 4 Million Years Before Full Glaciation", "uid": "p0010143", "west": 74.787}, {"awards": "1341500 Ryberg, Patricia", "bounds_geometry": null, "dataset_titles": "Images of Fossil Plants of Antarctica", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "601066", "doi": "10.15784/601066", "keywords": "Antarctica; Biota; Fossil; Sample/collection Description; Sample/Collection Description; Transantarctic Mountains", "people": "Ryberg, Patricia", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Images of Fossil Plants of Antarctica", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601066"}], "date_created": "Fri, 09 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "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 \u0026 SVL) during a time of global change, with the overall goal of linking environmental changes with fossil morphology. \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eBroader impacts: \u003cbr/\u003eThe 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.", "east": null, "geometry": null, "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Antarctica; AMD; PLANTS; Victoria Land Basin; Transantarctic Mountains; Amd/Us; USA/NSF; Fossils; SEDIMENTS; FIELD INVESTIGATION; USAP-DC", "locations": "Antarctica; Transantarctic Mountains; Victoria Land Basin", "north": null, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Ryberg, Patricia", "platforms": "LAND-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e FIELD SITES \u003e FIELD INVESTIGATION", "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": null, "title": "RUI: Antarctic Paleobotany: Permian Floral Characteristics in a Sedimentary Setting", "uid": "p0010134", "west": null}, {"awards": "1542962 Anderson, Robert", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-171 -57,-170.8 -57,-170.6 -57,-170.4 -57,-170.2 -57,-170 -57,-169.8 -57,-169.6 -57,-169.4 -57,-169.2 -57,-169 -57,-169 -57.72,-169 -58.44,-169 -59.16,-169 -59.88,-169 -60.6,-169 -61.32,-169 -62.04,-169 -62.76,-169 -63.48,-169 -64.2,-169.2 -64.2,-169.4 -64.2,-169.6 -64.2,-169.8 -64.2,-170 -64.2,-170.2 -64.2,-170.4 -64.2,-170.6 -64.2,-170.8 -64.2,-171 -64.2,-171 -63.48,-171 -62.76,-171 -62.04,-171 -61.32,-171 -60.6,-171 -59.88,-171 -59.16,-171 -58.44,-171 -57.72,-171 -57))", "dataset_titles": "Expedition Data of NBP1702; Water Mass Structure and Bottom Water Formation in the Ice-age Southern Ocean ; Water Mass Structure and Bottom Water Formation in the Ice-age Southern Ocean (SNOWBIRDS)", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "200165", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "BCO-DMO", "science_program": null, "title": "Water Mass Structure and Bottom Water Formation in the Ice-age Southern Ocean (SNOWBIRDS)", "url": "https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/813379/data"}, {"dataset_uid": "200126", "doi": "10.7284/907211", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "R2R", "science_program": null, "title": "Expedition Data of NBP1702", "url": "https://www.rvdata.us/search/cruise/NBP1702"}, {"dataset_uid": "200166", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "NCEI", "science_program": null, "title": "Water Mass Structure and Bottom Water Formation in the Ice-age Southern Ocean ", "url": "https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/31312"}], "date_created": "Fri, 25 Sep 2020 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "General:\r\nScientists established more than 30 years ago that the climate-related variability of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere over Earth\u2019s ice-age cycles was regulated by the ocean. Hypotheses to explain how the ocean that regulates atmospheric carbon dioxide have long been debated, but they have proven to be difficult to test. This project was designed test one leading hypothesis, specifically that the ocean experienced greater density stratification during the ice ages. That is, with greater stratification during the ice ages and the slower replacement of deep water by cold dense water formed near the poles, the deep ocean would have held more carbon dioxide, which is produced by biological respiration of the organic carbon that constantly rains to the abyss in the form of dead organisms and organic debris that sink from the sunlit surface ocean. To test this hypothesis, the degree of ocean stratification during the last ice age and the rate of deep-water replacement was to be constrained by comparing the radiocarbon ages of organisms that grew in the surface ocean and at the sea floor within a critical region around Antarctica, where most of the replacement of deep waters occurs. Completing this work was expected to contribute toward improved models of future climate change. Climate scientists rely on models to estimate the amount of fossil fuel carbon dioxide that will be absorbed by the ocean in the future. Currently the ocean absorbs about 25% of the carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels. Most of this carbon is absorbed in the Southern Ocean (the region around Antarctica). How this will change in the future is poorly known. Models have difficulty representing physical conditions in the Southern Ocean accurately, thereby adding substantial uncertainty to projections of future ocean uptake of carbon dioxide. Results of the proposed study will provide a benchmark to test the ability of models to simulate ocean processes under climate conditions distinctly different from those that occur today, ultimately leading to improvement of the models and to more reliable projections of future absorption of carbon dioxide by the ocean. \r\n\r\nTechnical:\r\nThe project added a research component to an existing scientific expedition to the Southern Ocean, in the region between the Ross Sea and New Zealand, that collected sediment cores at locations down the northern flank of the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge at approximately 170\u00b0W. The goal was to collect sediments at each location deposited since early in the peak of the last ice age. This region is unusual in the Southern Ocean in that sediments deposited during the last ice age contain foraminifera, tiny organisms with calcium carbonate shells, in much greater abundance than in other regions of the Southern Ocean. Foraminifera are widely used as an archive of several geochemical tracers of past ocean conditions. We proposed to compare the radiocarbon age of foraminifera that inhabited the surface ocean with the age of contemporary specimens that grew on the seabed. The difference in age between surface and deep-swelling organisms would have been used to discriminate between two proposed mechanisms of deep water renewal during the ice age: formation in coastal polynyas around the edge of Antarctica, much as occurs today, versus formation by open-ocean convection in deep-water regions far from the continent. If the latter mechanism prevails, then it was expected that surface and deep-dwelling foraminifera would exhibit similar radiocarbon ages. In the case of dominance of deep-water formation in coastal polynyas, one expects to find very different radiocarbon ages in the two populations of foraminifera. In the extreme case of greater ocean stratification during the last ice age, one even expects the surface dwellers to appear to be older than contemporary bottom dwellers because the targeted core sites lie directly under the region where the oldest deep waters outcrop at the surface following their long circuitous transit through the deep ocean. The primary objective of the proposed work was to reconstruct the water mass age structure of the Southern Ocean during the last ice age, which, in turn, is a primary factor that controls the amount of carbon dioxide stored in the deep sea. In addition, the presence of foraminifera in the cores to be recovered provides a valuable resource for many other paleoceanographic applications, such as: 1) the application of nitrogen isotopes to constrain the level of nutrient utilization in the Southern Ocean and, thus, the efficiency of the ocean\u2019s biological pump, 2) the application of neodymium isotopes to constrain the transport history of deep water masses, 3) the application of boron isotopes and boron/calcium ratios to constrain the pH and inorganic carbon system parameters of ice-age seawater, and 4) the exploitation of metal/calcium ratios in foraminifera to reconstruct the temperature (Mg/Ca) and nutrient content (Cd/Ca) of deep waters during the last ice age at a location near their source near Antarctica. \r\n\r\nUnfortunately, the cores were shipped to the core repository in a horizontal orientation and there was sufficient distortion of the sediment that the radiocarbon ages of benthic foraminifera were uninterpretable. Therefore, we report only the radiocarbon dates for planktonic foraminifera as well as the total counts of elemental relative abundance from X-ray Fluorescence analysis of the cores. In addition, we used the expedition as an opportunity to collect water samples from which dissolved concentrations of long-lived isotope of thorium and protactinium were determined. Results from those analyses showed that lateral transport by isopycnal mixing dominates the supply of Pa to the Southern Ocean. We have also developed a new algorithm to correct for supply of Th by isopycnal mixing and thereby derive estimates of dust flux to the Southern Ocean. \r\n", "east": -169.0, "geometry": "POINT(-170 -60.6)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES; SEDIMENT CHEMISTRY; South Pacific Ocean; SHIPS", "locations": "South Pacific Ocean", "north": -57.0, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Anderson, Robert; Fleisher, Martin; Pavia, Frank", "platforms": "WATER-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e VESSELS \u003e SURFACE \u003e SHIPS", "repo": "BCO-DMO", "repositories": "BCO-DMO; NCEI; R2R", "science_programs": null, "south": -64.2, "title": "Water Mass Structure and Bottom Water Formation in the Ice-age Southern Ocean", "uid": "p0010130", "west": -171.0}, {"awards": "1341661 Near, Thomas", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-180 -60,-144 -60,-108 -60,-72 -60,-36 -60,0 -60,36 -60,72 -60,108 -60,144 -60,180 -60,180 -63,180 -66,180 -69,180 -72,180 -75,180 -78,180 -81,180 -84,180 -87,180 -90,144 -90,108 -90,72 -90,36 -90,0 -90,-36 -90,-72 -90,-108 -90,-144 -90,-180 -90,-180 -87,-180 -84,-180 -81,-180 -78,-180 -75,-180 -72,-180 -69,-180 -66,-180 -63,-180 -60))", "dataset_titles": "Phylogenomics of Antarctic notothenioid fishes", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "601264", "doi": null, "keywords": "Adaptive Radiation; Antarctica; Fish; Notothenioidei; Phylogeny; Southern Ocean; Speciation", "people": "Dornburg, Alex; Near, Thomas", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Phylogenomics of Antarctic notothenioid fishes", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601264"}, {"dataset_uid": "601262", "doi": "10.15784/601262", "keywords": "Adaptive Radiation; Antarctica; Fish; Notothenioidei; Phylogeny; Southern Ocean; Speciation", "people": "Near, Thomas; Dornburg, Alex", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Phylogenomics of Antarctic notothenioid fishes", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601262"}], "date_created": "Sat, 29 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Understanding how groups of organisms respond to climate change is fundamentally important to assessing the impacts of human activities as well as understanding how past climatic shifts have shaped biological diversity over deep stretches of time. The fishes occupying the near-shore marine habitats around Antarctica are dominated by one group of closely related species called notothenioids. It appears dramatic changes in Antarctic climate were important in the origin and evolutionary diversification of this economically important lineage of fishes. Deposits of fossil fishes in Antarctica that were formed when the continent was experiencing milder temperatures show that the area was home to a much more diverse array of fish lineages. Today the waters of the Southern Ocean are very cold, and often below freezing, but notothenioids fishes exhibit a number of adaptions to live in this harsh set of marine habitats, including the presence of anti-freeze proteins. This research project will collect DNA sequences from hundreds of genes to infer the genealogical relationships of nearly all 124 notothenioid species, and use mathematical techniques to estimate the ages of species and lineages. Knowledge on the timing of evolutionary divergence in notothenioids will allow investigators to assess if timing of previous major climatic shifts in Antarctica are correlated with key events in the formation of the modern Southern Ocean fish fauna. The project will also further the NSF goals of making scientific discoveries available to the general public and of training new generations of scientists. The project will support educational outreach activities to teenager groups and to the general public through a natural history museum exhibit and other public lectures. It will provide professional training opportunities for graduate students and a postdoctoral research scholar. \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eAdaptive radiation, where lineages experience high rates of evolutionary diversification coincident with ecological divergence, is mostly studied in island ecosystems. Notothenioids dominate the fish fauna of the Southern Ocean and exhibit antifreeze glycoproteins that allow occupation of the subzero waters. Notothenioids are noted as one of the only examples of adaptive radiation among marine fishes, but the evolutionary history of diversification and radiation into different ecological habitats is poorly understood. This research will generate a species phylogeny (evolutionary history) for nearly all of the 124 recognized notothenioid species to investigate the mechanisms of adaptive radiation in this lineage. The phylogeny is inferred from approximately 350 genes sampled using next generation DNA sequencing and related techniques. Morphometric data are taken for museum specimens to investigate the tempo of morphological diversification and to determine if there are correlations between rates of lineage diversification and the origin of morphological disparity. The patterns of lineage, morphological, and ecological diversification in the notothenioid radiation will be compared to the paleoclimatic record to determine if past instances of global climate change have shaped the evolutionary diversification of this lineage of polar-adapted fishes.", "east": 180.0, "geometry": "POINT(0 -89.999)", "instruments": "NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE", "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "FISH; Fish; AMD; USA/NSF; Southern Ocean; Amd/Us; NOT APPLICABLE; USAP-DC; MARINE ECOSYSTEMS; Notothenioidei; Phylogeny", "locations": "Southern Ocean", "north": -60.0, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Near, Thomas", "platforms": "OTHER \u003e NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE", "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -90.0, "title": "Phylogenomic Study of Adaptive Radiation in Antarctic Fishes", "uid": "p0010087", "west": -180.0}, {"awards": "1341432 Brzezinski, Mark; 1341464 Robinson, Rebecca", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-175 -54,-174 -54,-173 -54,-172 -54,-171 -54,-170 -54,-169 -54,-168 -54,-167 -54,-166 -54,-165 -54,-165 -55.3,-165 -56.6,-165 -57.9,-165 -59.2,-165 -60.5,-165 -61.8,-165 -63.1,-165 -64.4,-165 -65.7,-165 -67,-166 -67,-167 -67,-168 -67,-169 -67,-170 -67,-171 -67,-172 -67,-173 -67,-174 -67,-175 -67,-175 -65.7,-175 -64.4,-175 -63.1,-175 -61.8,-175 -60.5,-175 -59.2,-175 -57.9,-175 -56.6,-175 -55.3,-175 -54))", "dataset_titles": "Diatom assemblage counts from NBP17-02 shipboard carboy experiments; Dissolved nutrient profiles from along 170\u00b0W between 67 and 54\u00b0S; Expedition Data of NBP1702; Particle composition measurements from along 170\u00b0W between 67-54\u00b0S; Particulate silicon and nitrogen concentrations and isotopic composition measurements in McLane pump profiles from 67\u00b0S to 55\u00b0S latitude in the Pacific Sector of the Southern Ocean; Silicon concentration and isotopic composition measurements in pore waters and sediments from 67\u00b0S to 55\u00b0S latitude in the Pacific Sector of the Southern Ocean; Surface Southern Ocean community growouts to evaluate the diatom bound N isotope proxy", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "601269", "doi": "10.15784/601269", "keywords": "Antarctica; Chlorophyll; Southern Ocean", "people": "Robinson, Rebecca; Brzezinski, Mark", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Dissolved nutrient profiles from along 170\u00b0W between 67 and 54\u00b0S", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601269"}, {"dataset_uid": "601562", "doi": "10.15784/601562", "keywords": "Antarctica; Biogenic Silica; Chemistry:sediment; Chemistry:Sediment; Lithogenic Silica; Marine Geoscience; NBP1702; Pore Water Biogeochemistry; Sediment; Silicon Cycle; Silicon Stable Isotope; Southern Ocean", "people": "Closset, Ivia; Brzezinski, Mark; Jones, Janice L.", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Silicon concentration and isotopic composition measurements in pore waters and sediments from 67\u00b0S to 55\u00b0S latitude in the Pacific Sector of the Southern Ocean", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601562"}, {"dataset_uid": "601576", "doi": "10.15784/601576", "keywords": "Antarctica; Biogenic Silica; Chemistry:sediment; Chemistry:Sediment; Diatom; Diatom Bound; Lithogenic Silica; Marine Geoscience; NBP1702; Nitrogen Isotopes; Silicon Cycle; Silicon Stable Isotope; Southern Ocean", "people": "Jones, Janice L.; Closset, Ivia; Robinson, Rebecca; Brzezinski, Mark", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": " Particulate silicon and nitrogen concentrations and isotopic composition measurements in McLane pump profiles from 67\u00b0S to 55\u00b0S latitude in the Pacific Sector of the Southern Ocean", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601576"}, {"dataset_uid": "601523", "doi": "10.15784/601523", "keywords": "Antarctica; Biota; Carboy Growouts; Diatom; Diatom Assemblage Data; NBP1702; Oceans; R/v Nathaniel B. Palmer; Southern Ocean; Southern Ocean Summer", "people": "Riesselman, Christina; Jones, Colin; Robinson, Rebecca; Robinson, Rebecca ", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Diatom assemblage counts from NBP17-02 shipboard carboy experiments", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601523"}, {"dataset_uid": "601276", "doi": "10.15784/601276", "keywords": "Antarctica; Biogenic Silica; Nitrogen Isotopes; Southern Ocean", "people": "Robinson, Rebecca; Brzezinski, Mark", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Particle composition measurements from along 170\u00b0W between 67-54\u00b0S", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601276"}, {"dataset_uid": "601522", "doi": "10.15784/601522", "keywords": "Antarctica; Nitrogen Isotopes; Oceans; Paleoproxies; Southern Ocean", "people": "Kelly, Roger; Robinson, Rebecca ; Brzezinski, Mark; Robinson, Rebecca; Riesselman, Christina; Closset, Ivia; Jones, Colin", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Surface Southern Ocean community growouts to evaluate the diatom bound N isotope proxy", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601522"}, {"dataset_uid": "200126", "doi": "10.7284/907211", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "R2R", "science_program": null, "title": "Expedition Data of NBP1702", "url": "https://www.rvdata.us/search/cruise/NBP1702"}], "date_created": "Wed, 26 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "The rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and associated climate changes make understanding the role of the ocean in large scale carbon cycle a priority. Geologic samples allow exploration of potential mechanisms for carbon dioxide drawdown during glacial periods through the use of geochemical proxies. Nitrogen and silicon isotope signatures from fossil diatoms (microscopic plants) are used to investigate changes in the physical supply and biological demand for nutrients (like nitrogen and silicon and carbon) in the Southern Ocean. The project will evaluate the use the nitrogen and silicon isotope proxies through a series of laboratory experiments and Southern Ocean field sampling. The results will provide quantification of real relationships between nitrogen and silicon isotopes and nutrient usage in the Southern Ocean and allow exploration of the role of other factors, including biological diversity, ice cover, and mixing, in altering the chemical signatures recorded by diatoms. Seafloor sediment samples will be used to evaluate how well the signal created in the water column is recorded by fossil diatoms buried in the seafloor. Improving the nutrient isotope proxies will allow for a more quantitative understanding of the role of polar biology in regulating natural variation in atmospheric carbon dioxide. The project will also result in the training of a graduate student and development of outreach materials targeting a broad popular audience.\r\n\r\nThis project seeks to test the fidelity of the diatom nitrogen and silicon isotope proxies, two commonly used paleoceanographic tools for investigating the role of the Southern Ocean biological pump in regulating atmospheric CO2 concentrations on glacial-interglacial timescales. Existing ground-truthing data, including culture experiments, surface sediment data and downcore reconstructions, all suggest that nutrient utilization is the primary driver of isotopic variation in the Southern Ocean. However, strong contribution of interspecific variation is implied by recent culture results. Moreover, field and laboratory studies present some contradictory results in terms of the relative importance of interspecific variation and of inferred post-depositional alteration of the nutrient isotope signals. Here, a first order test of the N and Si diatom nutrient isotope paleo-proxies, involving water column dissolved and particulate sampling and laboratory culturing of field-isolates, is proposed. Southern Ocean water, biomass, live diatoms and fossil diatom sampling will be conducted to investigate species and assemblage related variability in diatom nitrogen and silicon isotopes and their relationship to surface nutrient fields and early diagenesis. Access to fresh materials produced in an analogous environmental context to the sediments of primary interest is critical for making robust paleoceanographic reconstructions. Field sampling will occur along 175\u00b0W, transecting the Antarctic Circumpolar Current from the subtropics to the marginal ice edge. Collection of water, sinking/suspended particles and multi-core samples from 13 stations and 3 shipboard incubation experiments will be used to test four proposed hypotheses that together evaluate the significance of existing culture results and seek to allow the best use of diatom nutrient isotope proxies in evaluating the biological pump.", "east": -165.0, "geometry": "POINT(-170 -60.5)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Southern Ocean; AMD; NITROGEN ISOTOPES; R/V NBP; NSF/USA; NUTRIENTS; USAP-DC; Amd/Us", "locations": "Southern Ocean", "north": -54.0, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Robinson, Rebecca; Brzezinski, Mark", "platforms": "WATER-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e VESSELS \u003e SURFACE \u003e R/V NBP", "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "R2R; USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -67.0, "title": "Collaborative Proposal: A Field and Laboratory Examination of the Diatom N and Si Isotope Proxies: Implications for Assessing the Southern Ocean Biological Pump", "uid": "p0010083", "west": -175.0}, {"awards": "1443424 McMahon, Kelton; 1443585 Polito, Michael; 1826712 McMahon, Kelton; 1443386 Emslie, Steven", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-180 -60,-166 -60,-152 -60,-138 -60,-124 -60,-110 -60,-96 -60,-82 -60,-68 -60,-54 -60,-40 -60,-40 -61.8,-40 -63.6,-40 -65.4,-40 -67.2,-40 -69,-40 -70.8,-40 -72.6,-40 -74.4,-40 -76.2,-40 -78,-54 -78,-68 -78,-82 -78,-96 -78,-110 -78,-124 -78,-138 -78,-152 -78,-166 -78,180 -78,178 -78,176 -78,174 -78,172 -78,170 -78,168 -78,166 -78,164 -78,162 -78,160 -78,160 -76.2,160 -74.4,160 -72.6,160 -70.8,160 -69,160 -67.2,160 -65.4,160 -63.6,160 -61.8,160 -60,162 -60,164 -60,166 -60,168 -60,170 -60,172 -60,174 -60,176 -60,178 -60,-180 -60))", "dataset_titles": "Amino acid nitrogen isotope values of modern and ancient Ad\u00e9lie penguin eggshells from the Ross Sea and Antarctic Peninsula regions; Amino acid nitrogen isotope values of penguins from the Antarctic Peninsula region 1930s to 2010s; Ancient Adelie penguin colony revealed by snowmelt at Cape Irizar, Ross Sea, Antarctica; Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values of Antarctic Krill from the South Shetland Islands and the northern Antarctic Peninsula 2007 and 2009; Radiocarbon dates from pygoscelid penguin tissues excavated at Stranger Point, King George Island, Antarctic Peninsula; Radiocarbon dating and stable isotope values of penguin and seal tissues recovered from ornithogenic soils on Platter Island, Danger Islands Archipelago, Antarctic Peninsula in December 2015.; Radioisotope dates and carbon (\u03b413C) and nitrogen (\u03b415N) stable isotope values from modern and mummified Ad\u00e9lie Penguin chick carcasses and tissue from the Ross Sea, Antarctica; Radiometric dating, geochemical proxies, and predator biological remains obtained from aquatic sediment cores on South Georgia Island.; Receding ice drove parallel expansions in Southern Ocean penguin; SNP data from \"Receding ice drove parallel expansions in Southern Ocean penguins\".; Stable isotope analysis of multiple tissues from chick carcasses of three pygoscelid penguins in Antarctica; The rise and fall of an ancient Adelie penguin \u0027supercolony\u0027 at Cape Adare, Antarctica", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "601509", "doi": "10.15784/601509", "keywords": "Antarctica; Antarctic Fur Seal; Elemental Concentrations; King Penguin; Population Dynamics; South Atlantic Ocean; South Georgia Island; Stable Isotope Analysis; Sub-Antarctic", "people": "Maiti, Kanchan; McMahon, Kelton; Kristan, Allyson; Polito, Michael", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Radiometric dating, geochemical proxies, and predator biological remains obtained from aquatic sediment cores on South Georgia Island.", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601509"}, {"dataset_uid": "200180", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "NCBI BioProject", "science_program": null, "title": "Receding ice drove parallel expansions in Southern Ocean penguin", "url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/?term=PRJNA589336"}, {"dataset_uid": "601212", "doi": "10.15784/601212", "keywords": "Abandoned Colonies; Antarctica; Antarctic Peninsula; Beach Deposit; Geochronology; Glaciers/ice Sheet; Glaciers/Ice Sheet; Glaciology; Holocene; Penguin; Radiocarbon; Radiocarbon Dates; Snow/ice; Snow/Ice; Stranger Point", "people": "Emslie, Steven", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Radiocarbon dates from pygoscelid penguin tissues excavated at Stranger Point, King George Island, Antarctic Peninsula", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601212"}, {"dataset_uid": "601210", "doi": "10.15784/601210", "keywords": "Antarctica; Antarctic Krill; Antarctic Peninsula; Biota; Carbon Isotopes; Isotope Data; Krill; Nitrogen Isotopes; Oceans; Southern Ocean; Stable Isotope Analysis", "people": "Polito, Michael", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values of Antarctic Krill from the South Shetland Islands and the northern Antarctic Peninsula 2007 and 2009", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601210"}, {"dataset_uid": "601364", "doi": "10.15784/601364", "keywords": "Antarctica; Antarctic Peninsula; Arctocephalus Gazella; Carbon; Holocene; Nitrogen; Paleoecology; Penguin; Pygoscelis Spp.; Stable Isotope Analysis; Weddell Sea", "people": "Polito, Michael; Clucas, Gemma; Herman, Rachael; Kalvakaalva, Rohit", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Radiocarbon dating and stable isotope values of penguin and seal tissues recovered from ornithogenic soils on Platter Island, Danger Islands Archipelago, Antarctic Peninsula in December 2015.", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601364"}, {"dataset_uid": "601760", "doi": "10.15784/601760", "keywords": "Adelie Penguin; Amino Acids; Antarctica; Antarctic Peninsula; Ross Sea; Stable Isotope Analysis; Trophic Position", "people": "Emslie, Steven; Wonder, Michael; Michelson, Chantel; Polito, Michael; McMahon, Kelton; Patterson, William; McCarthy, Matthew", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Amino acid nitrogen isotope values of modern and ancient Ad\u00e9lie penguin eggshells from the Ross Sea and Antarctic Peninsula regions", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601760"}, {"dataset_uid": "601374", "doi": "10.15784/601374", "keywords": "Adelie Penguin; Antarctica; Cape Irizar; Drygalski Ice Tongue; Ross Sea; Stable Isotopes", "people": "Emslie, Steven", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Ancient Adelie penguin colony revealed by snowmelt at Cape Irizar, Ross Sea, Antarctica", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601374"}, {"dataset_uid": "601232", "doi": "10.15784/601232", "keywords": "Amino Acids; Antarctica; Antarctic Peninsula; Biota; Isotope Data; Nitrogen Isotopes; Oceans; Penguin; Southern Ocean; Stable Isotope Analysis", "people": "Polito, Michael; McMahon, Kelton", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Amino acid nitrogen isotope values of penguins from the Antarctic Peninsula region 1930s to 2010s", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601232"}, {"dataset_uid": "601382", "doi": "10.15784/601382", "keywords": "25 De Mayo/King George Island; Antarctica; Biota; Delta 13C; Delta 15N; Dietary Shifts; Opportunistic Sampling; Penguin; Pygoscelis Penguins; Stranger Point", "people": "Emslie, Steven; Ciriani, Yanina", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Stable isotope analysis of multiple tissues from chick carcasses of three pygoscelid penguins in Antarctica", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601382"}, {"dataset_uid": "200181", "doi": "10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4475300.v1", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "Figshare", "science_program": null, "title": "SNP data from \"Receding ice drove parallel expansions in Southern Ocean penguins\".", "url": "https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4475300.v1"}, {"dataset_uid": "601327", "doi": "10.15784/601327", "keywords": "Adelie Penguin; Antarctica; Biota; Cape Adare; East Antarctica; Population Movement; Pygoscelis Adeliae; Radiocarbon; Ross Sea; Sea Level Rise; Stable Isotopes", "people": "Emslie, Steven; McKenzie, Ashley; Patterson, William", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "The rise and fall of an ancient Adelie penguin \u0027supercolony\u0027 at Cape Adare, Antarctica", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601327"}, {"dataset_uid": "601263", "doi": "10.15784/601263", "keywords": "Abandoned Colonies; Antarctica; Holocene; Penguin; Ross Sea; Stable Isotope Analysis", "people": "Patterson, William; Emslie, Steven; Kristan, Allyson", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Radioisotope dates and carbon (\u03b413C) and nitrogen (\u03b415N) stable isotope values from modern and mummified Ad\u00e9lie Penguin chick carcasses and tissue from the Ross Sea, Antarctica", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601263"}], "date_created": "Thu, 08 Aug 2019 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "The Antarctic marine ecosystem is highly productive and supports a diverse range of ecologically and commercially important species. A key species in this ecosystem is Antarctic krill, which in addition to being commercially harvested, is the principle prey of a wide range of marine organisms including penguins, seals and whales. The aim of this study is to use penguins and other krill predators as sensitive indicators of past changes in the Antarctic marine food web resulting from climate variability and the historic harvesting of seals and whales by humans. Specifically this study will recover and analyze modern (\u003c20 year old), historic (20-200 year old) and ancient (200-10,000 year old) penguin and other krill predator tissues to track their past diets and population movements relative to shifts in climate and the availability of Antarctic krill. Understanding how krill predators were affected by these factors in the past will allow us to better understand how these predators, the krill they depend on, and the Antarctic marine ecosystem as a whole will respond to current challenges such as global climate change and an expanding commercial fishery for Antarctic krill. The project will further the NSF goals of training new generations of scientists and of making scientific discoveries available to the general public. This project will support the cross-institutional training of undergraduate and graduate students in advanced analytical techniques in the fields of ecology and biogeochemistry. In addition, this project includes educational outreach aimed encouraging participation in science careers by engaging K-12 students in scientific issues related to Antarctica, penguins, marine ecology, biogeochemistry, and global climate change.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThis research will help place recent ecological changes in the Southern Ocean into a larger historical context by examining decadal and millennial-scale shifts in the diets and population movements of Antarctic krill predators (penguins, seals, and squid) in concert with climate variability and commercial harvesting. This will be achieved by coupling advanced stable and radio isotope techniques, particularly compound-specific stable isotope analysis, with unprecedented access to modern, historical, and well-preserved paleo-archives of Antarctic predator tissues dating throughout the Holocene. This approach will allow the project to empirically test if observed shifts in Antarctic predator bulk tissue stable isotope values over the past millennia were caused by climate-driven shifts at the base of the food web in addition to, or rather than, shifts in predator diets due to a competitive release following the historic harvesting of krill eating whale and seals. In addition, this project will track the large-scale abandonment and reoccupation of penguin colonies around Antarctica in response to changes in climate and sea ice conditions over the past several millennia. These integrated field studies and laboratory analyses will provide new insights into the underlying mechanisms that influenced past shifts in the diets and population movements of charismatic krill predators such as penguins. This will allow for improved projections of the ecosystem consequences of future climate change and anthropogenic harvesting scenarios in the Antarctica that are likely to affect the availability of Antarctic krill.", "east": -40.0, "geometry": "POINT(-120 -69)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "ANIMAL ECOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR; South Shetland Islands; Penguin; Stable Isotopes; Polar; Ross Sea; USA/NSF; Weddell Sea; AMD; MARINE ECOSYSTEMS; USAP-DC; Antarctica; PENGUINS; Southern Hemisphere; FIELD INVESTIGATION; Amd/Us; Krill; MACROFOSSILS", "locations": "Southern Hemisphere; Ross Sea; South Shetland Islands; Weddell Sea; Polar; Antarctica", "north": -60.0, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems; Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems; Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems; Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Polito, Michael; Emslie, Steven; Kelton, McMahon; Patterson, William; McCarthy, Matthew", "platforms": "LAND-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e FIELD SITES \u003e FIELD INVESTIGATION", "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "Figshare; NCBI BioProject; USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -78.0, "title": "Collaborative Research: Investigating Holocene Shifts in the Diets and Paleohistory of Antarctic Krill Predators", "uid": "p0010047", "west": 160.0}, {"awards": "1246357 Bart, Philip", "bounds_geometry": null, "dataset_titles": "NBP1502 Cruise Geophysics and underway data; NBP1502 YoYo camera benthic images from Ross Sea", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "601182", "doi": "10.15784/601182", "keywords": "Antarctica; Benthic; Benthic Images; Benthos; Bentic Fauna; Camera Tow; Marine Geoscience; Marine Sediments; NBP1502; Photo; Photo/video; Photo/Video; Ross Sea; R/v Nathaniel B. Palmer; Southern Ocean; Yoyo Camera", "people": "Bart, Philip", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "NBP1502 YoYo camera benthic images from Ross Sea", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601182"}, {"dataset_uid": "000245", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "R2R", "science_program": null, "title": "NBP1502 Cruise Geophysics and underway data", "url": "https://www.rvdata.us/search/cruise/NBP1502"}], "date_created": "Mon, 03 Jun 2019 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Intellectual Merit:\n\nEvidence from the eastern Ross Sea continental shelf indicates that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet advanced and retreated during the last glacial cycle, but it is unclear whether the ice sheet advanced to the shelf edge or just to the middle shelf. These two end-member scenarios offer different interpretations as to why, how, and when the West Antarctic Ice Sheet oscillated. The PI proposes to acquire seismic, multibeam, and core data from Whales Deep, to evaluate the timing and duration of two advances of grounded ice to the outer and middle shelf of the Whales Deep Basin, a West Antarctic Ice Sheet paleo ice stream trough in eastern Ross Sea. Grounding events are represented by seismically resolvable Grounding Zone Wedges. The PI will collect radiocarbon dates on in situ benthic foraminifera from the grounding zone diamict as well as ramped pyrolysis radiocarbon dates on acid insoluble organics from open-marine mud overlying the grounding zone diamict. Using these data the PI will calculate the duration of the two grounding events. Furthermore, the PI will test a numerical model prediction that West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat must have involved melting at the marine terminus of the ice sheet. Pore-water from the grounding zone diamict will be extracted from piston cores to determine salinity and \u03b418O values that should indicate if significant melting occurred at the grounding line.\n\nBroader impacts:\n\nThe data collected will provide constraints on the timing and pattern of Last Glacial Maximum advance and retreat that can be incorporated into interpretations of ice-surface elevation changes. The proposed activities will provide valuable field and research training to undergraduate/graduate students and a Louisiana high-school science teacher. The research will be interactively shared with middle- and high-school science students and with visitors to the LSU Museum of Natural Science Weekend-Science Program. ", "east": null, "geometry": null, "instruments": "IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e AIRGUN ARRAYS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e SEISMIC REFLECTION PROFILERS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e LONG STREAMERS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e ACOUSTIC SOUNDERS \u003e MSBS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e CORERS \u003e CORING DEVICES; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PHOTON/OPTICAL DETECTORS \u003e CAMERAS \u003e CAMERA; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e CHEMICAL METERS/ANALYZERS \u003e FLUOROMETERS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e MAGNETIC/MOTION SENSORS \u003e GRAVIMETERS \u003e GRAVIMETERS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e RECORDERS/LOGGERS \u003e AWS; EARTH REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS \u003e PASSIVE REMOTE SENSING \u003e POSITIONING/NAVIGATION \u003e GPS \u003e GPS; EARTH REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS \u003e ACTIVE REMOTE SENSING \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e ACOUSTIC SOUNDERS \u003e ECHO SOUNDERS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e ACOUSTIC SOUNDERS \u003e MBES; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e THERMOSALINOGRAPHS", "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "STRATIGRAPHIC SEQUENCE; R/V NBP; Ross Sea; Antarctica; MICROFOSSILS; RADIOCARBON; PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTIONS; SEDIMENTS; Southern Ocean; OCEANS; GEOSCIENTIFIC INFORMATION", "locations": "Antarctica; Ross Sea; Southern Ocean", "north": null, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Bart, Philip; Steinberg, Deborah", "platforms": "WATER-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e VESSELS \u003e SURFACE \u003e R/V NBP", "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "R2R; USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": null, "title": "Timing and Duration of the LGM and Post-LGM Grounding Events in Whales Deep Paleo Ice Stream, Eastern Ross Sea Middle Continental Shelf", "uid": "p0000877", "west": null}, {"awards": "1544526 Omelon, Christopher", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((160 -76.5,160.37 -76.5,160.74 -76.5,161.11 -76.5,161.48 -76.5,161.85 -76.5,162.22 -76.5,162.59 -76.5,162.96 -76.5,163.33 -76.5,163.7 -76.5,163.7 -76.63,163.7 -76.76,163.7 -76.89,163.7 -77.02,163.7 -77.15,163.7 -77.28,163.7 -77.41,163.7 -77.54,163.7 -77.67,163.7 -77.8,163.33 -77.8,162.96 -77.8,162.59 -77.8,162.22 -77.8,161.85 -77.8,161.48 -77.8,161.11 -77.8,160.74 -77.8,160.37 -77.8,160 -77.8,160 -77.67,160 -77.54,160 -77.41,160 -77.28,160 -77.15,160 -77.02,160 -76.89,160 -76.76,160 -76.63,160 -76.5))", "dataset_titles": null, "datasets": null, "date_created": "Thu, 09 May 2019 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Cryptoendoliths are organisms that colonize microscopic cavities of rocks, which give them protection and allow them to inhabit extreme environments, such as the cold, arid desert of the Dry Valleys of Antarctica. Fossilized cryptoendoliths preserve the forms and features of organisms from the past and thus provide a unique opportunity to study the organisms\u0027 life histories and environments. To study this fossil record, there needs to be a better understanding of what environmental conditions allow these fossils to form. A climate gradient currently exists in the Dry Valleys that allows us to study living, dead, and fossilized cryptoendoliths from mild to increasingly harsh environments; providing insight to the limits of life and how these fossils are formed. This project will develop instruments to detect the biological activity of the live microorganisms and conduct laboratory experiments to determine the environmental limits of their survival. The project also will characterize the chemical and structural features of the living, dead, and fossilized cryptoendoliths to understand how they become fossilized. Knowing how microorganisms are preserved as fossils in cold and dry environments like Antarctica can help to refine methods that can be used to search for and identify evidence for extraterrestrial life in similar habitats on planets such as Mars. This project includes training of graduate and undergraduate students.