Evolutionary and Paleoecological Change Across the Cretaceous Paleogene Boundary, Antarctica: Morphometric and Geochemical Evidence from Mollusk Faunas

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

Intellectual Merit: The main goal of the project is to study morphology, taxonomy, ecological structure, and geochemical variations in fossils across the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction (~ 65 million years ago). Previously visited outcrops in the James Ross Island Basin in Antarctica contain numerous well-preserved animal and plant fossils which are ideal for testing evolutionary hypotheses and possible environmental links to extinctions. The project will focus on an extinct fossil group (ammonite cephalopods) that characteristically showed rapid evolutionary change, and two groups which are thought to evolve at much slower rates (bivalve and nautilid mollusks). The research will include a new geochemical proxy for temperature: clumped oxygen isotope measurements. The study will yield new insights into the marine environments at high southern latitudes both before and after one of the most devastating mass extinctions. Broader impacts: Broader impacts will include the direct engagement of one undergraduate and one graduate student at the University of Washington (UW) into the research, a unique opportunity. The project will allow an early career PI, Huntington, to become involved with Antarctic research. Huntington will incorporate the Antarctic Research into her efforts at promoting STEM in K-12 education. She has a CAREER project that includes teachers from minority serving high schools in her research, and will host one teacher as part of this project. Both Huntington and Ward will broadly disseminate the results through peer reviewed publications and their UW teaching. Ward has a long track record of outreach through science books for the public and will incorporate the results into his newest book, which involves paleontology and extinctions. Ward will incorporate the results into a new exhibit at the Natural History Museum of London.