EAGER: Characterization of Potentially Jurassic-Age Mummified Organic Material, Ellesmere Island, Canada.

Ohio State University, The, Columbus OH

Investigators

Abstract

Funds are provided for an EAGER award that will constrain and investigate the age of mummified forest remains that are exposed at a site on Ellesmere Island, Canada. Initial stratigraphic correlation and palynological analyses of a paleosol sample collected during a site visit in 2009, and wood species identification, suggest that this mummified material may be Jurassic in age. Therefore, these remains may be significantly older than the Tertiary dated mummified material described at other sites in the Arctic and would be the only mummified material of this antiquity reported globally. The excellent preservation of mummified material offers investigative opportunities that are not possible with fossilized material. For example individual components, such as á-cellulose may be extracted from mummified tree trunks to determine environmental water and relative humidity characteristics at annual resolution, while comparison of specific plant components, e.g. leaf cuticles, from mummified material and contemporary samples of the same species may be used to elucidate the paleogeography and evolution and of that species. Finally, the characterization of individual organelles in mummified plant material may be used to determine paleoenvironmental conditions such as light intensity. Conditions that lead to the exquisite preservation of mummified macrofossils may also permit the preservation of other macro- and microfossils that would not be preserved in the fossil record, e.g. beetle fauna. The presence of this material also presents the opportunity to elucidate mechanisms for organic matter preservation over geological time scales. Given the hypothesized Jurassic age of the mummified deposits and the exquisite preservation of the forest material, this site presents the unique opportunity to characterize paleo-physical, botanical and environmental conditions during the Jurassic and is an exceedingly valuable field site for scientific investigation.