\r\n\r\nLittle is known about cryptoendolithic microfossils and their formation processes in cold, arid terrestrial habitats of the Dry Valleys of Antarctica, where a legacy of activity is discernible in the form of biosignatures including inorganic materials and microbial fossils that preserve and indicate traces of past biological activity. The overarching goals of the proposed work are: (1) to determine how rates of microbial respiration and biodegradation of organic matter control microbial fossilization; and (2) to characterize microbial fossils and their living counterparts to elucidate mechanisms for fossilization. Using samples collected across an increasingly harsher (more cold and dry) climatic gradient that encompasses living, dead, and fossilized cryptoendolithic microorganisms, the proposed work will: (1) develop an instrument to be used in the field that can measure small concentrations of CO2 in cryptoendolithic habitats in situ; (2) use microscopy techniques to characterize endolithic microorganisms as well as the chemical and morphological characteristics of biosignatures and microbial fossils. A metagenomic survey of microbial communities in these samples will be used to characterize differences in diversity, identify if specific microorganisms (e.g. prokaryotes, eukaryotes) are more capable of surviving under these harsh climatic conditions, and to corroborate microscopic observations of the viability states of these microorganisms.", "east": 163.7, "geometry": "POINT(161.85 -77.15)", "instruments": "NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE", "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "USAP-DC; Antarctica; NOT APPLICABLE; TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS", "locations": "Antarctica", "north": -76.5, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Omelon, Christopher; Breecker, Daniel; Bennett, Philip", "platforms": "OTHER \u003e NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE", "repositories": null, "science_programs": null, "south": -77.8, "title": "Activity, Preservation and Fossilization of Cryptoendolithic Microorganisms in Antarctica", "uid": "p0010028", "west": 160.0}, {"awards": "1543031 Ivany, Linda", "bounds_geometry": null, "dataset_titles": "NetCDF outputs from middle Eocene climate simulation using the GENESIS global circulation model ; Organic carbon isotope data from serially sampled Eocene driftwood from the La Meseta Fm., Seymour ; Oxygen isotope data from serially sampled Eocene bivalves from the La Meseta Fm., Seymour Island, Antarctica ", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "601173", "doi": "10.15784/601173 ", "keywords": "Antarctica; Carbon Isotopes; Driftwood; Eocene; Geochemistry; Geochronology; Isotope Data; La Meseta Formation; Mass Spectrometer; Mass Spectrometry; Organic Carbon Isotopes; Seasonality; Seymour Island; Wood", "people": "Judd, Emily", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Organic carbon isotope data from serially sampled Eocene driftwood from the La Meseta Fm., Seymour ", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601173"}, {"dataset_uid": "601175", "doi": "10.15784/601175 ", "keywords": "Antarctica; Atmosphere; Climate Model; Computer Model; Eocene; Genesis; Global Circulation Model; Modeling; Model Output; Seasonality; Temperature", "people": "Judd, Emily", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "NetCDF outputs from middle Eocene climate simulation using the GENESIS global circulation model ", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601175"}, {"dataset_uid": "601174", "doi": "10.15784/601174", "keywords": "Antarctica; Biota; Bivalves; Cucullaea; Eocene; Glaciers/ice Sheet; Glaciers/Ice Sheet; Isotope Data; La Meseta Formation; Mass Spectrometer; Mass Spectrometry; Oxygen Isotope; Paleotemperature; Retrotapes; Seasonality; Seymour Island", "people": "Judd, Emily", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Oxygen isotope data from serially sampled Eocene bivalves from the La Meseta Fm., Seymour Island, Antarctica ", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601174"}], "date_created": "Tue, 23 Apr 2019 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "In order to understand what environmental conditions might look like for future generations, we need to turn to archives of past times when the world was indeed warmer, before anyone was around to commit them to collective memory. The geologic record of Earth\u0027s past offers a glimpse of what could be in store for the future. Research by Ivany and her team looks to Antarctica during a time of past global warmth to see how seasonality of temperature and rainfall in coastal settings are likely to change in the future. They will use the chemistry of fossils (a natural archive of these variables) to test a provocative hypothesis about near-monsoonal conditions in the high latitudes when the oceans are warm. If true, we can expect high-latitude shipping lanes to become more hazardous and fragile marine ecosystems adapted to constant cold temperatures to suffer. With growing information about how human activities are likely to affect the planet in the future, we will be able to make more informed decisions about policies today. This research involves an international team of scholars, including several women scientists, training of graduate students, and a public museum exhibit to educate children about how we study Earth\u0027s ancient climate and what we can learn from it.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eAntarctica is key to an understanding how Earth?s climate system works under conditions of elevated CO2. The poles are the most sensitive regions on the planet to climate change, and the equator-to-pole temperature gradient and the degree to which high-latitude warming is amplified are important components for climate models to capture. Accurate proxy data with good age control are therefore critical for testing numerical models and establishing global patterns. The La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island is the only documented marine section from the globally warm Eocene Epoch exposed in outcrop on the continent; hence its climate record is integral to studies of warming. Early data suggest the potential for strongly seasonal precipitation and runoff in coastal settings. This collaboration among paleontologists, geochemists, and climate modelers will test this using seasonally resolved del-18O data from fossil shallow marine bivalves to track the evolution of seasonality through the section, in combination with independent proxies for the composition of summer precipitation (leaf wax del-D) and local seawater (clumped isotopes). The impact of the anticipated salinity stratification on regional climate will be evaluated in the context of numerical climate model simulations. In addition to providing greater clarity on high-latitude conditions during this time of high CO2, the combination of proxy and model results will provide insights about how Eocene warmth may have been maintained and how subsequent cooling came about. As well, a new approach to the analysis of shell carbonates for 87Sr/86Sr will allow refinements in age control so as to allow correlation of this important section with other regions to clarify global climate gradients. The project outlined here will develop new and detailed paleoclimate records from existing samples using well-tuned as well as newer proxies applied here in novel ways. Seasonal extremes are climate parameters generally inaccessible to most studies but critical to an understanding of climate change; these are possible to resolve in this well-preserved, accretionary-macrofossil-bearing section. This is an integrated study that links marine and terrestrial climate records for a key region of the planet across the most significant climate transition in the Cenozoic.", "east": -56.0, "geometry": "POINT(-56.5 -64.25)", "instruments": "NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE", "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTIONS; USAP-DC; ISOTOPES; NOT APPLICABLE; MACROFOSSILS; Antarctica", "locations": "Antarctica", "north": -64.0, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Ivany, Linda; Lu, Zunli; Junium, Christopher; Samson, Scott", "platforms": "OTHER \u003e NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE", "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -64.5, "title": "Seasonality, Summer Cooling, and Calibrating the Approach of the Icehouse in Late Eocene Antarctica", "uid": "p0010025", "west": -57.0}, {"awards": "1341612 Bowser, Samuel", "bounds_geometry": null, "dataset_titles": "Aerial survey of Explorers Cove shoreline, late January 2005; Astrammina rara genome sequencing and assembly; Astrammina triangularis genome sequencing and assembly; Crithionina delacai mitochondrial genome sequence and assembly; Scanning electron micrographs: Influence of heavy metal (Pb, Cd) exposure on shell morphogenesis in Astrammina rara, a giant agglutinated Antarctic foraminiferan protist", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "601138", "doi": "10.15784/601138", "keywords": "Antarctica; Biota; Foraminifera; Heavy Metal Toxicity; Scanning Electron Microscop; Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) Images; Scanning Electron Microscopy; Transantarctic Mountains", "people": "Bowser, Samuel; Andreas, Amanda", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Scanning electron micrographs: Influence of heavy metal (Pb, Cd) exposure on shell morphogenesis in Astrammina rara, a giant agglutinated Antarctic foraminiferan protist", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601138"}, {"dataset_uid": "200090", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "NCBI GenBank", "science_program": null, "title": "Astrammina rara genome sequencing and assembly", "url": "https://dataview.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/object/PRJNA521081?reviewer=25e190ih1svottjkrrpfa7huoe"}, {"dataset_uid": "601229", "doi": "10.15784/601229", "keywords": "Aerial Imagery; Antarctica; Camera; Delta; Freshwater; Helicopter; Moat; Shoreline Survey; Small Ponds; Snow Melt; Tide Pools", "people": "Alexander, Steve; Bowser, Samuel", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Aerial survey of Explorers Cove shoreline, late January 2005", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601229"}, {"dataset_uid": "200089", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "NCBI GenBank", "science_program": null, "title": "Astrammina triangularis genome sequencing and assembly", "url": "https://dataview.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/object/PRJNA521279?reviewer=g418tpq02sif2g6do94dpmmjdv"}, {"dataset_uid": "200091", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "NCBI GenBank", "science_program": null, "title": "Crithionina delacai mitochondrial genome sequence and assembly", "url": "https://dataview.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/object/PRJNA592714?reviewer=ivse8455h3gfaiilg4nqle0vm1"}], "date_created": "Thu, 29 Nov 2018 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Agglutinated foraminifera (forams for short) are early-evolving, single-celled organisms. These \"living fossils\" construct protective shells using sediment grains held together by adhesive substances that they secrete. During shell construction, agglutinated forams display amazing properties of selection - for example, some species build their shells of clear quartz grains, while other species use only grains of a specific size. Understanding how these single cells assemble complex structures may contribute to nanotechnology by enabling people to use forams as \"cellular machines\" to aid in the construction of nano-devices. This project will analyze the genomes of at least six key foram species, and then \"mine\" these genomes for technologically useful products and processes. The project will focus initially on the adhesive materials forams secrete, which may have wide application in biomedicine and biotechnology. Furthermore, the work will further develop a molecular toolkit which could open up new avenues of research on the physiology, ecology, and population dynamics of this important group of Antarctic organisms. The project will also further the NSF goals of making scientific discoveries available to the general public and of training new generations of scientists. Educational experiences related to the \"thrill of scientific exploration and discovery\" for students and the general public will be provided through freely-available short films and a traveling art/science exhibition. The project will also provide hands-on research opportunities for undergraduate students.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eExplorers Cove, situated on the western shore of McMurdo Sound, harbors a unique population of foraminiferan taxa at depths accessible by scuba diving that otherwise are primarily found in the deep sea. The project will use next-generation DNA sequencing and microdissection methods to obtain and analyze nuclear and mitochondrial genomes from crown members of two species each from three distinct, early-evolving foraminiferal groups. It will also use next generation sequencing methods to characterize the in-situ prokaryotic assemblages (microbiomes) of one of these groups and compare them to reference sediment microbiomes. The phyogenomic studies of the targeted Antarctic genera will help fill significant gaps in our current understanding of early foram evolution. Furthermore, comparative genomic analyses of these six species are expected to yield a better understanding of the physiology of single-chambered agglutinated forams, especially the bioadhesive proteins and regulatory factors involved in shell composition and morphogenesis. Additionally, the molecular basis of cold adaptation in forams will be examined, particularly with respect to key proteins.", "east": null, "geometry": null, "instruments": "NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE", "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "USAP-DC; NOT APPLICABLE", "locations": null, "north": null, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Bowser, Samuel", "platforms": "OTHER \u003e NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE", "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "NCBI GenBank; USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": null, "title": "Assembling and Mining the Genomes of Giant Antarctic Foraminifera", "uid": "p0000004", "west": null}, {"awards": "1341729 Kirschvink, Joseph", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-58.9 -63.5,-58.63 -63.5,-58.36 -63.5,-58.09 -63.5,-57.82 -63.5,-57.55 -63.5,-57.28 -63.5,-57.01 -63.5,-56.74 -63.5,-56.47 -63.5,-56.2 -63.5,-56.2 -63.62,-56.2 -63.74,-56.2 -63.86,-56.2 -63.98,-56.2 -64.1,-56.2 -64.22,-56.2 -64.34,-56.2 -64.46,-56.2 -64.58,-56.2 -64.7,-56.47 -64.7,-56.74 -64.7,-57.01 -64.7,-57.28 -64.7,-57.55 -64.7,-57.82 -64.7,-58.09 -64.7,-58.36 -64.7,-58.63 -64.7,-58.9 -64.7,-58.9 -64.58,-58.9 -64.46,-58.9 -64.34,-58.9 -64.22,-58.9 -64.1,-58.9 -63.98,-58.9 -63.86,-58.9 -63.74,-58.9 -63.62,-58.9 -63.5))", "dataset_titles": "2016 Paleomagnetic samples from the James Ross Basin, Antarctica; Expedition data of NBP1601", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "002665", "doi": null, "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "R2R", "science_program": null, "title": "Expedition data of NBP1601", "url": "https://www.rvdata.us/search/cruise/NBP1601"}, {"dataset_uid": "601094", "doi": "10.15784/601094", "keywords": "Antarctica; Geochronology; Geology/Geophysics - Other; Glaciology; James Ross Basin; Marine Geoscience; Marine Sediments", "people": "Skinner, Steven; Kirschvink, Joseph", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "2016 Paleomagnetic samples from the James Ross Basin, Antarctica", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601094"}], "date_created": "Fri, 27 Apr 2018 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Non-Technical Summary:\u003cbr/\u003e About 80 million years ago, the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula in the vicinity of what is now James Ross Island experienced an episode of rapid subsidence, creating a broad depositional basin that collected sediments eroding from the high mountains to the West. This depression accumulated a thick sequence of fossil-rich, organic-rich sediments of the sort that are known to preserve hydrocarbons, and for which Argentina, Chile, and the United Kingdom have overlapping territorial claims. The rocks preserve one of the highest resolution records of the biological and climatic events that led to the eventual death of the dinosaurs at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary (about 66 million years ago). A previous collaboration between scientists from the Instituto Ant\u00c3\u00a1rtico Argentino (IAA) and NSF-supported teams from Caltech and the University of Washington were able to show that this mass extinction event started nearly 50,000 years before the sudden impact of an asteroid. The asteroid obviously hit the biosphere hard, but something else knocked it off balance well before the asteroid hit. \u003cbr/\u003e A critical component of the previous work was the use of reversals in the polarity of the Earth?s magnetic field as a dating tool ? magnetostratigraphy. This allowed the teams to correlate the pattern of magnetic reversals from Antarctica with elsewhere on the planet. This includes data from a major volcanic eruption (a flood basalt province) that covered much of India 65 million years ago. The magnetic patterns indicate that the Antarctic extinction started with the first pulse of this massive eruption, which was also coincident with a rapid spike in polar temperature. The Argentinian and US collaborative teams will extend this magnetic polarity record back another ~ 20 million years in time, and expand it laterally to provide magnetic reversal time lines across the depositional basin. They hope to recover the end of the Cretaceous Long Normal interval, which is one of the most distinctive events in the history of Earth?s magnetic field. The new data should refine depositional models of the basin, allow better estimates of potential hydrocarbon reserves, and allow biotic events in the Southern hemisphere to be compared more precisely with those elsewhere on Earth. Other potential benefits of this work include exposing several US students and postdoctoral fellows to field based research in Antarctica, expanding the international aspects of this collaborative work via joint IAA/US field deployments, and follow-up laboratory investigations and personnel exchange of the Junior scientists.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eTechnical Description of Project \u003cbr/\u003eThe proposed research will extend the stratigraphic record in the late Cretaceous and early Tertiary sediments (~ 83 to 65 Ma before present) of the James Ross Basin, Antarctica, using paleo-magnetic methods. Recent efforts provided new methods to analyze these rocks, yielding their primary magnetization, and producing both magnetic polarity patterns and paleomagnetic pole positions. This provided the first reliable age constraints for the younger sediments on Seymour Island, and quantified the sedimentation rate in this part of the basin. The new data will allow resolution of the stable, remnant magnetization of the sediments from the high deposition rate James Ross basin (Tobin et al., 2012), yielding precise chronology/stratigraphy. This approach will be extended to the re-maining portions of this sedimentary basin, and will allow quantitative estimates for tectonic and sedimentary processes between Cretaceous and Early Tertiary time. The proposed field work will refine the position of several geomagnetic reversals that occurred be-tween the end of the Cretaceous long normal period (Chron 34N, ~ 83 Ma), and the lower portion of Chron 31R (~ 71 Ma). Brandy Bay provides the best locality for calibrating the stratigraphic position of the top of the Cretaceous Long Normal Chron, C34N. Although the top of the Cretaceous long normal Chron is one of the most important correlation horizons in the entire geological timescale, it is not properly correlated to the southern hemisphere biostratigraphy. Locating this event, as well as the other reversals, will be a major addition to understanding of the geological history of the Antarctic Peninsula. These data will also help refine tectonic models for the evolution of the Southern continents, which will be of use across the board for workers in Cretaceous stratigraphy (including those involved in oil exploration).\u003cbr/\u003eThis research is a collaborative effort with Dr. Edward Olivero of the Centro Austral de Investigaciones Cientificas (CADIC/CONICET) and Prof. Augusto Rapalini of the University of Buenos Aires. The collaboration will include collection of samples on their future field excursions to important targets on and around James Ross Island, supported by the Argentinian Antarctic Program (IAA). Argentinian scientists and students will also be involved in the US Antarctic program deployments, proposed here for the R/V Laurence Gould, and will continue the pattern of joint international publication of the results.", "east": -56.2, "geometry": "POINT(-57.55 -64.1)", "instruments": "IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e CTD; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e CHEMICAL METERS/ANALYZERS \u003e FLUOROMETERS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e MAGNETIC/MOTION SENSORS \u003e GRAVIMETERS \u003e GRAVIMETERS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e RECORDERS/LOGGERS \u003e AWS; EARTH REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS \u003e PASSIVE REMOTE SENSING \u003e POSITIONING/NAVIGATION \u003e GPS \u003e GPS; EARTH REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS \u003e ACTIVE REMOTE SENSING \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e ACOUSTIC SOUNDERS \u003e ECHO SOUNDERS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e THERMOSALINOGRAPHS; NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE", "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "NOT APPLICABLE; R/V NBP; USAP-DC", "locations": null, "north": -63.5, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Kirschvink, Joseph; Christensen, John", "platforms": "OTHER \u003e NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE; WATER-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e VESSELS \u003e SURFACE \u003e R/V NBP", "repo": "R2R", "repositories": "R2R; USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -64.7, "title": "Paleomagnetism and Magnetostratigraphy of the James Ross Basin, Antarctica", "uid": "p0000276", "west": -58.9}, {"awards": "1142129 Lamanna, Matthew", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-60 -63.5,-59.6 -63.5,-59.2 -63.5,-58.8 -63.5,-58.4 -63.5,-58 -63.5,-57.6 -63.5,-57.2 -63.5,-56.8 -63.5,-56.4 -63.5,-56 -63.5,-56 -63.7,-56 -63.9,-56 -64.1,-56 -64.3,-56 -64.5,-56 -64.7,-56 -64.9,-56 -65.1,-56 -65.3,-56 -65.5,-56.4 -65.5,-56.8 -65.5,-57.2 -65.5,-57.6 -65.5,-58 -65.5,-58.4 -65.5,-58.8 -65.5,-59.2 -65.5,-59.6 -65.5,-60 -65.5,-60 -65.3,-60 -65.1,-60 -64.9,-60 -64.7,-60 -64.5,-60 -64.3,-60 -64.1,-60 -63.9,-60 -63.7,-60 -63.5))", "dataset_titles": "2008-2016 AMNH accessioned vertebrate fossils from Seymour Island; 3D digital reconstructions of vocal organs of Antarctic Cretaceous bird Vegavis and Paleogene bird Presbyornis", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "601112", "doi": "10.15784/601112", "keywords": "Antarctica; Biota; Penguin; Seymour Island; Vertebrates", "people": "MacPhee, Ross", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "2008-2016 AMNH accessioned vertebrate fossils from Seymour Island", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601112"}, {"dataset_uid": "601035", "doi": "10.15784/601035", "keywords": "Antarctica; Biota; Birds", "people": "Clarke, Julia; Lamanna, Matthew; Salisbury, Steven", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "3D digital reconstructions of vocal organs of Antarctic Cretaceous bird Vegavis and Paleogene bird Presbyornis", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601035"}], "date_created": "Wed, 12 Jul 2017 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Intellectual Merit: \u003cbr/\u003eThe role that Antarctica has played in vertebrate evolution and paleobiogeography during the Late Cretaceous and early Paleogene is largely unknown. Evidence indicates that Antarctica was home to a diverse flora during the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene, yet the vertebrates that must have existed on the continent remain virtually unknown. To fill this gap, the PIs have formed the Antarctic Vertebrate Paleontology Initiative (AVPI), whose goal is to search for and collect Late Cretaceous-Paleogene vertebrate fossils in Antarctica at localities that have never been properly surveyed, as well as in areas of proven potential. Two field seasons are proposed for the James Ross Island Group on the northeastern margin of the Antarctic Peninsula. Expected finds include chondrichthyan and osteichthyan fishes, marine reptiles, ornithischian and non-avian theropod dinosaurs, ornithurine birds, and therian and non-therian mammals. Hypotheses to be tested include: 1) multiple extant bird and/or therian mammal lineages originated during the Cretaceous and survived the K-Pg boundary extinction event; 2) the \"Scotia Portal\" permitted the dispersal of continental vertebrates between Antarctica and South America prior to the latest Cretaceous and through to the late Paleocene or early Eocene; 3) Late Cretaceous non-avian dinosaurs from Antarctica are closely related to coeval taxa from other Gondwanan landmasses; 4) terminal Cretaceous marine reptile faunas from southern Gondwana differed from contemporaneous but more northerly assemblages; and 5) the collapse of Antarctic ichthyofaunal diversity during the K-Pg transition was triggered by a catastrophic extinction.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eBroader impacts: \u003cbr/\u003eThe PIs will communicate discoveries to audiences through a variety of channels, such as the Dinosaurs in Their Time exhibition at Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the outreach programs of the Environmental Science Institute of the University of Texas at Austin. In addition, Carnegie Museum will launch a student-oriented programming initiative using AVPI research as a primary focus. This array of activities will help some 2,000 Pittsburgh-area undergraduates to explore the relevance of deep-time discoveries to critical modern issues. The AVPI will provide research opportunities for eight undergraduate and three graduate students, several of whom will receive field training in Antarctica. Fossils will be accessioned into the Carnegie Museum collection, and made accessible virtually through the NSF-funded Digital Morphology library at University of Texas.", "east": -56.0, "geometry": "POINT(-58 -64.5)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "USAP-DC; Not provided", "locations": null, "north": -63.5, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Lamanna, Matthew", "platforms": "Not provided", "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -65.5, "title": "Collaborative Research: Late Cretaceous-Paleogene Vertebrates from Antarctica: Implications for Paleobiogeography, Paleoenvironment, and Extinction in Polar Gondwana", "uid": "p0000380", "west": -60.0}, {"awards": "1246387 Guo, Weifu", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-79.9183333 35.441666667,-55.16316667 35.441666667,-30.40800004 35.441666667,-5.65283341 35.441666667,19.10233322 35.441666667,43.85749985 35.441666667,68.61266648 35.441666667,93.36783311 35.441666667,118.12299974 35.441666667,142.87816637 35.441666667,167.633333 35.441666667,167.633333 25.9255333333,167.633333 16.4093999996,167.633333 6.8932666659,167.633333 -2.6228666678,167.633333 -12.1390000015,167.633333 -21.6551333352,167.633333 -31.1712666689,167.633333 -40.6874000026,167.633333 -50.2035333363,167.633333 -59.71966667,142.87816637 -59.71966667,118.12299974 -59.71966667,93.36783311 -59.71966667,68.61266648 -59.71966667,43.85749985 -59.71966667,19.10233322 -59.71966667,-5.65283341 -59.71966667,-30.40800004 -59.71966667,-55.16316667 -59.71966667,-79.9183333 -59.71966667,-79.9183333 -50.2035333363,-79.9183333 -40.6874000026,-79.9183333 -31.1712666689,-79.9183333 -21.6551333352,-79.9183333 -12.1390000015,-79.9183333 -2.6228666678,-79.9183333 6.8932666659,-79.9183333 16.4093999996,-79.9183333 25.9255333333,-79.9183333 35.441666667))", "dataset_titles": "Clumped isotope composition of modern cold water corals", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "000205", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "EarthChem", "science_program": null, "title": "Clumped isotope composition of modern cold water corals", "url": "http://www.earthchem.org/"}], "date_created": "Fri, 07 Jul 2017 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "This proposed research aims to produce high resolution, precise and accurate records of deep water temperatures in the Drake Passage over the past ~40,000 years, by applying the newly developed carbonate clumped isotope thermometer to a unique collection of modern and fossil deep-sea corals, and thus advance the understanding of the role of the Southern Ocean in modulating global climate. In addition, this study will provide further evaluation on the potential of this new thermometer to derive accurate estimates of past ocean temperatures from deep-sea coral skeletons. Funding will support an early-career junior scientist and a graduate student. \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eDespite its crucial role in modulating global climate, rates and amplitudes of environmental changes in the Southern Ocean are often difficult to constrain. In particular, the knowledge about the deep water temperatures in the Southern Ocean during the last glacial cycle is extremely limited. This results both from the lack of well-dated climate archives for the deep Southern Ocean and from the fact that most existing temperature proxies (e.g. del18O and Mg/Ca of foraminifera and corals) suffer from the biological \u0027vital effects\u0027. The latter is especially problematic; it causes substantial challenges in interpreting these geochemical proxies and can lead to biases equivalent to tens of degrees in temperature estimates. Recent development of carbonate clumped isotope thermometer, holds new promises for reconstructing deep water temperatures in the Southern Ocean, since calibration studies of this thermometer in deep-sea corals suggest it is largely free of vital effects. This proposed research seeks to refine the calibration of carbonate clumped isotope thermometer in deep-sea corals at low temperatures, improve the experimental methods to obtain high precision in temperature estimates, and then apply this thermometer to a unique collection of modern and fossil deep-sea corals collected from the Drake Passage during two recent Office of Polar Programs (OPP)-funded cruises, that have already been dated by radiocarbon and U-series methods. By combining the reconstructed temperatures with the radiocarbon and U-Th ages for these deep-sea corals, this study will explore the relationships between these temperature changes and global climate changes.", "east": 167.633333, "geometry": "POINT(43.85749985 -12.1390000015)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Not provided", "locations": null, "north": 35.441666667, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Guo, Weifu", "platforms": "Not provided", "repo": "EarthChem", "repositories": "EarthChem", "science_programs": null, "south": -59.71966667, "title": "Reconstruction of Deep-Water Temperatures in the Drake Passage Over the Last Glacial Cycle: Application of Carbonate Clumped Isotope Thermometer to Absolutely-Dated Deep-Sea Corals", "uid": "p0000389", "west": -79.9183333}, {"awards": "1244253 Hammer, William; 1246379 Smith, Nathan", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((160 -85,160.6 -85,161.2 -85,161.8 -85,162.4 -85,163 -85,163.6 -85,164.2 -85,164.8 -85,165.4 -85,166 -85,166 -85.2,166 -85.4,166 -85.6,166 -85.8,166 -86,166 -86.2,166 -86.4,166 -86.6,166 -86.8,166 -87,165.4 -87,164.8 -87,164.2 -87,163.6 -87,163 -87,162.4 -87,161.8 -87,161.2 -87,160.6 -87,160 -87,160 -86.8,160 -86.6,160 -86.4,160 -86.2,160 -86,160 -85.8,160 -85.6,160 -85.4,160 -85.2,160 -85))", "dataset_titles": "Continued Research on the Jurassic Vertebrate Fauna from the Beardmore Glacier Region of Antarctica; Vertebrate fossils from the Hanson Formation at Mt. Kirkpatrick, in the Beardmore Glacier region of Antarctica", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "600173", "doi": "10.15784/600173", "keywords": "Antarctica; Beardmore Glacier; Biota; Dinosaurs; Fossil; Transantarctic Mountains", "people": "Hammer, William R.", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Continued Research on the Jurassic Vertebrate Fauna from the Beardmore Glacier Region of Antarctica", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/600173"}, {"dataset_uid": "601016", "doi": "10.15784/601016", "keywords": "Antarctica; Beardmore Glacier; Biota; Fossil; Sample/collection Description; Sample/Collection Description; Solid Earth; Transantarctic Mountains", "people": "Smith, Nathan", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Vertebrate fossils from the Hanson Formation at Mt. Kirkpatrick, in the Beardmore Glacier region of Antarctica", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601016"}], "date_created": "Tue, 25 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Intellectual Merit: \u003cbr/\u003eThis proposal requests support for research on Early Jurassic vertebrate fauna of the Beardmore Glacier region of Antarctica. The project will support preparation and systematic and paleobiological research on four Antarctic dinosaurs, including two new species, collected in the Central Transantarctic Mountains. With the new material Cryolophosaurus will become one of the most complete Early Jurassic theropods known, and thus has the potential to become a keystone taxon for resolving the debated early evolutionary history of theropod dinosaurs, the group that gave rise to birds. Two new dinosaur specimens include a nearly complete articulated skeleton of a juvenile sauropodomorph, and the articulated hip region of another small individual. Both appear to be new taxa. The dinosaurs from the Hanson Formation represent some of the highest paleolatitude vertebrates known from the Jurassic. The PIs will generate CT datasets for Cryolophosaurus and the more complete new sauropodomorph species to mine for phylogenetic trait information, and to investigate their comparative neuroanatomy and feeding behavior. Histological datasets will be generated from multiple skeletal elements for all four Mt. Kirkpatrick taxa to understand patterns of growth in different clades of polar dinosaurs and compare them to relatives from lower paleolatitudes. This paleohistological study of a relatively diverse sample of sauropodomorph taxa from Antarctica may contribute to determining whether and how these dinosaurs responded to contemporary climatic extremes.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eBroader impacts: \u003cbr/\u003eThe PIs have established a successful undergraduate training program as part of previous research. Summer interns from Augustana are trained at the Field Museum in specimen preparation, curation, molding/casting, and histological sampling. They also participate in existing Field Museum REU programs, including a course on phylogenetic systematics. Four undergraduate internships and student research projects will be supported through this proposal. The PIs will develop a traveling exhibit on Antarctic Mesozoic paleontology that they estimate will be seen by 2.5 million people over the five-year tour.", "east": 166.0, "geometry": "POINT(163 -86)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Not provided", "locations": null, "north": -85.0, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Smith, Nathan; Makovicky, Peter", "platforms": "Not provided", "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -87.0, "title": "Collaborative Research: Continued Research on the Jurassic Vertebrate Fauna from the Beardmore Glacier Region of Antarctica", "uid": "p0000083", "west": 160.0}, {"awards": "0947821 Ashworth, Allan", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-180 -85.095235,-145.3719418 -85.095235,-110.7438836 -85.095235,-76.1158254 -85.095235,-41.4877672 -85.095235,-6.859709 -85.095235,27.7683492 -85.095235,62.3964074 -85.095235,97.0244656 -85.095235,131.6525238 -85.095235,166.280582 -85.095235,166.280582 -85.0996451,166.280582 -85.1040552,166.280582 -85.1084653,166.280582 -85.1128754,166.280582 -85.1172855,166.280582 -85.1216956,166.280582 -85.1261057,166.280582 -85.1305158,166.280582 -85.1349259,166.280582 -85.139336,131.6525238 -85.139336,97.0244656 -85.139336,62.3964074 -85.139336,27.7683492 -85.139336,-6.859709 -85.139336,-41.4877672 -85.139336,-76.1158254 -85.139336,-110.7438836 -85.139336,-145.3719418 -85.139336,180 -85.139336,178.6280582 -85.139336,177.2561164 -85.139336,175.8841746 -85.139336,174.5122328 -85.139336,173.140291 -85.139336,171.7683492 -85.139336,170.3964074 -85.139336,169.0244656 -85.139336,167.6525238 -85.139336,166.280582 -85.139336,166.280582 -85.1349259,166.280582 -85.1305158,166.280582 -85.1261057,166.280582 -85.1216956,166.280582 -85.1172855,166.280582 -85.1128754,166.280582 -85.1084653,166.280582 -85.1040552,166.280582 -85.0996451,166.280582 -85.095235,167.6525238 -85.095235,169.0244656 -85.095235,170.3964074 -85.095235,171.7683492 -85.095235,173.140291 -85.095235,174.5122328 -85.095235,175.8841746 -85.095235,177.2561164 -85.095235,178.6280582 -85.095235,-180 -85.095235))", "dataset_titles": "Neogene Paleoecology of the Beardmore Glacier Region", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "600387", "doi": "10.15784/600387", "keywords": "Antarctica; Beardmore Glacier; Biota; Fossil; GPS; Oliver Bluffs; Paleoclimate; Sample/collection Description; Sample/Collection Description; Seeds; Solid Earth; Transantarctic Mountains", "people": "Ashworth, Allan", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Neogene Paleoecology of the Beardmore Glacier Region", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/600387"}], "date_created": "Thu, 12 Jan 2017 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Intellectual Merit: \u003cbr/\u003eThe primary goal of this project is to sample two beds in the Meyer Desert Formation, which are known to be especially fossiliferous containing plants, insects, other arthropods, freshwater mollusks, and fish. There is a possibility that the teeth and bones of a small marsupial could also be found. Previous studies have demonstrated that these horizons contain unique fossil assemblages that provide information used to reconstruct paleoenvironments and paleoclimate. The fossils represent organisms previously not found in Antarctica and consequently their study will lead to the development of new hypotheses concerning southern hemisphere biogeography. The new discoveries will also increase knowledge of paleoenvironments and paleoclimates as well as biogeographic relationships of the biota of the southern hemisphere. For some organisms, such as Nothofagus (Southern Beech) or the trechine groundbeetle, fossils would confirm that Antarctica was inhabited as part of Gondwana. For other fossils, such as the cyclorrhaphan fly or freshwater mollusks not expected to have inhabited Antarctica, the discoveries will require a reassessment of phylogenetic interpretations and a reinvestigation of the role of Antarctica in the evolutionary history of those organisms. The new fossil-based knowledge will require integration with interpretations from cladistics and molecular genetics to develop more comprehensive phylogenetic hypotheses for a range of organisms.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eBroader impacts: \u003cbr/\u003eThe discovery of fossils in Antarctica and implications for climate change has proven to be popular with the media. This attention will help disseminate the results of this study. Before the field season, the PI will work with local media and with area schools to set up field interviews and web casts from Antarctica. The project will also involve the training of a graduate student in the field and in the follow up studies of the fossils in the laboratory.", "east": 166.280582, "geometry": "POINT(0 -89.999)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Not provided", "locations": null, "north": -85.095235, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Ashworth, Allan", "platforms": "Not provided", "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -85.139336, "title": "Neogene Paleoecology of the Beardmore Glacier Region", "uid": "p0000424", "west": 166.280582}, {"awards": "0944282 Hasiotis, Stephen", "bounds_geometry": "POINT(175 -86)", "dataset_titles": "Paleoenvironmental and Paleoclimatic Analysis of the Beacon Supergroup, Beardmore Glacier Area, Central Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "600156", "doi": "10.15784/600156", "keywords": "Antarctica; Beardmore Glacier; Biota; Fossil; Paleoclimate; Sample/collection Description; Sample/Collection Description; Solid Earth; Transantarctic Mountains", "people": "Hasiotis, Stephen", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Paleoenvironmental and Paleoclimatic Analysis of the Beacon Supergroup, Beardmore Glacier Area, Central Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/600156"}], "date_created": "Fri, 03 Jun 2016 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Intellectual Merit: \u003cbr/\u003eThis proposal will study the diversity, abundance, and tiering patterns of ichnofossils in continental and marine deposits of the Beacon Supergroup in the Beardmore Glacier Area (BGA). The PIs will focus on continental strata that contain a variety of ichnofossils and paleosols. Ichnofossils will be evaluated for their architectural and surficial morphologies, and will be compared to modern and ancient traces to interpret the tracemaker behavior and paleoenvironmental setting. Distribution of ichnofossils within these units may indicate the effect of lateral variability of pedogenesis, the magnitude and frequency of depositional events, and the amount of moisture within the sediment, as well as the effects of climate change. The paleoclimatic significance of ichnofossils will be determined by comparing the burrow size, occurrence, tiering, and pedogenic significance of ichnofossils in measured sections of stratigraphic units deposited during global warming and cooling episodes. Comparisons will be made between BGA formations to stratigraphically equivalent rocks deposited at low paleolatitudes with previously determined paleoclimatic settings. The objectives of this project are to address two major questions: what differences existed in ichnodiversity, abundance, and tiering in marine and continental deposits between high- and low-paleolatitudes, and was there a dearth of habitat usage in continental deposits during the late Paleozoic and Mesozoic, particularly in fluvial and lacustrine environments compared to the habitat usage in the marine realm at that time? \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eBroader impacts: \u003cbr/\u003eThis study will enhance the ability to interpret paleoenvironments to the subenvironmental scale, understand the evolution of soil biota and ecosystems at high paleolatitudes, determine the role of organisms in soil formation at high paleolatitudes, explore the effects of climate change on the body size and diversity of organisms in the soil communities, and develop new tools to interpret paleoclimate in high latitudes. There is a strong education component associated with this proposal.", "east": 175.0, "geometry": "POINT(175 -86)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Not provided", "locations": null, "north": -86.0, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Hasiotis, Stephen", "platforms": "Not provided", "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -86.0, "title": "Paleoenvironmental and Paleoclimatic Analysis of the Beacon Supergroup, Beardmore Glacier Area, Central Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica", "uid": "p0000423", "west": 175.0}, {"awards": "1142052 MacPhee, Ross", "bounds_geometry": null, "dataset_titles": "Expedition data of NBP1602", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "002666", "doi": null, "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "R2R", "science_program": null, "title": "Expedition data of NBP1602", "url": "https://www.rvdata.us/search/cruise/NBP1602"}], "date_created": "Tue, 26 Apr 2016 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "The role that Antarctica has played in vertebrate evolution and paleobiogeography during the Late Cretaceous and early Paleogene is largely unknown. Evidence indicates that Antarctica was home to a diverse flora during the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene, yet the vertebrates that must have existed on the continent remain virtually unknown. To fill this gap, the PIs have formed the Antarctic Vertebrate Paleontology Initiative (AVPI), whose goal is to search for and collect Late Cretaceous-Paleogene vertebrate fossils in Antarctica at localities that have never been properly surveyed, as well as in areas of proven potential. Two field seasons are proposed for the James Ross Island Group on the northeastern margin of the Antarctic Peninsula. Expected finds include chondrichthyan and osteichthyan fishes, marine reptiles, ornithischian and non-avian theropod dinosaurs, ornithurine birds, and therian and non-therian mammals. Hypotheses to be tested include: 1) multiple extant bird and/or therian mammal lineages originated during the Cretaceous and survived the K-Pg boundary extinction event; 2) the ?Scotia Portal? permitted the dispersal of continental vertebrates between Antarctica and South America prior to the latest Cretaceous and through to the late Paleocene or early Eocene; 3) Late Cretaceous non-avian dinosaurs from Antarctica are closely related to coeval taxa from other Gondwanan landmasses; 4) terminal Cretaceous marine reptile faunas from southern Gondwana differed from contemporaneous but more northerly assemblages; and 5) the collapse of Antarctic ichthyofaunal diversity during the K-Pg transition was triggered by a catastrophic extinction.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eBroader impacts: \u003cbr/\u003eThe PIs will communicate discoveries to audiences through a variety of channels, such as the Dinosaurs in Their Time exhibition at Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the outreach programs of the Environmental Science Institute of the University of Texas at Austin. In addition, Carnegie Museum will launch a student-oriented programming initiative using AVPI research as a primary focus. This array of activities will help some 2,000 Pittsburgh-area undergraduates to explore the relevance of deep-time discoveries to critical modern issues. The AVPI will provide research opportunities for eight undergraduate and three graduate students, several of whom will receive field training in Antarctica. Fossils will be accessioned into the Carnegie Museum collection, and made accessible virtually through the NSF-funded Digital Morphology library at University of Texas.", "east": null, "geometry": null, "instruments": "IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e CHEMICAL METERS/ANALYZERS \u003e FLUOROMETERS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e MAGNETIC/MOTION SENSORS \u003e GRAVIMETERS \u003e GRAVIMETERS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e RECORDERS/LOGGERS \u003e AWS; EARTH REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS \u003e PASSIVE REMOTE SENSING \u003e POSITIONING/NAVIGATION \u003e GPS \u003e GPS; EARTH REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS \u003e ACTIVE REMOTE SENSING \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e ACOUSTIC SOUNDERS \u003e ECHO SOUNDERS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e THERMOSALINOGRAPHS", "is_usap_dc": false, "keywords": "R/V NBP", "locations": null, "north": null, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Lamanna, Matthew", "platforms": "WATER-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e VESSELS \u003e SURFACE \u003e R/V NBP", "repo": "R2R", "repositories": "R2R", "science_programs": null, "south": null, "title": "Collaborative Research: Late Cretaceous-Paleogene Vertebrates from Antarctica: Implications for Paleobiogeography, Paleoenvironment, and Extinction in Polar Gondwana", "uid": "p0000854", "west": null}, {"awards": "0838936 Brook, Edward J.; 0839031 Severinghaus, Jeffrey", "bounds_geometry": "POINT(161.75 -77.75)", "dataset_titles": "Measurements of 14C-methane for the Younger Dryas - Preboreal Transition from Taylor Glacier, Antarctica; Measurements of in situ cosmogenic 14C from Taylor Glacier, Antarctica; Taylor Glacier chemistry data and Taylor Dome TD2015 time scale; Taylor Glacier CO2 record; Taylor Glacier Gas Isotope Data", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "601033", "doi": "10.15784/601033", "keywords": "Antarctica; Chemistry:ice; Chemistry:Ice; Geochemistry; Glaciology; Ice Core Records; Isotope; Solid Earth; Taylor Glacier; Transantarctic Mountains", "people": "Severinghaus, Jeffrey P.", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Taylor Glacier Gas Isotope Data", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601033"}, {"dataset_uid": "601029", "doi": "10.15784/601029", "keywords": "Antarctica; Chemistry:rock; Chemistry:Rock; Critical Zone; Geochemistry; Methane; Paleoclimate; Sample/collection Description; Sample/Collection Description; Solid Earth; Taylor Glacier; Transantarctic Mountains; Younger Dryas", "people": "Severinghaus, Jeffrey P.; Petrenko, Vasilii", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Measurements of 14C-methane for the Younger Dryas - Preboreal Transition from Taylor Glacier, Antarctica", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601029"}, {"dataset_uid": "600165", "doi": "10.15784/600165", "keywords": "Antarctica; Cosmogenic; Geochemistry; Ice Core Records; Paleoclimate; Radiocarbon; Taylor Glacier; Transantarctic Mountains", "people": "Severinghaus, Jeffrey P.", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Measurements of in situ cosmogenic 14C from Taylor Glacier, Antarctica", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/600165"}, {"dataset_uid": "000158", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "NCEI", "science_program": null, "title": "Taylor Glacier CO2 record", "url": "ftp://ftp.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/icecore/antarctica/taylor/taylor2016d13co2.txt"}, {"dataset_uid": "601103", "doi": "10.15784/601103", "keywords": "Antarctica; Glaciers/ice Sheet; Glaciers/Ice Sheet; Glaciology; Horizontal Ice Core; Ice Core Records; Taylor Dome; Taylor Dome Ice Core", "people": "Severinghaus, Jeffrey P.", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Taylor Glacier chemistry data and Taylor Dome TD2015 time scale", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601103"}], "date_created": "Tue, 29 Mar 2016 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Severinghaus/0839031 \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThis award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThis award supports a project to develop a precise gas-based chronology for an archive of large-volume samples of the ancient atmosphere, which would enable ultra-trace gas measurements that are currently precluded by sample size limitations of ice cores. The intellectual merit of the proposed work is that it will provide a critical test of the \"clathrate hypothesis\" that methane clathrates contributed to the two abrupt atmospheric methane concentration increases during the last deglaciation 15 and 11 kyr ago. This approach employs large volumes of ice (\u003e1 ton) to measure carbon-14 on past atmospheric methane across the abrupt events. Carbon-14 is an ideal discriminator of fossil sources of methane to the atmosphere, because most methane sources (e.g., wetlands, termites, biomass burning) are rich in carbon-14, whereas clathrates and other fossil sources are devoid of carbon-14. The proposed work is a logical extension to Taylor Glacier, Antarctica, of an approach pioneered at the margin of the Greenland ice sheet over the past 7 years. The Greenland work found higher-than-expected carbon-14 values, likely due in part to contaminants stemming from the high impurity content of Greenland ice and the interaction of the ice with sediments from the glacier bed. The data also pointed to the possibility of a previously unknown process, in-situ cosmogenic production of carbon-14 methane (radiomethane) in the ice matrix. Antarctic ice in Taylor Glacier is orders of magnitude cleaner than the ice at the Greenland site, and is much colder and less stratigraphically disturbed, offering the potential for a clear resolution of this puzzle and a definitive test of the cosmogenic radiomethane hypothesis. Even if cosmogenic radiomethane in ice is found, it still may be possible to reconstruct atmospheric radiomethane with a correction enabled by a detailed understanding of the process, which will be sought by co-measuring carbon-14 in carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. The broader impacts of the proposed work are that the clathrate test may shed light on the stability of the clathrate reservoir and its potential for climate feedbacks under human-induced warming. Development of Taylor Glacier as a \"horizontal ice core\" would provide a community resource for other researchers. Education of one postdoc, one graduate student, and one undergraduate, would add to human resources. This award has field work in Antarctica.", "east": 161.75, "geometry": "POINT(161.75 -77.75)", "instruments": "NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE", "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "NOT APPLICABLE; Not provided; USAP-DC", "locations": null, "north": -77.75, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Glaciology; Antarctic Glaciology", "paleo_time": "PHANEROZOIC \u003e CENOZOIC \u003e QUATERNARY \u003e PLEISTOCENE", "persons": "Brook, Edward J.; Severinghaus, Jeffrey P.", "platforms": "Not provided; OTHER \u003e NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE", "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "NCEI; USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -77.75, "title": "Collaborative Research: A \"Horizontal Ice Core\" for Large-Volume Samples of the Past Atmosphere, Taylor Glacier, Antarctica", "uid": "p0000099", "west": 161.75}, {"awards": "1146399 Sidor, Christian", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((162.41 -84.27,163.409 -84.27,164.408 -84.27,165.407 -84.27,166.406 -84.27,167.405 -84.27,168.404 -84.27,169.403 -84.27,170.402 -84.27,171.401 -84.27,172.4 -84.27,172.4 -84.353,172.4 -84.436,172.4 -84.519,172.4 -84.602,172.4 -84.685,172.4 -84.768,172.4 -84.851,172.4 -84.934,172.4 -85.017,172.4 -85.1,171.401 -85.1,170.402 -85.1,169.403 -85.1,168.404 -85.1,167.405 -85.1,166.406 -85.1,165.407 -85.1,164.408 -85.1,163.409 -85.1,162.41 -85.1,162.41 -85.017,162.41 -84.934,162.41 -84.851,162.41 -84.768,162.41 -84.685,162.41 -84.602,162.41 -84.519,162.41 -84.436,162.41 -84.353,162.41 -84.27))", "dataset_titles": "Preparation of Vertebrate Fossils from the Triassic of Antarctica", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "600144", "doi": "10.15784/600144", "keywords": "Antarctica; Biota; Fossil; Paleoclimate; Sample/collection Description; Sample/Collection Description; Solid Earth; Transantarctic Mountains; Triassic", "people": "Sidor, Christian", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Preparation of Vertebrate Fossils from the Triassic of Antarctica", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/600144"}], "date_created": "Tue, 27 Oct 2015 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Intellectual Merit: \u003cbr/\u003eThe PI requests support for preparation of a large collection of vertebrate fossils recently recovered from the Central Transantarctic Mountains (CTAM) of Antarctica. These fossils will be used to place early Mesozoic Antarctic dinosaurs and other vertebrates into a global evolutionary, biogeographic, and faunal context; assess the degree of endemism in Triassic vertebrate faunas of Antarctica; constrain temporal relationships of the Triassic Antarctic vertebrate faunas; and refine the stratigraphic context for the Triassic Antarctic vertebrate assemblages to establish a paleoenvironmental framework. The lower and middle Triassic fossils offer a rare window on life in terrestrial environments at high-latitudes immediately after the Permian mass extinction. \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eBroader impacts: \u003cbr/\u003eThe PI will use their fossils to educate the public about the geologic, climatic, and biologic history of Antarctica by visiting local schools. They will create and publish at least two new videos to the Burke Museum blog that relate the graduate student?s experience of fieldwork in Antarctica. They will also update the Antarctica section on the UWBM \"Explore Your World\" website with images and findings from their field season.", "east": 172.4, "geometry": "POINT(167.405 -84.685)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Not provided", "locations": null, "north": -84.27, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Sidor, Christian", "platforms": "Not provided", "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -85.1, "title": "Preparation of Vertebrate Fossils from the Triassic of Antarctica", "uid": "p0000418", "west": 162.41}, {"awards": "0943934 Taylor, Edith; 0943935 Isbell, John", "bounds_geometry": null, "dataset_titles": "Portal to search geologic sample collections, Polar Rock Repository, Byrd Polar Research Center, The Ohio State University; Portal to search paleobotanical collections, Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "001377", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "PRR", "science_program": null, "title": "Portal to search geologic sample collections, Polar Rock Repository, Byrd Polar Research Center, The Ohio State University", "url": "http://research.bpcrc.osu.edu/rr/"}, {"dataset_uid": "002567", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "PI website", "science_program": null, "title": "Portal to search paleobotanical collections, Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas", "url": "http://biodiversity.ku.edu/paleobotany/collections/collections-search"}, {"dataset_uid": "001402", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "PI website", "science_program": null, "title": "Portal to search paleobotanical collections, Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas", "url": "http://biodiversity.ku.edu/paleobotany/collections/collections-search"}], "date_created": "Tue, 23 Sep 2014 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Intellectual Merit:\u003cbr/\u003eThe focus of this proposal is to collect fossil plants and palynomorphs from Permian-Triassic (P-T) rocks of the central Transantarctic Mountains (CTM), together with detailed data on sedimentologic and paleoecologic depositional environments. Fossil plants are important climate proxies that offer a unique window into the past, and the CTM fossils are an important source of data on the ways that plants responded to a strongly seasonal, polar light regime during a time of global change. The proposed project uses paleobotanical expertise, integrated with detailed sedimentology and stratigraphy, to reconstruct Permian-Triassic plant communities and their paleoenvironments. This interdisciplinary approach could uncover details of Antarctica?s complex late Paleozoic and Mesozoic environmental and climatic history which included: 1) deglaciation, 2) development and evolution of a post-glacial landscape and biota, 3) environmental and biotic change associated with the end-Permian mass extinction, 4) environmental recovery in the earliest Triassic, 5) strong, possible runaway Triassic greenhouse, and 6) widespread orogenesis and development of a foreland basin system. The PIs will collect compression floras both quantitatively and qualitatively to obtain biodiversity and abundance data. Since silicified wood is also present, the PIs will analyze tree rings and growth in a warm, high-latitude environment for which there is no modern analogue. Fossil plants from the CTM can provide biological and environmental information to: 1) interpret paleoclimate when Gondwana moved from icehouse to greenhouse conditions; 2) trace floral evolution across the P-T boundary; 3) reconstruct Antarctic plant life; 4) further understanding of plant adaptations to high latitudes. The Intellectual Merit of the research includes: 1) tracing floral evolution after the retreat of glaciers; 2) examining floral composition and diversity across the PTB; and 3) obtaining data on the recovery of these ecosystems in the Early Triassic, as well as changes in floral cover and diversity in the Early-Middle Triassic. Antarctica is the only place on Earth that includes extensive outcrops of terrestrial rocks, combined with widespread and well-preserved plant fossils, which spans this crucial time period.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eBroader impacts:\u003cbr/\u003eThe broader impacts include public outreach; teaching, and mentoring of women and underrepresented students; mentoring graduate student, postdoctoral, and new faculty women; development of an inquiry-based workshop on Antarctic paleoclimate with the Division of Education, KU Natural History Museum; continuing support of workshops for middle school girls in science via the Expanding Your Horizons Program, Emporia State University, and the TRIO program, KU; exploring Antarctic geosciences through video/computer links from McMurdo Station and satellite phone conferences from the field with K-12 science classes in Wisconsin and Kansas, and through participation in the NSF Research Experiences for Teachers program at the University of Wisconsin.", "east": null, "geometry": null, "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": false, "keywords": "FIELD SURVEYS; LABORATORY; Transanatarctic Basin; Paleobotany; Fossil Plants; FIELD INVESTIGATION; Sedimentology; Late Paleozoic Ice Age; Not provided; Central Transantarctic Mountains; Beardmore Glacier", "locations": "Transanatarctic Basin; Central Transantarctic Mountains; Beardmore Glacier", "north": null, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Instrumentation and Support", "paleo_time": "PHANEROZOIC \u003e PALEOZOIC \u003e PERMIAN; PHANEROZOIC \u003e MESOZOIC \u003e TRIASSIC; PHANEROZOIC \u003e PALEOZOIC \u003e PERMIAN; PHANEROZOIC \u003e MESOZOIC \u003e TRIASSIC", "persons": "Isbell, John", "platforms": "LAND-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e FIELD SITES \u003e FIELD INVESTIGATION; LAND-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e FIELD SITES \u003e FIELD SURVEYS; Not provided; OTHER \u003e PHYSICAL MODELS \u003e LABORATORY", "repo": "PRR", "repositories": "PI website; PRR", "science_programs": null, "south": null, "title": "Collaborative Research: Antarctic Ecosystems across the Permian-Triassic Boundary: Integrating Paleobotany, Sedimentology, and Paleoecology", "uid": "p0000372", "west": null}, {"awards": "1048343 Warny, Sophie", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-180 -60,-144 -60,-108 -60,-72 -60,-36 -60,0 -60,36 -60,72 -60,108 -60,144 -60,180 -60,180 -63,180 -66,180 -69,180 -72,180 -75,180 -78,180 -81,180 -84,180 -87,180 -90,144 -90,108 -90,72 -90,36 -90,0 -90,-36 -90,-72 -90,-108 -90,-144 -90,-180 -90,-180 -87,-180 -84,-180 -81,-180 -78,-180 -75,-180 -72,-180 -69,-180 -66,-180 -63,-180 -60))", "dataset_titles": "Palynological samples list", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "601151", "doi": "10.15784/601151", "keywords": "Antarctica; Glaciology; Marine Geoscience; Marine Sediments; Microscope; Microscopy; Paleoclimate; Pollen", "people": "Warny, Sophie", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Palynological samples list", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601151"}], "date_created": "Sat, 10 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Intellectual Merit: \u003cbr/\u003eThe PI proposes a high-resolution paleoenvironmental study of pollen, spore, fresh-water algae, and dinoflagellate cyst assemblages to investigate the palynological record of sudden warming events in the Antarctic as recorded by the ANDRILL SMS drill core and terrestrial sections. These data will be used to derive causal mechanisms for these rapid climate events. Terrestrial samples will be obtained at various altitudes in the Dry Valleys region. The pollen and spores will provide data on atmospheric conditions, while the algae will provide data on sea-surface conditions. These data will help identify the triggers for sudden climatic shifts. If they are caused by changes in oceanic currents, a signal will be visible in the dinocyst assemblages first as currents influence their distribution. Conversely, if these shifts are triggered by atmospheric factors, then the shifts will first affect plants and be visible in the pollen record.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eBroader impacts: \u003cbr/\u003eThe PI proposes a suite of activities to bring field-based climate change research to a broader audience. The PI will advise a diverse group of students and educators. The palynological data collected as part of this research will be utilized, in part, to develop new lectures on Antarctic palynology and these new lectures will be made available via a collaboration with the LSU HHMI program. In addition, the PI will direct three Louisiana middle-school teachers as they pursue a Masters of Natural Science for science educators. These teachers will help the PI develop a professional development program for science teachers. Community-based activities will be organized to raise science awareness and alert students and the public of opportunities in science.", "east": 180.0, "geometry": "POINT(0 -89.999)", "instruments": "NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE", "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "MICROFOSSILS; NOT APPLICABLE", "locations": null, "north": -60.0, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Warny, Sophie", "platforms": "OTHER \u003e NOT APPLICABLE \u003e NOT APPLICABLE", "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "USAP-DC", "science_programs": "WISSARD; ANDRILL; SHALDRIL", "south": -75.0, "title": "CAREER: Deciphering Antarctic Climate Variability during the Temperate/Polar Transition and Improving Climate Change Literacy in Louisiana through a Companion Outreach Program", "uid": "p0000311", "west": -180.0}, {"awards": "0634619 Hammer, William", "bounds_geometry": "POINT(166 -84)", "dataset_titles": "Continued Research on the Jurassic Vertebrate Fauna from the Beardmore Glacier Region of Antarctica", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "600062", "doi": "10.15784/600062", "keywords": "Antarctica; Beardmore Glacier; Biota; Geochronology; Solid Earth", "people": "Hammer, William R.", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Continued Research on the Jurassic Vertebrate Fauna from the Beardmore Glacier Region of Antarctica", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/600062"}], "date_created": "Fri, 02 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Abstract\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThis award supports preparation and study of fossil dinosaurs discovered on Mt. Kirkpatrick, Antarctica, during the 2003-04 field season. The 4,000 pounds of bone bearing matrix to be processed includes new pieces of Cryolophosaurus, a 22 foot long meat eating theropod, as well as a new unnamed sauropod dinosaur and other yet to be identified taxa. This project advances our understanding of dinosaur evolution and adaptation at the beginning of the reign of the dinosaurs, the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic. This period is poorly understood due to lack of fossils, which makes these fossils from Antarctica particularly unique. Also, since these fossils are from high paleolatitudes they will contribute to our understanding of past climates and the physiologic adaptations of dinosaurs to lengthy periods of darkness. \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThe broader impacts include outreach to the general public through museum exhibits and presentations.", "east": 166.0, "geometry": "POINT(166 -84)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Not provided", "locations": null, "north": -84.0, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Hammer, William R.", "platforms": "Not provided", "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -84.0, "title": "Continued Research on the Jurassic Vertebrate Fauna from the Beardmore Glacier Region of Antarctica", "uid": "p0000538", "west": 166.0}, {"awards": "9814383 Domack, Eugene", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-70.90625 -52.35392,-69.456459 -52.35392,-68.006668 -52.35392,-66.556877 -52.35392,-65.107086 -52.35392,-63.657295 -52.35392,-62.207504 -52.35392,-60.757713 -52.35392,-59.307922 -52.35392,-57.858131 -52.35392,-56.40834 -52.35392,-56.40834 -53.615031,-56.40834 -54.876142,-56.40834 -56.137253,-56.40834 -57.398364,-56.40834 -58.659475,-56.40834 -59.920586,-56.40834 -61.181697,-56.40834 -62.442808,-56.40834 -63.703919,-56.40834 -64.96503,-57.858131 -64.96503,-59.307922 -64.96503,-60.757713 -64.96503,-62.207504 -64.96503,-63.657295 -64.96503,-65.107086 -64.96503,-66.556877 -64.96503,-68.006668 -64.96503,-69.456459 -64.96503,-70.90625 -64.96503,-70.90625 -63.703919,-70.90625 -62.442808,-70.90625 -61.181697,-70.90625 -59.920586,-70.90625 -58.659475,-70.90625 -57.398364,-70.90625 -56.137253,-70.90625 -54.876142,-70.90625 -53.615031,-70.90625 -52.35392))", "dataset_titles": "Expedition Data", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "001985", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "R2R", "science_program": null, "title": "Expedition Data", "url": "https://www.rvdata.us/search/cruise/NBP0003"}], "date_created": "Tue, 04 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "This award, provided by the Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program of the Office of Polar Programs, supports research to study the region recently occupied by the Larsen Ice Shelf in the Antarctic Peninsula. Over the last 10 years, scientists have observed a dramatic decay and disintegration of floating ice shelves along the northern end of the Antarctic Peninsula. Meteorological records and satellite observations indicate that this catastrophic decay is related to regional warming of nearly 3 degrees C in the last 50 years. While such retreat of floating ice shelves is unprecedented in historic records, current understanding of the natural variability of ice shelf systems over the last few thousand years is not understood well. This award supports a program of marine geologic research directed at filling this knowledge gap by developing an understanding of the dynamics of the northern Larsen Ice Shelf during the Holocene epoch (the last 10,000 years).\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThe Larsen Ice Shelf is located in the NW Weddell Sea along the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula and is currently undergoing a rapid, catastrophic retreat as documented by satellite imagery over the past five years. While the region of the northern Antarctic Peninsula has experienced a pronounced warming trend over the last 40 years, the links between this warming and global change (i.e. greenhouse warming) are not obvious. Yet the ice shelf is clearly receding at a rate unprecedented in historic time, leaving vast areas of the seafloor uncovered and in an open marine setting. This project will collect a series of short sediment cores within the Larsen Inlet and in areas that were at one time covered by the Larsen Ice Shelf. By applying established sediment and fossil criteria to the cores we hope to demonstrate whether the Larsen Ice Shelf has experienced similar periods of retreat and subsequent advance within the last 10,000 years. Past work in various regions of the Antarctic has focused on depositional models for ice shelves that allow one to discern the timing of ice shelf retreat/advance in areas of the Ross Sea, Antarctic Peninsula, and Prydz Bay. This research will lead to a much improved understanding of the dynamics of ice shelf systems and their role in past and future climate oscillations.", "east": -56.40834, "geometry": "POINT(-63.657295 -58.659475)", "instruments": "IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e MAGNETIC/MOTION SENSORS \u003e GRAVIMETERS \u003e GRAVIMETERS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e ACOUSTIC SOUNDERS \u003e MSBS", "is_usap_dc": false, "keywords": "R/V NBP", "locations": null, "north": -52.35392, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Domack, Eugene Walter", "platforms": "WATER-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e VESSELS \u003e SURFACE \u003e R/V NBP", "repo": "R2R", "repositories": "R2R", "science_programs": null, "south": -64.96503, "title": "Paleohistory of the Larsen Ice Shelf: Evidence from the Marine Record", "uid": "p0000619", "west": -70.90625}, {"awards": "9814692 Kellogg, Thomas", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-179.99342 -58.74225,-143.994734 -58.74225,-107.996048 -58.74225,-71.997362 -58.74225,-35.998676 -58.74225,0.000010000000003 -58.74225,35.998696 -58.74225,71.997382 -58.74225,107.996068 -58.74225,143.994754 -58.74225,179.99344 -58.74225,179.99344 -60.716231,179.99344 -62.690212,179.99344 -64.664193,179.99344 -66.638174,179.99344 -68.612155,179.99344 -70.586136,179.99344 -72.560117,179.99344 -74.534098,179.99344 -76.508079,179.99344 -78.48206,143.994754 -78.48206,107.996068 -78.48206,71.997382 -78.48206,35.998696 -78.48206,0.000010000000003 -78.48206,-35.998676 -78.48206,-71.997362 -78.48206,-107.996048 -78.48206,-143.994734 -78.48206,-179.99342 -78.48206,-179.99342 -76.508079,-179.99342 -74.534098,-179.99342 -72.560117,-179.99342 -70.586136,-179.99342 -68.612155,-179.99342 -66.638174,-179.99342 -64.664193,-179.99342 -62.690212,-179.99342 -60.716231,-179.99342 -58.74225))", "dataset_titles": "Expedition Data", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "001992", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "R2R", "science_program": null, "title": "Expedition Data", "url": "https://www.rvdata.us/search/cruise/NBP0001"}], "date_created": "Tue, 04 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "This award, provided by the Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program of the Office of Polar Programs, supports a marine geological investigation of the Amundsen Sea region toward a better understanding of the deglaciation history of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). The WAIS may be inherently unstable because it is the last marine-based ice sheet in the world. Unlike other embayments in West Antarctica, major ice streams draining into the Amundsen Sea from the interior of the WAIS lack buttressing ice shelves. Mass balance data for the distal portions of these ice streams (Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers) appear to be in balance or may be becoming negative. Because both ice streams have beds that slope downward toward the center of the ice sheet, grounding-line recession resulting from either continued thinning or sea-level rise could trigger irreversible grounding-line retreat, leading to ice-sheet disintegration and consequent global sea-level rise. The limited marine geological and geophysical data available from the Amundsen Sea suggest that grounded ice or an ice shelf occupied the inner Amundsen Sea embayment until perhaps as recently as 1000 to 2000 years ago, and this ice may have retreated rapidly in historic time.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThis project, a study of the marine geology and geophysics of the Amundsen Sea continental shelf from 100 degrees W to 130 degrees W, is designed to address the Amundsen Sea part of WAIS Science Plan Priority Goal H2: \"What is the deglaciation history in the eastern Ross, the Bellingshausen and Amundsen Seas?\" This project will examine bathymetric data of the Amundsen Sea continental shelf to determine the positions of former ice-steam channels, and to aid in choosing sites for sediment coring. Single-channel seismic reflection studies will be conducted in order to determine sediment-thickness patterns, to aid in choice of coring sites, and to locate and identify morphologic features indicative of former grounded ice (e.g., moraines, scours, flutes, striations, till wedges and deltas, etc.). Coring will be concentrated along former ice flow-lines. Core samples will be analyzed in the laboratory for sedimentology, to determine whether of not basal tills are present (indicating former grounded ice and its former extent), and for calcareous and siliceous microfossils. The chronology of grounding-line and ice-shelf retreat from a presumed Last Glacial Maximum position near the shelf break will be established using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) carbon-14 dates of acid-insoluble particulate organic carbon.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThis project will share ship time in the Amundsen Sea with a physical oceanographic project. Marine geologic data and samples collected will be integrated with findings of other investigators toward developing a comprehensive interpretation of the history of the WAIS.", "east": 179.99344, "geometry": "POINT(0.000010000000003 -68.612155)", "instruments": "IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e ACOUSTIC SOUNDERS \u003e MSBS", "is_usap_dc": false, "keywords": "R/V NBP", "locations": null, "north": -58.74225, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Kellogg, Thomas; Jacobs, Stanley", "platforms": "WATER-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e VESSELS \u003e SURFACE \u003e R/V NBP", "repo": "R2R", "repositories": "R2R", "science_programs": null, "south": -78.48206, "title": "Glacial History of the Amundsen Sea Shelf", "uid": "p0000620", "west": -179.99342}, {"awards": "9908828 Aronson, Richard", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-70.906 -52.350166,-69.4494 -52.350166,-67.9928 -52.350166,-66.5362 -52.350166,-65.0796 -52.350166,-63.623 -52.350166,-62.1664 -52.350166,-60.7098 -52.350166,-59.2532 -52.350166,-57.7966 -52.350166,-56.34 -52.350166,-56.34 -53.6028324,-56.34 -54.8554988,-56.34 -56.1081652,-56.34 -57.3608316,-56.34 -58.613498,-56.34 -59.8661644,-56.34 -61.1188308,-56.34 -62.3714972,-56.34 -63.6241636,-56.34 -64.87683,-57.7966 -64.87683,-59.2532 -64.87683,-60.7098 -64.87683,-62.1664 -64.87683,-63.623 -64.87683,-65.0796 -64.87683,-66.5362 -64.87683,-67.9928 -64.87683,-69.4494 -64.87683,-70.906 -64.87683,-70.906 -63.6241636,-70.906 -62.3714972,-70.906 -61.1188308,-70.906 -59.8661644,-70.906 -58.613498,-70.906 -57.3608316,-70.906 -56.1081652,-70.906 -54.8554988,-70.906 -53.6028324,-70.906 -52.350166))", "dataset_titles": "Expedition Data; Expedition data of NBP0107", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "001962", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "R2R", "science_program": null, "title": "Expedition Data", "url": "https://www.rvdata.us/search/cruise/LMG0011"}, {"dataset_uid": "002656", "doi": null, "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "R2R", "science_program": null, "title": "Expedition data of NBP0107", "url": "https://www.rvdata.us/search/cruise/NBP0107"}], "date_created": "Tue, 04 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "9908828\u003cbr/\u003eAronson\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThis award, provided by the Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program of the Office of Polar Programs, supports a paleoecological and paleoenvironmental study of Seymour Island. Global climate change late in the Eocene epoch had an important influence in Antarctica. This was the beginning of the transition from a cool-temperate climate in Antarctica to the polar climate that exists there today. The cooling trend strongly influenced the structure of shallow-water, Antarctic marine communities, and these effects are still evident in the peculiar ecological relationships among species living in modern Antarctic communities. Cooling late in the Eocene reduced the abundance of fish and crabs, which in turn reduced skeleton-crushing predation on invertebrates. Reduced predation allowed dense populations of ophiuroids (brittlestars) and crinoids (sea lilies) to appear in shallow-water settings at the end of the Eocene. These low-predation communities appear as dense fossil echinoderm assemblages in the upper portion of the late Eocene La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island, off the Antarctic Peninsula. Today, dense ophiuroid and crinoid populations are common in shallow-water habitats in Antarctica but generally have been eliminated by predators from similar habitats at temperate and tropical latitudes; their persistence in Antarctica to this day is an important ecological legacy of climatic cooling in the Eocene. Although the influence of declining predation on Antarctic ophiuroids and crinoids is now well documented, the effects of cooling on the more abundant mollusks have not been investigated. This study will examine the evolutionary ecology of gastropods (snails) and bivalves (clams) in the late Eocene.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eA series of hypotheses will be tested in the La Meseta Formation, based on the predicted responses of mollusks to declining temperature and changing levels of predation. The shapes of gastropod shells, the activities of gastropods that prey on other mollusks by drilling holes in their shells, and the effects of predation on the thickness of mollusk shells should have changed significantly through late Eocene time. First, defensive features of gastropod shells, such as spines and ribbing, should decline as temperature and, therefore, the activity of skeleton-crushing predators declined. Second, drilling of bivalve prey by predatory gastropods should increase with time since the drillers should themselves have been subject to lower predation pressure as temperature declined. Drilled shells, therefore, should become more common through time. Third, patterns in the thickness of shells through time will make it possible to separate the direct, physiological effects of declining temperature (shells are more difficult to produce at cooler temperatures, and so should be thinner) from the indirect effects of temperature on evolving biological interactions (increased drilling predation should result in thicker shells). \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eSeymour Island contains the only fossil outcrops readily accessible in Antarctica from this crucial period in Earth history. The La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island thus provides a unique opportunity to learn how climate change affected Antarctic marine communities. In practical terms, global climate change will probably increase upwelling over the next few decades to centuries in some temperate coastal regions. Recent ecological evidence suggests that the resultant lowering of sea temperatures could lower predation in those areas. Understanding the response of the La Meseta faunas to global cooling in the late Eocene will provide direct insight into the rapidly changing structure of modern benthic communities.", "east": -56.34, "geometry": "POINT(-63.623 -58.613498)", "instruments": "IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e CTD; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e MAGNETIC/MOTION SENSORS \u003e GRAVIMETERS \u003e GRAVIMETERS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PHOTON/OPTICAL DETECTORS \u003e TURBIDITY METERS; EARTH REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS \u003e PASSIVE REMOTE SENSING \u003e POSITIONING/NAVIGATION \u003e GPS \u003e GPS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e ACOUSTIC SOUNDERS \u003e ADCP; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e ACOUSTIC SOUNDERS \u003e MSBS", "is_usap_dc": false, "keywords": "R/V NBP; Hugo Island; R/V LMG; Palmer Deep", "locations": "Hugo Island", "north": -52.350166, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Aronson, Richard; Domack, Eugene Walter", "platforms": "WATER-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e VESSELS \u003e SURFACE \u003e R/V LMG; WATER-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e VESSELS \u003e SURFACE \u003e R/V NBP", "repo": "R2R", "repositories": "R2R", "science_programs": null, "south": -64.87683, "title": "Global Climate Change and the Evolutionary Ecology of Antarctic Mollusks in the Late Eocene", "uid": "p0000617", "west": -70.906}, {"awards": "0636639 MacPhee, Ross", "bounds_geometry": null, "dataset_titles": "Expedition Data; Expedition data of LMG0717; Expedition data of LMG0902", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "002727", "doi": null, "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "R2R", "science_program": null, "title": "Expedition data of LMG0902", "url": "https://www.rvdata.us/search/cruise/LMG0902"}, {"dataset_uid": "002669", "doi": null, "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "R2R", "science_program": null, "title": "Expedition data of LMG0902", "url": "https://www.rvdata.us/search/cruise/LMG0902"}, {"dataset_uid": "001520", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "R2R", "science_program": null, "title": "Expedition Data", "url": "https://www.rvdata.us/search/cruise/LMG0717"}, {"dataset_uid": "002677", "doi": null, "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "R2R", "science_program": null, "title": "Expedition data of LMG0717", "url": "https://www.rvdata.us/search/cruise/LMG0717"}], "date_created": "Tue, 04 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "This exploratory project searches for fossils on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands off of the Antarctic peninsula. Strata there date from 125 to 99 million years in age, a critical time in the development of various flora and fauna. With so many unknowns in the biotic history of the Antarctic, any finds of vertebrate fossils on this little explored island will be of great significance. One key question is marsupial evolution. It is assumed that marsupials of South America and Australia transited through Antarctica, but a supporting fossil record has yet to be discovered. Related investigations on Mesozoic climate will be performed through stable isotope analysis of clay and rock samples. The broader impacts of the project include graduate student education and public outreach through a museum exhibit.", "east": null, "geometry": null, "instruments": "IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e CTD; EARTH REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS \u003e PASSIVE REMOTE SENSING \u003e POSITIONING/NAVIGATION \u003e GPS \u003e GPS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e ACOUSTIC SOUNDERS \u003e ADCP", "is_usap_dc": false, "keywords": "R/V LMG", "locations": null, "north": null, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "MacPhee, Ross; DeMaster, David", "platforms": "WATER-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e VESSELS \u003e SURFACE \u003e R/V LMG", "repo": "R2R", "repositories": "R2R", "science_programs": null, "south": null, "title": "Vertebrate Paleontology of Livingston Island, South Shetlands, Antarctica", "uid": "p0000858", "west": null}, {"awards": "9908856 Blake, Daniel", "bounds_geometry": null, "dataset_titles": "Expedition Data; Expedition data of LMG0309", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "001683", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "R2R", "science_program": null, "title": "Expedition Data", "url": "https://www.rvdata.us/search/cruise/LMG0309"}, {"dataset_uid": "002675", "doi": null, "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "R2R", "science_program": null, "title": "Expedition data of LMG0309", "url": "https://www.rvdata.us/search/cruise/LMG0309"}], "date_created": "Tue, 04 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "This award, provided by the Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program of the Office of Polar Programs, supports a paleoecological and paleoenvironmental study of Seymour Island. Global climate change late in the Eocene epoch had an important influence in Antarctica. This was the beginning of the transition from a cool-temperate climate in Antarctica to the polar climate that exists there today. The cooling trend strongly influenced the structure of shallow-water, Antarctic marine communities, and these effects are still evident in the peculiar ecological relationships among species living in modern Antarctic communities. Cooling late in the Eocene reduced the abundance of fish and crabs, which in turn reduced skeleton-crushing predation on invertebrates. Reduced predation allowed dense populations of ophiuroids (brittlestars) and crinoids (sea lilies) to appear in shallow-water settings at the end of the Eocene. These low-predation communities appear as dense fossil echinoderm assemblages in the upper portion of the late Eocene La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island, off the Antarctic Peninsula. Today, dense ophiuroid and crinoid populations are common in shallow-water habitats in Antarctica but generally have been eliminated by predators from similar habitats at temperate and tropical latitudes; their persistence in Antarctica to this day is an important ecological legacy of climatic cooling in the Eocene. Although the influence of declining predation on Antarctic ophiuroids and crinoids is now well documented, the effects of cooling on the more abundant mollusks have not been investigated. This study will examine the evolutionary ecology of gastropods (snails) and bivalves (clams) in the late Eocene.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eA series of hypotheses will be tested in the La Meseta Formation, based on the predicted responses of mollusks to declining temperature and changing levels of predation. The shapes of gastropod shells, the activities of gastropods that prey on other mollusks by drilling holes in their shells, and the effects of predation on the thickness of mollusk shells should have changed significantly through late Eocene time. First, defensive features of gastropod shells, such as spines and ribbing, should decline as temperature and, therefore, the activity of skeleton-crushing predators declined. Second, drilling of bivalve prey by predatory gastropods should increase with time since the drillers should themselves have been subject to lower predation pressure as temperature declined. Drilled shells, therefore, should become more common through time. Third, patterns in the thickness of shells through time will make it possible to separate the direct, physiological effects of declining temperature (shells are more difficult to produce at cooler temperatures, and so should be thinner) from the indirect effects of temperature on evolving biological interactions (increased drilling predation should result in thicker shells). \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eSeymour Island contains the only fossil outcrops readily accessible in Antarctica from this crucial period in Earth history. The La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island thus provides a unique opportunity to learn how climate change affected Antarctic marine communities. In practical terms, global climate change will probably increase upwelling over the next few decades to centuries in some temperate coastal regions. Recent ecological evidence suggests that the resultant lowering of sea temperatures could lower predation in those areas. Understanding the response of the La Meseta faunas to global cooling in the late Eocene will provide direct insight into the rapidly changing structure of modern benthic communities.", "east": null, "geometry": null, "instruments": "IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e CTD; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PRESSURE/HEIGHT METERS \u003e PRESSURE SENSORS; EARTH REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS \u003e PASSIVE REMOTE SENSING \u003e POSITIONING/NAVIGATION \u003e GPS \u003e GPS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e ACOUSTIC SOUNDERS \u003e ADCP", "is_usap_dc": false, "keywords": "R/V LMG", "locations": null, "north": null, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Blake, Daniel", "platforms": "WATER-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e VESSELS \u003e SURFACE \u003e R/V LMG", "repo": "R2R", "repositories": "R2R", "science_programs": null, "south": null, "title": "Global Climate Change and the Evolutionary Ecology of Antarctic Mollusks in the Late Eocene.", "uid": "p0000857", "west": null}, {"awards": "0732995 Barbeau, David", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-67.9988 -52.7596,-66.83756 -52.7596,-65.67632 -52.7596,-64.51508 -52.7596,-63.35384 -52.7596,-62.1926 -52.7596,-61.03136 -52.7596,-59.87012 -52.7596,-58.70888 -52.7596,-57.54764 -52.7596,-56.3864 -52.7596,-56.3864 -54.15258,-56.3864 -55.54556,-56.3864 -56.93854,-56.3864 -58.33152,-56.3864 -59.7245,-56.3864 -61.11748,-56.3864 -62.51046,-56.3864 -63.90344,-56.3864 -65.29642,-56.3864 -66.6894,-57.54764 -66.6894,-58.70888 -66.6894,-59.87012 -66.6894,-61.03136 -66.6894,-62.1926 -66.6894,-63.35384 -66.6894,-64.51508 -66.6894,-65.67632 -66.6894,-66.83756 -66.6894,-67.9988 -66.6894,-67.9988 -65.29642,-67.9988 -63.90344,-67.9988 -62.51046,-67.9988 -61.11748,-67.9988 -59.7245,-67.9988 -58.33152,-67.9988 -56.93854,-67.9988 -55.54556,-67.9988 -54.15258,-67.9988 -52.7596))", "dataset_titles": "Expedition Data", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "001520", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "R2R", "science_program": null, "title": "Expedition Data", "url": "https://www.rvdata.us/search/cruise/LMG0717"}], "date_created": "Tue, 04 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "This project studies the relationship between opening of the Drake Passage and formation of the Antarctic ice sheet. Its goal is to answer the question: What drove the transition from a greenhouse to icehouse world thirty-four million years ago? Was it changes in circulation of the Southern Ocean caused by the separation of Antarctica from South America or was it a global effect such as decreasing atmospheric CO2 content? This study constrains the events and timing through fieldwork in South America and Antarctica and new work on marine sediment cores previously collected by the Ocean Drilling Program. It also involves an extensive, multidisciplinary analytical program. Compositional analyses of sediments and their sources will be combined with (U-Th)/He, fission-track, and Ar-Ar thermochronometry to constrain uplift and motion of the continental crust bounding the Drake Passage. Radiogenic isotope studies of fossil fish teeth found in marine sediment cores will be used to trace penetration of Pacific seawater into the Atlantic. Oxygen isotope and trace metal measurements on foraminifera will provide additional information on the timing and magnitude of ice volume changes. \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThe broader impacts include graduate and undergraduate education; outreach to the general public through museum exhibits and presentations, and international collaboration with scientists from Argentina, Ukraine, UK and Germany.