USAP-DC

The focus of this collaborative project is to collect fossil plants, wood, and sedimentary and chemical information from rocks in the Shackleton Glacier (SHK) area of Antarctica. This information will be used to reconstruct plant life and environments during the Permian and Triassic (~295-205 million years ago) in Antarctica. This time interval is important to study as Antarctica experienced a large glaciation in the Permian followed by deglaciation and recovery of plant and animal life, only to be subjected to the largest extinction in Earth history at the end of the Permian. After the extinction events, the climate in Antarctica continued to warm extensively and there were forests growing close to the paleo-South Pole. These ancient environments provide a natural laboratory in which to study the effects of climate change on plant life. The results of this project will advance the field in the areas of changing sedimentary patterns during global cooling and warming, as well as plant evolution during times following glaciation and during global warmth. This project will study the extent of the Gondwana glaciation in the SHK area, the invasion and subsequent flourishing of life following glacial retreat, and the eventual recovery of plant life after Late Permian extinction events. Only in Antarctica does a complete polar-to-near-polar succession occur across this climatic and biologic transition. The SHK area 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. The field and lab work for this project is organized around three hypotheses that address fundamental issues in Earth history, including changes in the extent and diversity of flora during the Permian build up to the Late Paleozoic Ice Age, the possible diachronous nature of the PTB, and that poor fossil preservation during the Early Triassic has given a false impression that Antarctica was devoid of plants during this time. The hypotheses will be tested by integrating various types of paleobotanical approaches with detailed sedimentology, stratigraphy, and geochemistry. Compression floras and petrified wood will be collected (constrained by stratigraphy) both quantitatively and qualitatively in order to obtain biodiversity and abundance data, and as a data source for paleoecological analysis. Standard sedimentologic and stratigraphic analyses will be 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 through time. Results of the project will be incorporated into educational and outreach activities that are designed to include women and under-represented groups in the excitement of Antarctic earth sciences and paleontology, including workshops in Kansas and Wisconsin, as well as links to science classes during fieldwork.

Person	Role
Isbell, John	Investigator and contact

Antarctic Earth Sciences

Award # 1443557

USAP-1443557_1

None in the Database

Repository	Title (link)	Format(s)	Status
Publication	A LITHOFACIES ANALYSIS OF A SOUTH POLAR GLACIATION IN THE EARLY PERMIAN: PAGODA FORMATION, SHACKLETON GLACIER REGION, ANTARCTICA	None	exists
Publication	Late Permian soil-forming paleoenvironments on Gondwana: A review	None	exists
Publication	A new stratigraphic framework built on U-Pb single-zircon TIMS agesand implications for the timing ofthe penultimate icehouse (Paraná Basin, Brazil)	None	exists
Publication	Coupled stratigraphic and U-Pb zircon age constraints on the late Paleozoic icehouse-to-greenhouse turnover in south-central Gondwana	None	exists
Publication	Provenance of late Paleozoic glacial/post-glacial deposits in the eastern Chaco-Paraná Basin, Uruguay and southernmost Paraná Basin, Brazil	None	exists
Publication	When does large woody debris influence ancient rivers? Dendrochronology applications in the Permian and Triassic, Antarctica	None	exists
Publication	Constraining late Paleozoic ice extent in the Paganzo Basin of western Argentina utilizing U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology for the lower Paganzo Group strata	None	exists
Publication	Isotopes to ice: Constraining provenance of glacial deposits and ice centers in west-central Gondwana	None	exists
Publication	Supplemental material: Nitrogen-fixing symbiosis inferred from stable isotope analysis of fossil tree rings from the Oligocene of Ethiopia	None	exists

