Comparative Analysis of Glacial Sediments, Minnesota and Brazil

University Of Minnesota Morris, Morris MN

Investigators

Abstract

-- In this project, eight women will be involved in field and laboratory research to determine the origin of glacial deposits of Quaternary age in west-central Minnesota and late Paleozoic age in western Sao Paulo state, Brazil. This research program will be founded upon a long-running REU program based at UMM and a long-established collaborative research effort between the University of Minnesota, Morris (UMM) and Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP) faculty and students. In Minnesota, this includes the continuation of closely related projects that have in common the utilization of till analysis to determine the origin and glacial history of problematic deposits including Tunnel Valley Eskers, a striated and faceted Boulder Pavement and varied sediments of Glacial Lake Benson. In Brazil, comparative analysis of Quaternary and Paleozoic sediments (diamictites and varvites) and features (eskers, boulder pavements and wedge casts) allows insight into the glacial history of paleoenvironments.