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThe project is supported under NSF\u0027s International Polar Year (IPY) research emphasis area on \"Understanding Environmental Change in Polar Regions\". This project is also a key component of the IPY Plates \u0026 Gates initiative (IPY Project #77), focused on determining the role of tectonic gateways in instigating polar environmental change.", "east": -56.3864, "geometry": "POINT(-62.1926 -59.7245)", "instruments": "IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e CTD; EARTH REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS \u003e PASSIVE REMOTE SENSING \u003e POSITIONING/NAVIGATION \u003e GPS \u003e GPS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PROFILERS/SOUNDERS \u003e ACOUSTIC SOUNDERS \u003e ADCP", "is_usap_dc": false, "keywords": "R/V LMG", "locations": null, "north": -52.7596, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "MacPhee, Ross", "platforms": "WATER-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e VESSELS \u003e SURFACE \u003e R/V LMG", "repo": "R2R", "repositories": "R2R", "science_programs": null, "south": -66.6894, "title": "Collaborative Research: IPY: Testing the Polar Gateway Hypothesis: An Integrated Record of Drake Passage Opening \u0026 Antarctic Glaciation", "uid": "p0000120", "west": -67.9988}, {"awards": "0440919 Isbell, John; 0440954 Miller, Molly; 0551163 Sidor, Christian", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((159.3 -76.59,159.542 -76.59,159.784 -76.59,160.026 -76.59,160.268 -76.59,160.51 -76.59,160.752 -76.59,160.994 -76.59,161.236 -76.59,161.478 -76.59,161.72 -76.59,161.72 -76.811,161.72 -77.032,161.72 -77.253,161.72 -77.474,161.72 -77.695,161.72 -77.916,161.72 -78.137,161.72 -78.358,161.72 -78.579,161.72 -78.8,161.478 -78.8,161.236 -78.8,160.994 -78.8,160.752 -78.8,160.51 -78.8,160.268 -78.8,160.026 -78.8,159.784 -78.8,159.542 -78.8,159.3 -78.8,159.3 -78.579,159.3 -78.358,159.3 -78.137,159.3 -77.916,159.3 -77.695,159.3 -77.474,159.3 -77.253,159.3 -77.032,159.3 -76.811,159.3 -76.59))", "dataset_titles": "Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington ID#s UWBM 88593-88601, UWBM 88617; Reconstructing the High Latitude Permian-Triassic: Life, Landscapes, and Climate Recorded in the Allan Hills, South Victoria Land, Antarctica", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "600045", "doi": "10.15784/600045", "keywords": "Allan Hills; Antarctica; Paleontology; Sample/collection Description; Sample/Collection Description; Solid Earth", "people": "Miller, Molly", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": "Allan Hills", "title": "Reconstructing the High Latitude Permian-Triassic: Life, Landscapes, and Climate Recorded in the Allan Hills, South Victoria Land, Antarctica", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/600045"}, {"dataset_uid": "000124", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "Burke Museum", "science_program": null, "title": "Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington ID#s UWBM 88593-88601, UWBM 88617", "url": "http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/collections/"}], "date_created": "Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "This project studies fossils from two to three hundred million year old rocks in the Allan Hills area of Antarctica. Similar deposits from lower latitudes have been used to develop a model of Permo-Triassic climate, wherein melting of continental glaciers in the early Permian leads to the establishment of forests in a cold, wet climate. Conditions became warmer and dryer by the early Triassic, inhibiting plant growth until a moistening climate in the late Triassic allowed plant to flourish once again. This project will test and refine this model and investigate the general effects of climate change on landscapes and ecosystems using the unique exposures and well-preserved fossil and sediment records in the Allan Hills area. The area will be searched for fossil forests, vertebrate tracks and burrows, arthropod trackways, and subaqueously produced biogenic structures, which have been found in other areas of Antarctica. Finds will be integrated with previous paleobiologic studies to reconstruct and interpret ecosystems and their changes. Structures and rock types documenting the end phases of continental glaciation and other major episodic sedimentations will also be described and interpreted. This project contributes to understanding the: (1) evolution of terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems and how they were affected by the end-Permian extinction, (2) abundance and diversity of terrestrial and aquatic arthropods at high latitudes, (3) paleogeographic distribution and evolution of vertebrates and invertebrates as recorded by trace and body fossils; and (3) response of landscapes to changes in climate.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eIn terms of broader impacts, this project will provide an outstanding introduction to field research for graduate and undergraduate students, and generate related opportunities for several undergraduates. It will also stimulate exchange of ideas among research and primarily undergraduate institutions. Novel outreach activities are also planned to convey Earth history to the general public, including a short film on the research process and products, and paintings by a professional scientific illustrator of Permo-Traissic landscapes and ecosystems.", "east": 161.72, "geometry": "POINT(160.51 -77.695)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Not provided", "locations": null, "north": -76.59, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": "PHANEROZOIC \u003e PALEOZOIC \u003e CARBONIFEROUS \u003e PENNSYLVANIAN; PHANEROZOIC \u003e PALEOZOIC \u003e PERMIAN; PHANEROZOIC \u003e MESOZOIC \u003e TRIASSIC", "persons": "Miller, Molly; Sidor, Christian; Isbell, John", "platforms": "Not provided", "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "Burke Museum; USAP-DC", "science_programs": "Allan Hills", "south": -78.8, "title": "Collaborative Research: Reconstructing the High Latitude Permian-Triassic: Life, Landscapes, and Climate Recorded in the Allan Hills, South Victoria Land, Antarctica", "uid": "p0000207", "west": 159.3}, {"awards": "0636747 Warny, Sophie", "bounds_geometry": "POINT(-54.44917 -63.86)", "dataset_titles": null, "datasets": null, "date_created": "Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Abstract\u003cbr/\u003eThis project studies microfossils of plants and algae to understand climate during the earliest glaciations of Antarctica. The microfossils are from marine sediment cores collected by the 2006 SHALDRIL campaign to the Antarctic Peninsula. The work will offer constraints on sea surface temperature, ocean salinity, and terrestrial vegetation to help answer questions such as: What were conditions like on the Antarctic Peninsula during the initial formation of Antarctica\u0027s ice sheets? How rapidly did the ice sheets grow? Was their growth driven by global factors such as low atmospheric CO2 or local events like opening of the Drake Passage? \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThe broader impacts include postdoctoral fellow research and outreach via a museum exhibit and a web-based activity book for children.", "east": -54.44917, "geometry": "POINT(-54.44917 -63.86)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Not provided", "locations": null, "north": -63.86, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Warny, Sophie", "platforms": "Not provided", "repositories": null, "science_programs": null, "south": -63.86, "title": "Past Environmental Conditions on the Antarctic Peninsula: a Palynological Characterization of In-situ Sediments recovered during the 2006 SHALDRIL campaign", "uid": "p0000484", "west": -54.44917}, {"awards": "0739583 Bowser, Samuel; 0739512 Walker, Sally; 0739496 Miller, Molly", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((163.41667 -77.33333,163.46667 -77.33333,163.51667 -77.33333,163.56667 -77.33333,163.61667 -77.33333,163.66667 -77.33333,163.71667 -77.33333,163.76667 -77.33333,163.81667 -77.33333,163.86667 -77.33333,163.91667 -77.33333,163.91667 -77.369997,163.91667 -77.406664,163.91667 -77.443331,163.91667 -77.479998,163.91667 -77.516665,163.91667 -77.553332,163.91667 -77.589999,163.91667 -77.626666,163.91667 -77.663333,163.91667 -77.7,163.86667 -77.7,163.81667 -77.7,163.76667 -77.7,163.71667 -77.7,163.66667 -77.7,163.61667 -77.7,163.56667 -77.7,163.51667 -77.7,163.46667 -77.7,163.41667 -77.7,163.41667 -77.663333,163.41667 -77.626666,163.41667 -77.589999,163.41667 -77.553332,163.41667 -77.516665,163.41667 -77.479998,163.41667 -77.443331,163.41667 -77.406664,163.41667 -77.369997,163.41667 -77.33333))", "dataset_titles": "Linking Modern Benthic Communities and Taphonomic Processes to the Stratigraphic Record of Antarctic Cores; Nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen isotopes in the shell of the Antarctic scallop Adamussium colbecki as a proxy for sea ice cover in Antarctica.; Sequence Data", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "000144", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "NCBI GenBank", "science_program": null, "title": "Sequence Data", "url": "http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/collections/public/1rMU2lBNcxWAsa9h9WyD8rzA8/"}, {"dataset_uid": "600077", "doi": "10.15784/600077", "keywords": "Antarctica; Biota; Glaciers/ice Sheet; Glaciers/Ice Sheet; McMurdo Sound; Oceans; Sample/collection Description; Sample/Collection Description", "people": "Walker, Sally", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Linking Modern Benthic Communities and Taphonomic Processes to the Stratigraphic Record of Antarctic Cores", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/600077"}, {"dataset_uid": "601764", "doi": null, "keywords": "Adamussium Colbecki; Antarctica; Biota; Carbon Isotopes; Explorers Cove; Nitrogen Isotopes; Oxygen Isotope; Scallop", "people": "Walker, Sally; Puhalski, Emma; Gillikin, David; Camarra, Steve; Cronin, Kelly; Verheyden, Anouk", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen isotopes in the shell of the Antarctic scallop Adamussium colbecki as a proxy for sea ice cover in Antarctica.", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601764"}, {"dataset_uid": "600076", "doi": "10.15784/600076", "keywords": "Biota; Geochronology; Marine Sediments; Oceans; Southern Ocean", "people": "Furbish, David; Miller, Molly", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Linking Modern Benthic Communities and Taphonomic Processes to the Stratigraphic Record of Antarctic Cores", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/600076"}], "date_created": "Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "This project answers a simple question: why are there so few fossils in sediment cores from Antarctica?s continental shelf? Antarctica?s benthos are as biologically rich as those of the tropics. Shell-secreting organisms should have left a trail throughout geologic time, but have not. This trail is particularly important because these organisms record regional climate in ways that are critical to interpreting the global climate record. This study uses field experiments and targeted observations of modern benthic systems to examine the biases inflicted by fossil preservation. By examining a spectrum of ice-affected habitats, this project provides paleoenvironmental insights into carbonate preservation, sedimentation rates, and burial processes; and will provide new approaches to reconstructing the Cenozoic history of Antarctica. Broader impacts include graduate and undergraduate research and education, development of undergraduate curricula to link art and science, K12 outreach, public outreach via the web, and societal relevance through improved understanding of records of global climate change.", "east": 163.91667, "geometry": "POINT(163.66667 -77.516665)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Not provided", "locations": null, "north": -77.33333, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Walker, Sally; Bowser, Samuel; Miller, Molly; Furbish, David", "platforms": "Not provided", "repo": "NCBI GenBank", "repositories": "NCBI GenBank; USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -77.7, "title": "Collaborative Research: Linking Modern Benthic Communities and Taphonomic Processes to the Stratigraphic Record of Antarctic Cores", "uid": "p0000203", "west": 163.41667}, {"awards": "0440711 Marchant, David", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((160 -76.5,160.45 -76.5,160.9 -76.5,161.35 -76.5,161.8 -76.5,162.25 -76.5,162.7 -76.5,163.15 -76.5,163.6 -76.5,164.05 -76.5,164.5 -76.5,164.5 -76.7,164.5 -76.9,164.5 -77.1,164.5 -77.3,164.5 -77.5,164.5 -77.7,164.5 -77.9,164.5 -78.1,164.5 -78.3,164.5 -78.5,164.05 -78.5,163.6 -78.5,163.15 -78.5,162.7 -78.5,162.25 -78.5,161.8 -78.5,161.35 -78.5,160.9 -78.5,160.45 -78.5,160 -78.5,160 -78.3,160 -78.1,160 -77.9,160 -77.7,160 -77.5,160 -77.3,160 -77.1,160 -76.9,160 -76.7,160 -76.5))", "dataset_titles": null, "datasets": null, "date_created": "Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "This project studies ancient lake deposits from the western Dry Valleys of Antarctica. These deposits are particularly exciting because they preserve flora and fauna over seven million years in age that represent the last vestiges of ecosystems that dominated this area before formation of the modern East Antarctic ice sheet. Their unique nature offers a chance to bridge modern and ancient ecology. Formed along the margin of ancient alpine glaciers, these deposits contain layers of silt, clay, and volcanic ash; as well as freeze-dried remnants of mosses, insects, and diatoms. Geological and biological analyses provide a view of the ecological and environmental conditions during mid-to-late Miocene--seven to seventeen million years ago--which spans the critical period when the East Antarctic ice sheet transitioned to its present stable form. The results place the modern lakes of the Dry Valleys into a long-term evolutionary framework, and allow for correlation and dating comparisons with other fossil-rich deposits from the Transantarctic Mountains. Chemical fingerprinting and dating of volcanic glass shards will also help date fossil- and ash-bearing horizons in nearby marine cores, such as those to be collected under the ANDRILL program. \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThe broader impacts are education at the postdoctoral, graduate, and undergraduate levels; and collaboration between a research institution and primarily undergraduate institution. The work also improves our understanding of global climate change during a critical period in the Earth\u0027s history.", "east": 164.5, "geometry": "POINT(162.25 -77.5)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": false, "keywords": "Paleoclimate; Not provided; Lacustrine; Tundra; Middle Miocene; McMurdo Dry Valleys; Vegetation; Fossil; Antarctica", "locations": "Antarctica; McMurdo Dry Valleys", "north": -76.5, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Marchant, David", "platforms": "Not provided", "repositories": null, "science_programs": null, "south": -78.5, "title": "Collaborative Research: Deducing Late Neogene Antarctic Climate from Fossil-Rich Lacustrine Sediments in the Dry Valleys", "uid": "p0000186", "west": 160.0}, {"awards": "0739693 Ashworth, Allan; 0739700 Marchant, David", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((160 -77,160.2 -77,160.4 -77,160.6 -77,160.8 -77,161 -77,161.2 -77,161.4 -77,161.6 -77,161.8 -77,162 -77,162 -77.1,162 -77.2,162 -77.3,162 -77.4,162 -77.5,162 -77.6,162 -77.7,162 -77.8,162 -77.9,162 -78,161.8 -78,161.6 -78,161.4 -78,161.2 -78,161 -78,160.8 -78,160.6 -78,160.4 -78,160.2 -78,160 -78,160 -77.9,160 -77.8,160 -77.7,160 -77.6,160 -77.5,160 -77.4,160 -77.3,160 -77.2,160 -77.1,160 -77))", "dataset_titles": "Integrating Geomorphological and Paleoecological Studies to Reconstruct Neogene Environments of the Transantarctic Mountains", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "600081", "doi": "10.15784/600081", "keywords": "Antarctica; Geochronology; Geology/Geophysics - Other; GPS; Solid Earth", "people": "Lewis, Adam; Ashworth, Allan", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Integrating Geomorphological and Paleoecological Studies to Reconstruct Neogene Environments of the Transantarctic Mountains", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/600081"}], "date_created": "Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "This project studies the last vestiges of life in Antarctica from exceptionally well-preserved fossils of tundra life--mosses, diatoms, ostracods, Nothofagus leaves, wood, and insect remains recently discovered in ancient lake sediments from the McMurdo Dry Valleys. The area will be studied by an interdisciplinary team to elucidate information about climate and biogeography. These deposits offer unique and direct information about the characteristics of Antarctica during a key period in its history, the time when it was freezing. This information is critical for correlation with indirect proxies, such as though obtained from drill cores, for climate and state of the ice sheet. The results will also help understand the origin and migration of similar organisms found in South America, India and Australia.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eIn terms of broader impacts, this project supports an early career researcher, undergraduate and graduate student research, various forms of outreach to K12 students, and extensive international collaboration. The work also has societal relevance in that the outcomes will offer direct constraints on Antarctica\u0027s ice sheet during a time with atmospheric CO2 contents similar to those of the earth in the coming centuries, and thus may help predictive models of sea level rise.", "east": 162.0, "geometry": "POINT(161 -77.5)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Not provided; Antarctica; Vegetation; Paleoclimate; Middle Miocene; Tundra; Bu/es Data Repository; McMurdo Dry Valleys; Lacustrine; Fossil", "locations": "Antarctica; McMurdo Dry Valleys", "north": -77.0, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences; Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Ashworth, Allan; Lewis, Adam", "platforms": "Not provided", "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -78.0, "title": "Collaborative Research: Integrating Geomorphological and Paleoecological Studies to Reconstruct Neogene Environments of the Transantarctic Mountains", "uid": "p0000188", "west": 160.0}, {"awards": "0453680 Sigman, Daniel", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-180 -60,-144 -60,-108 -60,-72 -60,-36 -60,0 -60,36 -60,72 -60,108 -60,144 -60,180 -60,180 -63,180 -66,180 -69,180 -72,180 -75,180 -78,180 -81,180 -84,180 -87,180 -90,144 -90,108 -90,72 -90,36 -90,0 -90,-36 -90,-72 -90,-108 -90,-144 -90,-180 -90,-180 -87,-180 -84,-180 -81,-180 -78,-180 -75,-180 -72,-180 -69,-180 -66,-180 -63,-180 -60))", "dataset_titles": "Robinson et al. 2004 Southern Ocean Diatom-bound Nitrogen and d15N Data", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "000119", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "NCEI", "science_program": null, "title": "Robinson et al. 2004 Southern Ocean Diatom-bound Nitrogen and d15N Data", "url": "https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo-search/study/8751"}], "date_created": "Wed, 20 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "The Southern Ocean may play a central role in causing ice ages and general global climate change. This work will reveal key characteristics of the glacial ocean, and may explain the cause of glacial/interglacial cycles by measuring the abundances of certain isotopes of nitrogen found in fossil diatoms from Antarctic marine sediments. Diatom-bound N is a potentially important recorder of nutrient utilization. The Southern Ocean\u0027s nutrient status, productivity and circulation may be central to setting global atmospheric CO2 contents and other aspects of climate. Previous attempts to make these measurements have yielded ambiguous results. This project includes both technique development and analyses, including measurements on diatoms from both sediment traps and culture experiments. With regard to broader impacts, this grant is focused around the education and academic development of a graduate student, by coupling their research with mentorship of an undergraduate researcher", "east": 180.0, "geometry": "POINT(0 -89.999)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Not provided", "locations": null, "north": -60.0, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Sigman, Daniel", "platforms": "Not provided", "repo": "NCEI", "repositories": "NCEI", "science_programs": null, "south": -90.0, "title": "Application of a New Method for Isotopic Analysis of Diatom Microfossil-bound Nitrogen", "uid": "p0000550", "west": -180.0}, {"awards": "0229698 Hammer, William", "bounds_geometry": null, "dataset_titles": null, "datasets": null, "date_created": "Tue, 07 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "This award, provided by the Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program of the Office of Polar Programs, supports a project to investigate Triassic and Jurassic dinosaurs and other vertebrates from the central Transantarctic Mountains of Antarctica. A field program to search for Upper Triassic to Jurassic age fossil vertebrates in the Beardmore Glacier region will be carried out in the 2003-04 austral summer. Initially, field efforts will concentrate on the Hanson Formation that has produced the only Jurassic dinosaur fauna from Antarctica. Further excavation of the Hanson dinosaur locality on Mt. Kirkpatrick will occur, followed by an extensive search of other exposures of the Hanson, Falla and Upper Fremouw Formations in the Beardmore area. A field party of six persons will allow two smaller groups to work independently at different sites. This group will operate for 3-4 weeks out of a small helicopter camp located in the Beardmore area. In addition to collecting new specimens an interpretation of the depositional settings for each of the vertebrate sites will be made. The second and third years of this project will be dedicated to preparation and study of the vertebrates. Antarctic vertebrates provide a unique opportunity to study the evolutionary and biogeographic significance of high latitude Mesozoic faunas and this project should result in significant advances in knowledge in this field.", "east": null, "geometry": null, "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": false, "keywords": "Not provided", "locations": null, "north": null, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": "PHANEROZOIC \u003e MESOZOIC", "persons": "Hammer, William R.", "platforms": "Not provided", "repositories": null, "science_programs": null, "south": null, "title": "Vertebrate Paleontology of the Triassic to Jurassic Sedimentary Sequence in the Beardmore Glacier Area, Antarctica", "uid": "p0000366", "west": null}, {"awards": "0603729 Mukasa, Samuel", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((161.2 -77.5029,161.26 -77.5029,161.32 -77.5029,161.38 -77.5029,161.44 -77.5029,161.5 -77.5029,161.56 -77.5029,161.62 -77.5029,161.68 -77.5029,161.74 -77.5029,161.8 -77.5029,161.8 -77.52511,161.8 -77.54732,161.8 -77.56953,161.8 -77.59174,161.8 -77.61395,161.8 -77.63616,161.8 -77.65837,161.8 -77.68058,161.8 -77.70279,161.8 -77.725,161.74 -77.725,161.68 -77.725,161.62 -77.725,161.56 -77.725,161.5 -77.725,161.44 -77.725,161.38 -77.725,161.32 -77.725,161.26 -77.725,161.2 -77.725,161.2 -77.70279,161.2 -77.68058,161.2 -77.65837,161.2 -77.63616,161.2 -77.61395,161.2 -77.59174,161.2 -77.56953,161.2 -77.54732,161.2 -77.52511,161.2 -77.5029))", "dataset_titles": null, "datasets": null, "date_created": "Thu, 02 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "This Small Grant for Exploratory Research supports measurement of PGE abundances and Hf, Nd, Sr and Pb isotopic ratios of the Basement Sill and Dais Intrusion lobe of the Ferrar Magmatic Province, Antarctica. This province played a key role in the breakup of Gondwanaland. Models to be tested are magma production by plume activity versus decompression melting in a fossil subduction zone. The PGE data will also be used to evaluate the behavior of volatiles during magma crystallization, which other evidence indicates may have reached saturation. The samples to be studied were collected during the NSF-sponsored, Magmatic Field Laboratory Workshop held in Antarctica in 2005. This study\u0027s results will be compliled with complementary data from other attendees to develop a new multidisciplinary model of Ferrar magmatism.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThe broader impacts fo this work include international collaboration and informal science education through public outreach to K12 students.", "east": 161.8, "geometry": "POINT(161.5 -77.61395)", "instruments": "IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e SPECTROMETERS/RADIOMETERS \u003e ICP-MS", "is_usap_dc": false, "keywords": "Magma Crystallization; Ferrar Magmatic Province; Dais Intrusion Lobe; Basement Sill; Antarctic; HELICOPTER; Ferrar Magmatism; Antarctica", "locations": "Basement Sill; Ferrar Magmatic Province; Antarctica; Antarctic", "north": -77.5029, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Mukasa, Samuel", "platforms": "AIR-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e ROTORCRAFT/HELICOPTER \u003e HELICOPTER", "repositories": null, "science_programs": null, "south": -77.725, "title": "SGER: Basement Sill, Antarctica: Constraints from its PGE Abundance Patterns and Isotopic Compositions on Magma Source Characteristics and Crystallization Processes", "uid": "p0000278", "west": 161.2}, {"awards": "0230469 Wise, Sherwood", "bounds_geometry": null, "dataset_titles": null, "datasets": null, "date_created": "Tue, 31 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "This award, provided by the Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program of the Office of Polar Programs, supports the development of a standardized diatom image catalog or database. Diatoms are considered by many to be the most important microfossil group used today in the study of Antarctic Cenozoic marine deposits south of the Polar Front, from the near shore to deep sea. These microfossils, with walls of silica called frustules, are produced by single-celled plants (algae of the Class Bacillariophyceae) in a great variety of forms. Consequently, they have great biostratigraphic importance in the Southern Ocean and elsewhere for determining the age of marine sediments. Also, paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic studies increasingly rely on fossil diatom data. Changing biogeographic distributions of given taxa indicate shifting paleoecological conditions and provide evidence of the surface productivity and temperatures of ancient oceans. The generality of conclusions, though, is limited by variation in species concepts among workers. The broad research community relies, directly or indirectly, on the accurate identification of diatom species. Current technology can be used to greatly improve upon the standard references that have been used in making these identifications.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThis project will develop an interactive digital-image catalog of modern and Cenozoic fossil diatoms of the Southern Ocean called \"DiatomWare\" for use by specialists and educators as an aid in rapid, accurate, and consistent species identification. As such, this will be a researcher\u0027s resource. It will be especially useful where it is not possible to maintain standard library resources such as onboard research vessels or at remote stations such as McMurdo Station. Major Antarctic geological drilling initiatives such as the new SHALDRIL project and the pending ANDRILL project will benefit from this product because they will rely heavily on diatom biostratigraphy to achieve their research objectives. The DiatomWare image database will be modeled on NannoWare, which was released in October 2002 on CD-ROM as a publication of the International Nannoplankton Association. BugCam will be adapted and modified as necessary to run the DiatomWare database, which can then be run from desktop or laptop computers. Images and text for the database will be scanned from the literature or captured in digital form from light or scanning electron microscopes.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThe software interface will include a number of data fields that can be accessed by the click of a mouse button. Primary information will be the images and descriptions of the holotypes. In addition, representative images of paratypes or hypotypes will be included whenever possible in plain transmitted, differential interference contrast light and, when available, as drawings and SEM images. Also included will be a 35-word or less English diagnosis (\"mini-description\"), the biostratigraphic range in terms of zones and linear time, bibliographic references, lists of species considered junior synonyms, and similar species. The list of similar species will be cross-referenced with their respective image files to enable quick access for direct visual comparison on the viewing screen. Multiple images can be brought to the viewing screen simultaneously, and a zoom feature will permit image examination at a wide range of magnifications. Buttons will allow range charts, a bibliography, and key public-domain publications from the literature to be called up from within the program. The DiatomWare/BugCam package will be distributed at a nominal cost through a major nonprofit society via CD-ROM and free to Internet users on the Worldwide Web. Quality control measures will include critical review of the finalized database by a network of qualified specialists. The completed database will include descriptions and images of between 350 and 400 species, including fossil as well as modern forms that have no fossil record.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThe development of the proposed diatom image database will be important to all research fields that depend on accurate biostratigraphic dating and paleoenvironmental interpretation of Antarctic marine sediments and plankton. The database will also serve as a valuable teaching tool for micropaleontology students and their professors, will provide a rapid means of keying down species for micropaleontologists of varying experience and background, and will promote a uniformity of taxonomic concepts since it will be developed and continuously updated with the advice of a community of nannofossil fossil experts. Broad use of the database is anticipated since it will be widely available through the Internet and on CD-ROM for use on personal computers that do not require large amounts of memory, costly specialized programs, or additional hardware.", "east": null, "geometry": null, "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": false, "keywords": "Not provided", "locations": null, "north": null, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Wise, Sherwood", "platforms": "Not provided", "repositories": null, "science_programs": null, "south": null, "title": "DiatomWare: An Interactive Digital Image Catalog for Antarctic Cenozoic Diatoms", "uid": "p0000062", "west": null}, {"awards": "0126146 Miller, Molly", "bounds_geometry": "POINT(171 -83.75)", "dataset_titles": null, "datasets": null, "date_created": "Wed, 20 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "This award, provided by the Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program of the Office of Polar Programs, provides funds for a study to investigate paleoenvironmental conditions during the late Paleozoic and Mesozoic in central interior Antarctica. The 4 km thick sequence of sedimentary rocks, known as the Beacon Supergroup, in the Beardmore Glacier area records 90 million years of Permian through Jurassic history of this high-paleolatitude sector of Gondwana. It accumulated in a foreland basin with a rate of subsidence approximately equal to the rate of deposition. The deposits have yielded diverse vertebrate fossils, in situ fossil forests, and exceptionally well preserved plant fossils. They give a unique glimpse of glacial, lake, and stream/river environments and ecosystems and preserve an unparalleled record of the depositional, paleoclimatic, and tectonic history of the area. The excellent work done to date provides a solid base of information on which to build understanding of conditions and processes.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThis project is a collaborative study of this stratigraphic section that will integrate sedimentologic, paleontologic, and ichnologic observations to answer focused questions, including: (1) What are the stratigraphic architecture and alluvial facies of Upper Permian to Jurassic rocks in the Beardmore area?; (2) In what tectonostratigraphic setting were these rocks deposited?; (3) Did vertebrates inhabit the cold, near-polar, Permian floodplains, as indicated by vertebrate burrows, and can these burrows be used to identify, for the first time, the presence of small early mammals in Mesozoic deposits?; and (4) How did bottom-dwelling animals in lakes and streams use substrate ecospace, how did ecospace use at these high paleolatitudes differ from ecospace use in equivalent environments at low paleolatitudes, and what does burrow distribution reveal about seasonality of river flow and thus about paleoclimate? Answers to these questions will (1) clarify the paleoclimatic, basinal, and tectonic history of this part of Gondwana, (2) elucidate the colonization of near-polar ecosystems by vertebrates, (3) provide new information on the environmental and paleolatitudinal distributions of early mammals, and (4) allow semi-quantitative assessment of the activity and abundance of bottom-dwelling animals in different freshwater environments at high and low latitudes. In summary, this project will contribute significantly to an understanding of paleobiology and paleoecology at a high latitude floodplain setting during a time in Earth history when the climate was much different than today.", "east": 171.0, "geometry": "POINT(171 -83.75)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": false, "keywords": "Beardmore Glacier; FIELD SURVEYS; Paleoclimate; Permian; Paleontology; FIELD INVESTIGATION; Sedimentologic; Ichnologic; Stratigraphic; Gondwana", "locations": "Beardmore Glacier", "north": -83.75, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": "PHANEROZOIC \u003e MESOZOIC \u003e JURASSIC; PHANEROZOIC \u003e PALEOZOIC \u003e PERMIAN; PHANEROZOIC \u003e MESOZOIC \u003e TRIASSIC", "persons": "Miller, Molly", "platforms": "LAND-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e FIELD SITES \u003e FIELD INVESTIGATION; LAND-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e FIELD SITES \u003e FIELD SURVEYS", "repositories": null, "science_programs": null, "south": -83.75, "title": "Collaborative Research: Late Paleozoic-Mesozoic Fauna, Environment, Climate and Basinal History: Beardmore Glacier Area, Transantarctic Mountains", "uid": "p0000736", "west": 171.0}, {"awards": "0229917 Becker, Luann", "bounds_geometry": null, "dataset_titles": null, "datasets": null, "date_created": "Wed, 24 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "This award, provided by the Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program of the Office of Polar Programs, supports an interdisciplinary study of fluvial sediments in Antarctica for evidence of what caused the greatest of all mass extinctions in the history of life at the Permian-Triassic boundary. This boundary was, until recently, difficult to locate and thought to be unequivocally disconformable in Antarctica. New studies, particularly of carbon isotopic chemostratigraphy and of paleosols and root traces as paleoecosystem indicators, together with improved fossil plant, reptile and pollen biostratigraphy, now suggest that the precise location of the boundary might be identified and have led to local discovery of iridium anomalies, shocked quartz, and fullerenes with extraterrestrial noble gases. These anomalies are associated with a distinctive claystone breccia bed, similar to strata known in South Africa and Australia, and taken as evidence of deforestation. There is already much evidence from Antarctica and elsewhere that the mass extinction on land was abrupt and synchronous with extinction in the ocean. The problem now is what led to such death and destruction. Carbon isotopic values are so low in these and other Permian-Triassic boundary sections that there was likely to have been some role for catastrophic destabilization of methane clathrates. Getting the modeled amount of methane out of likely reservoirs would require such catastrophic events as bolide impact, flood-basalt eruption or continental-shelf collapse, which have all independently been implicated in the mass extinction and for which there is independent evidence. Teasing apart these various hypotheses requires careful re-examination of beds that appear to represent the Permian-Triassic boundary, and search for more informative sequences, as was the case for the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. This collaborative research on geochemistry and petrography of boundary beds and paleosols (by Retallack), on carbon isotopic variation through the boundary interval (by Jahren), and on fullerenes, iridium and helium (by Becker) is designed to test these ideas about the Permian-Triassic boundary in Antarctica and to shed light on processes which contributed to this largest of mass extinctions on Earth. Fieldwork for this research will be conducted in the central Transantarctic Mountains and in Southern Victoria Land with an initial objective of examining the stratigraphic sequences for continuity across the boundary. Stratigraphic continuity is a critical element that must exist for the work to be successful. If fieldwork indicates sufficiently continuous sections, the full analytical program will follow fieldwork.", "east": null, "geometry": null, "instruments": "IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS \u003e PROBES \u003e PROBES; SOLAR/SPACE OBSERVING INSTRUMENTS \u003e PARTICLE DETECTORS \u003e SEM", "is_usap_dc": false, "keywords": "Not provided", "locations": null, "north": null, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Becker, Luann", "platforms": "Not provided", "repositories": null, "science_programs": null, "south": null, "title": "Collaborative Research: Permian-Triassic Mass Extinction in Antarctica", "uid": "p0000718", "west": null}, {"awards": "0408308 Clarke, Julia", "bounds_geometry": null, "dataset_titles": null, "datasets": null, "date_created": "Tue, 14 Mar 2006 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Clarke has submitted an SGER proposal to support time critical work on bird fossil that must be returned to Argentina by the end of March 2004. The specialized work is x-ray computed tomography imaging to gather detailed anatomical data in a non-destructive fashion. This fossil is a late Cretaceous bird fossil and is important because of its relative completeness and because existing information suggests that it may be a key link in evolution of birds that demonstrates the importance of the Antarctic Peninsula region for bird evolution.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThe rational for consideration of this as an SGER award is that the work must be completed very soon, before the fossil is returned to Argentina. It would be detrimental to the fossil material to require that the PI\u0027s seek to return it to the US at some later time. Also, the work involves two novel approaches to study of fossil material and this work would inform scientific discussions and debates about avian evolution that is occurring now. Delay of acquisition of these data would mean that this debate would not benefit from the new data and this would at least leave open questions in the discussions about bird evolution. Hence, it is very reasonable to use this mechanism to get this work done now, while the material is undergoing other non-destructive work and while the data would be particularly timely to scientific debates.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThe SGER program does not allow external merit review (see Grant Proposal Guide: NSF 03-041, part II.D.1).", "east": null, "geometry": null, "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": false, "keywords": "Not provided", "locations": null, "north": null, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Clarke, Julia", "platforms": "Not provided", "repositories": null, "science_programs": null, "south": null, "title": "SGER: Morphological Study of a Key Avian Fossil from Antarctica: New Data from X-Ray Computed Tomography and Histology", "uid": "p0000745", "west": null}, {"awards": "9980538 Lohmann, Kyger", "bounds_geometry": "POINT(-56 -64)", "dataset_titles": "Stable isotope and minor element proxies for Eocene climate of Seymour Island, Antarctica", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "600019", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": "Lohmann, Kyger", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Stable isotope and minor element proxies for Eocene climate of Seymour Island, Antarctica", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/600019"}], "date_created": "Mon, 11 Jun 2001 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "This award, provided by the Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program of the Office of Polar Programs, supports research for construction of a long-term record of climate during the late Cretaceous and early Paleogene to assess the annual seasonality in temperature on the coastal margin of Antarctica. Stable isotope and element compositions of well-preserved bivalve shells collected on Seymour Island will be the primary source of data used to reconstruct paleoenvironmental conditions. Seasonal temperature records collected through high-resolution sampling along growth structures in bivalve shells will allow seasonality to be assessed during different climate states and during periods of rapid climate change. In addition, high stratigraphic resolution will enable this project to detect the presence and frequency of short-lived thermal excursions that may have extended to such high latitudes.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eTo compile a reliable temporal record of paleoclimate, two major avenues of investigation will be undertaken: 1) precise stratigraphic (and therefore, temporal) placement of fossils over a large geographic area will be employed through the use of a graphical technique employing geometric projections; 2) stable isotope and elemental analyses will be performed to derive paleotemperatures and to evaluate diagenetic alteration of shell materials. To provide realistic comparisons of paleotemperatures across stratigraphic horizons, this study will focus on a single taxon, thus avoiding complications due to the mixing of faunal assemblages that have been encountered in previous studies of this region.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003eThe near-shore marine fossil record on Seymour Island provides a unique opportunity to address many questions about the Antarctic paleoenvironment, including the relation between seasonality and different climate states, the influence of climate on biogeographic distribution of specific taxa, the effect of ice-volume changes on the stable isotope record from the late Cretaceous through the Eocene, and the plausibility of high-latitude bottom water formation during this time interval. In particular, information that will be collected concerning patterns of seasonality and the presence (or absence) of short-lived thermal excursions will be extremely valuable to an understanding of the response of high latitude sites during climate transitions from globally cool to globally warm conditions.", "east": -56.0, "geometry": "POINT(-56 -64)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": false, "keywords": "Not provided; Bivalves; Geochemical Composition; Carbon Isotopes; Climate", "locations": null, "north": -64.0, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Earth Sciences", "paleo_time": "PHANEROZOIC \u003e CENOZOIC \u003e PALEOGENE \u003e EOCENE", "persons": "Lohmann, Kyger; Barrera, Enriqueta", "platforms": "Not provided", "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -64.0, "title": "Evolution of Sea Surface Temperatures in the Coastal Antarctic Paleoenvironment During the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene", "uid": "p0000613", "west": -56.0}]
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Project Title/Abstract/Map | NSF Award(s) | Date Created | PIs / Scientists | Dataset Links and Repositories | Abstract | Bounds Geometry | Geometry | Selected | Visible | |||||||||
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Collaborative Research: Unearthing Antarctica's role in the Late Cretaceous Evolution of Flowering Plants
|
1953960 1953993 |
2024-10-19 | Atkinson, Brian; Smith, Selena | No dataset link provided | The fossil record indicates that critical events relating to the early diversification of flowering plants occurred during the Cretaceous period (145–66 million years ago). Recent discoveries of fossil flowers and fruits from this time period have significantly furthered our understanding of early flowering plant evolution. However, the majority of these discoveries are from the Northern Hemisphere while similar discoveries from the Southern Hemisphere are relatively lacking. This project will address this paucity of data by collecting and describing Late Cretaceous flowering plant fossils from Western Antarctica and placing them in evolutionary frameworks to better understand early flowering plant evolution, biogeographic history, and Antarctica’s role in the formation of modern ecosystems. Western Antarctica is one of the few places in the Southern Hemisphere that is reported to contain Late Cretaceous-aged (100–66million years ago) three-dimensionally preserved flowers and fruits. Therefore, the recovery and study of these fossils can meaningfully further our understanding of the early phases of flowering plant evolution. This work will result in the description of new species that will be placed in evolutionary analyses and biogeographic frameworks, which will help clarify the Cretaceous diversification of flowering plants in the Southern Hemisphere. These fossils will provide insights that will allow us to anticipate which plants might thrive in a warming Antarctic and world. | None | None | false | false | |||||||||
