US-Tanzania Planning Visit: Investigating high-latitude climate change recorded in upper Paleozoic non-marine strata of East Africa

University Of Oklahoma Norman Campus, Norman OK

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports a planning visit for Dr. Michael Soreghan at the University of Oklahoma and two US graduate students to develop new collaborative research projects in the geosciences with Tanzanian colleagues. The US team will meet with Dr. Hudson Nkotagu at the University of Dar es Salaam and the Tanzanian Geological Survey to develop plans for future international collaborative research proposals to NSF. The probable outcomes of the proposed research will be 1) a detailed record of regional climate change for the late Paleozoic; and 2) a sequence stratigraphic model for certain lacustrine rocks in order to predict the distribution of economically viable deposits of coal and uranium within these strata. Intellectual Merit. Ultimate results of this research will provide a high-resolution terrestrial record of past climate change for high-latitude Pangaea that can be compared to better studied records from the high-latitude marine realm and the (paleo)tropics across Pangaea. One of the main keys to advancing our understanding of "deep time" (pre-Quaternary) climate is the need for better age constraints, since lack of correlation of key climate records has precluded high-resolution, spatially extensive studies of deep-time climate. Thus an immediate outcome of the proposed planning fieldwork will be improved age constraints for these poorly dated lacustrine strata in collaboration with Dr. M. Schmitz (Boise State University). In addition, a detailed analysis of facies changes and the climatic control on these facies transitions will provide a predictive model for evaluating the distribution of the coal and uranium bearing strata in these basins. Broader Impacts. Results of the proposed research ultimately bears on the question of whether low- and high-latitude climate change is synchronous and/or which responds more sensitively to change, and thus is relevant to both recent and future climate change. Results will also have potential economic value to Tanzania through enhanced depositional models of coal and uranium-bearing strata. In addition to scientific impacts, the proposed field trip will provide a mechanism to enhance geological field skills for African scientists and African and U.S. students. Field experiences and research projects are a critical component of any geologic training, but are very limited in the geological curricula of many African universities. The PI has a long-standing interest in science education and in incorporating active science in the classroom, and the results and experiences from this project will be incorporated in general education, major, and graduate-level courses. This award is being funded by the Office of International Science and Engineering's, Africa, Near East, and South Asia program.