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

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

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.