Collaborative Research: Testing the Linchpin of WAIS Collapse with Diatoms and IRD in Pleistocene and Late Pliocene Strata of the Resolution Drift, Amundsen Sea, Antarctica
|
1939139 1939146 |
2024-02-20 | Scherer, Reed Paul; Siddoway, Christine | Part I, Non-technical Abstract <br/>Concerns that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) might be susceptible to releasing its ice as giant icebergs into the Southern Ocean due to a warming climate, raising global sea level, were first expressed more than 40 years ago. To best-assess this threat, scientists need to know whether such events occurred in the geologically recent past, during warm intervals of past glacial-interglacial cycles. Ocean drilling near the most vulnerable sector of the WAIS, in 2019, yielded seafloor geologic records demonstrating times when icebergs dropped large volumes of sands and pebbles, called ice-rafted detritus (IRD) in deep water of the Amundsen Sea. Occurring together with IRD that was eroded from bedrock beneath the ice sheets, there are abundant microfossils of diatoms (algal plankton), which indicate high biological productivity in the open ocean. The new sediment cores provide a complete, uninterrupted record of a time of dramatic fluctuations of ice sheet extent that occurred over the last 3 million years. Therefore, they provide the means to obtain clear answers to the question whether ice sheet collapse occurred in the past and offering clues to its potential future. This project will investigate sediment intervals where IRD coincides with evidence of high diatom production, to test whether these two criteria indicate rapid ice sheet collapse. Geochemical analysis of IRD pebbles will help trace the source of the icebergs to likely on-land sites. By analyzing conditions of high diatom and IRD accumulation in deep ocean sediment, where local coastal influences can be avoided, we will assess oceanographic and climatic conditions associated with past ice sheet collapse events. Diatoms provide powerful evidence of temperature and ocean productivity changes in the past, that, when linked to time, can translate into rates of ice sheet drawdown. These results will provide critical data for designing, constraining and testing the next suite computer models that can determine the likelihood and timing of future ice sheet collapse in a warming world. The project will include training of undergraduate and graduate students from diverse backgrounds, and the public will be introduced to Antarctic science and engaged through several different outreach efforts.<br/><br/>Part 2, Technical Abstract<br/><br/>New drillcores from the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica (IODP Expedition 379) contain a continuous record of oceanographic changes and iceberg rafted debris (IRD) spanning the last 5 million years. This study aims to identify the signature of retreat/collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) in these continental margin, deep-sea sediments by quantitatively analyzing, in detail, diatom and IRD records across glacial-interglacial lithostratigraphic transitions to establish the timing and frequency of Late Pliocene and Pleistocene WAIS collapse events. The investigators will secure age constraints and diagnostic observations of marine paleoenvironmental conditions for selected interglacial intervals of cores from sites U1532 and U1533, using high resolution micropaleontology of diatom assemblages coupled with microstratigraphic analysis of IRD depositional events, while petrography, geochronology and thermochronology of iceberg rafted clasts will provide evidence of iceberg sources and pathways. Depositional paleotemperatures will be assessed via a new paleotemperature proxy based on quantitative assessment of morphologic changes in the dominant Southern Ocean diatom Fragilariopsis kerguelensis. Their results will contribute to parameterization of new ice sheet models that seek to reconstruct and forecast West Antarctic Ice Sheet behavior. This project will directly contribute to undergraduate education at an undergraduate-only college and at a public university that serves a demographic typified by first generation university students and underrepresented groups. Spanning geology, geochemistry, sedimentology, paleontology and paleoceanography, the proposed work will allow undergraduate students to develop diverse skills through hands-on research within a collaborative team that is dedicated to societally relevant research. The two graduate students will conduct original research and work alongside/mentor undergraduates, making for a well-rounded research experience that prepares them for success in future academic or employment sectors. The discoveries that come from this deep-sea record from West Antarctica will be communicated by students and investigators at national and international conferences and an array of public science outreach events.<br/><br/>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. | POLYGON((-120 -66,-117.5 -66,-115 -66,-112.5 -66,-110 -66,-107.5 -66,-105 -66,-102.5 -66,-100 -66,-97.5 -66,-95 -66,-95 -67.1,-95 -68.2,-95 -69.3,-95 -70.4,-95 -71.5,-95 -72.6,-95 -73.7,-95 -74.8,-95 -75.9,-95 -77,-97.5 -77,-100 -77,-102.5 -77,-105 -77,-107.5 -77,-110 -77,-112.5 -77,-115 -77,-117.5 -77,-120 -77,-120 -75.9,-120 -74.8,-120 -73.7,-120 -72.6,-120 -71.5,-120 -70.4,-120 -69.3,-120 -68.2,-120 -67.1,-120 -66)) | POINT(-107.5 -71.5) | false | false | ||||||||||
NSFGEO-NERC: Ice-shelf Instability Caused by Active Surface Meltwater Production, Movement, Ponding and Hydrofracture
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1841607 1841467 |
2024-02-15 | Banwell, Alison; Macayeal, Douglas |
|
The evolution of surface and shallow subsurface meltwater across Antarctic ice shelves has important implications for their (in)stability, as demonstrated by the 2002 rapid collapse of the Larsen B Ice Shelf. It is vital to understand the causes of ice-shelf (in)stability because ice shelves buttress against the discharge of inland ice and therefore influence ice-sheet contributions to sea-level rise. Ice-shelf break-up may be triggered by stress variations associated with surface meltwater movement, ponding, and drainage. These variations may cause an ice shelf to flex and fracture. This four-year project will provide key geophysical observations to improve understanding of ice-shelf meltwater and its effects on (in)stability. The work will be conducted on the George VI Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula, where hundreds of surface lakes form each summer. <br/><br/>Over a 27-month period, global positioning systems, seismometers, water pressure transducers, automatic weather stations, and in-ice thermistor strings will be deployed to record ice shelf flexure, fracture seismicity, water depths, and surface and subsurface melting, respectively, in and around several surface lakes on the George VI Ice Shelf, within roughly 20 km of the British Antarctic Survey's Fossil Bluff Station. Field data will be used to validate and extend the team's approach to modelling ice-shelf flexure and stress, and possible "Larsen-B style" ice-shelf instability and break-up.<br/><br/>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. | POLYGON((-68.28 -71.1,-68.202 -71.1,-68.124 -71.1,-68.046 -71.1,-67.968 -71.1,-67.89 -71.1,-67.812 -71.1,-67.734 -71.1,-67.656 -71.1,-67.578 -71.1,-67.5 -71.1,-67.5 -71.14999999999999,-67.5 -71.19999999999999,-67.5 -71.25,-67.5 -71.3,-67.5 -71.35,-67.5 -71.39999999999999,-67.5 -71.44999999999999,-67.5 -71.5,-67.5 -71.55,-67.5 -71.6,-67.578 -71.6,-67.656 -71.6,-67.734 -71.6,-67.812 -71.6,-67.89 -71.6,-67.968 -71.6,-68.046 -71.6,-68.124 -71.6,-68.202 -71.6,-68.28 -71.6,-68.28 -71.55,-68.28 -71.5,-68.28 -71.44999999999999,-68.28 -71.39999999999999,-68.28 -71.35,-68.28 -71.3,-68.28 -71.25,-68.28 -71.19999999999999,-68.28 -71.14999999999999,-68.28 -71.1)) | POINT(-67.89 -71.35) | false | false | |||||||||
Collaborative Research: Linking Marine and Terrestrial Sedimentary Evidence for Plio-pleistocene Variability of Weddell Embayment and Antarctic Peninsula Glaciation
|
2302832 |
2023-07-12 | Reilly, Brendan | The potential for future sea level rise from melting and collapse of Antarctic ice sheets and glaciers is concerning. We can improve our understanding of how water is exchanged between Antarctic ice sheets and the ocean by studying how ice sheets behaved in past climates, especially conditions that were similar to or warmer than those at present. For this project, the research team will document Antarctica's response across an interval when Earth transitioned from the warm Pliocene into the Pleistocene ice ages by combining marine and land evidence for glacier variations from sites near the Antarctic Peninsula, complimented by detailed work on timescales and fossil evidence for environmental change. An important goal is to test whether Antarctica's glaciers changed at the same time as glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere as Earth's most recent Ice Age intensified, or alternatively responded to regional climate forcing in the Southern Hemisphere. Eleven investigators from seven US institutions, as well as Argentine collaborators, will study new sediment cores from the International Ocean Discovery Program, as well as legacy cores from that program and on-land outcrops on James Ross Island. The group embraces a vertically integrated research program that allows high school, undergraduate, graduate, post-docs and faculty to work together on the same projects. This structure leverages the benefits of near-peer mentoring and the development of a robust collaborative research network while allowing all participants to take ownership of different parts of the project. All members of the team are firmly committed to attracting researchers from under-represented groups and will do this through existing channels as well as via co-creating programming that centers the perspectives of diverse students in conversations about sea-level rise and climate change. The proposed research seeks to understand phasing between Northern and Southern Hemisphere glacier and climate changes, as a means to understand drivers and teleconnections. The dynamics of past Antarctic glaciation can be studied using the unique isotope geochemical and mineralogic fingerprints from glacial sectors tied to a well-constrained time model for the stratigraphic successions. The proposed work would further refine the stratigraphic context through coupled biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic work. The magnitude of iceberg calving and paths of icebergs will be revealed using the flux, geochemical and mineralogic signatures, and 40Ar/39Ar and U-Pb geochronology of ice-rafted detritus. These provenance tracers will establish which sectors of Antarctica's ice sheets are more vulnerable to collapse, and the timing and pacing of these events will be revealed by their stratigraphic context. Additionally, the team will work with Argentine collaborators to connect the marine and terrestrial records by studying glacier records intercalated with volcanic flows on James Ross Island. These new constraints will be integrated with a state of the art ice-sheet model to link changes in ice dynamics with their underlying causes. Together, these tight stratigraphic constraints, geochemical signatures, and ice-sheet model simulations will provide a means to compare to the global records of climate change, understand their primary drivers, and elucidate the role of the Antarctic ice sheet in a major, global climatic shift from the Pliocene into the Pleistocene. | POLYGON((-70 -55,-67 -55,-64 -55,-61 -55,-58 -55,-55 -55,-52 -55,-49 -55,-46 -55,-43 -55,-40 -55,-40 -56.1,-40 -57.2,-40 -58.3,-40 -59.4,-40 -60.5,-40 -61.6,-40 -62.7,-40 -63.8,-40 -64.9,-40 -66,-43 -66,-46 -66,-49 -66,-52 -66,-55 -66,-58 -66,-61 -66,-64 -66,-67 -66,-70 -66,-70 -64.9,-70 -63.8,-70 -62.7,-70 -61.6,-70 -60.5,-70 -59.4,-70 -58.3,-70 -57.2,-70 -56.1,-70 -55)) | POINT(-55 -60.5) | false | false | ||||||||||
Collaborative Research: Coring Seymour Island (CSI) Antarctica: Evaluating Causes and Effects of the End Cretaceous Mass Extinction
|
2025724 2020728 2026648 |
2022-09-15 | Tobin, Thomas; Totten, Rebecca | No dataset link provided | Non-technical description: <br/>This 4-year project is evaluating evidence of extinction patterns and depositional conditions from a high southern latitude Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) outcrop section found on Seymore Island, in the Western Antarctic Peninsula. The team is using sediment samples collected below the weathering horizon to evaluate detailed sedimentary structures, geochemistry, and microfossils in targeted stratigraphic intervals. The study will help determine if the K-Pg mass extinction was a single or double phased event and whether Seymour Island region in the geological past was a restricted, suboxic marine environment or an open well-mixed shelf. The award includes an integrated plan for student training at all levels, enhanced by a highlighted partnership with a high school earth sciences teacher working in a school serving underrepresented students.<br/>Technical description:<br/> The proposed research is applying multiple techniques to address an overarching research question for which recent studies are in disagreement: Is the fossil evidence from a unique outcropping on Seymour Island, Antarctica consistent with a single or double phased extinction? In a two-phased model, the first extinction would affect primarily benthic organisms and would have occurred ~150 kiloyears prior to a separate extinction at the K-Pg boundary. However, this early extinction could plausibly be explained by an unrecognized facies control that is obscured by surficial weathering. This team is using microfossil evidence with detailed sedimentary petrology and geochemistry data to evaluate if the fossil evidence from Seymour Island is consistent with a single or double phased extinction process. The team is using detailed sedimentary petrology and geochemistry methods to test for facies changes across the K-PG interval that would explain the apparent early extinction. Samples of core sedimentary foraminifera, siliceous microfossils, and calcareous nannofossils are being evaluated to provide a high-resolution stratigraphic resolution and to evaluate whether evidence for an early extinction is present. Additionally, the team is using multiple geochemical methods to evaluate whether there is evidence for intermittent anoxia or euxinia and/or physical restriction of the Seymore region basin. Data from this analysis will indicate if this region was a restricted, suboxic marine environment or an open well-mixed shelf. | POLYGON((-56.93 -64.2,-56.894 -64.2,-56.858 -64.2,-56.822 -64.2,-56.786 -64.2,-56.75 -64.2,-56.714 -64.2,-56.678 -64.2,-56.642 -64.2,-56.606 -64.2,-56.57 -64.2,-56.57 -64.214,-56.57 -64.22800000000001,-56.57 -64.242,-56.57 -64.256,-56.57 -64.27000000000001,-56.57 -64.284,-56.57 -64.298,-56.57 -64.312,-56.57 -64.32600000000001,-56.57 -64.34,-56.606 -64.34,-56.642 -64.34,-56.678 -64.34,-56.714 -64.34,-56.75 -64.34,-56.786 -64.34,-56.822 -64.34,-56.858 -64.34,-56.894 -64.34,-56.93 -64.34,-56.93 -64.32600000000001,-56.93 -64.312,-56.93 -64.298,-56.93 -64.284,-56.93 -64.27000000000001,-56.93 -64.256,-56.93 -64.242,-56.93 -64.22800000000001,-56.93 -64.214,-56.93 -64.2)) | POINT(-56.75 -64.27000000000001) | false | false | |||||||||
Collaborative Research: Common Environmental Drivers Determine the Occupation Chronology of Adélie Penguins and Moss Peatbanks on the Western Antarctic Peninsula
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2012247 2012444 2012365 |
2022-07-24 | Groff, Dulcinea; Cimino, Megan; Johnston, David | No dataset link provided | This award is funded in whole or part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Part I: Non-technical description: Adlie penguin colonies are declining and disappearing from the western Antarctic Peninsula. However, not all colonies in a certain area decline or disappear at the same rate. This research project will evaluate the influence of terrestrial surface properties on Adlie penguin colonies, leveraging five decades of research on seabirds near Palmer Station where an Adlie colony on Litchfield Island became extinct in 2007 while other colonies nearby are still present. The researchers will combine information obtained from remote sensing, UAS (Unoccupied Aircraft System, or drones) high-resolution maps, reconstruction of past moss banks and modeling with machine learning tools to define suitable penguin and peatbank moss habitats and explore the influence of microclimate on their distributions. In particular, the researchers are asking if guano from penguin colonies could act as fertilizers of moss banks in the presence of localized wind patters that can carry airborne nitrogen to the mosses. Modeling will relate penguin and peatbank moss spatial patterns to environmental variables and provide a greater understanding of how continued environmental change could impact these communities. The project allows for documentation of terrestrial Antarctic ecosystems in support of seabirds and provisioning of such information to the broader science community that seeks to study penguins, educating graduate and undergraduate students and a post-doctoral researcher. The research team includes two young women as Principal Investigators, one of them from an under-represented ethnic minority, first time Antarctic Principal Investigator, from an EPSCoR state (Wyoming), broadening participation in Antarctic research. Researchers will serve as student mentors through the Duke Bass Connections program entitled Biogeographic Assessment of Antarctic Coastal Habitats. This program supports an interdisciplinary team of graduate and undergraduate students collaborating with project faculty and experts on cutting-edge research bridging the classroom and the real world. Part II: Technical description: This research aims to understand the changes at the microclimate scale (meters) by analyzing present and past Adlie penguin colonies and moss peatbanks in islands around Palmer Station in the western Antarctic Peninsula interlinked systems that are typically considered in isolation. By integrating in situ and remote data, this project will synthesize the drivers of biogeomorphology on small islands of the Antarctic Peninsula, a region of rapid change where plants and animals often co-occur and animal presence often determines the habitation of plants. A multi-disciplinary approach combine field measurements, remote sensing, UAS (Unoccupied Aircraft Systems) maps, paleoecology and modeling with machine learning to define suitable habitats and the influence of microclimates on penguin and peatbank distributions. The link between the two aspects of this study, peatbanks and penguins, is the potential source of nutrients for peat mosses from penguin guano. Peatbank and penguin distribution will be modeled and all models will be validated using in situ information from moss samples that will identify mechanistic processes. This project leverages 5 decades of seabird research in the area and high-definition remote sensing provided by the Polar Geospatial center to study the microclimate of Litchfield Island where an Adlie colony became extinct in 2007 when other colonies nearby are still present. The research team includes two early career women as Principal Investigators, one of them from an under-represented ethnic minority, first time Antarctic Principal Investigator, from an EPSCoR state (Wyoming). Researchers will serve as mentors for students through the Duke Bass Connections program entitled Biogeogrpahic Assessment of Antarctic Coastal Habitats which bridges the classroom and the real world. 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. | POLYGON((-65 -64.5,-64.8 -64.5,-64.6 -64.5,-64.4 -64.5,-64.2 -64.5,-64 -64.5,-63.8 -64.5,-63.6 -64.5,-63.4 -64.5,-63.2 -64.5,-63 -64.5,-63 -64.55,-63 -64.6,-63 -64.65,-63 -64.7,-63 -64.75,-63 -64.8,-63 -64.85,-63 -64.9,-63 -64.95,-63 -65,-63.2 -65,-63.4 -65,-63.6 -65,-63.8 -65,-64 -65,-64.2 -65,-64.4 -65,-64.6 -65,-64.8 -65,-65 -65,-65 -64.95,-65 -64.9,-65 -64.85,-65 -64.8,-65 -64.75,-65 -64.7,-65 -64.65,-65 -64.6,-65 -64.55,-65 -64.5)) | POINT(-64 -64.75) | false | false | |||||||||
Middle-Late Devonian Vertebrates of Antarctica
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1543367 |
2022-06-17 | Shubin, Neil; Daeschler, Edward B |
|
This research will provide new insights into the relationships and history of sharks, fish and limbed animals. Understanding these relationships forms the backbone for both basic and applied science because fish often serve as models of human traits and diseases. Some of the main lines of evidence for these relationships come from fossils in rocks over 380 million years old that were originally deposited as ancient rivers and streams. Because rocks of this type and age are abundantly exposed along a number of the dry valleys and mountains of Antarctica, the investigation of these areas holds exceptional promise for discoveries that can have a broad impact. The fieldwork will involve geological mapping and assessment of the rocks with detailed reconnaissance for the fossils that they may hold. Fossil discoveries form the backbone for public communication of the methods and results of scientific research-- these studies will be used as vehicles for training of students at multiple levels as well as communication of science to the broader non-science citizen base.<br/><br/>The discovery, description, and analysis of Middle to Late Devonian (390-355 Million years ago) vertebrates and depositional environments provide important data on the emergence of novel anatomical structures, faunas, and habitats during a critical interval in the history of life and earth. Biological innovation during this time includes the early evolution of freshwater fish, the origins of major groups of vertebrates (e.g., sharks, lobe and ray-finned fish, tetrapods), and the expansion and elaboration of non-marine ecosystems. Accordingly, expanding our knowledge of vertebrate diversity during the Middle and Late Devonian will provide new evidence on the relationships of the major groups of vertebrates, the assembly of novelties that ultimately enabled tetrapods to invade land, the origin and early evolution of sharks and their relatives, and the assembly and expansion of non-marine ecosystems generally. The Aztec Siltstone of Antarctica Middle-Late Devonian; Givetian-Frasnian Stages) has exceptional potential to produce new paleontological evidence of these events and to illuminate the temporal, ecological, and geographic context in which they occurred. It is essentially fossiliferous throughout its known exposure range, something that is rare for Middle-Late Devonian non-marine rocks anywhere in the world. In addition, fine-grained meandering stream deposits are abundantly exposed in the Aztec Siltstone and are recognized as an important locus for the discovery of well-preserved Devonian fish, including stem tetrapods and their relatives. Given the exceedingly fossiliferous nature of the Aztec Siltstone, the large number of taxa known only from partial material, and the amount of promising exposure yet to be worked, a dedicated reconnaissance, collection, and research effort is designed to recover important new fossil material and embed it in a stratigraphic and sedimentological context. The first major objective of this study is the recovery, preparation, and description of Middle-Late Devonian fossil taxa. Ensuing investigation of the phylogenetic affinities, taphonomic occurrence, and stratigraphic position of fossil assemblages will allow both local and global comparisons of biotic diversity. These analyses will inform: 1) higher level phylogenetic hypotheses of jawed vertebrates, 2) biostratigraphic and biogeographic analysis of the distribution of the Middle-Late Devonian fish, and 3) paleobiological investigation of the elaboration of terrestrial and freshwater habitats. The broader impacts are derived from the utility of paleontology and Antarctic expeditionary science as educational tools with powerful narratives. Specific goals include affiliations with local urban secondary schools (using established relationships for broadening participation) and collegiate and graduate training. Wider dissemination of knowledge to the general public is a direct product of ongoing interactions with national and international media (print, television, internet). | POLYGON((158.3 -77.5,158.54000000000002 -77.5,158.78 -77.5,159.02 -77.5,159.26 -77.5,159.5 -77.5,159.74 -77.5,159.98 -77.5,160.22 -77.5,160.45999999999998 -77.5,160.7 -77.5,160.7 -77.605,160.7 -77.71,160.7 -77.815,160.7 -77.92,160.7 -78.025,160.7 -78.13,160.7 -78.235,160.7 -78.34,160.7 -78.445,160.7 -78.55,160.45999999999998 -78.55,160.22 -78.55,159.98 -78.55,159.74 -78.55,159.5 -78.55,159.26 -78.55,159.02 -78.55,158.78 -78.55,158.54000000000002 -78.55,158.3 -78.55,158.3 -78.445,158.3 -78.34,158.3 -78.235,158.3 -78.13,158.3 -78.025,158.3 -77.92,158.3 -77.815,158.3 -77.71,158.3 -77.605,158.3 -77.5)) | POINT(159.5 -78.025) | false | false | |||||||||
Collaborative Research: Reconstructing Late Holocene Ecosystem and Climate Shifts from Peat Records in the Western Antarctic Peninsula
|
1745082 1745068 |
2022-06-10 | Beilman, David; Booth, Robert |
|
Warming on the western Antarctic Peninsula in the later 20th century has caused widespread changes in the cryosphere (ice and snow) and terrestrial ecosystems. These recent changes along with longer-term climate and ecosystem histories will be deciphered using peat deposits. Peat accumulation can be used to assess the rate of glacial retreat and provide insight into ecological processes on newly deglaciated landscapes in the Antarctic Peninsula. This project builds on data suggesting recent ecosystem transformations that are linked to past climate of the western Antarctic Peninsula and provide a timeline to assess the extent and rate of recent glacial change. The study will produce a climate record for the coastal low-elevation terrestrial region, which will refine the major climate shifts of up to 6 degrees C in the recent past (last 12,000 years). A novel terrestrial record of the recent glacial history will provide insight into observed changes in climate and sea-ice dynamics in the western Antarctic Peninsula and allow for comparison with off-shore climate records captured in sediments. Observations and discoveries from this project will be disseminated to local schools and science centers. The project provides training and career development for a postdoctoral scientist as well as graduate and undergraduate students.<br/><br/>The research presents a new systematic survey to reconstruct ecosystem and climate change for the coastal low-elevation areas on the western Antarctic Peninsula (AP) using proxy records preserved in late Holocene peat deposits. Moss and peat samples will be collected and analyzed to generate a comprehensive data set of late-Holocene climate change and ecosystem dynamics. The goal is to document and understand the transformations of landscape and terrestrial ecosystems on the western AP during the late Holocene. The testable hypothesis is that coastal regions have experienced greater climate variability than evidenced in ice-core records and that past warmth has facilitated dramatic ecosystem and cryosphere response. A primary product of the project is a robust reconstruction of late Holocene climate changes for coastal low-elevation terrestrial areas using multiple lines of evidence from peat-based biological and geochemical proxies, which will be used to compare with climate records derived from marine sediments and ice cores from the AP region. These data will be used to test several ideas related to novel peat-forming ecosystems (such as Antarctic hairgrass bogs) in past warmer climates and climate controls over ecosystem establishment and migration to help assess the nature of the Little Ice Age cooling and cryosphere response. The chronology of peat cores will be established by radiocarbon dating of macrofossils and Bayesian modeling. The high-resolution time series of ecosystem and climate changes will help put the observed recent changes into a long-term context to bridge climate dynamics over different time scales.<br/><br/>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. | POLYGON((-64.4 -62.4,-63.910000000000004 -62.4,-63.42 -62.4,-62.93000000000001 -62.4,-62.440000000000005 -62.4,-61.95 -62.4,-61.46 -62.4,-60.97 -62.4,-60.480000000000004 -62.4,-59.99 -62.4,-59.5 -62.4,-59.5 -62.7,-59.5 -63,-59.5 -63.3,-59.5 -63.6,-59.5 -63.900000000000006,-59.5 -64.2,-59.5 -64.5,-59.5 -64.80000000000001,-59.5 -65.10000000000001,-59.5 -65.4,-59.99 -65.4,-60.480000000000004 -65.4,-60.97 -65.4,-61.46 -65.4,-61.95 -65.4,-62.440000000000005 -65.4,-62.93000000000001 -65.4,-63.42 -65.4,-63.910000000000004 -65.4,-64.4 -65.4,-64.4 -65.10000000000001,-64.4 -64.80000000000001,-64.4 -64.5,-64.4 -64.2,-64.4 -63.900000000000006,-64.4 -63.6,-64.4 -63.3,-64.4 -63,-64.4 -62.7,-64.4 -62.4)) | POINT(-61.95 -63.900000000000006) | false | false | |||||||||
Quantifying Processes Driving Interannual Variability in the Biological Carbon Pump in the Western Antarctic Peninsula
|
1951090 |
2022-06-03 | Stukel, Michael |
|
Algae in the surface ocean convert carbon dioxide into organic carbon through photosynthesis. The biological carbon pump transports this organic carbon from the atmosphere to the deep ocean where it can be stored for tens to hundreds of years. Annually, the amount transported is similar to that humans are currently emitting by burning fossil fuels. However, at present we cannot predict how this important process will change with a warming ocean. These investigators plan to develop a 15+ year time-series of vertical carbon transfer for the Western Antarctic Peninsula; a highly productive Antarctic ecosystem. This region is also rapid transition to warmer temperatures leading to reduced sea ice coverage. This work will help researchers better understand how the carbon cycle in the Western Antarctic Peninsula will respond to climate change. The researchers will develop the first large-scale time-series of carbon flux anywhere in the ocean. This research will also support the education and training of a graduate student and support the integration of concepts in Antarctic research into two undergraduate courses designed for non-science majors and advanced earth science students. The researchers will also develop educational modules for introducing elementary and middle-school age students to important concepts such as gross and net primary productivity, feedbacks in the marine and atmospheric systems, and the differences between correlation and causation. Results from this proposal will also be incorporated into a children?s book, ?Plankton do the Strangest Things?, that is targeted at 5-7 year olds and is designed to introduce them to the incredible diversity and fascinating adaptations of microscopic marine organisms.<br/><br/> This research seeks to leverage 6 years (2015-2020) of 234Th samples collected on Palmer LTER program, 5 years of prior measurements (2009-2010, 2012-2014), and upcoming cruises (2021-2023) to develop a time-series of summertime particle flux in the WAP that stretches for 15 years. The 238U-234Th disequilibrium approach utilizes changes in the activity of the particle-active radio-isotope 234Th relative to its parent nuclide 238U to quantify the flux of sinking carbon out of the surface ocean (over a time-scale of ~one month). This proposal will fund 234Th analyses from nine years? worth of cruises (2015-2023) and extensive analyses designed to investigate the processes driving inter-annual variability in the BCP. These include: 1) physical modeling to quantify the importance of advection and diffusion in the 234Th budget, 2) time-series analyses of particle flux, and 3) statistical modeling of the relationships between particle flux and multiple presumed drivers (biological, chemical, physical, and climate indices) measured by collaborators in the Palmer LTER program. This multi-faceted approach is critical for linking the measurements to models and for predicting responses to climate change. It will also test the hypothesis that export flux is decreasing in the northern WAP, increasing in the southern WAP, and increasing when integrated over the entire region as a result of earlier sea ice retreat and a larger ice-free zone. The project will also investigate relationships between carbon export and multiple potentially controlling factors including: primary productivity, algal biomass and taxonomic composition, biological oxygen saturation, zooplankton biomass and taxonomic composition, bacterial production, temperature, wintertime sea ice extent, date of sea ice retreat, and climate modes.<br/><br/>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. | POLYGON((-80 -63,-78.2 -63,-76.4 -63,-74.6 -63,-72.8 -63,-71 -63,-69.2 -63,-67.4 -63,-65.6 -63,-63.8 -63,-62 -63,-62 -63.7,-62 -64.4,-62 -65.1,-62 -65.8,-62 -66.5,-62 -67.2,-62 -67.9,-62 -68.6,-62 -69.3,-62 -70,-63.8 -70,-65.6 -70,-67.4 -70,-69.2 -70,-71 -70,-72.8 -70,-74.6 -70,-76.4 -70,-78.2 -70,-80 -70,-80 -69.3,-80 -68.6,-80 -67.9,-80 -67.2,-80 -66.5,-80 -65.8,-80 -65.1,-80 -64.4,-80 -63.7,-80 -63)) | POINT(-71 -66.5) | false | false | |||||||||
Collaborative Research: Permian and Triassic Icehouse to Greenhouse Paleoenvironments and Paleobotany in the Shackleton Glacier Area, Antarctica
|
1443557 |
2021-12-31 | Isbell, John | The research focus of this collaborative proposal was to collect fossil plants, fossil wood, stratigraphic, sedimentologic, paleosol, and geochemical data from plants and the rocks that contain them in order to reconstruct the extent of the Gondwana glaciation in the Shackleton Glacier (SHK) area, the invasion and subsequent flourishing of life following glacial retreat, changes to the physical environment, and the eventual recovery of plant life after the Late Permian biotic events. Only in Antarctica does a complete polar-to-near-polar succession occur across this climatic and biologic transition. The SHK is an important one as it is one of the few regions in the world where the Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB) is exposed within terrestrial rocks. In addition, outcrops in the SHK area extend from the glacigenic deposits of the Upper Carboniferous-Lower Permian through to the Upper Triassic and thus record ecosystems and the plants that inhabited them from the Gondwana icehouse into the Late Permian-Early Triassic greenhouse and into presumed "full recovery" of floras from the PTB extinctions in the Late Triassic. The project encompassed a multidisciplinary plan that used various types of paleobotanical expertise, integrated with detailed sedimentology, stratigraphy, and geochemistry, in order to reconstruct Permian-Triassic plant communities and their paleoenvironments. This interdisciplinary approach is a powerful tool to uncover details of Antarctica’s complex late Paleozoic and Mesozoic environmental, climatic, and biotic history which included: 1) glaciation/deglaciation, 2) development and evolution of a post-glacial landscape and biota, 3) environmental and biotic change associated with the end-Permian mass extinction events, 4) earliest ecosystems in the Triassic, 5) greenhouse conditions in the Triassic, 6) full ’recovery’ of floras and ecosystems by the Late Triassic, and, through all of these events, 7) development and changes in a foreland basin system. Three interrelated focus areas, each delimited by distinct hypotheses and action strategies, provided the framework to trace floral diversity and environmental evolution after the retreat of glaciers through to the Late Triassic. Antarctica is the only place on Earth that includes extensive outcrops of high-paleolatitude terrestrial rocks, combined with widespread and well-preserved plant fossils, and that spans this crucial time. The research and broader impacts of this proposal were integrated into action strategies that have been successful in the past. Compression floras were collected (constrained by stratigraphy) both quantitatively and qualitatively in order to obtain biodiversity and abundance data, and as a data source for paleoecological analysis. Even in formations where megafossils were unknown (e.g., Lower Permian), fossil wood is present so that anatomy and geochemistry of tree rings were examined. Standard sedimentologic and stratigraphic analyses were performed, as well as paleosol analyses, including mineralogic and major- and trace-element geochemistry. Collections will also be made for U-Pb zircon geochronology to better constrain geologic and biotic events. The Broader Impacts of the project involved education and outreach initiatives that included women and under-represented groups in the excitement of Antarctic earth sciences: 1) Continuing successful public outreach, teaching, and mentoring of women and under-represented students in Antarctic research; 2) Participation in workshops for under-represented groups via the Expanding Your Horizons Program in Kansas, the TRIO program (KU), and the STELAR summer workshop (UWM) for high-school students. 3) Outreach via the KU Natural History Museum; 4) Exploring Antarctic geosciences through continued presentations to pre K-12 school groups, and field and lab activities at UWM, as well as links from McMurdo Station and satellite conferences from the field with K-12 science classes in Wisconsin and Illinois. | POLYGON((-180 -85,-177.1 -85,-174.2 -85,-171.3 -85,-168.4 -85,-165.5 -85,-162.6 -85,-159.7 -85,-156.8 -85,-153.9 -85,-151 -85,-151 -85.2,-151 -85.4,-151 -85.6,-151 -85.8,-151 -86,-151 -86.2,-151 -86.4,-151 -86.6,-151 -86.8,-151 -87,-153.9 -87,-156.8 -87,-159.7 -87,-162.6 -87,-165.5 -87,-168.4 -87,-171.3 -87,-174.2 -87,-177.1 -87,180 -87,179 -87,178 -87,177 -87,176 -87,175 -87,174 -87,173 -87,172 -87,171 -87,170 -87,170 -86.8,170 -86.6,170 -86.4,170 -86.2,170 -86,170 -85.8,170 -85.6,170 -85.4,170 -85.2,170 -85,171 -85,172 -85,173 -85,174 -85,175 -85,176 -85,177 -85,178 -85,179 -85,-180 -85)) | POINT(-170.5 -86) | false | false | ||||||||||
Collaborative Research: Linking Marine and Terrestrial Sedimentary Evidence for Plio-pleistocene Variability of Weddell Embayment and Antarctic Peninsula Glaciation
|
2114786 |
2021-09-09 | Warnock, Jonathan | No dataset link provided | The potential for future sea level rise from melting and collapse of Antarctic ice sheets and glaciers is concerning. We can improve our understanding of how water is exchanged between Antarctic ice sheets and the ocean by studying how ice sheets behaved in past climates, especially conditions that were similar to or warmer than those at present. For this project, the research team will document Antarctica’s response across an interval when Earth transitioned from the warm Pliocene into the Pleistocene ice ages by combining marine and land evidence for glacier variations from sites near the Antarctic Peninsula, complimented by detailed work on timescales and fossil evidence for environmental change. An important goal is to test whether Antarctica’s glaciers changed at the same time as glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere as Earth's most recent Ice Age intensified, or alternatively responded to regional climate forcing in the Southern Hemisphere. Eleven investigators from seven US institutions, as well as Argentine collaborators, will study new sediment cores from the International Ocean Discovery Program, as well as legacy cores from that program and on-land outcrops on James Ross Island. The group embraces a vertically integrated research program that allows high school, undergraduate, graduate, post-docs and faculty to work together on the same projects. This structure leverages the benefits of near-peer mentoring and the development of a robust collaborative research network while allowing all participants to take ownership of different parts of the project. All members of the team are firmly committed to attracting researchers from under-represented groups and will do this through existing channels as well as via co-creating programming that centers the perspectives of diverse students in conversations about sea-level rise and climate change. The proposed research seeks to understand phasing between Northern and Southern Hemisphere glacier and climate changes, as a means to understand drivers and teleconnections. The dynamics of past Antarctic glaciation can be studied using the unique isotope geochemical and mineralogic fingerprints from glacial sectors tied to a well-constrained time model for the stratigraphic successions. The proposed work would further refine the stratigraphic context through coupled biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic work. The magnitude of iceberg calving and paths of icebergs will be revealed using the flux, geochemical and mineralogic signatures, and 40Ar/39Ar and U-Pb geochronology of ice-rafted detritus. These provenance tracers will establish which sectors of Antarctica’s ice sheets are more vulnerable to collapse, and the timing and pacing of these events will be revealed by their stratigraphic context. Additionally, the team will work with Argentine collaborators to connect the marine and terrestrial records by studying glacier records intercalated with volcanic flows on James Ross Island. These new constraints will be integrated with a state of the art ice-sheet model to link changes in ice dynamics with their underlying causes. Together, these tight stratigraphic constraints, geochemical signatures, and ice-sheet model simulations will provide a means to compare to the global records of climate change, understand their primary drivers, and elucidate the role of the Antarctic ice sheet in a major, global climatic shift from the Pliocene into the Pleistocene. | None | None | false | false | |||||||||
Collaborative research: The Antarctic Scallop as Key to Paleoenvironments and Sea Ice Conditions: Understanding the Modern to Predict the Past
|
1745064 1745080 1745057 |
2021-08-06 | Walker, Sally; Gillikin, David; Perez-Huerta, Alberto; Andrus, Fred | The goal of this project is to discover whether the Antarctic scallop, Adamussium colbecki, provides a guide to sea-ice conditions in nearshore Antarctica today and in the past. Scallops may grow slower and live longer in habitats where sea ice persists for many years, limited by food, compared to habitats where sea ice melts out annually. Also, the chemicals retained in the shell during growth may provide crucial habitat information related to not only changing sea-ice conditions but also the type of food, whether it is recycled from the seafloor or produced by algae blooming when sea ice has melted. Unlocking the ecological imprint captured within the shell of the Antarctic Scallop will increase our understanding of changing sea-ice conditions in Antarctica. Further, because the Antarctic scallop had relatives living at the time when the Antarctic ice sheet first appeared, the scallop shell record may contain information on the stability of the ice sheet and the history of Antarctic shallow seas. Funding will also be integral for training a new generation of geoscientists in fossil and chemical forensics related to shallow sea habitats in Antarctica. Scallops are worldwide in distribution, are integral for structuring marine communities have an extensive fossil record dating to the late Devonian, and are increasingly recognized as important paleoenvironmental proxies because they are generally well preserved in the sediment and rock record. The primary goal of this project is to assess the differences in growth, lifespan, and chemistry (stable isotopes, trace elements) archived in the shell of the Antarctic scallop that may be indicative of two ice states: persistent (multiannual) sea ice at Explorers Cove (EC) and annual sea ice (that melts out every year) at Bay of Sails (BOS), western McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. This project will investigate growth and lifespan proxies (physical and geochemical) and will use high-resolution records of stable oxygen isotopes to determine if a melt-water signal is archived in A. colbecki shells and whether that signal captures the differing ice behavior at two sites (EC versus BOS). Stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in association with trace elements will be used to examine subannual productivity spikes indicative of phytoplankton blooms, which are predicted to be more pronounced during open ocean conditions. Small growth increments in the outer calcite layer will be assessed to determine if they represent fortnightly growth, if so, they could provide a high-resolution proxy for monthly environmental processes. Unlocking the environmental archive preserved in A. colbecki shells may prove to be an important proxy for understanding changing sea-ice conditions in Antarctica's past. Funding will support a Ph.D. student and undergraduates from multiple institutions working on independent research projects. Web content focused on Antarctic marine communities will be designed for museum outreach, reaching thousands of middle-school children each year. | POLYGON((-180 -60,-144 -60,-108 -60,-72 -60,-36 -60,0 -60,36 -60,72 -60,108 -60,144 -60,180 -60,180 -63,180 -66,180 -69,180 -72,180 -75,180 -78,180 -81,180 -84,180 -87,180 -90,144 -90,108 -90,72 -90,36 -90,0 -90,-36 -90,-72 -90,-108 -90,-144 -90,-180 -90,-180 -87,-180 -84,-180 -81,-180 -78,-180 -75,-180 -72,-180 -69,-180 -66,-180 -63,-180 -60)) | POINT(0 -89.999) | false | false | ||||||||||
The nitrogen isotopic composition of diatom resting spores in Southern Ocean sediments: A source of bias and/or paleoenvironmental information?
