Late Paleozoic-Mesozoic fauna, environment, climate, