Award Abstract #0739432
Collaborative Research: Upper Cretaceous-lower Paleocene Strata from the Antarctic Peninsula: Chemo-, Magneto-, and Biomarker Tests of Correlation and Extinction Hypotheses

NSF Org:	ANT Antarctic Sciences Division
Initial Amendment Date:	August 20, 2008
Latest Amendment Date:	August 20, 2008
Award Number:	0739432
Award Instrument:	Continuing grant
Program Manager:	Thomas P. Wagner ANT Antarctic Sciences Division OPP Office of Polar Programs
Start Date:	September 1, 2008
Expires:	August 31, 2009 (Estimated)
Awarded Amount to Date:	$140560
Investigator(s):	Peter Ward argo@u.washington.edu(Principal Investigator) Eric Steig (Co-Principal Investigator)
Sponsor:	University of Washington 4333 Brooklyn Ave NE SEATTLE, WA 98195 206/543-4043
NSF Program(s):	COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH, ANTARCTIC EARTH SCIENCES
Field Application(s):	0311000 Polar Programs-Related
Program Reference Code(s):	OTHR,0000
Program Element Code(s):	7298,5112

ABSTRACT

This project would address the Earth's most recent mass extinction ever, the K/T boundary, from the perspective of upper Cretaceous to lower Paleocene strata on James Ross and Seymour Islands, Antarctica. Its goal is to refine the magneto and chemostratigraphy for global correlations to determine the extinction's cause. While the K/T event is widely associated with a meteorite impact, there is some evidence that it may have been caused by global climate change. This field area may contain evidence that extinction in the high southern latitudes preceded that in more temperate locales, which would support a climactic origin. The broader impacts of this work include graduate education and dissemination of results through a popular science book.

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