|
1744871 |
2021-07-28 | Robinson, Rebecca | The chemical composition of diatom fossils in the Southern Ocean provides information about the environmental history of Antarctica, including sea ice extent, biological production, and ocean nutrient distribution. The sea ice zone is an important habitat for a group of diatoms, largely from the genus Chaetoceros, that have a unique life cycle stage under environmental stress, when they produce a structure called a resting spore. Resting spores are meant to reseed the surface ocean when conditions are more favorable. The production of these heavy resting spores tends to remove significant amounts of carbon and silicon, essential nutrients, out of the surface ocean. As a result, this group has the potential to remove carbon from the surface ocean and can impact the sedimentary record scientists use to reconstruct environmental change. This project explores the role of resting spores and nutrients in the sedimentary record using the nitrogen isotopic signature of these fossils and how those measurements are used to estimate carbon cycle changes. Measurements of nitrogen stable isotopes of nitrate, biomass, and diatom-bound nitrogen and silicon-to-nitrogen ratios of individual species grown in the laboratory are used to quantify how resting spores record nutrient drawdown in the water column and to what degree their signature is biased toward low nutrient conditions. Laboratory incubations were conducted with surface sediment containing Chaetoceros spp.. The emergence of vegetative cells and subsequent formation of resting spores is manipulated with the addition of nutrients, primarily nitrate. The resulting samples, both of vegetative cells and resting spores were measured for diatom-bound d15N. Resting spore d15N values are consistently lower than the vegetative d15N from the same incubations. The incubation results will be used to quantify nutrient drawdown in sea ice environments during two contrasting intervals in earth history, the last ice age and the warm Pliocene. The project provided training and research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students. Research efforts in Antarctic earth sciences are disseminated through an interactive display at the home institution and during university sponsored events. This work addresses uncertainties in how Chaetoceros resting spores record surface nutrient conditions in their nitrogen stable isotopic composition, the relative impact of their specific signal with respect to the full sedimentary assemblage, and their potential to bias or enhance environmental reconstructions in the sea ice zone. | POLYGON((-180 -60,-144 -60,-108 -60,-72 -60,-36 -60,0 -60,36 -60,72 -60,108 -60,144 -60,180 -60,180 -63,180 -66,180 -69,180 -72,180 -75,180 -78,180 -81,180 -84,180 -87,180 -90,144 -90,108 -90,72 -90,36 -90,0 -90,-36 -90,-72 -90,-108 -90,-144 -90,-180 -90,-180 -87,-180 -84,-180 -81,-180 -78,-180 -75,-180 -72,-180 -69,-180 -66,-180 -63,-180 -60)) | POINT(0 -89.999) | false | false | ||||||||||
A non-amniote perspective on the recovery from the end-Permian extinction at high latitudes: paleobiology of Early Triassic temnospondyls from Antarctica
|
1947094 |
2021-06-30 | Sidor, Christian | No dataset link provided | The research supported by this grant centers on the evolution of fossil amphibians (temnospondyls) from the Early Triassic, a crucial time interval in the evolution of life on Earth following the end-Permian mass extinction, specifically based on fossil material from Antarctica, a high-latitude paleoenvironment that may have served as a refuge for tetrapods across the extinction event. Previous records of temnospondyls, mostly reported several decades ago, are highly fragmentary, and their original interpretations are considered dubious or demonstrably erroneous by contemporary workers. The Antarctic record of temnospondyls is of great import in understanding the biotic recovery in terrestrial environments for several reasons. Firstly, temnospondyls, like amphibians today, were highly speciose in the Triassic but were also some of the most susceptible to environmental perturbations and instability. Therefore, temnospondyls provide key insights into the paleoenvironmental conditions, either in place of or alongside other lines of data. Secondly, the record of temnospondyls from the Early Triassic is quite rich, but it is also restricted to a few densely sampled regions, such as the Karoo Basin of South Africa. In order to ascertain whether observed patterns such as an unusual abundance of small-bodied taxa or a lack of faunal overlap between different depositional basins (endemism) are real or merely artifactual, study of additional, less sampled regions takes on great import. Recent collection of substantial new temnospondyl material from several horizons in the Triassic exposure of Antarctica provides the requisite data to begin to address these questions. Finally, correlating the Triassic rocks of Antarctica with those of adjacent regions is largely reliant on comparisons of faunal assemblages. In particular, the middle Fremouw Formation, one of the horizons from which new temnospondyl material was collected, remains of uncertain relation and age due to the paucity of described material. | None | None | false | false | |||||||||
Collaborative Research: Understanding the evolution of high-latitude Permo-Triassic paleoenvironments and their vertebrate communities
|
1341475 2001033 1341376 1341645 1341304 |
2021-06-29 | Sidor, Christian; Smith, Nathan; Makovicky, Peter; Tabor, Neil |
|
This project will advance our understanding of Antarctic life during the Permian and Triassic. We will apply an interdisciplinary approach to address relationships between environmental change, faunal composition, and biogeographic patterns in the context of the high-latitude strata preserved in the Buckley and Fremouw formations in the Shackleton Glacier region. We will use multiple types of data to assess paleoenvironment, including: 1) paleosol morphology; 2) paleosol geochemistry; 3) pedogenic organic matter; and 4) fossil wood chronology and stable isotopes. The Fremouw Formation of Antarctica preserves the highest paleolatitude tetrapod fauna of the entire Triassic (~70° S) and thus has the potential to shed important light on the evolution of polar life during the early Mesozoic. We will collect new fossils from known localities to understand the relationship between Antarctic and southern African tetrapod faunas. Furthermore, we will refine the stratigraphic, sedimentological, and geochronological framework for these Mesozoic faunas, which will include using U/Pb detrital zircon dating to provide the first dates for these vertebrate assemblages. In the lab, we will examine the biology of Triassic vertebrates from Antarctica by comparing their bone and tusk histology to conspecifics from lower paleolatitudes. In addition, we will test Bergmann’s Rule with six species (viz. Lystrosaurus curvatus, L. maccaigi, L. murrayi, Prolacerta broomi, Procolophon trigoniceps, and Thrinaxodon liorhinus). The Early Triassic presents a unique opportunity to perform such investigations as there is no other geologic interval in which species occurring in Antarctica can be compared to conspecifics across a range of paleolatitudes. | POLYGON((-180 -84,-178 -84,-176 -84,-174 -84,-172 -84,-170 -84,-168 -84,-166 -84,-164 -84,-162 -84,-160 -84,-160 -84.3,-160 -84.6,-160 -84.9,-160 -85.2,-160 -85.5,-160 -85.8,-160 -86.1,-160 -86.4,-160 -86.7,-160 -87,-162 -87,-164 -87,-166 -87,-168 -87,-170 -87,-172 -87,-174 -87,-176 -87,-178 -87,180 -87,178.5 -87,177 -87,175.5 -87,174 -87,172.5 -87,171 -87,169.5 -87,168 -87,166.5 -87,165 -87,165 -86.7,165 -86.4,165 -86.1,165 -85.8,165 -85.5,165 -85.2,165 -84.9,165 -84.6,165 -84.3,165 -84,166.5 -84,168 -84,169.5 -84,171 -84,172.5 -84,174 -84,175.5 -84,177 -84,178.5 -84,-180 -84)) | POINT(-177.5 -85.5) | false | false | |||||||||
Collaborative Research: Integrating Eocene Shark Paleoecology and Climate Modeling to reveal Southern Ocean Circulation and Antarctic Glaciation
|
1842049 1842176 1842059 1842115 |
2020-12-15 | Kim, Sora; Scher, Howard; Huber, Matthew; Jahn, Alexandra |
|
The Earth's climate has changed through time and during the Eocene Epoch (56 to 34 million years ago) there was a transition from 'greenhouse' to 'icehouse' conditions. During the Eocene, a shift to cooler temperatures at high latitudes resulted in the inception of polar glaciation. This in turn affected the environment for living organisms. This project looks to uncover the interaction between biological, oceanographic, and climate systems for the Eocene in Antarctica using chemical analysis of fossil shark teeth collected during past expeditions. The combination of paleontological and geochemical analyses will provide insight to the past ecology and ocean conditions; climate models will be applied to test the role of tectonics, greenhouse gas concentration and ocean circulation on environmental change during this time period. The study contributes to understanding the interaction of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide and ocean circulation. This project also seeks to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion within the geosciences workforce with efforts targeted to undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral, and early career faculty.<br/><br/>The research goal is to elucidate the processes leading from the Eocene greenhouse to Oligocene icehouse conditions. Previous explanations for this climate shift centers on Antarctica, where tectonic configurations influenced oceanic gateways, ocean circulation reduced heat transport, and/or greenhouse gas declines prompted glaciation. The team will reconstruct watermass, current, and climate fluctuations proximal to the Antarctic Peninsula using geochemical indicators (oxygen and neodymium isotope composition) from fossil shark teeth collected from Seymour Island. The approach builds on previous shark paleontological studies, incorporates geochemical analyses for environmental reconstruction (i.e., temperature gradients and ocean circulation), and tests hypotheses on Earth System dynamics using novel global climate model simulations with geochemical tracers. This project will advance global climate modeling capabilities with experiments that consider Eocene tectonic configuration within isotope-enabled climate model simulations. A comparison of geochemical results from Eocene climate simulations and empirical records of shark teeth will reveal processes and mechanisms central to the Eocene Antarctic climatic shift.<br/><br/>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. | POLYGON((-56.693516 -64.209061,-56.6823452 -64.209061,-56.6711744 -64.209061,-56.6600036 -64.209061,-56.6488328 -64.209061,-56.637662 -64.209061,-56.6264912 -64.209061,-56.6153204 -64.209061,-56.6041496 -64.209061,-56.5929788 -64.209061,-56.581808 -64.209061,-56.581808 -64.2143344,-56.581808 -64.2196078,-56.581808 -64.2248812,-56.581808 -64.2301546,-56.581808 -64.235428,-56.581808 -64.2407014,-56.581808 -64.2459748,-56.581808 -64.2512482,-56.581808 -64.2565216,-56.581808 -64.261795,-56.5929788 -64.261795,-56.6041496 -64.261795,-56.6153204 -64.261795,-56.6264912 -64.261795,-56.637662 -64.261795,-56.6488328 -64.261795,-56.6600036 -64.261795,-56.6711744 -64.261795,-56.6823452 -64.261795,-56.693516 -64.261795,-56.693516 -64.2565216,-56.693516 -64.2512482,-56.693516 -64.2459748,-56.693516 -64.2407014,-56.693516 -64.235428,-56.693516 -64.2301546,-56.693516 -64.2248812,-56.693516 -64.2196078,-56.693516 -64.2143344,-56.693516 -64.209061)) | POINT(-56.637662 -64.235428) | false | false | |||||||||
Collaborative Research: Organic and Inorganic Geochemical Investigation of Hydrologic Change in East Antarctica in the 4 Million Years Before Full Glaciation
|
1908548 1908399 |
2020-12-05 | Feakins, Sarah; Scher, Howard | The East Antarctic Ice Sheet holds the largest volume of freshwater on the planet, in total enough to raise sea level by almost two hundred feet. Even minor adjustments in the volume of ice stored have major implications for coastlines and climates around the world. The question motivating this project is how did the ice grow to cover the continent over thirty million years ago when Antarctica changed from a warmer environment to an ice-covered southern continent? The seafloor of Prydz Bay, a major drainage basin of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS), has been drilled previously to recover sediments dating from millions of years prior to and across the time when inception of continental ice sheets occurred in Antarctica. The last remnants of plant material found as 'biomarkers' in the ocean sediments record the chemical signatures of rain and snowfall that fed the plants and later the expanding glaciers. Sediment carried by glaciers was also deposited on the seafloor and can be analyzed to discover how glaciers flowed across the landscape. Here, the researchers will identify precipitation changes that result from, and drive, ice sheet growth. This study will gather data and further analyze samples from the seafloor sediment archives of the International Ocean Discovery Program's (IODP) core repositories. Ultimately these findings can help inform temperature-precipitation-ice linkages within climate and ice sheet models. The project will support the training of three female, early career scientists (PhD & MS students, and research technician) and both PIs and the PhD student will continue their engagement with broadening participation efforts (e.g., Women in Science and Engineering Program; local chapters of Society for the advancement of Native Americans and Chicanos in Science and other access programs) to recruit undergraduate student participants from underrepresented minorities at both campuses and from local community colleges. Antarctic earth science education materials will be assisted by professional illustrations to be open access and used in public education and communication efforts to engage local communities in Los Angeles CA and Columbia SC. <br/><br/>The researchers at the University of Southern California and the University of South Carolina will together study the penultimate moment of the early Cenozoic greenhouse climate state: the ~4 million years of global cooling that culminated in the Eocene/Oligocene transition (~34 Ma). Significant gaps remain in the understanding of the conditions that preceded ice expansion on Antarctica. In particular, the supply of raw material for ice sheets (i.e., moisture) and the timing, frequency, and duration of precursor glaciations is poorly constrained. This collaborative proposal combines organic and inorganic proxies to examine how Antarctic hydroclimate changed during the greenhouse to icehouse transition. The central hypothesis is that the hydrological cycle weakened as cooling proceeded. Plant-wax hydrogen and carbon isotopes (hydroclimate proxies) and Hf-Nd isotopes of lithogenous and hydrogenous sediments (mechanical weathering proxies) respond strongly and rapidly to precipitation and glacial advance. This detailed and sensitive combined approach will test whether there were hidden glaciations (and/or warm events) that punctuated the pre-icehouse interval. Studies will be conducted on Prydz Bay marine sediment cores in a depositional area for products of weathering and erosion that were (and are) transported through Lambert Graben from the center of Antarctica. The project will yield proxy information about the presence of plants and the hydroclimate of Antarctica and the timing of glacial advance, and is expected to show drying associated with cooling and ice-sheet growth. The dual approach will untangle climate signals from changes in fluvial versus glacial erosion of plant biomarkers. This proposal is potentially transformative because the combination of organic and inorganic proxies can reveal rapid transitions in aridity and glacial expansion, that may have been missed in slower-response proxies and more distal archives. The research is significant as hydroclimate seems to be a key player in the temperature-cryosphere hysteresis.<br/><br/>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. | POLYGON((74.787 -67.27617,74.816483 -67.27617,74.845966 -67.27617,74.875449 -67.27617,74.904932 -67.27617,74.934415 -67.27617,74.963898 -67.27617,74.993381 -67.27617,75.022864 -67.27617,75.052347 -67.27617,75.08183 -67.27617,75.08183 -67.31817,75.08183 -67.36017,75.08183 -67.40217,75.08183 -67.44417,75.08183 -67.48617,75.08183 -67.52817,75.08183 -67.57017,75.08183 -67.61217,75.08183 -67.65417,75.08183 -67.69617,75.052347 -67.69617,75.022864 -67.69617,74.993381 -67.69617,74.963898 -67.69617,74.934415 -67.69617,74.904932 -67.69617,74.875449 -67.69617,74.845966 -67.69617,74.816483 -67.69617,74.787 -67.69617,74.787 -67.65417,74.787 -67.61217,74.787 -67.57017,74.787 -67.52817,74.787 -67.48617,74.787 -67.44417,74.787 -67.40217,74.787 -67.36017,74.787 -67.31817,74.787 -67.27617)) | POINT(74.934415 -67.48617) | false | false | ||||||||||
RUI: Antarctic Paleobotany: Permian Floral Characteristics in a Sedimentary Setting
|
1341500 |
2020-10-09 | Ryberg, Patricia |
|
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. <br/><br/>Broader impacts: <br/>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. | None | None | false | false | |||||||||
Water Mass Structure and Bottom Water Formation in the Ice-age Southern Ocean
|
1542962 |
2020-09-25 | Anderson, Robert; Fleisher, Martin; Pavia, Frank | General: Scientists established more than 30 years ago that the climate-related variability of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere over Earth’s ice-age cycles was regulated by the ocean. Hypotheses to explain how the ocean that regulates atmospheric carbon dioxide have long been debated, but they have proven to be difficult to test. This project was designed test one leading hypothesis, specifically that the ocean experienced greater density stratification during the ice ages. That is, with greater stratification during the ice ages and the slower replacement of deep water by cold dense water formed near the poles, the deep ocean would have held more carbon dioxide, which is produced by biological respiration of the organic carbon that constantly rains to the abyss in the form of dead organisms and organic debris that sink from the sunlit surface ocean. To test this hypothesis, the degree of ocean stratification during the last ice age and the rate of deep-water replacement was to be constrained by comparing the radiocarbon ages of organisms that grew in the surface ocean and at the sea floor within a critical region around Antarctica, where most of the replacement of deep waters occurs. Completing this work was expected to contribute toward improved models of future climate change. Climate scientists rely on models to estimate the amount of fossil fuel carbon dioxide that will be absorbed by the ocean in the future. Currently the ocean absorbs about 25% of the carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels. Most of this carbon is absorbed in the Southern Ocean (the region around Antarctica). How this will change in the future is poorly known. Models have difficulty representing physical conditions in the Southern Ocean accurately, thereby adding substantial uncertainty to projections of future ocean uptake of carbon dioxide. Results of the proposed study will provide a benchmark to test the ability of models to simulate ocean processes under climate conditions distinctly different from those that occur today, ultimately leading to improvement of the models and to more reliable projections of future absorption of carbon dioxide by the ocean. Technical: The project added a research component to an existing scientific expedition to the Southern Ocean, in the region between the Ross Sea and New Zealand, that collected sediment cores at locations down the northern flank of the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge at approximately 170°W. The goal was to collect sediments at each location deposited since early in the peak of the last ice age. This region is unusual in the Southern Ocean in that sediments deposited during the last ice age contain foraminifera, tiny organisms with calcium carbonate shells, in much greater abundance than in other regions of the Southern Ocean. Foraminifera are widely used as an archive of several geochemical tracers of past ocean conditions. We proposed to compare the radiocarbon age of foraminifera that inhabited the surface ocean with the age of contemporary specimens that grew on the seabed. The difference in age between surface and deep-swelling organisms would have been used to discriminate between two proposed mechanisms of deep water renewal during the ice age: formation in coastal polynyas around the edge of Antarctica, much as occurs today, versus formation by open-ocean convection in deep-water regions far from the continent. If the latter mechanism prevails, then it was expected that surface and deep-dwelling foraminifera would exhibit similar radiocarbon ages. In the case of dominance of deep-water formation in coastal polynyas, one expects to find very different radiocarbon ages in the two populations of foraminifera. In the extreme case of greater ocean stratification during the last ice age, one even expects the surface dwellers to appear to be older than contemporary bottom dwellers because the targeted core sites lie directly under the region where the oldest deep waters outcrop at the surface following their long circuitous transit through the deep ocean. The primary objective of the proposed work was to reconstruct the water mass age structure of the Southern Ocean during the last ice age, which, in turn, is a primary factor that controls the amount of carbon dioxide stored in the deep sea. In addition, the presence of foraminifera in the cores to be recovered provides a valuable resource for many other paleoceanographic applications, such as: 1) the application of nitrogen isotopes to constrain the level of nutrient utilization in the Southern Ocean and, thus, the efficiency of the ocean’s biological pump, 2) the application of neodymium isotopes to constrain the transport history of deep water masses, 3) the application of boron isotopes and boron/calcium ratios to constrain the pH and inorganic carbon system parameters of ice-age seawater, and 4) the exploitation of metal/calcium ratios in foraminifera to reconstruct the temperature (Mg/Ca) and nutrient content (Cd/Ca) of deep waters during the last ice age at a location near their source near Antarctica. Unfortunately, the cores were shipped to the core repository in a horizontal orientation and there was sufficient distortion of the sediment that the radiocarbon ages of benthic foraminifera were uninterpretable. Therefore, we report only the radiocarbon dates for planktonic foraminifera as well as the total counts of elemental relative abundance from X-ray Fluorescence analysis of the cores. In addition, we used the expedition as an opportunity to collect water samples from which dissolved concentrations of long-lived isotope of thorium and protactinium were determined. Results from those analyses showed that lateral transport by isopycnal mixing dominates the supply of Pa to the Southern Ocean. We have also developed a new algorithm to correct for supply of Th by isopycnal mixing and thereby derive estimates of dust flux to the Southern Ocean. | POLYGON((-171 -57,-170.8 -57,-170.6 -57,-170.4 -57,-170.2 -57,-170 -57,-169.8 -57,-169.6 -57,-169.4 -57,-169.2 -57,-169 -57,-169 -57.72,-169 -58.44,-169 -59.16,-169 -59.88,-169 -60.6,-169 -61.32,-169 -62.04,-169 -62.76,-169 -63.48,-169 -64.2,-169.2 -64.2,-169.4 -64.2,-169.6 -64.2,-169.8 -64.2,-170 -64.2,-170.2 -64.2,-170.4 -64.2,-170.6 -64.2,-170.8 -64.2,-171 -64.2,-171 -63.48,-171 -62.76,-171 -62.04,-171 -61.32,-171 -60.6,-171 -59.88,-171 -59.16,-171 -58.44,-171 -57.72,-171 -57)) | POINT(-170 -60.6) | false | false | ||||||||||
Phylogenomic Study of Adaptive Radiation in Antarctic Fishes
|
1341661 |
2020-02-29 | Near, Thomas |
|
Understanding how groups of organisms respond to climate change is fundamentally important to assessing the impacts of human activities as well as understanding how past climatic shifts have shaped biological diversity over deep stretches of time. The fishes occupying the near-shore marine habitats around Antarctica are dominated by one group of closely related species called notothenioids. It appears dramatic changes in Antarctic climate were important in the origin and evolutionary diversification of this economically important lineage of fishes. Deposits of fossil fishes in Antarctica that were formed when the continent was experiencing milder temperatures show that the area was home to a much more diverse array of fish lineages. Today the waters of the Southern Ocean are very cold, and often below freezing, but notothenioids fishes exhibit a number of adaptions to live in this harsh set of marine habitats, including the presence of anti-freeze proteins. This research project will collect DNA sequences from hundreds of genes to infer the genealogical relationships of nearly all 124 notothenioid species, and use mathematical techniques to estimate the ages of species and lineages. Knowledge on the timing of evolutionary divergence in notothenioids will allow investigators to assess if timing of previous major climatic shifts in Antarctica are correlated with key events in the formation of the modern Southern Ocean fish fauna. The project will also further the NSF goals of making scientific discoveries available to the general public and of training new generations of scientists. The project will support educational outreach activities to teenager groups and to the general public through a natural history museum exhibit and other public lectures. It will provide professional training opportunities for graduate students and a postdoctoral research scholar. <br/><br/>Adaptive radiation, where lineages experience high rates of evolutionary diversification coincident with ecological divergence, is mostly studied in island ecosystems. Notothenioids dominate the fish fauna of the Southern Ocean and exhibit antifreeze glycoproteins that allow occupation of the subzero waters. Notothenioids are noted as one of the only examples of adaptive radiation among marine fishes, but the evolutionary history of diversification and radiation into different ecological habitats is poorly understood. This research will generate a species phylogeny (evolutionary history) for nearly all of the 124 recognized notothenioid species to investigate the mechanisms of adaptive radiation in this lineage. The phylogeny is inferred from approximately 350 genes sampled using next generation DNA sequencing and related techniques. Morphometric data are taken for museum specimens to investigate the tempo of morphological diversification and to determine if there are correlations between rates of lineage diversification and the origin of morphological disparity. The patterns of lineage, morphological, and ecological diversification in the notothenioid radiation will be compared to the paleoclimatic record to determine if past instances of global climate change have shaped the evolutionary diversification of this lineage of polar-adapted fishes. | POLYGON((-180 -60,-144 -60,-108 -60,-72 -60,-36 -60,0 -60,36 -60,72 -60,108 -60,144 -60,180 -60,180 -63,180 -66,180 -69,180 -72,180 -75,180 -78,180 -81,180 -84,180 -87,180 -90,144 -90,108 -90,72 -90,36 -90,0 -90,-36 -90,-72 -90,-108 -90,-144 -90,-180 -90,-180 -87,-180 -84,-180 -81,-180 -78,-180 -75,-180 -72,-180 -69,-180 -66,-180 -63,-180 -60)) | POINT(0 -89.999) | false | false | |||||||||
Collaborative Proposal: A Field and Laboratory Examination of the Diatom N and Si Isotope Proxies: Implications for Assessing the Southern Ocean Biological Pump
|
1341432 1341464 |
2020-02-26 | Robinson, Rebecca; Brzezinski, Mark | The rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and associated climate changes make understanding the role of the ocean in large scale carbon cycle a priority. Geologic samples allow exploration of potential mechanisms for carbon dioxide drawdown during glacial periods through the use of geochemical proxies. Nitrogen and silicon isotope signatures from fossil diatoms (microscopic plants) are used to investigate changes in the physical supply and biological demand for nutrients (like nitrogen and silicon and carbon) in the Southern Ocean. The project will evaluate the use the nitrogen and silicon isotope proxies through a series of laboratory experiments and Southern Ocean field sampling. The results will provide quantification of real relationships between nitrogen and silicon isotopes and nutrient usage in the Southern Ocean and allow exploration of the role of other factors, including biological diversity, ice cover, and mixing, in altering the chemical signatures recorded by diatoms. Seafloor sediment samples will be used to evaluate how well the signal created in the water column is recorded by fossil diatoms buried in the seafloor. Improving the nutrient isotope proxies will allow for a more quantitative understanding of the role of polar biology in regulating natural variation in atmospheric carbon dioxide. The project will also result in the training of a graduate student and development of outreach materials targeting a broad popular audience. This project seeks to test the fidelity of the diatom nitrogen and silicon isotope proxies, two commonly used paleoceanographic tools for investigating the role of the Southern Ocean biological pump in regulating atmospheric CO2 concentrations on glacial-interglacial timescales. Existing ground-truthing data, including culture experiments, surface sediment data and downcore reconstructions, all suggest that nutrient utilization is the primary driver of isotopic variation in the Southern Ocean. However, strong contribution of interspecific variation is implied by recent culture results. Moreover, field and laboratory studies present some contradictory results in terms of the relative importance of interspecific variation and of inferred post-depositional alteration of the nutrient isotope signals. Here, a first order test of the N and Si diatom nutrient isotope paleo-proxies, involving water column dissolved and particulate sampling and laboratory culturing of field-isolates, is proposed. Southern Ocean water, biomass, live diatoms and fossil diatom sampling will be conducted to investigate species and assemblage related variability in diatom nitrogen and silicon isotopes and their relationship to surface nutrient fields and early diagenesis. Access to fresh materials produced in an analogous environmental context to the sediments of primary interest is critical for making robust paleoceanographic reconstructions. Field sampling will occur along 175°W, transecting the Antarctic Circumpolar Current from the subtropics to the marginal ice edge. Collection of water, sinking/suspended particles and multi-core samples from 13 stations and 3 shipboard incubation experiments will be used to test four proposed hypotheses that together evaluate the significance of existing culture results and seek to allow the best use of diatom nutrient isotope proxies in evaluating the biological pump. | POLYGON((-175 -54,-174 -54,-173 -54,-172 -54,-171 -54,-170 -54,-169 -54,-168 -54,-167 -54,-166 -54,-165 -54,-165 -55.3,-165 -56.6,-165 -57.9,-165 -59.2,-165 -60.5,-165 -61.8,-165 -63.1,-165 -64.4,-165 -65.7,-165 -67,-166 -67,-167 -67,-168 -67,-169 -67,-170 -67,-171 -67,-172 -67,-173 -67,-174 -67,-175 -67,-175 -65.7,-175 -64.4,-175 -63.1,-175 -61.8,-175 -60.5,-175 -59.2,-175 -57.9,-175 -56.6,-175 -55.3,-175 -54)) | POINT(-170 -60.5) | false | false | ||||||||||
Collaborative Research: Investigating Holocene Shifts in the Diets and Paleohistory of Antarctic Krill Predators
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1443424 1443585 1826712 1443386 |
2019-08-08 | Polito, Michael; Emslie, Steven; Kelton, McMahon; Patterson, William; McCarthy, Matthew | The Antarctic marine ecosystem is highly productive and supports a diverse range of ecologically and commercially important species. A key species in this ecosystem is Antarctic krill, which in addition to being commercially harvested, is the principle prey of a wide range of marine organisms including penguins, seals and whales. The aim of this study is to use penguins and other krill predators as sensitive indicators of past changes in the Antarctic marine food web resulting from climate variability and the historic harvesting of seals and whales by humans. Specifically this study will recover and analyze modern (<20 year old), historic (20-200 year old) and ancient (200-10,000 year old) penguin and other krill predator tissues to track their past diets and population movements relative to shifts in climate and the availability of Antarctic krill. Understanding how krill predators were affected by these factors in the past will allow us to better understand how these predators, the krill they depend on, and the Antarctic marine ecosystem as a whole will respond to current challenges such as global climate change and an expanding commercial fishery for Antarctic krill. The project will further the NSF goals of training new generations of scientists and of making scientific discoveries available to the general public. This project will support the cross-institutional training of undergraduate and graduate students in advanced analytical techniques in the fields of ecology and biogeochemistry. In addition, this project includes educational outreach aimed encouraging participation in science careers by engaging K-12 students in scientific issues related to Antarctica, penguins, marine ecology, biogeochemistry, and global climate change.<br/><br/>This research will help place recent ecological changes in the Southern Ocean into a larger historical context by examining decadal and millennial-scale shifts in the diets and population movements of Antarctic krill predators (penguins, seals, and squid) in concert with climate variability and commercial harvesting. This will be achieved by coupling advanced stable and radio isotope techniques, particularly compound-specific stable isotope analysis, with unprecedented access to modern, historical, and well-preserved paleo-archives of Antarctic predator tissues dating throughout the Holocene. This approach will allow the project to empirically test if observed shifts in Antarctic predator bulk tissue stable isotope values over the past millennia were caused by climate-driven shifts at the base of the food web in addition to, or rather than, shifts in predator diets due to a competitive release following the historic harvesting of krill eating whale and seals. In addition, this project will track the large-scale abandonment and reoccupation of penguin colonies around Antarctica in response to changes in climate and sea ice conditions over the past several millennia. These integrated field studies and laboratory analyses will provide new insights into the underlying mechanisms that influenced past shifts in the diets and population movements of charismatic krill predators such as penguins. This will allow for improved projections of the ecosystem consequences of future climate change and anthropogenic harvesting scenarios in the Antarctica that are likely to affect the availability of Antarctic krill. | POLYGON((-180 -60,-166 -60,-152 -60,-138 -60,-124 -60,-110 -60,-96 -60,-82 -60,-68 -60,-54 -60,-40 -60,-40 -61.8,-40 -63.6,-40 -65.4,-40 -67.2,-40 -69,-40 -70.8,-40 -72.6,-40 -74.4,-40 -76.2,-40 -78,-54 -78,-68 -78,-82 -78,-96 -78,-110 -78,-124 -78,-138 -78,-152 -78,-166 -78,180 -78,178 -78,176 -78,174 -78,172 -78,170 -78,168 -78,166 -78,164 -78,162 -78,160 -78,160 -76.2,160 -74.4,160 -72.6,160 -70.8,160 -69,160 -67.2,160 -65.4,160 -63.6,160 -61.8,160 -60,162 -60,164 -60,166 -60,168 -60,170 -60,172 -60,174 -60,176 -60,178 -60,-180 -60)) | POINT(-120 -69) | false | false | ||||||||||
Timing and Duration of the LGM and Post-LGM Grounding Events in Whales Deep Paleo Ice Stream, Eastern Ross Sea Middle Continental Shelf
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1246357 |
2019-06-03 | Bart, Philip; Steinberg, Deborah |
|
Intellectual Merit: Evidence from the eastern Ross Sea continental shelf indicates that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet advanced and retreated during the last glacial cycle, but it is unclear whether the ice sheet advanced to the shelf edge or just to the middle shelf. These two end-member scenarios offer different interpretations as to why, how, and when the West Antarctic Ice Sheet oscillated. The PI proposes to acquire seismic, multibeam, and core data from Whales Deep, to evaluate the timing and duration of two advances of grounded ice to the outer and middle shelf of the Whales Deep Basin, a West Antarctic Ice Sheet paleo ice stream trough in eastern Ross Sea. Grounding events are represented by seismically resolvable Grounding Zone Wedges. The PI will collect radiocarbon dates on in situ benthic foraminifera from the grounding zone diamict as well as ramped pyrolysis radiocarbon dates on acid insoluble organics from open-marine mud overlying the grounding zone diamict. Using these data the PI will calculate the duration of the two grounding events. Furthermore, the PI will test a numerical model prediction that West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat must have involved melting at the marine terminus of the ice sheet. Pore-water from the grounding zone diamict will be extracted from piston cores to determine salinity and δ18O values that should indicate if significant melting occurred at the grounding line. Broader impacts: The data collected will provide constraints on the timing and pattern of Last Glacial Maximum advance and retreat that can be incorporated into interpretations of ice-surface elevation changes. The proposed activities will provide valuable field and research training to undergraduate/graduate students and a Louisiana high-school science teacher. The research will be interactively shared with middle- and high-school science students and with visitors to the LSU Museum of Natural Science Weekend-Science Program. | None | None | false | false | |||||||||
Activity, Preservation and Fossilization of Cryptoendolithic Microorganisms in Antarctica
|
1544526 |
2019-05-09 | Omelon, Christopher; Breecker, Daniel; Bennett, Philip | No dataset link provided | Cryptoendoliths are organisms that colonize microscopic cavities of rocks, which give them protection and allow them to inhabit extreme environments, such as the cold, arid desert of the Dry Valleys of Antarctica. Fossilized cryptoendoliths preserve the forms and features of organisms from the past and thus provide a unique opportunity to study the organisms' life histories and environments. To study this fossil record, there needs to be a better understanding of what environmental conditions allow these fossils to form. A climate gradient currently exists in the Dry Valleys that allows us to study living, dead, and fossilized cryptoendoliths from mild to increasingly harsh environments; providing insight to the limits of life and how these fossils are formed. This project will develop instruments to detect the biological activity of the live microorganisms and conduct laboratory experiments to determine the environmental limits of their survival. The project also will characterize the chemical and structural features of the living, dead, and fossilized cryptoendoliths to understand how they become fossilized. Knowing how microorganisms are preserved as fossils in cold and dry environments like Antarctica can help to refine methods that can be used to search for and identify evidence for extraterrestrial life in similar habitats on planets such as Mars. This project includes training of graduate and undergraduate students. Little is known about cryptoendolithic microfossils and their formation processes in cold, arid terrestrial habitats of the Dry Valleys of Antarctica, where a legacy of activity is discernible in the form of biosignatures including inorganic materials and microbial fossils that preserve and indicate traces of past biological activity. The overarching goals of the proposed work are: (1) to determine how rates of microbial respiration and biodegradation of organic matter control microbial fossilization; and (2) to characterize microbial fossils and their living counterparts to elucidate mechanisms for fossilization. Using samples collected across an increasingly harsher (more cold and dry) climatic gradient that encompasses living, dead, and fossilized cryptoendolithic microorganisms, the proposed work will: (1) develop an instrument to be used in the field that can measure small concentrations of CO2 in cryptoendolithic habitats in situ; (2) use microscopy techniques to characterize endolithic microorganisms as well as the chemical and morphological characteristics of biosignatures and microbial fossils. A metagenomic survey of microbial communities in these samples will be used to characterize differences in diversity, identify if specific microorganisms (e.g. prokaryotes, eukaryotes) are more capable of surviving under these harsh climatic conditions, and to corroborate microscopic observations of the viability states of these microorganisms. | POLYGON((160 -76.5,160.37 -76.5,160.74 -76.5,161.11 -76.5,161.48 -76.5,161.85 -76.5,162.22 -76.5,162.59 -76.5,162.96 -76.5,163.33 -76.5,163.7 -76.5,163.7 -76.63,163.7 -76.76,163.7 -76.89,163.7 -77.02,163.7 -77.15,163.7 -77.28,163.7 -77.41,163.7 -77.54,163.7 -77.67,163.7 -77.8,163.33 -77.8,162.96 -77.8,162.59 -77.8,162.22 -77.8,161.85 -77.8,161.48 -77.8,161.11 -77.8,160.74 -77.8,160.37 -77.8,160 -77.8,160 -77.67,160 -77.54,160 -77.41,160 -77.28,160 -77.15,160 -77.02,160 -76.89,160 -76.76,160 -76.63,160 -76.5)) | POINT(161.85 -77.15) | false | false | |||||||||
Seasonality, Summer Cooling, and Calibrating the Approach of the Icehouse in Late Eocene Antarctica
|
1543031 |
2019-04-23 | Ivany, Linda; Lu, Zunli; Junium, Christopher; Samson, Scott | In order to understand what environmental conditions might look like for future generations, we need to turn to archives of past times when the world was indeed warmer, before anyone was around to commit them to collective memory. The geologic record of Earth's past offers a glimpse of what could be in store for the future. Research by Ivany and her team looks to Antarctica during a time of past global warmth to see how seasonality of temperature and rainfall in coastal settings are likely to change in the future. They will use the chemistry of fossils (a natural archive of these variables) to test a provocative hypothesis about near-monsoonal conditions in the high latitudes when the oceans are warm. If true, we can expect high-latitude shipping lanes to become more hazardous and fragile marine ecosystems adapted to constant cold temperatures to suffer. With growing information about how human activities are likely to affect the planet in the future, we will be able to make more informed decisions about policies today. This research involves an international team of scholars, including several women scientists, training of graduate students, and a public museum exhibit to educate children about how we study Earth's ancient climate and what we can learn from it.<br/><br/>Antarctica is key to an understanding how Earth?s climate system works under conditions of elevated CO2. The poles are the most sensitive regions on the planet to climate change, and the equator-to-pole temperature gradient and the degree to which high-latitude warming is amplified are important components for climate models to capture. Accurate proxy data with good age control are therefore critical for testing numerical models and establishing global patterns. The La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island is the only documented marine section from the globally warm Eocene Epoch exposed in outcrop on the continent; hence its climate record is integral to studies of warming. Early data suggest the potential for strongly seasonal precipitation and runoff in coastal settings. This collaboration among paleontologists, geochemists, and climate modelers will test this using seasonally resolved del-18O data from fossil shallow marine bivalves to track the evolution of seasonality through the section, in combination with independent proxies for the composition of summer precipitation (leaf wax del-D) and local seawater (clumped isotopes). The impact of the anticipated salinity stratification on regional climate will be evaluated in the context of numerical climate model simulations. In addition to providing greater clarity on high-latitude conditions during this time of high CO2, the combination of proxy and model results will provide insights about how Eocene warmth may have been maintained and how subsequent cooling came about. As well, a new approach to the analysis of shell carbonates for 87Sr/86Sr will allow refinements in age control so as to allow correlation of this important section with other regions to clarify global climate gradients. The project outlined here will develop new and detailed paleoclimate records from existing samples using well-tuned as well as newer proxies applied here in novel ways. Seasonal extremes are climate parameters generally inaccessible to most studies but critical to an understanding of climate change; these are possible to resolve in this well-preserved, accretionary-macrofossil-bearing section. This is an integrated study that links marine and terrestrial climate records for a key region of the planet across the most significant climate transition in the Cenozoic. | None | POINT(-56.5 -64.25) | false | false | ||||||||||
Assembling and Mining the Genomes of Giant Antarctic Foraminifera
|
1341612 |
2018-11-29 | Bowser, Samuel | Agglutinated foraminifera (forams for short) are early-evolving, single-celled organisms. These "living fossils" construct protective shells using sediment grains held together by adhesive substances that they secrete. During shell construction, agglutinated forams display amazing properties of selection - for example, some species build their shells of clear quartz grains, while other species use only grains of a specific size. Understanding how these single cells assemble complex structures may contribute to nanotechnology by enabling people to use forams as "cellular machines" to aid in the construction of nano-devices. This project will analyze the genomes of at least six key foram species, and then "mine" these genomes for technologically useful products and processes. The project will focus initially on the adhesive materials forams secrete, which may have wide application in biomedicine and biotechnology. Furthermore, the work will further develop a molecular toolkit which could open up new avenues of research on the physiology, ecology, and population dynamics of this important group of Antarctic organisms. The project will also further the NSF goals of making scientific discoveries available to the general public and of training new generations of scientists. Educational experiences related to the "thrill of scientific exploration and discovery" for students and the general public will be provided through freely-available short films and a traveling art/science exhibition. The project will also provide hands-on research opportunities for undergraduate students.<br/><br/>Explorers Cove, situated on the western shore of McMurdo Sound, harbors a unique population of foraminiferan taxa at depths accessible by scuba diving that otherwise are primarily found in the deep sea. The project will use next-generation DNA sequencing and microdissection methods to obtain and analyze nuclear and mitochondrial genomes from crown members of two species each from three distinct, early-evolving foraminiferal groups. It will also use next generation sequencing methods to characterize the in-situ prokaryotic assemblages (microbiomes) of one of these groups and compare them to reference sediment microbiomes. The phyogenomic studies of the targeted Antarctic genera will help fill significant gaps in our current understanding of early foram evolution. Furthermore, comparative genomic analyses of these six species are expected to yield a better understanding of the physiology of single-chambered agglutinated forams, especially the bioadhesive proteins and regulatory factors involved in shell composition and morphogenesis. Additionally, the molecular basis of cold adaptation in forams will be examined, particularly with respect to key proteins. | None | None | false | false | ||||||||||
Paleomagnetism and Magnetostratigraphy of the James Ross Basin, Antarctica
|
1341729 |
2018-04-27 | Kirschvink, Joseph; Christensen, John |
|