1. Malone, J. E., Isbell, J. L., Taboada, A. C., & Pagani, M. A. (2023). Facies sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy of the carboniferous lower section of the Ansilta Formation, Calingasta-Uspallata Basin, NW Argentina. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 104345. (doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2023.104345)
2. Rosa, E. L. M., Vesely, F. F., Isbell, J. L., Kipper, F., Fedorchuk, N. D., & Souza, P. A. (2019). Constraining the timing, kinematics and cyclicity of Mississippian-Early Pennsylvanian glaciations in the Paraná Basin, Brazil. Sedimentary Geology, 384, 29–49. (doi:10.1016/j.sedgeo.2019.03.001)
3. Moxness, L. D., Isbell, J. L., Pauls, K. N., Limarino, C. O., & Schencman, J. (2018). Sedimentology of the mid-Carboniferous fill of the Olta paleovalley, eastern Paganzo Basin, Argentina: Implications for glaciation and controls on diachronous deglaciation in western Gondwana during the late Paleozoic Ice Age. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 84, 127–148. (doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2018.03.015)
4. Isbell JL, Vesely FF, *Rosa ELM, *Pauls KN, *Fedorchuk ND, *Ives LRW, *McNall NB, *Litwin SA, *Borucki MK, *Malone JE and *Kusick, AR, 2021. Evaluation of physical and chemical proxies used to interpret past glaciations with a focus on the late Paleozoic Ice Age. Earth-Science Reviews, 103756 (doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103756)
5. Ives, L.R.W., Isbell, J.L., 2021. A lithofacies analysis of a South Polar glaciation in the Early Permian: Pagoda Formation, Shackleton Glacier region, Antarctica. Journal of Sedimentary Research 91. (doi:10.2110/jsr.2021.004)
6. Gulbranson, E.L., Sheldon, N.D., Montañez, I.P., Tabor, N.J., McIntosh, J.A., 2022. Late Permian soil-forming paleoenvironments on Gondwana: A review. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 586, 110762. (doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110762)
7. Rosa, E.L.M. and Isbell, J.L. (2021). Late Paleozoic Glaciation. Encyclopedia of Geology 2nd. D. Alderton and S.A. Elias. Academic Press, pp. 534-545. (doi:10.1016/B978-0-08-102908-4.00063-1)
8. Ciccioli, P.L., Limarino, C.O., Isbell, J.L., Taboada, A.C., Pagani, M.A., Gulbranson, E.L., 2020. Interpreting detrital modes and geochemistry of sandstones from the late paleozoic Tepuel-Genoa basin: Paleogeographic implications (Patagonia, Argentina). Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 102858. (doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2020.102858)
9. Elliot, D. H., & Isbell, J. L. (2021). A mass transport deposit in the Permian Mackellar Formation, Victoria Group, Antarctica. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 1–21. (doi:10.1080/00288306.2020.1868538)
10. Fedorchuk, N.D., *Griffis, N.P., Isbell, J.L., Goso, C., *Rosa, E.L.M., Montañez, I.P., Yin, Q.Z., *Huyskens, M.H., (2021). Provenance of late Paleozoic glacial/post-glacial deposits in the eastern Norte (Chaco-Paraná) Basin, Uruguay and southernmost Paraná Basin, Brazil. Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 106 102989. (doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2020.102989)
11. Gulbranson, E.L., Cornamusini, G., Ryberg, P.E., Cortib, V. (2020). When does large woody debris influence ancient rivers? Dendrochronology applications in the Permian and Triassic, Antarctica. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 541 109544 (doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109544)
12. López-Gamundí, O., Limarino, C.O., Isbell, J.L., Pauls, K., Césari, S.N. and Alonso-Muruaga, P.J. (2021). The late Paleozoic Ice Age along the southwestern margin of Gondwana: Facies models, age constraints, correlation and sequence stratigraphic framework. Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 107 103056. (doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2020.103056)
13. Pauls, K. N., Isbell, J.L., Limarino, C.O., Alonso-Muruaga, P.L., Schencman, L.J., Columbi, C., Moxness, L.D., Malone, D (2021). Constraining late Paleozoic ice extent in the Paganzo Basin of western Argentina utilizing U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology for the lower Paganzo Group strata. Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 106 102899. (doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2020.102899)
14. Fedorchuk, N. D., Isbell, J. L., Griffis, N. P., VeselyF.F., da Rosa, E. L. M., Montãnez, I. P., Mundil, R., Yin, Q.-Z., Iannuzzi, R., Roesler, G., and Pauls, K. N., (2019). Carboniferous glaciotectonized sediments in the southernmost Paraná Basin, Brazil: Ice marginal dynamics and paleoclimate indicators. Sedimentary Geology. 389 54. (doi:10.1016/j.sedgeo.2019.05.006)
15. Griffis, N.P., Montañez, I.P., Mundil, R., Richey, J., Isbell, J.L., Fedorchuk, N., Linol, B., Iannuzzi, R., Vesely, F., Mottin, T., da Rosa, E., Keller, B., Yin, Q., 2019. Coupled stratigraphic and U-Pb zircon age constraints on the late Paleozoic icehouse-to-greenhouse turnover in south-central Gondwana. Geology 47. (doi:10.1130/G46740.1)
16. Pauls, K. N., Isbell, J. L., McHenry, L. J., Limarino, C. O., Moxness, L. D., and Schencman, L. J. (2019). , A paleoclimatic reconstruction of the Carboniferous-Permian paleovalley fill in the eastern Paganzo Basin: Insights into glacial extent and deglaciation of southwestern Gondwana. Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 95 102236. (doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2019.102236)
17. Collette, J., Isbell, J. L., Miller, M.F. (2017). A unique winged Euthycacinoid from the Permian of Antarctica. Journal of Paleontology. 91 1. (doi:10.1017/jpa.2017.28)
18. Griffis, N.P., Montañez, I.P., Fedorchuk, N., Isbell, J., Mundil, R., Vesely, F., Weinshultz, L., Iannuzzi, R., Gulbranson, E., Taboada, A., Pagani, A., Sanborn, M.E., Huyskens, M., Wimpenny, J., Linol, B., Yin, Q.-Z., 2019. Isotopes to ice: Constraining provenance of glacial deposits and ice centers in west-central Gondwana. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 531, 108745. (doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.04.020)
19. Gulbranson, E.L., Jacobs, B.F., Hockaday, W.C., Wiemann, M.C., Michel, L.A., *Richards, K., Kappelman, J.W. (2017). Nitrogen-fixing symbiosis inferred from stable isotope analysis of fossil tree rings from the Oligocene of Ethiopia. Geology. 45 (8), 687. (doi:10.1130/G39213.1)
20. sbell, J.L.; Fedorchuk, N.D.; Pauls, K.N.; Griffis, N.P.; Ives, L.R.W.; Moxness, L.D.; Survis, S.R.; Vesely, F.F.; Montañez, I.P.; Limarino, C.O.; Iannuzzi, R.; Biakov, A.S.; da Rosa, E.L.M.; Mundil, R.; Taboada, A.C.; Pagani, M.A.; Ciccioli, P.L.; Schencman, L.J.; Alonso-Muruaga, P.J. Davydov, V.I.; Vedernikov, I.L.; McNall, N.B. (PDF) Glaciation During the Late Paleozoic Ice Age.Revista del Museo de la Plata. 3 (1), 5R
21. Vesely, F.F., Rodrigues, M. N.C.L., da Rosa E.M., Amato, J. A., Trzaskos, B., Isbell, J. L., Fedorchuk, N.D. (2018). Emplacement of nonglacial mass-transport diamictite within higher frequency glacial cycles during the late Paleozoic icehouse. Geology. 46 (7), 615 (doi:10.1130/G45011.1)