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Award Abstract #0739713
Collaborative Research: Thermochronologic and modelling test for a Mesozoic West Antarctic Plateau
| NSF Org: |
ANT
Antarctic Sciences Division
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| Initial Amendment Date: |
August 25, 2008 |
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| Latest Amendment Date: |
August 25, 2008 |
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| Award Number: |
0739713 |
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| Award Instrument: |
Continuing grant |
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| Program Manager: |
Thomas P. Wagner
ANT Antarctic Sciences Division
OPP Office of Polar Programs
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| Start Date: |
September 1, 2008 |
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| Expires: |
August 31, 2009 (Estimated) |
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| Awarded Amount to Date: |
$77314 |
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| Investigator(s): |
Audrey Huerta ahuerta@geosc.psu.edu(Principal Investigator)
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| Sponsor: |
Central Washington University
400 E. University Way
Ellensburg, WA 98926 509/963-2111
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| NSF Program(s): |
ANTARCTIC EARTH SCIENCES
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| Field Application(s): |
0311000 Polar Programs-Related
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
OTHR,0000
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| Program Element Code(s): |
5112
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ABSTRACT
This project studies formation of the TransAntarctic Mountains (TAM) through numerical modeling based on cooling histories of apatite mineral grains. The TAM are the highest and longest rift-related mountain range in the world. Various models for their uplift have been proposed, the most provocative of which is that they are not uplifted, but instead are the eroded remnant of a plateau. This project evaluates that hypothesis by collecting apatites from around Byrd Glacier for fission track thermochronology. Results will be combined with a kinematic and thermal model to determine the TAM?s structural evolution. The plateau model, if correct, implies that the Byrd Glacier originated not as a glacier-carved valley through the TAM, but as a river system flowing in the opposite direction. Given that the Byrd Glacier is a key drainage for the East Antarctic ice sheet, this result has important implications for ice sheet models and interpretation of both regional geology and sediment records. The main broader impacts are undergraduate research and a new collaboration between a primarily undergraduate and a research institution. Students will be involved in the field program, sample analyses, and numerical modeling.
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