Non-Technical Summary:<br/> About 80 million years ago, the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula in the vicinity of what is now James Ross Island experienced an episode of rapid subsidence, creating a broad depositional basin that collected sediments eroding from the high mountains to the West. This depression accumulated a thick sequence of fossil-rich, organic-rich sediments of the sort that are known to preserve hydrocarbons, and for which Argentina, Chile, and the United Kingdom have overlapping territorial claims. The rocks preserve one of the highest resolution records of the biological and climatic events that led to the eventual death of the dinosaurs at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary (about 66 million years ago). A previous collaboration between scientists from the Instituto Antártico Argentino (IAA) and NSF-supported teams from Caltech and the University of Washington were able to show that this mass extinction event started nearly 50,000 years before the sudden impact of an asteroid. The asteroid obviously hit the biosphere hard, but something else knocked it off balance well before the asteroid hit. <br/> A critical component of the previous work was the use of reversals in the polarity of the Earth?s magnetic field as a dating tool ? magnetostratigraphy. This allowed the teams to correlate the pattern of magnetic reversals from Antarctica with elsewhere on the planet. This includes data from a major volcanic eruption (a flood basalt province) that covered much of India 65 million years ago. The magnetic patterns indicate that the Antarctic extinction started with the first pulse of this massive eruption, which was also coincident with a rapid spike in polar temperature. The Argentinian and US collaborative teams will extend this magnetic polarity record back another ~ 20 million years in time, and expand it laterally to provide magnetic reversal time lines across the depositional basin. They hope to recover the end of the Cretaceous Long Normal interval, which is one of the most distinctive events in the history of Earth?s magnetic field. The new data should refine depositional models of the basin, allow better estimates of potential hydrocarbon reserves, and allow biotic events in the Southern hemisphere to be compared more precisely with those elsewhere on Earth. Other potential benefits of this work include exposing several US students and postdoctoral fellows to field based research in Antarctica, expanding the international aspects of this collaborative work via joint IAA/US field deployments, and follow-up laboratory investigations and personnel exchange of the Junior scientists.<br/><br/><br/>Technical Description of Project <br/>The proposed research will extend the stratigraphic record in the late Cretaceous and early Tertiary sediments (~ 83 to 65 Ma before present) of the James Ross Basin, Antarctica, using paleo-magnetic methods. Recent efforts provided new methods to analyze these rocks, yielding their primary magnetization, and producing both magnetic polarity patterns and paleomagnetic pole positions. This provided the first reliable age constraints for the younger sediments on Seymour Island, and quantified the sedimentation rate in this part of the basin. The new data will allow resolution of the stable, remnant magnetization of the sediments from the high deposition rate James Ross basin (Tobin et al., 2012), yielding precise chronology/stratigraphy. This approach will be extended to the re-maining portions of this sedimentary basin, and will allow quantitative estimates for tectonic and sedimentary processes between Cretaceous and Early Tertiary time. The proposed field work will refine the position of several geomagnetic reversals that occurred be-tween the end of the Cretaceous long normal period (Chron 34N, ~ 83 Ma), and the lower portion of Chron 31R (~ 71 Ma). Brandy Bay provides the best locality for calibrating the stratigraphic position of the top of the Cretaceous Long Normal Chron, C34N. Although the top of the Cretaceous long normal Chron is one of the most important correlation horizons in the entire geological timescale, it is not properly correlated to the southern hemisphere biostratigraphy. Locating this event, as well as the other reversals, will be a major addition to understanding of the geological history of the Antarctic Peninsula. These data will also help refine tectonic models for the evolution of the Southern continents, which will be of use across the board for workers in Cretaceous stratigraphy (including those involved in oil exploration).<br/>This research is a collaborative effort with Dr. Edward Olivero of the Centro Austral de Investigaciones Cientificas (CADIC/CONICET) and Prof. Augusto Rapalini of the University of Buenos Aires. The collaboration will include collection of samples on their future field excursions to important targets on and around James Ross Island, supported by the Argentinian Antarctic Program (IAA). Argentinian scientists and students will also be involved in the US Antarctic program deployments, proposed here for the R/V Laurence Gould, and will continue the pattern of joint international publication of the results. | POLYGON((-58.9 -63.5,-58.63 -63.5,-58.36 -63.5,-58.09 -63.5,-57.82 -63.5,-57.55 -63.5,-57.28 -63.5,-57.01 -63.5,-56.74 -63.5,-56.47 -63.5,-56.2 -63.5,-56.2 -63.62,-56.2 -63.74,-56.2 -63.86,-56.2 -63.98,-56.2 -64.1,-56.2 -64.22,-56.2 -64.34,-56.2 -64.46,-56.2 -64.58,-56.2 -64.7,-56.47 -64.7,-56.74 -64.7,-57.01 -64.7,-57.28 -64.7,-57.55 -64.7,-57.82 -64.7,-58.09 -64.7,-58.36 -64.7,-58.63 -64.7,-58.9 -64.7,-58.9 -64.58,-58.9 -64.46,-58.9 -64.34,-58.9 -64.22,-58.9 -64.1,-58.9 -63.98,-58.9 -63.86,-58.9 -63.74,-58.9 -63.62,-58.9 -63.5)) | POINT(-57.55 -64.1) | false | false | |||||||||
Collaborative Research: Late Cretaceous-Paleogene Vertebrates from Antarctica: Implications for Paleobiogeography, Paleoenvironment, and Extinction in Polar Gondwana
|
1142129 |
2017-07-12 | Lamanna, Matthew |
|
Intellectual Merit: <br/>The role that Antarctica has played in vertebrate evolution and paleobiogeography during the Late Cretaceous and early Paleogene is largely unknown. Evidence indicates that Antarctica was home to a diverse flora during the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene, yet the vertebrates that must have existed on the continent remain virtually unknown. To fill this gap, the PIs have formed the Antarctic Vertebrate Paleontology Initiative (AVPI), whose goal is to search for and collect Late Cretaceous-Paleogene vertebrate fossils in Antarctica at localities that have never been properly surveyed, as well as in areas of proven potential. Two field seasons are proposed for the James Ross Island Group on the northeastern margin of the Antarctic Peninsula. Expected finds include chondrichthyan and osteichthyan fishes, marine reptiles, ornithischian and non-avian theropod dinosaurs, ornithurine birds, and therian and non-therian mammals. Hypotheses to be tested include: 1) multiple extant bird and/or therian mammal lineages originated during the Cretaceous and survived the K-Pg boundary extinction event; 2) the "Scotia Portal" permitted the dispersal of continental vertebrates between Antarctica and South America prior to the latest Cretaceous and through to the late Paleocene or early Eocene; 3) Late Cretaceous non-avian dinosaurs from Antarctica are closely related to coeval taxa from other Gondwanan landmasses; 4) terminal Cretaceous marine reptile faunas from southern Gondwana differed from contemporaneous but more northerly assemblages; and 5) the collapse of Antarctic ichthyofaunal diversity during the K-Pg transition was triggered by a catastrophic extinction.<br/><br/>Broader impacts: <br/>The PIs will communicate discoveries to audiences through a variety of channels, such as the Dinosaurs in Their Time exhibition at Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the outreach programs of the Environmental Science Institute of the University of Texas at Austin. In addition, Carnegie Museum will launch a student-oriented programming initiative using AVPI research as a primary focus. This array of activities will help some 2,000 Pittsburgh-area undergraduates to explore the relevance of deep-time discoveries to critical modern issues. The AVPI will provide research opportunities for eight undergraduate and three graduate students, several of whom will receive field training in Antarctica. Fossils will be accessioned into the Carnegie Museum collection, and made accessible virtually through the NSF-funded Digital Morphology library at University of Texas. | POLYGON((-60 -63.5,-59.6 -63.5,-59.2 -63.5,-58.8 -63.5,-58.4 -63.5,-58 -63.5,-57.6 -63.5,-57.2 -63.5,-56.8 -63.5,-56.4 -63.5,-56 -63.5,-56 -63.7,-56 -63.9,-56 -64.1,-56 -64.3,-56 -64.5,-56 -64.7,-56 -64.9,-56 -65.1,-56 -65.3,-56 -65.5,-56.4 -65.5,-56.8 -65.5,-57.2 -65.5,-57.6 -65.5,-58 -65.5,-58.4 -65.5,-58.8 -65.5,-59.2 -65.5,-59.6 -65.5,-60 -65.5,-60 -65.3,-60 -65.1,-60 -64.9,-60 -64.7,-60 -64.5,-60 -64.3,-60 -64.1,-60 -63.9,-60 -63.7,-60 -63.5)) | POINT(-58 -64.5) | false | false | |||||||||
Reconstruction of Deep-Water Temperatures in the Drake Passage Over the Last Glacial Cycle: Application of Carbonate Clumped Isotope Thermometer to Absolutely-Dated Deep-Sea Corals
|
1246387 |
2017-07-07 | Guo, Weifu |
|
This proposed research aims to produce high resolution, precise and accurate records of deep water temperatures in the Drake Passage over the past ~40,000 years, by applying the newly developed carbonate clumped isotope thermometer to a unique collection of modern and fossil deep-sea corals, and thus advance the understanding of the role of the Southern Ocean in modulating global climate. In addition, this study will provide further evaluation on the potential of this new thermometer to derive accurate estimates of past ocean temperatures from deep-sea coral skeletons. Funding will support an early-career junior scientist and a graduate student. <br/><br/>Despite its crucial role in modulating global climate, rates and amplitudes of environmental changes in the Southern Ocean are often difficult to constrain. In particular, the knowledge about the deep water temperatures in the Southern Ocean during the last glacial cycle is extremely limited. This results both from the lack of well-dated climate archives for the deep Southern Ocean and from the fact that most existing temperature proxies (e.g. del18O and Mg/Ca of foraminifera and corals) suffer from the biological 'vital effects'. The latter is especially problematic; it causes substantial challenges in interpreting these geochemical proxies and can lead to biases equivalent to tens of degrees in temperature estimates. Recent development of carbonate clumped isotope thermometer, holds new promises for reconstructing deep water temperatures in the Southern Ocean, since calibration studies of this thermometer in deep-sea corals suggest it is largely free of vital effects. This proposed research seeks to refine the calibration of carbonate clumped isotope thermometer in deep-sea corals at low temperatures, improve the experimental methods to obtain high precision in temperature estimates, and then apply this thermometer to a unique collection of modern and fossil deep-sea corals collected from the Drake Passage during two recent Office of Polar Programs (OPP)-funded cruises, that have already been dated by radiocarbon and U-series methods. By combining the reconstructed temperatures with the radiocarbon and U-Th ages for these deep-sea corals, this study will explore the relationships between these temperature changes and global climate changes. | POLYGON((-79.9183333 35.441666667,-55.16316667 35.441666667,-30.40800004 35.441666667,-5.65283341 35.441666667,19.10233322 35.441666667,43.85749985 35.441666667,68.61266648 35.441666667,93.36783311 35.441666667,118.12299974 35.441666667,142.87816637 35.441666667,167.633333 35.441666667,167.633333 25.9255333333,167.633333 16.4093999996,167.633333 6.8932666659,167.633333 -2.6228666678,167.633333 -12.1390000015,167.633333 -21.6551333352,167.633333 -31.1712666689,167.633333 -40.6874000026,167.633333 -50.2035333363,167.633333 -59.71966667,142.87816637 -59.71966667,118.12299974 -59.71966667,93.36783311 -59.71966667,68.61266648 -59.71966667,43.85749985 -59.71966667,19.10233322 -59.71966667,-5.65283341 -59.71966667,-30.40800004 -59.71966667,-55.16316667 -59.71966667,-79.9183333 -59.71966667,-79.9183333 -50.2035333363,-79.9183333 -40.6874000026,-79.9183333 -31.1712666689,-79.9183333 -21.6551333352,-79.9183333 -12.1390000015,-79.9183333 -2.6228666678,-79.9183333 6.8932666659,-79.9183333 16.4093999996,-79.9183333 25.9255333333,-79.9183333 35.441666667)) | POINT(43.85749985 -12.1390000015) | false | false | |||||||||
Collaborative Research: Continued Research on the Jurassic Vertebrate Fauna from the Beardmore Glacier Region of Antarctica
|
1244253 1246379 |
2017-04-25 | Smith, Nathan; Makovicky, Peter | Intellectual Merit: <br/>This proposal requests support for research on Early Jurassic vertebrate fauna of the Beardmore Glacier region of Antarctica. The project will support preparation and systematic and paleobiological research on four Antarctic dinosaurs, including two new species, collected in the Central Transantarctic Mountains. With the new material Cryolophosaurus will become one of the most complete Early Jurassic theropods known, and thus has the potential to become a keystone taxon for resolving the debated early evolutionary history of theropod dinosaurs, the group that gave rise to birds. Two new dinosaur specimens include a nearly complete articulated skeleton of a juvenile sauropodomorph, and the articulated hip region of another small individual. Both appear to be new taxa. The dinosaurs from the Hanson Formation represent some of the highest paleolatitude vertebrates known from the Jurassic. The PIs will generate CT datasets for Cryolophosaurus and the more complete new sauropodomorph species to mine for phylogenetic trait information, and to investigate their comparative neuroanatomy and feeding behavior. Histological datasets will be generated from multiple skeletal elements for all four Mt. Kirkpatrick taxa to understand patterns of growth in different clades of polar dinosaurs and compare them to relatives from lower paleolatitudes. This paleohistological study of a relatively diverse sample of sauropodomorph taxa from Antarctica may contribute to determining whether and how these dinosaurs responded to contemporary climatic extremes.<br/><br/>Broader impacts: <br/>The PIs have established a successful undergraduate training program as part of previous research. Summer interns from Augustana are trained at the Field Museum in specimen preparation, curation, molding/casting, and histological sampling. They also participate in existing Field Museum REU programs, including a course on phylogenetic systematics. Four undergraduate internships and student research projects will be supported through this proposal. The PIs will develop a traveling exhibit on Antarctic Mesozoic paleontology that they estimate will be seen by 2.5 million people over the five-year tour. | POLYGON((160 -85,160.6 -85,161.2 -85,161.8 -85,162.4 -85,163 -85,163.6 -85,164.2 -85,164.8 -85,165.4 -85,166 -85,166 -85.2,166 -85.4,166 -85.6,166 -85.8,166 -86,166 -86.2,166 -86.4,166 -86.6,166 -86.8,166 -87,165.4 -87,164.8 -87,164.2 -87,163.6 -87,163 -87,162.4 -87,161.8 -87,161.2 -87,160.6 -87,160 -87,160 -86.8,160 -86.6,160 -86.4,160 -86.2,160 -86,160 -85.8,160 -85.6,160 -85.4,160 -85.2,160 -85)) | POINT(163 -86) | false | false | ||||||||||
Neogene Paleoecology of the Beardmore Glacier Region
|
0947821 |
2017-01-12 | Ashworth, Allan |
|
Intellectual Merit: <br/>The primary goal of this project is to sample two beds in the Meyer Desert Formation, which are known to be especially fossiliferous containing plants, insects, other arthropods, freshwater mollusks, and fish. There is a possibility that the teeth and bones of a small marsupial could also be found. Previous studies have demonstrated that these horizons contain unique fossil assemblages that provide information used to reconstruct paleoenvironments and paleoclimate. The fossils represent organisms previously not found in Antarctica and consequently their study will lead to the development of new hypotheses concerning southern hemisphere biogeography. The new discoveries will also increase knowledge of paleoenvironments and paleoclimates as well as biogeographic relationships of the biota of the southern hemisphere. For some organisms, such as Nothofagus (Southern Beech) or the trechine groundbeetle, fossils would confirm that Antarctica was inhabited as part of Gondwana. For other fossils, such as the cyclorrhaphan fly or freshwater mollusks not expected to have inhabited Antarctica, the discoveries will require a reassessment of phylogenetic interpretations and a reinvestigation of the role of Antarctica in the evolutionary history of those organisms. The new fossil-based knowledge will require integration with interpretations from cladistics and molecular genetics to develop more comprehensive phylogenetic hypotheses for a range of organisms.<br/><br/>Broader impacts: <br/>The discovery of fossils in Antarctica and implications for climate change has proven to be popular with the media. This attention will help disseminate the results of this study. Before the field season, the PI will work with local media and with area schools to set up field interviews and web casts from Antarctica. The project will also involve the training of a graduate student in the field and in the follow up studies of the fossils in the laboratory. | POLYGON((-180 -85.095235,-145.3719418 -85.095235,-110.7438836 -85.095235,-76.1158254 -85.095235,-41.4877672 -85.095235,-6.859709 -85.095235,27.7683492 -85.095235,62.3964074 -85.095235,97.0244656 -85.095235,131.6525238 -85.095235,166.280582 -85.095235,166.280582 -85.0996451,166.280582 -85.1040552,166.280582 -85.1084653,166.280582 -85.1128754,166.280582 -85.1172855,166.280582 -85.1216956,166.280582 -85.1261057,166.280582 -85.1305158,166.280582 -85.1349259,166.280582 -85.139336,131.6525238 -85.139336,97.0244656 -85.139336,62.3964074 -85.139336,27.7683492 -85.139336,-6.859709 -85.139336,-41.4877672 -85.139336,-76.1158254 -85.139336,-110.7438836 -85.139336,-145.3719418 -85.139336,180 -85.139336,178.6280582 -85.139336,177.2561164 -85.139336,175.8841746 -85.139336,174.5122328 -85.139336,173.140291 -85.139336,171.7683492 -85.139336,170.3964074 -85.139336,169.0244656 -85.139336,167.6525238 -85.139336,166.280582 -85.139336,166.280582 -85.1349259,166.280582 -85.1305158,166.280582 -85.1261057,166.280582 -85.1216956,166.280582 -85.1172855,166.280582 -85.1128754,166.280582 -85.1084653,166.280582 -85.1040552,166.280582 -85.0996451,166.280582 -85.095235,167.6525238 -85.095235,169.0244656 -85.095235,170.3964074 -85.095235,171.7683492 -85.095235,173.140291 -85.095235,174.5122328 -85.095235,175.8841746 -85.095235,177.2561164 -85.095235,178.6280582 -85.095235,-180 -85.095235)) | POINT(0 -89.999) | false | false | |||||||||
Paleoenvironmental and Paleoclimatic Analysis of the Beacon Supergroup, Beardmore Glacier Area, Central Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica
|
0944282 |
2016-06-03 | Hasiotis, Stephen |
|
Intellectual Merit: <br/>This proposal will study the diversity, abundance, and tiering patterns of ichnofossils in continental and marine deposits of the Beacon Supergroup in the Beardmore Glacier Area (BGA). The PIs will focus on continental strata that contain a variety of ichnofossils and paleosols. Ichnofossils will be evaluated for their architectural and surficial morphologies, and will be compared to modern and ancient traces to interpret the tracemaker behavior and paleoenvironmental setting. Distribution of ichnofossils within these units may indicate the effect of lateral variability of pedogenesis, the magnitude and frequency of depositional events, and the amount of moisture within the sediment, as well as the effects of climate change. The paleoclimatic significance of ichnofossils will be determined by comparing the burrow size, occurrence, tiering, and pedogenic significance of ichnofossils in measured sections of stratigraphic units deposited during global warming and cooling episodes. Comparisons will be made between BGA formations to stratigraphically equivalent rocks deposited at low paleolatitudes with previously determined paleoclimatic settings. The objectives of this project are to address two major questions: what differences existed in ichnodiversity, abundance, and tiering in marine and continental deposits between high- and low-paleolatitudes, and was there a dearth of habitat usage in continental deposits during the late Paleozoic and Mesozoic, particularly in fluvial and lacustrine environments compared to the habitat usage in the marine realm at that time? <br/><br/>Broader impacts: <br/>This study will enhance the ability to interpret paleoenvironments to the subenvironmental scale, understand the evolution of soil biota and ecosystems at high paleolatitudes, determine the role of organisms in soil formation at high paleolatitudes, explore the effects of climate change on the body size and diversity of organisms in the soil communities, and develop new tools to interpret paleoclimate in high latitudes. There is a strong education component associated with this proposal. | POINT(175 -86) | POINT(175 -86) | false | false | |||||||||
Collaborative Research: Late Cretaceous-Paleogene Vertebrates from Antarctica: Implications for Paleobiogeography, Paleoenvironment, and Extinction in Polar Gondwana
|
1142052 |
2016-04-26 | Lamanna, Matthew |
|
The role that Antarctica has played in vertebrate evolution and paleobiogeography during the Late Cretaceous and early Paleogene is largely unknown. Evidence indicates that Antarctica was home to a diverse flora during the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene, yet the vertebrates that must have existed on the continent remain virtually unknown. To fill this gap, the PIs have formed the Antarctic Vertebrate Paleontology Initiative (AVPI), whose goal is to search for and collect Late Cretaceous-Paleogene vertebrate fossils in Antarctica at localities that have never been properly surveyed, as well as in areas of proven potential. Two field seasons are proposed for the James Ross Island Group on the northeastern margin of the Antarctic Peninsula. Expected finds include chondrichthyan and osteichthyan fishes, marine reptiles, ornithischian and non-avian theropod dinosaurs, ornithurine birds, and therian and non-therian mammals. Hypotheses to be tested include: 1) multiple extant bird and/or therian mammal lineages originated during the Cretaceous and survived the K-Pg boundary extinction event; 2) the ?Scotia Portal? permitted the dispersal of continental vertebrates between Antarctica and South America prior to the latest Cretaceous and through to the late Paleocene or early Eocene; 3) Late Cretaceous non-avian dinosaurs from Antarctica are closely related to coeval taxa from other Gondwanan landmasses; 4) terminal Cretaceous marine reptile faunas from southern Gondwana differed from contemporaneous but more northerly assemblages; and 5) the collapse of Antarctic ichthyofaunal diversity during the K-Pg transition was triggered by a catastrophic extinction.<br/><br/>Broader impacts: <br/>The PIs will communicate discoveries to audiences through a variety of channels, such as the Dinosaurs in Their Time exhibition at Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the outreach programs of the Environmental Science Institute of the University of Texas at Austin. In addition, Carnegie Museum will launch a student-oriented programming initiative using AVPI research as a primary focus. This array of activities will help some 2,000 Pittsburgh-area undergraduates to explore the relevance of deep-time discoveries to critical modern issues. The AVPI will provide research opportunities for eight undergraduate and three graduate students, several of whom will receive field training in Antarctica. Fossils will be accessioned into the Carnegie Museum collection, and made accessible virtually through the NSF-funded Digital Morphology library at University of Texas. | None | None | false | false | |||||||||
Collaborative Research: A "Horizontal Ice Core" for Large-Volume Samples of the Past Atmosphere, Taylor Glacier, Antarctica
|
0838936 0839031 |
2016-03-29 | Brook, Edward J.; Severinghaus, Jeffrey P. | Severinghaus/0839031 <br/><br/>This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).<br/><br/>This award supports a project to develop a precise gas-based chronology for an archive of large-volume samples of the ancient atmosphere, which would enable ultra-trace gas measurements that are currently precluded by sample size limitations of ice cores. The intellectual merit of the proposed work is that it will provide a critical test of the "clathrate hypothesis" that methane clathrates contributed to the two abrupt atmospheric methane concentration increases during the last deglaciation 15 and 11 kyr ago. This approach employs large volumes of ice (>1 ton) to measure carbon-14 on past atmospheric methane across the abrupt events. Carbon-14 is an ideal discriminator of fossil sources of methane to the atmosphere, because most methane sources (e.g., wetlands, termites, biomass burning) are rich in carbon-14, whereas clathrates and other fossil sources are devoid of carbon-14. The proposed work is a logical extension to Taylor Glacier, Antarctica, of an approach pioneered at the margin of the Greenland ice sheet over the past 7 years. The Greenland work found higher-than-expected carbon-14 values, likely due in part to contaminants stemming from the high impurity content of Greenland ice and the interaction of the ice with sediments from the glacier bed. The data also pointed to the possibility of a previously unknown process, in-situ cosmogenic production of carbon-14 methane (radiomethane) in the ice matrix. Antarctic ice in Taylor Glacier is orders of magnitude cleaner than the ice at the Greenland site, and is much colder and less stratigraphically disturbed, offering the potential for a clear resolution of this puzzle and a definitive test of the cosmogenic radiomethane hypothesis. Even if cosmogenic radiomethane in ice is found, it still may be possible to reconstruct atmospheric radiomethane with a correction enabled by a detailed understanding of the process, which will be sought by co-measuring carbon-14 in carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. The broader impacts of the proposed work are that the clathrate test may shed light on the stability of the clathrate reservoir and its potential for climate feedbacks under human-induced warming. Development of Taylor Glacier as a "horizontal ice core" would provide a community resource for other researchers. Education of one postdoc, one graduate student, and one undergraduate, would add to human resources. This award has field work in Antarctica. | POINT(161.75 -77.75) | POINT(161.75 -77.75) | false | false | ||||||||||
Preparation of Vertebrate Fossils from the Triassic of Antarctica
|
1146399 |
2015-10-27 | Sidor, Christian |
|
Intellectual Merit: <br/>The PI requests support for preparation of a large collection of vertebrate fossils recently recovered from the Central Transantarctic Mountains (CTAM) of Antarctica. These fossils will be used to place early Mesozoic Antarctic dinosaurs and other vertebrates into a global evolutionary, biogeographic, and faunal context; assess the degree of endemism in Triassic vertebrate faunas of Antarctica; constrain temporal relationships of the Triassic Antarctic vertebrate faunas; and refine the stratigraphic context for the Triassic Antarctic vertebrate assemblages to establish a paleoenvironmental framework. The lower and middle Triassic fossils offer a rare window on life in terrestrial environments at high-latitudes immediately after the Permian mass extinction. <br/><br/>Broader impacts: <br/>The PI will use their fossils to educate the public about the geologic, climatic, and biologic history of Antarctica by visiting local schools. They will create and publish at least two new videos to the Burke Museum blog that relate the graduate student?s experience of fieldwork in Antarctica. They will also update the Antarctica section on the UWBM "Explore Your World" website with images and findings from their field season. | POLYGON((162.41 -84.27,163.409 -84.27,164.408 -84.27,165.407 -84.27,166.406 -84.27,167.405 -84.27,168.404 -84.27,169.403 -84.27,170.402 -84.27,171.401 -84.27,172.4 -84.27,172.4 -84.353,172.4 -84.436,172.4 -84.519,172.4 -84.602,172.4 -84.685,172.4 -84.768,172.4 -84.851,172.4 -84.934,172.4 -85.017,172.4 -85.1,171.401 -85.1,170.402 -85.1,169.403 -85.1,168.404 -85.1,167.405 -85.1,166.406 -85.1,165.407 -85.1,164.408 -85.1,163.409 -85.1,162.41 -85.1,162.41 -85.017,162.41 -84.934,162.41 -84.851,162.41 -84.768,162.41 -84.685,162.41 -84.602,162.41 -84.519,162.41 -84.436,162.41 -84.353,162.41 -84.27)) | POINT(167.405 -84.685) | false | false | |||||||||
Collaborative Research: Antarctic Ecosystems across the Permian-Triassic Boundary: Integrating Paleobotany, Sedimentology, and Paleoecology
|
0943934 0943935 |
2014-09-23 | Isbell, John | Intellectual Merit:<br/>The focus of this proposal is to collect fossil plants and palynomorphs from Permian-Triassic (P-T) rocks of the central Transantarctic Mountains (CTM), together with detailed data on sedimentologic and paleoecologic depositional environments. Fossil plants are important climate proxies that offer a unique window into the past, and the CTM fossils are an important source of data on the ways that plants responded to a strongly seasonal, polar light regime during a time of global change. The proposed project uses paleobotanical expertise, integrated with detailed sedimentology and stratigraphy, to reconstruct Permian-Triassic plant communities and their paleoenvironments. This interdisciplinary approach could uncover details of Antarctica?s complex late Paleozoic and Mesozoic environmental and climatic history which included: 1) deglaciation, 2) development and evolution of a post-glacial landscape and biota, 3) environmental and biotic change associated with the end-Permian mass extinction, 4) environmental recovery in the earliest Triassic, 5) strong, possible runaway Triassic greenhouse, and 6) widespread orogenesis and development of a foreland basin system. The PIs will collect compression floras both quantitatively and qualitatively to obtain biodiversity and abundance data. Since silicified wood is also present, the PIs will analyze tree rings and growth in a warm, high-latitude environment for which there is no modern analogue. Fossil plants from the CTM can provide biological and environmental information to: 1) interpret paleoclimate when Gondwana moved from icehouse to greenhouse conditions; 2) trace floral evolution across the P-T boundary; 3) reconstruct Antarctic plant life; 4) further understanding of plant adaptations to high latitudes. The Intellectual Merit of the research includes: 1) tracing floral evolution after the retreat of glaciers; 2) examining floral composition and diversity across the PTB; and 3) obtaining data on the recovery of these ecosystems in the Early Triassic, as well as changes in floral cover and diversity in the Early-Middle Triassic. Antarctica is the only place on Earth that includes extensive outcrops of terrestrial rocks, combined with widespread and well-preserved plant fossils, which spans this crucial time period.<br/><br/>Broader impacts:<br/>The broader impacts include public outreach; teaching, and mentoring of women and underrepresented students; mentoring graduate student, postdoctoral, and new faculty women; development of an inquiry-based workshop on Antarctic paleoclimate with the Division of Education, KU Natural History Museum; continuing support of workshops for middle school girls in science via the Expanding Your Horizons Program, Emporia State University, and the TRIO program, KU; exploring Antarctic geosciences through video/computer links from McMurdo Station and satellite phone conferences from the field with K-12 science classes in Wisconsin and Kansas, and through participation in the NSF Research Experiences for Teachers program at the University of Wisconsin. | None | None | false | false | ||||||||||
CAREER: Deciphering Antarctic Climate Variability during the Temperate/Polar Transition and Improving Climate Change Literacy in Louisiana through a Companion Outreach Program
|
1048343 |
2011-12-10 | Warny, Sophie |
|
Intellectual Merit: <br/>The PI proposes a high-resolution paleoenvironmental study of pollen, spore, fresh-water algae, and dinoflagellate cyst assemblages to investigate the palynological record of sudden warming events in the Antarctic as recorded by the ANDRILL SMS drill core and terrestrial sections. These data will be used to derive causal mechanisms for these rapid climate events. Terrestrial samples will be obtained at various altitudes in the Dry Valleys region. The pollen and spores will provide data on atmospheric conditions, while the algae will provide data on sea-surface conditions. These data will help identify the triggers for sudden climatic shifts. If they are caused by changes in oceanic currents, a signal will be visible in the dinocyst assemblages first as currents influence their distribution. Conversely, if these shifts are triggered by atmospheric factors, then the shifts will first affect plants and be visible in the pollen record.<br/><br/>Broader impacts: <br/>The PI proposes a suite of activities to bring field-based climate change research to a broader audience. The PI will advise a diverse group of students and educators. The palynological data collected as part of this research will be utilized, in part, to develop new lectures on Antarctic palynology and these new lectures will be made available via a collaboration with the LSU HHMI program. In addition, the PI will direct three Louisiana middle-school teachers as they pursue a Masters of Natural Science for science educators. These teachers will help the PI develop a professional development program for science teachers. Community-based activities will be organized to raise science awareness and alert students and the public of opportunities in science. | POLYGON((-180 -60,-144 -60,-108 -60,-72 -60,-36 -60,0 -60,36 -60,72 -60,108 -60,144 -60,180 -60,180 -63,180 -66,180 -69,180 -72,180 -75,180 -78,180 -81,180 -84,180 -87,180 -90,144 -90,108 -90,72 -90,36 -90,0 -90,-36 -90,-72 -90,-108 -90,-144 -90,-180 -90,-180 -87,-180 -84,-180 -81,-180 -78,-180 -75,-180 -72,-180 -69,-180 -66,-180 -63,-180 -60)) | POINT(0 -89.999) | false | false | |||||||||
Continued Research on the Jurassic Vertebrate Fauna from the Beardmore Glacier Region of Antarctica
|
0634619 |
2010-07-02 | Hammer, William R. |
|
Abstract<br/><br/>This award supports preparation and study of fossil dinosaurs discovered on Mt. Kirkpatrick, Antarctica, during the 2003-04 field season. The 4,000 pounds of bone bearing matrix to be processed includes new pieces of Cryolophosaurus, a 22 foot long meat eating theropod, as well as a new unnamed sauropod dinosaur and other yet to be identified taxa. This project advances our understanding of dinosaur evolution and adaptation at the beginning of the reign of the dinosaurs, the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic. This period is poorly understood due to lack of fossils, which makes these fossils from Antarctica particularly unique. Also, since these fossils are from high paleolatitudes they will contribute to our understanding of past climates and the physiologic adaptations of dinosaurs to lengthy periods of darkness. <br/><br/>The broader impacts include outreach to the general public through museum exhibits and presentations. | POINT(166 -84) | POINT(166 -84) | false | false | |||||||||
Paleohistory of the Larsen Ice Shelf: Evidence from the Marine Record
|
9814383 |
2010-05-04 | Domack, Eugene Walter |
|
This award, provided by the Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program of the Office of Polar Programs, supports research to study the region recently occupied by the Larsen Ice Shelf in the Antarctic Peninsula. Over the last 10 years, scientists have observed a dramatic decay and disintegration of floating ice shelves along the northern end of the Antarctic Peninsula. Meteorological records and satellite observations indicate that this catastrophic decay is related to regional warming of nearly 3 degrees C in the last 50 years. While such retreat of floating ice shelves is unprecedented in historic records, current understanding of the natural variability of ice shelf systems over the last few thousand years is not understood well. This award supports a program of marine geologic research directed at filling this knowledge gap by developing an understanding of the dynamics of the northern Larsen Ice Shelf during the Holocene epoch (the last 10,000 years).<br/><br/>The Larsen Ice Shelf is located in the NW Weddell Sea along the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula and is currently undergoing a rapid, catastrophic retreat as documented by satellite imagery over the past five years. While the region of the northern Antarctic Peninsula has experienced a pronounced warming trend over the last 40 years, the links between this warming and global change (i.e. greenhouse warming) are not obvious. Yet the ice shelf is clearly receding at a rate unprecedented in historic time, leaving vast areas of the seafloor uncovered and in an open marine setting. This project will collect a series of short sediment cores within the Larsen Inlet and in areas that were at one time covered by the Larsen Ice Shelf. By applying established sediment and fossil criteria to the cores we hope to demonstrate whether the Larsen Ice Shelf has experienced similar periods of retreat and subsequent advance within the last 10,000 years. Past work in various regions of the Antarctic has focused on depositional models for ice shelves that allow one to discern the timing of ice shelf retreat/advance in areas of the Ross Sea, Antarctic Peninsula, and Prydz Bay. This research will lead to a much improved understanding of the dynamics of ice shelf systems and their role in past and future climate oscillations. | POLYGON((-70.90625 -52.35392,-69.456459 -52.35392,-68.006668 -52.35392,-66.556877 -52.35392,-65.107086 -52.35392,-63.657295 -52.35392,-62.207504 -52.35392,-60.757713 -52.35392,-59.307922 -52.35392,-57.858131 -52.35392,-56.40834 -52.35392,-56.40834 -53.615031,-56.40834 -54.876142,-56.40834 -56.137253,-56.40834 -57.398364,-56.40834 -58.659475,-56.40834 -59.920586,-56.40834 -61.181697,-56.40834 -62.442808,-56.40834 -63.703919,-56.40834 -64.96503,-57.858131 -64.96503,-59.307922 -64.96503,-60.757713 -64.96503,-62.207504 -64.96503,-63.657295 -64.96503,-65.107086 -64.96503,-66.556877 -64.96503,-68.006668 -64.96503,-69.456459 -64.96503,-70.90625 -64.96503,-70.90625 -63.703919,-70.90625 -62.442808,-70.90625 -61.181697,-70.90625 -59.920586,-70.90625 -58.659475,-70.90625 -57.398364,-70.90625 -56.137253,-70.90625 -54.876142,-70.90625 -53.615031,-70.90625 -52.35392)) | POINT(-63.657295 -58.659475) | false | false | |||||||||
Glacial History of the Amundsen Sea Shelf
|
9814692 |
2010-05-04 | Kellogg, Thomas; Jacobs, Stanley |
|
This award, provided by the Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program of the Office of Polar Programs, supports a marine geological investigation of the Amundsen Sea region toward a better understanding of the deglaciation history of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). The WAIS may be inherently unstable because it is the last marine-based ice sheet in the world. Unlike other embayments in West Antarctica, major ice streams draining into the Amundsen Sea from the interior of the WAIS lack buttressing ice shelves. Mass balance data for the distal portions of these ice streams (Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers) appear to be in balance or may be becoming negative. Because both ice streams have beds that slope downward toward the center of the ice sheet, grounding-line recession resulting from either continued thinning or sea-level rise could trigger irreversible grounding-line retreat, leading to ice-sheet disintegration and consequent global sea-level rise. The limited marine geological and geophysical data available from the Amundsen Sea suggest that grounded ice or an ice shelf occupied the inner Amundsen Sea embayment until perhaps as recently as 1000 to 2000 years ago, and this ice may have retreated rapidly in historic time.<br/><br/>This project, a study of the marine geology and geophysics of the Amundsen Sea continental shelf from 100 degrees W to 130 degrees W, is designed to address the Amundsen Sea part of WAIS Science Plan Priority Goal H2: "What is the deglaciation history in the eastern Ross, the Bellingshausen and Amundsen Seas?" This project will examine bathymetric data of the Amundsen Sea continental shelf to determine the positions of former ice-steam channels, and to aid in choosing sites for sediment coring. Single-channel seismic reflection studies will be conducted in order to determine sediment-thickness patterns, to aid in choice of coring sites, and to locate and identify morphologic features indicative of former grounded ice (e.g., moraines, scours, flutes, striations, till wedges and deltas, etc.). Coring will be concentrated along former ice flow-lines. Core samples will be analyzed in the laboratory for sedimentology, to determine whether of not basal tills are present (indicating former grounded ice and its former extent), and for calcareous and siliceous microfossils. The chronology of grounding-line and ice-shelf retreat from a presumed Last Glacial Maximum position near the shelf break will be established using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) carbon-14 dates of acid-insoluble particulate organic carbon.<br/><br/>This project will share ship time in the Amundsen Sea with a physical oceanographic project. Marine geologic data and samples collected will be integrated with findings of other investigators toward developing a comprehensive interpretation of the history of the WAIS. | POLYGON((-179.99342 -58.74225,-143.994734 -58.74225,-107.996048 -58.74225,-71.997362 -58.74225,-35.998676 -58.74225,0.000010000000003 -58.74225,35.998696 -58.74225,71.997382 -58.74225,107.996068 -58.74225,143.994754 -58.74225,179.99344 -58.74225,179.99344 -60.716231,179.99344 -62.690212,179.99344 -64.664193,179.99344 -66.638174,179.99344 -68.612155,179.99344 -70.586136,179.99344 -72.560117,179.99344 -74.534098,179.99344 -76.508079,179.99344 -78.48206,143.994754 -78.48206,107.996068 -78.48206,71.997382 -78.48206,35.998696 -78.48206,0.000010000000003 -78.48206,-35.998676 -78.48206,-71.997362 -78.48206,-107.996048 -78.48206,-143.994734 -78.48206,-179.99342 -78.48206,-179.99342 -76.508079,-179.99342 -74.534098,-179.99342 -72.560117,-179.99342 -70.586136,-179.99342 -68.612155,-179.99342 -66.638174,-179.99342 -64.664193,-179.99342 -62.690212,-179.99342 -60.716231,-179.99342 -58.74225)) | POINT(0.000010000000003 -68.612155) | false | false | |||||||||
Global Climate Change and the Evolutionary Ecology of Antarctic Mollusks in the Late Eocene
|
9908828 |
2010-05-04 | Aronson, Richard; Domack, Eugene Walter |
|
9908828<br/>Aronson<br/><br/>This award, provided by the Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program of the Office of Polar Programs, supports a paleoecological and paleoenvironmental study of Seymour Island. Global climate change late in the Eocene epoch had an important influence in Antarctica. This was the beginning of the transition from a cool-temperate climate in Antarctica to the polar climate that exists there today. The cooling trend strongly influenced the structure of shallow-water, Antarctic marine communities, and these effects are still evident in the peculiar ecological relationships among species living in modern Antarctic communities. Cooling late in the Eocene reduced the abundance of fish and crabs, which in turn reduced skeleton-crushing predation on invertebrates. Reduced predation allowed dense populations of ophiuroids (brittlestars) and crinoids (sea lilies) to appear in shallow-water settings at the end of the Eocene. These low-predation communities appear as dense fossil echinoderm assemblages in the upper portion of the late Eocene La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island, off the Antarctic Peninsula. Today, dense ophiuroid and crinoid populations are common in shallow-water habitats in Antarctica but generally have been eliminated by predators from similar habitats at temperate and tropical latitudes; their persistence in Antarctica to this day is an important ecological legacy of climatic cooling in the Eocene. Although the influence of declining predation on Antarctic ophiuroids and crinoids is now well documented, the effects of cooling on the more abundant mollusks have not been investigated. This study will examine the evolutionary ecology of gastropods (snails) and bivalves (clams) in the late Eocene.<br/><br/>A series of hypotheses will be tested in the La Meseta Formation, based on the predicted responses of mollusks to declining temperature and changing levels of predation. The shapes of gastropod shells, the activities of gastropods that prey on other mollusks by drilling holes in their shells, and the effects of predation on the thickness of mollusk shells should have changed significantly through late Eocene time. First, defensive features of gastropod shells, such as spines and ribbing, should decline as temperature and, therefore, the activity of skeleton-crushing predators declined. Second, drilling of bivalve prey by predatory gastropods should increase with time since the drillers should themselves have been subject to lower predation pressure as temperature declined. Drilled shells, therefore, should become more common through time. Third, patterns in the thickness of shells through time will make it possible to separate the direct, physiological effects of declining temperature (shells are more difficult to produce at cooler temperatures, and so should be thinner) from the indirect effects of temperature on evolving biological interactions (increased drilling predation should result in thicker shells). <br/><br/>Seymour Island contains the only fossil outcrops readily accessible in Antarctica from this crucial period in Earth history. The La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island thus provides a unique opportunity to learn how climate change affected Antarctic marine communities. In practical terms, global climate change will probably increase upwelling over the next few decades to centuries in some temperate coastal regions. Recent ecological evidence suggests that the resultant lowering of sea temperatures could lower predation in those areas. Understanding the response of the La Meseta faunas to global cooling in the late Eocene will provide direct insight into the rapidly changing structure of modern benthic communities. | POLYGON((-70.906 -52.350166,-69.4494 -52.350166,-67.9928 -52.350166,-66.5362 -52.350166,-65.0796 -52.350166,-63.623 -52.350166,-62.1664 -52.350166,-60.7098 -52.350166,-59.2532 -52.350166,-57.7966 -52.350166,-56.34 -52.350166,-56.34 -53.6028324,-56.34 -54.8554988,-56.34 -56.1081652,-56.34 -57.3608316,-56.34 -58.613498,-56.34 -59.8661644,-56.34 -61.1188308,-56.34 -62.3714972,-56.34 -63.6241636,-56.34 -64.87683,-57.7966 -64.87683,-59.2532 -64.87683,-60.7098 -64.87683,-62.1664 -64.87683,-63.623 -64.87683,-65.0796 -64.87683,-66.5362 -64.87683,-67.9928 -64.87683,-69.4494 -64.87683,-70.906 -64.87683,-70.906 -63.6241636,-70.906 -62.3714972,-70.906 -61.1188308,-70.906 -59.8661644,-70.906 -58.613498,-70.906 -57.3608316,-70.906 -56.1081652,-70.906 -54.8554988,-70.906 -53.6028324,-70.906 -52.350166)) | POINT(-63.623 -58.613498) | false | false | |||||||||
Vertebrate Paleontology of Livingston Island, South Shetlands, Antarctica
|
0636639 |
2010-05-04 | MacPhee, Ross; DeMaster, David |
|
This exploratory project searches for fossils on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands off of the Antarctic peninsula. Strata there date from 125 to 99 million years in age, a critical time in the development of various flora and fauna. With so many unknowns in the biotic history of the Antarctic, any finds of vertebrate fossils on this little explored island will be of great significance. One key question is marsupial evolution. It is assumed that marsupials of South America and Australia transited through Antarctica, but a supporting fossil record has yet to be discovered. Related investigations on Mesozoic climate will be performed through stable isotope analysis of clay and rock samples. The broader impacts of the project include graduate student education and public outreach through a museum exhibit. | None | None | false | false | |||||||||
Global Climate Change and the Evolutionary Ecology of Antarctic Mollusks in the Late Eocene.
