Collaborative Research: Paleoenvironment and Paleoecology of a Late Cretaceous, High-Latitude Locality on Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada

合作研究：加拿大努勒维特德文岛晚白垩世高纬度地区的古环境和古生态

• 批准号: 0241000
• 负责人: John Bloch
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of New Mexico
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2003-06-01 至 2007-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0241000&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Paleoenvironment; Paleoecology; Late; Collaborative; Research; Paleoenvironment; Paleoecology; Late

This is a collaborative proposal by Principal Investigators at the Universities of Colorado and New Mexico. They will document the stratigraphy, paleontology, geochemistry and geochronology of Late Cretaceous sediments in the Eidsbotn and Viks Fiord grabens, on Devon Island in the Canadian High Arctic. Devon Island was selected because a preliminary survey of the Eidsbotn graben in 1998 demonstrated that it holds an unusually diverse assemblage of marine organisms and coprolitic trace fossils. This fossil assemblage represents a complex ecosystem that was characterized by an apparently temperate Arctic environment, even though it was subject to extreme photoperiodic seasonality. A study of this unique site will provide the geological framework that will help reconstruct the paleoenvironment of this high-latitude locality and substantially increase our understanding of Late Cretaceous Arctic marine ecosystems. Reconnaissance sampling of the Eidsbotn area revealed a wide variety of fossils, both whole and fragments, and a high concentration of unusual green and cream-colored coprolites. A systematic sampling of the Late Cretaceous paleontological resources will provide stratigraphic and facies context, contribute more material for taxonomic identification, indicate patterns of abundance, and almost certainly reveal new Arctic taxa. The sediments are reported to contain numerous bentonites, glauconitic sands, siltstones, and mudstones that are overlain by a peat of an unknown age. Stratigraphic sections will be measured, described and sampled for biofacies and geochemical analyses. Fossils will be collected and taphonomic conditions described. Bentonite samples will be collected for geochronological analysis of mica, sanidine, and zircon, and palynological samples will refine the lithostratigraphy and elucidate the age of the peat that overlies the Eidsbotn section. Petrographic and geochemical analyses of coprolites will provide evidence of trophic interactions, and faunal lists will indicate the structure and ecological niches in the paleoecosystem. Oxygen isotopic analysis of the phosphate will contribute proxy sea-surface temperature information and may provide evidence for water-column temperature gradients, paleosalinity, and sedimentation rates. The suite of sedimentary and paleontological resources in the Eidsbotn and Viks Fiords will provide a unique opportunity to fully characterize the paleoenvironment and paleoecology of a Late Cretaceous high-latitude marine locality, and to test paleoclimatic models for that period. This project will also engage undergraduates, graduate students, people from the Inuit community, and international and intercultural discourse.

这是科罗拉多大学和新墨西哥州大学的首席研究人员的合作提议。 他们将记录在加拿大北极北极地区德文郡岛的Eidsbotn和Viks Fiord Grabens中晚白垩纪沉积物的地层，古生物学，地球化学和地质学。之所以选择德文郡，是因为对Eidsbotn Graben进行的初步调查表明，它具有异常多样的海洋生物和coprolitic痕量化石的组合。 这种化石组合代表了一个复杂的生态系统，其特征是显然是温带的北极环境，即使它经历了极端的光周期季节性。 对这个独特地点的研究将提供地质框架，该框架将有助于重建这个高纬度地区的古环境，并大大提高我们对晚白垩纪北极海洋生态系统的理解。 Eidsbotn区域的侦察采样显示各种化石，包括整体和碎片，以及高浓度的异常绿色和奶油色的coprolites。 对晚白垩纪古生物学资源的系统采样将提供地层和相环境，为分类学识别提供更多材料，表明丰富的模式，几乎可以肯定揭示了新的北极分类单元。据报道，沉积物中包含许多膨润土，毛糖砂，粉砂和泥岩，它们被未知年龄的泥炭覆盖。 将测量，描述和采样地层切片以进行生物体和地球化学分析。 将收集化石并描述taphonomic条件。 将收集膨润土样品，以进行云母，sanidine和锆石的年代学分析，而寄生虫样品将完善岩性地层学并阐明覆盖Eidsbotn部分的泥炭的年龄。 coprolites的岩石学和地球化学分析将提供营养相互作用的证据，动植物清单将指示古生物系统中的结构和生态位。磷酸盐的氧同位素分析将贡献替代海面温度信息，并可能提供水柱温度梯度，papalesalinient和沉降速率的证据。 Eidsbotn和Viks Fiords中的沉积和古生物学资源套件将提供一个独特的机会，以充分表征晚白垩纪高纬度海洋地区的古环境和古生物学，并在那个时期测试古气候模型。 该项目还将吸引本科生，研究生，因纽特人社区的人们以及国际和跨文化话语。