|
9908856 |
2010-05-04 | Blake, Daniel |
|
This award, provided by the Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program of the Office of Polar Programs, supports a paleoecological and paleoenvironmental study of Seymour Island. Global climate change late in the Eocene epoch had an important influence in Antarctica. This was the beginning of the transition from a cool-temperate climate in Antarctica to the polar climate that exists there today. The cooling trend strongly influenced the structure of shallow-water, Antarctic marine communities, and these effects are still evident in the peculiar ecological relationships among species living in modern Antarctic communities. Cooling late in the Eocene reduced the abundance of fish and crabs, which in turn reduced skeleton-crushing predation on invertebrates. Reduced predation allowed dense populations of ophiuroids (brittlestars) and crinoids (sea lilies) to appear in shallow-water settings at the end of the Eocene. These low-predation communities appear as dense fossil echinoderm assemblages in the upper portion of the late Eocene La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island, off the Antarctic Peninsula. Today, dense ophiuroid and crinoid populations are common in shallow-water habitats in Antarctica but generally have been eliminated by predators from similar habitats at temperate and tropical latitudes; their persistence in Antarctica to this day is an important ecological legacy of climatic cooling in the Eocene. Although the influence of declining predation on Antarctic ophiuroids and crinoids is now well documented, the effects of cooling on the more abundant mollusks have not been investigated. This study will examine the evolutionary ecology of gastropods (snails) and bivalves (clams) in the late Eocene.<br/><br/>A series of hypotheses will be tested in the La Meseta Formation, based on the predicted responses of mollusks to declining temperature and changing levels of predation. The shapes of gastropod shells, the activities of gastropods that prey on other mollusks by drilling holes in their shells, and the effects of predation on the thickness of mollusk shells should have changed significantly through late Eocene time. First, defensive features of gastropod shells, such as spines and ribbing, should decline as temperature and, therefore, the activity of skeleton-crushing predators declined. Second, drilling of bivalve prey by predatory gastropods should increase with time since the drillers should themselves have been subject to lower predation pressure as temperature declined. Drilled shells, therefore, should become more common through time. Third, patterns in the thickness of shells through time will make it possible to separate the direct, physiological effects of declining temperature (shells are more difficult to produce at cooler temperatures, and so should be thinner) from the indirect effects of temperature on evolving biological interactions (increased drilling predation should result in thicker shells). <br/><br/>Seymour Island contains the only fossil outcrops readily accessible in Antarctica from this crucial period in Earth history. The La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island thus provides a unique opportunity to learn how climate change affected Antarctic marine communities. In practical terms, global climate change will probably increase upwelling over the next few decades to centuries in some temperate coastal regions. Recent ecological evidence suggests that the resultant lowering of sea temperatures could lower predation in those areas. Understanding the response of the La Meseta faunas to global cooling in the late Eocene will provide direct insight into the rapidly changing structure of modern benthic communities. | None | None | false | false | |||||||||
Collaborative Research: IPY: Testing the Polar Gateway Hypothesis: An Integrated Record of Drake Passage Opening & Antarctic Glaciation
|
0732995 |
2010-05-04 | MacPhee, Ross |
|
This project studies the relationship between opening of the Drake Passage and formation of the Antarctic ice sheet. Its goal is to answer the question: What drove the transition from a greenhouse to icehouse world thirty-four million years ago? Was it changes in circulation of the Southern Ocean caused by the separation of Antarctica from South America or was it a global effect such as decreasing atmospheric CO2 content? This study constrains the events and timing through fieldwork in South America and Antarctica and new work on marine sediment cores previously collected by the Ocean Drilling Program. It also involves an extensive, multidisciplinary analytical program. Compositional analyses of sediments and their sources will be combined with (U-Th)/He, fission-track, and Ar-Ar thermochronometry to constrain uplift and motion of the continental crust bounding the Drake Passage. Radiogenic isotope studies of fossil fish teeth found in marine sediment cores will be used to trace penetration of Pacific seawater into the Atlantic. Oxygen isotope and trace metal measurements on foraminifera will provide additional information on the timing and magnitude of ice volume changes. <br/><br/><br/><br/>The broader impacts include graduate and undergraduate education; outreach to the general public through museum exhibits and presentations, and international collaboration with scientists from Argentina, Ukraine, UK and Germany.<br/><br/><br/><br/>The project is supported under NSF's International Polar Year (IPY) research emphasis area on "Understanding Environmental Change in Polar Regions". This project is also a key component of the IPY Plates & Gates initiative (IPY Project #77), focused on determining the role of tectonic gateways in instigating polar environmental change. | POLYGON((-67.9988 -52.7596,-66.83756 -52.7596,-65.67632 -52.7596,-64.51508 -52.7596,-63.35384 -52.7596,-62.1926 -52.7596,-61.03136 -52.7596,-59.87012 -52.7596,-58.70888 -52.7596,-57.54764 -52.7596,-56.3864 -52.7596,-56.3864 -54.15258,-56.3864 -55.54556,-56.3864 -56.93854,-56.3864 -58.33152,-56.3864 -59.7245,-56.3864 -61.11748,-56.3864 -62.51046,-56.3864 -63.90344,-56.3864 -65.29642,-56.3864 -66.6894,-57.54764 -66.6894,-58.70888 -66.6894,-59.87012 -66.6894,-61.03136 -66.6894,-62.1926 -66.6894,-63.35384 -66.6894,-64.51508 -66.6894,-65.67632 -66.6894,-66.83756 -66.6894,-67.9988 -66.6894,-67.9988 -65.29642,-67.9988 -63.90344,-67.9988 -62.51046,-67.9988 -61.11748,-67.9988 -59.7245,-67.9988 -58.33152,-67.9988 -56.93854,-67.9988 -55.54556,-67.9988 -54.15258,-67.9988 -52.7596)) | POINT(-62.1926 -59.7245) | false | false | |||||||||
Collaborative Research: Reconstructing the High Latitude Permian-Triassic: Life, Landscapes, and Climate Recorded in the Allan Hills, South Victoria Land, Antarctica
|
0440919 0440954 0551163 |
2009-10-12 | Miller, Molly; Sidor, Christian; Isbell, John | This project studies fossils from two to three hundred million year old rocks in the Allan Hills area of Antarctica. Similar deposits from lower latitudes have been used to develop a model of Permo-Triassic climate, wherein melting of continental glaciers in the early Permian leads to the establishment of forests in a cold, wet climate. Conditions became warmer and dryer by the early Triassic, inhibiting plant growth until a moistening climate in the late Triassic allowed plant to flourish once again. This project will test and refine this model and investigate the general effects of climate change on landscapes and ecosystems using the unique exposures and well-preserved fossil and sediment records in the Allan Hills area. The area will be searched for fossil forests, vertebrate tracks and burrows, arthropod trackways, and subaqueously produced biogenic structures, which have been found in other areas of Antarctica. Finds will be integrated with previous paleobiologic studies to reconstruct and interpret ecosystems and their changes. Structures and rock types documenting the end phases of continental glaciation and other major episodic sedimentations will also be described and interpreted. This project contributes to understanding the: (1) evolution of terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems and how they were affected by the end-Permian extinction, (2) abundance and diversity of terrestrial and aquatic arthropods at high latitudes, (3) paleogeographic distribution and evolution of vertebrates and invertebrates as recorded by trace and body fossils; and (3) response of landscapes to changes in climate.<br/><br/>In terms of broader impacts, this project will provide an outstanding introduction to field research for graduate and undergraduate students, and generate related opportunities for several undergraduates. It will also stimulate exchange of ideas among research and primarily undergraduate institutions. Novel outreach activities are also planned to convey Earth history to the general public, including a short film on the research process and products, and paintings by a professional scientific illustrator of Permo-Traissic landscapes and ecosystems. | POLYGON((159.3 -76.59,159.542 -76.59,159.784 -76.59,160.026 -76.59,160.268 -76.59,160.51 -76.59,160.752 -76.59,160.994 -76.59,161.236 -76.59,161.478 -76.59,161.72 -76.59,161.72 -76.811,161.72 -77.032,161.72 -77.253,161.72 -77.474,161.72 -77.695,161.72 -77.916,161.72 -78.137,161.72 -78.358,161.72 -78.579,161.72 -78.8,161.478 -78.8,161.236 -78.8,160.994 -78.8,160.752 -78.8,160.51 -78.8,160.268 -78.8,160.026 -78.8,159.784 -78.8,159.542 -78.8,159.3 -78.8,159.3 -78.579,159.3 -78.358,159.3 -78.137,159.3 -77.916,159.3 -77.695,159.3 -77.474,159.3 -77.253,159.3 -77.032,159.3 -76.811,159.3 -76.59)) | POINT(160.51 -77.695) | false | false | ||||||||||
Past Environmental Conditions on the Antarctic Peninsula: a Palynological Characterization of In-situ Sediments recovered during the 2006 SHALDRIL campaign
|
0636747 |
2009-08-26 | Warny, Sophie | No dataset link provided | Abstract<br/>This project studies microfossils of plants and algae to understand climate during the earliest glaciations of Antarctica. The microfossils are from marine sediment cores collected by the 2006 SHALDRIL campaign to the Antarctic Peninsula. The work will offer constraints on sea surface temperature, ocean salinity, and terrestrial vegetation to help answer questions such as: What were conditions like on the Antarctic Peninsula during the initial formation of Antarctica's ice sheets? How rapidly did the ice sheets grow? Was their growth driven by global factors such as low atmospheric CO2 or local events like opening of the Drake Passage? <br/><br/>The broader impacts include postdoctoral fellow research and outreach via a museum exhibit and a web-based activity book for children. | POINT(-54.44917 -63.86) | POINT(-54.44917 -63.86) | false | false | |||||||||
Collaborative Research: Linking Modern Benthic Communities and Taphonomic Processes to the Stratigraphic Record of Antarctic Cores
|
0739583 0739512 0739496 |
2009-07-15 | Walker, Sally; Bowser, Samuel; Miller, Molly; Furbish, David | This project answers a simple question: why are there so few fossils in sediment cores from Antarctica?s continental shelf? Antarctica?s benthos are as biologically rich as those of the tropics. Shell-secreting organisms should have left a trail throughout geologic time, but have not. This trail is particularly important because these organisms record regional climate in ways that are critical to interpreting the global climate record. This study uses field experiments and targeted observations of modern benthic systems to examine the biases inflicted by fossil preservation. By examining a spectrum of ice-affected habitats, this project provides paleoenvironmental insights into carbonate preservation, sedimentation rates, and burial processes; and will provide new approaches to reconstructing the Cenozoic history of Antarctica. Broader impacts include graduate and undergraduate research and education, development of undergraduate curricula to link art and science, K12 outreach, public outreach via the web, and societal relevance through improved understanding of records of global climate change. | POLYGON((163.41667 -77.33333,163.46667 -77.33333,163.51667 -77.33333,163.56667 -77.33333,163.61667 -77.33333,163.66667 -77.33333,163.71667 -77.33333,163.76667 -77.33333,163.81667 -77.33333,163.86667 -77.33333,163.91667 -77.33333,163.91667 -77.369997,163.91667 -77.406664,163.91667 -77.443331,163.91667 -77.479998,163.91667 -77.516665,163.91667 -77.553332,163.91667 -77.589999,163.91667 -77.626666,163.91667 -77.663333,163.91667 -77.7,163.86667 -77.7,163.81667 -77.7,163.76667 -77.7,163.71667 -77.7,163.66667 -77.7,163.61667 -77.7,163.56667 -77.7,163.51667 -77.7,163.46667 -77.7,163.41667 -77.7,163.41667 -77.663333,163.41667 -77.626666,163.41667 -77.589999,163.41667 -77.553332,163.41667 -77.516665,163.41667 -77.479998,163.41667 -77.443331,163.41667 -77.406664,163.41667 -77.369997,163.41667 -77.33333)) | POINT(163.66667 -77.516665) | false | false | ||||||||||
Collaborative Research: Deducing Late Neogene Antarctic Climate from Fossil-Rich Lacustrine Sediments in the Dry Valleys
|
0440711 |
2009-07-01 | Marchant, David | No dataset link provided | This project studies ancient lake deposits from the western Dry Valleys of Antarctica. These deposits are particularly exciting because they preserve flora and fauna over seven million years in age that represent the last vestiges of ecosystems that dominated this area before formation of the modern East Antarctic ice sheet. Their unique nature offers a chance to bridge modern and ancient ecology. Formed along the margin of ancient alpine glaciers, these deposits contain layers of silt, clay, and volcanic ash; as well as freeze-dried remnants of mosses, insects, and diatoms. Geological and biological analyses provide a view of the ecological and environmental conditions during mid-to-late Miocene--seven to seventeen million years ago--which spans the critical period when the East Antarctic ice sheet transitioned to its present stable form. The results place the modern lakes of the Dry Valleys into a long-term evolutionary framework, and allow for correlation and dating comparisons with other fossil-rich deposits from the Transantarctic Mountains. Chemical fingerprinting and dating of volcanic glass shards will also help date fossil- and ash-bearing horizons in nearby marine cores, such as those to be collected under the ANDRILL program. <br/><br/>The broader impacts are education at the postdoctoral, graduate, and undergraduate levels; and collaboration between a research institution and primarily undergraduate institution. The work also improves our understanding of global climate change during a critical period in the Earth's history. | POLYGON((160 -76.5,160.45 -76.5,160.9 -76.5,161.35 -76.5,161.8 -76.5,162.25 -76.5,162.7 -76.5,163.15 -76.5,163.6 -76.5,164.05 -76.5,164.5 -76.5,164.5 -76.7,164.5 -76.9,164.5 -77.1,164.5 -77.3,164.5 -77.5,164.5 -77.7,164.5 -77.9,164.5 -78.1,164.5 -78.3,164.5 -78.5,164.05 -78.5,163.6 -78.5,163.15 -78.5,162.7 -78.5,162.25 -78.5,161.8 -78.5,161.35 -78.5,160.9 -78.5,160.45 -78.5,160 -78.5,160 -78.3,160 -78.1,160 -77.9,160 -77.7,160 -77.5,160 -77.3,160 -77.1,160 -76.9,160 -76.7,160 -76.5)) | POINT(162.25 -77.5) | false | false | |||||||||
Collaborative Research: Integrating Geomorphological and Paleoecological Studies to Reconstruct Neogene Environments of the Transantarctic Mountains
|
0739693 0739700 |
2009-06-22 | Ashworth, Allan; Lewis, Adam |
|
This project studies the last vestiges of life in Antarctica from exceptionally well-preserved fossils of tundra life--mosses, diatoms, ostracods, Nothofagus leaves, wood, and insect remains recently discovered in ancient lake sediments from the McMurdo Dry Valleys. The area will be studied by an interdisciplinary team to elucidate information about climate and biogeography. These deposits offer unique and direct information about the characteristics of Antarctica during a key period in its history, the time when it was freezing. This information is critical for correlation with indirect proxies, such as though obtained from drill cores, for climate and state of the ice sheet. The results will also help understand the origin and migration of similar organisms found in South America, India and Australia.<br/><br/>In terms of broader impacts, this project supports an early career researcher, undergraduate and graduate student research, various forms of outreach to K12 students, and extensive international collaboration. The work also has societal relevance in that the outcomes will offer direct constraints on Antarctica's ice sheet during a time with atmospheric CO2 contents similar to those of the earth in the coming centuries, and thus may help predictive models of sea level rise. | POLYGON((160 -77,160.2 -77,160.4 -77,160.6 -77,160.8 -77,161 -77,161.2 -77,161.4 -77,161.6 -77,161.8 -77,162 -77,162 -77.1,162 -77.2,162 -77.3,162 -77.4,162 -77.5,162 -77.6,162 -77.7,162 -77.8,162 -77.9,162 -78,161.8 -78,161.6 -78,161.4 -78,161.2 -78,161 -78,160.8 -78,160.6 -78,160.4 -78,160.2 -78,160 -78,160 -77.9,160 -77.8,160 -77.7,160 -77.6,160 -77.5,160 -77.4,160 -77.3,160 -77.2,160 -77.1,160 -77)) | POINT(161 -77.5) | false | false | |||||||||
Application of a New Method for Isotopic Analysis of Diatom Microfossil-bound Nitrogen
|
0453680 |
2009-05-20 | Sigman, Daniel |
|
The Southern Ocean may play a central role in causing ice ages and general global climate change. This work will reveal key characteristics of the glacial ocean, and may explain the cause of glacial/interglacial cycles by measuring the abundances of certain isotopes of nitrogen found in fossil diatoms from Antarctic marine sediments. Diatom-bound N is a potentially important recorder of nutrient utilization. The Southern Ocean's nutrient status, productivity and circulation may be central to setting global atmospheric CO2 contents and other aspects of climate. Previous attempts to make these measurements have yielded ambiguous results. This project includes both technique development and analyses, including measurements on diatoms from both sediment traps and culture experiments. With regard to broader impacts, this grant is focused around the education and academic development of a graduate student, by coupling their research with mentorship of an undergraduate researcher | POLYGON((-180 -60,-144 -60,-108 -60,-72 -60,-36 -60,0 -60,36 -60,72 -60,108 -60,144 -60,180 -60,180 -63,180 -66,180 -69,180 -72,180 -75,180 -78,180 -81,180 -84,180 -87,180 -90,144 -90,108 -90,72 -90,36 -90,0 -90,-36 -90,-72 -90,-108 -90,-144 -90,-180 -90,-180 -87,-180 -84,-180 -81,-180 -78,-180 -75,-180 -72,-180 -69,-180 -66,-180 -63,-180 -60)) | POINT(0 -89.999) | false | false | |||||||||
Vertebrate Paleontology of the Triassic to Jurassic Sedimentary Sequence in the Beardmore Glacier Area, Antarctica
|
0229698 |
2007-08-07 | Hammer, William R. | No dataset link provided | This award, provided by the Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program of the Office of Polar Programs, supports a project to investigate Triassic and Jurassic dinosaurs and other vertebrates from the central Transantarctic Mountains of Antarctica. A field program to search for Upper Triassic to Jurassic age fossil vertebrates in the Beardmore Glacier region will be carried out in the 2003-04 austral summer. Initially, field efforts will concentrate on the Hanson Formation that has produced the only Jurassic dinosaur fauna from Antarctica. Further excavation of the Hanson dinosaur locality on Mt. Kirkpatrick will occur, followed by an extensive search of other exposures of the Hanson, Falla and Upper Fremouw Formations in the Beardmore area. A field party of six persons will allow two smaller groups to work independently at different sites. This group will operate for 3-4 weeks out of a small helicopter camp located in the Beardmore area. In addition to collecting new specimens an interpretation of the depositional settings for each of the vertebrate sites will be made. The second and third years of this project will be dedicated to preparation and study of the vertebrates. Antarctic vertebrates provide a unique opportunity to study the evolutionary and biogeographic significance of high latitude Mesozoic faunas and this project should result in significant advances in knowledge in this field. | None | None | false | false | |||||||||
SGER: Basement Sill, Antarctica: Constraints from its PGE Abundance Patterns and Isotopic Compositions on Magma Source Characteristics and Crystallization Processes
|
0603729 |
2007-08-02 | Mukasa, Samuel | No dataset link provided | This Small Grant for Exploratory Research supports measurement of PGE abundances and Hf, Nd, Sr and Pb isotopic ratios of the Basement Sill and Dais Intrusion lobe of the Ferrar Magmatic Province, Antarctica. This province played a key role in the breakup of Gondwanaland. Models to be tested are magma production by plume activity versus decompression melting in a fossil subduction zone. The PGE data will also be used to evaluate the behavior of volatiles during magma crystallization, which other evidence indicates may have reached saturation. The samples to be studied were collected during the NSF-sponsored, Magmatic Field Laboratory Workshop held in Antarctica in 2005. This study's results will be compliled with complementary data from other attendees to develop a new multidisciplinary model of Ferrar magmatism.<br/><br/>The broader impacts fo this work include international collaboration and informal science education through public outreach to K12 students. | POLYGON((161.2 -77.5029,161.26 -77.5029,161.32 -77.5029,161.38 -77.5029,161.44 -77.5029,161.5 -77.5029,161.56 -77.5029,161.62 -77.5029,161.68 -77.5029,161.74 -77.5029,161.8 -77.5029,161.8 -77.52511,161.8 -77.54732,161.8 -77.56953,161.8 -77.59174,161.8 -77.61395,161.8 -77.63616,161.8 -77.65837,161.8 -77.68058,161.8 -77.70279,161.8 -77.725,161.74 -77.725,161.68 -77.725,161.62 -77.725,161.56 -77.725,161.5 -77.725,161.44 -77.725,161.38 -77.725,161.32 -77.725,161.26 -77.725,161.2 -77.725,161.2 -77.70279,161.2 -77.68058,161.2 -77.65837,161.2 -77.63616,161.2 -77.61395,161.2 -77.59174,161.2 -77.56953,161.2 -77.54732,161.2 -77.52511,161.2 -77.5029)) | POINT(161.5 -77.61395) | false | false | |||||||||
DiatomWare: An Interactive Digital Image Catalog for Antarctic Cenozoic Diatoms
|
0230469 |
2007-07-31 | Wise, Sherwood | No dataset link provided | This award, provided by the Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program of the Office of Polar Programs, supports the development of a standardized diatom image catalog or database. Diatoms are considered by many to be the most important microfossil group used today in the study of Antarctic Cenozoic marine deposits south of the Polar Front, from the near shore to deep sea. These microfossils, with walls of silica called frustules, are produced by single-celled plants (algae of the Class Bacillariophyceae) in a great variety of forms. Consequently, they have great biostratigraphic importance in the Southern Ocean and elsewhere for determining the age of marine sediments. Also, paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic studies increasingly rely on fossil diatom data. Changing biogeographic distributions of given taxa indicate shifting paleoecological conditions and provide evidence of the surface productivity and temperatures of ancient oceans. The generality of conclusions, though, is limited by variation in species concepts among workers. The broad research community relies, directly or indirectly, on the accurate identification of diatom species. Current technology can be used to greatly improve upon the standard references that have been used in making these identifications.<br/><br/>This project will develop an interactive digital-image catalog of modern and Cenozoic fossil diatoms of the Southern Ocean called "DiatomWare" for use by specialists and educators as an aid in rapid, accurate, and consistent species identification. As such, this will be a researcher's resource. It will be especially useful where it is not possible to maintain standard library resources such as onboard research vessels or at remote stations such as McMurdo Station. Major Antarctic geological drilling initiatives such as the new SHALDRIL project and the pending ANDRILL project will benefit from this product because they will rely heavily on diatom biostratigraphy to achieve their research objectives. The DiatomWare image database will be modeled on NannoWare, which was released in October 2002 on CD-ROM as a publication of the International Nannoplankton Association. BugCam will be adapted and modified as necessary to run the DiatomWare database, which can then be run from desktop or laptop computers. Images and text for the database will be scanned from the literature or captured in digital form from light or scanning electron microscopes.<br/><br/>The software interface will include a number of data fields that can be accessed by the click of a mouse button. Primary information will be the images and descriptions of the holotypes. In addition, representative images of paratypes or hypotypes will be included whenever possible in plain transmitted, differential interference contrast light and, when available, as drawings and SEM images. Also included will be a 35-word or less English diagnosis ("mini-description"), the biostratigraphic range in terms of zones and linear time, bibliographic references, lists of species considered junior synonyms, and similar species. The list of similar species will be cross-referenced with their respective image files to enable quick access for direct visual comparison on the viewing screen. Multiple images can be brought to the viewing screen simultaneously, and a zoom feature will permit image examination at a wide range of magnifications. Buttons will allow range charts, a bibliography, and key public-domain publications from the literature to be called up from within the program. The DiatomWare/BugCam package will be distributed at a nominal cost through a major nonprofit society via CD-ROM and free to Internet users on the Worldwide Web. Quality control measures will include critical review of the finalized database by a network of qualified specialists. The completed database will include descriptions and images of between 350 and 400 species, including fossil as well as modern forms that have no fossil record.<br/><br/>The development of the proposed diatom image database will be important to all research fields that depend on accurate biostratigraphic dating and paleoenvironmental interpretation of Antarctic marine sediments and plankton. The database will also serve as a valuable teaching tool for micropaleontology students and their professors, will provide a rapid means of keying down species for micropaleontologists of varying experience and background, and will promote a uniformity of taxonomic concepts since it will be developed and continuously updated with the advice of a community of nannofossil fossil experts. Broad use of the database is anticipated since it will be widely available through the Internet and on CD-ROM for use on personal computers that do not require large amounts of memory, costly specialized programs, or additional hardware. | None | None | false | false | |||||||||
Collaborative Research: Late Paleozoic-Mesozoic Fauna, Environment, Climate and Basinal History: Beardmore Glacier Area, Transantarctic Mountains
|
0126146 |
2007-06-20 | Miller, Molly | No dataset link provided | This award, provided by the Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program of the Office of Polar Programs, provides funds for a study to investigate paleoenvironmental conditions during the late Paleozoic and Mesozoic in central interior Antarctica. The 4 km thick sequence of sedimentary rocks, known as the Beacon Supergroup, in the Beardmore Glacier area records 90 million years of Permian through Jurassic history of this high-paleolatitude sector of Gondwana. It accumulated in a foreland basin with a rate of subsidence approximately equal to the rate of deposition. The deposits have yielded diverse vertebrate fossils, in situ fossil forests, and exceptionally well preserved plant fossils. They give a unique glimpse of glacial, lake, and stream/river environments and ecosystems and preserve an unparalleled record of the depositional, paleoclimatic, and tectonic history of the area. The excellent work done to date provides a solid base of information on which to build understanding of conditions and processes.<br/><br/>This project is a collaborative study of this stratigraphic section that will integrate sedimentologic, paleontologic, and ichnologic observations to answer focused questions, including: (1) What are the stratigraphic architecture and alluvial facies of Upper Permian to Jurassic rocks in the Beardmore area?; (2) In what tectonostratigraphic setting were these rocks deposited?; (3) Did vertebrates inhabit the cold, near-polar, Permian floodplains, as indicated by vertebrate burrows, and can these burrows be used to identify, for the first time, the presence of small early mammals in Mesozoic deposits?; and (4) How did bottom-dwelling animals in lakes and streams use substrate ecospace, how did ecospace use at these high paleolatitudes differ from ecospace use in equivalent environments at low paleolatitudes, and what does burrow distribution reveal about seasonality of river flow and thus about paleoclimate? Answers to these questions will (1) clarify the paleoclimatic, basinal, and tectonic history of this part of Gondwana, (2) elucidate the colonization of near-polar ecosystems by vertebrates, (3) provide new information on the environmental and paleolatitudinal distributions of early mammals, and (4) allow semi-quantitative assessment of the activity and abundance of bottom-dwelling animals in different freshwater environments at high and low latitudes. In summary, this project will contribute significantly to an understanding of paleobiology and paleoecology at a high latitude floodplain setting during a time in Earth history when the climate was much different than today. | POINT(171 -83.75) | POINT(171 -83.75) | false | false | |||||||||
Collaborative Research: Permian-Triassic Mass Extinction in Antarctica
|
0229917 |
2007-01-24 | Becker, Luann | No dataset link provided | This award, provided by the Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program of the Office of Polar Programs, supports an interdisciplinary study of fluvial sediments in Antarctica for evidence of what caused the greatest of all mass extinctions in the history of life at the Permian-Triassic boundary. This boundary was, until recently, difficult to locate and thought to be unequivocally disconformable in Antarctica. New studies, particularly of carbon isotopic chemostratigraphy and of paleosols and root traces as paleoecosystem indicators, together with improved fossil plant, reptile and pollen biostratigraphy, now suggest that the precise location of the boundary might be identified and have led to local discovery of iridium anomalies, shocked quartz, and fullerenes with extraterrestrial noble gases. These anomalies are associated with a distinctive claystone breccia bed, similar to strata known in South Africa and Australia, and taken as evidence of deforestation. There is already much evidence from Antarctica and elsewhere that the mass extinction on land was abrupt and synchronous with extinction in the ocean. The problem now is what led to such death and destruction. Carbon isotopic values are so low in these and other Permian-Triassic boundary sections that there was likely to have been some role for catastrophic destabilization of methane clathrates. Getting the modeled amount of methane out of likely reservoirs would require such catastrophic events as bolide impact, flood-basalt eruption or continental-shelf collapse, which have all independently been implicated in the mass extinction and for which there is independent evidence. Teasing apart these various hypotheses requires careful re-examination of beds that appear to represent the Permian-Triassic boundary, and search for more informative sequences, as was the case for the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. This collaborative research on geochemistry and petrography of boundary beds and paleosols (by Retallack), on carbon isotopic variation through the boundary interval (by Jahren), and on fullerenes, iridium and helium (by Becker) is designed to test these ideas about the Permian-Triassic boundary in Antarctica and to shed light on processes which contributed to this largest of mass extinctions on Earth. Fieldwork for this research will be conducted in the central Transantarctic Mountains and in Southern Victoria Land with an initial objective of examining the stratigraphic sequences for continuity across the boundary. Stratigraphic continuity is a critical element that must exist for the work to be successful. If fieldwork indicates sufficiently continuous sections, the full analytical program will follow fieldwork. | None | None | false | false | |||||||||
SGER: Morphological Study of a Key Avian Fossil from Antarctica: New Data from X-Ray Computed Tomography and Histology
|
0408308 |
2006-03-14 | Clarke, Julia | No dataset link provided | Clarke has submitted an SGER proposal to support time critical work on bird fossil that must be returned to Argentina by the end of March 2004. The specialized work is x-ray computed tomography imaging to gather detailed anatomical data in a non-destructive fashion. This fossil is a late Cretaceous bird fossil and is important because of its relative completeness and because existing information suggests that it may be a key link in evolution of birds that demonstrates the importance of the Antarctic Peninsula region for bird evolution.<br/><br/>The rational for consideration of this as an SGER award is that the work must be completed very soon, before the fossil is returned to Argentina. It would be detrimental to the fossil material to require that the PI's seek to return it to the US at some later time. Also, the work involves two novel approaches to study of fossil material and this work would inform scientific discussions and debates about avian evolution that is occurring now. Delay of acquisition of these data would mean that this debate would not benefit from the new data and this would at least leave open questions in the discussions about bird evolution. Hence, it is very reasonable to use this mechanism to get this work done now, while the material is undergoing other non-destructive work and while the data would be particularly timely to scientific debates.<br/><br/>The SGER program does not allow external merit review (see Grant Proposal Guide: NSF 03-041, part II.D.1). | None | None | false | false | |||||||||
Evolution of Sea Surface Temperatures in the Coastal Antarctic Paleoenvironment During the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene
|
9980538 |
2001-06-11 | Lohmann, Kyger; Barrera, Enriqueta |
|
This award, provided by the Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program of the Office of Polar Programs, supports research for construction of a long-term record of climate during the late Cretaceous and early Paleogene to assess the annual seasonality in temperature on the coastal margin of Antarctica. Stable isotope and element compositions of well-preserved bivalve shells collected on Seymour Island will be the primary source of data used to reconstruct paleoenvironmental conditions. Seasonal temperature records collected through high-resolution sampling along growth structures in bivalve shells will allow seasonality to be assessed during different climate states and during periods of rapid climate change. In addition, high stratigraphic resolution will enable this project to detect the presence and frequency of short-lived thermal excursions that may have extended to such high latitudes.<br/><br/>To compile a reliable temporal record of paleoclimate, two major avenues of investigation will be undertaken: 1) precise stratigraphic (and therefore, temporal) placement of fossils over a large geographic area will be employed through the use of a graphical technique employing geometric projections; 2) stable isotope and elemental analyses will be performed to derive paleotemperatures and to evaluate diagenetic alteration of shell materials. To provide realistic comparisons of paleotemperatures across stratigraphic horizons, this study will focus on a single taxon, thus avoiding complications due to the mixing of faunal assemblages that have been encountered in previous studies of this region.<br/><br/>The near-shore marine fossil record on Seymour Island provides a unique opportunity to address many questions about the Antarctic paleoenvironment, including the relation between seasonality and different climate states, the influence of climate on biogeographic distribution of specific taxa, the effect of ice-volume changes on the stable isotope record from the late Cretaceous through the Eocene, and the plausibility of high-latitude bottom water formation during this time interval. In particular, information that will be collected concerning patterns of seasonality and the presence (or absence) of short-lived thermal excursions will be extremely valuable to an understanding of the response of high latitude sites during climate transitions from globally cool to globally warm conditions. | POINT(-56 -64) | POINT(-56 -64) | false | false |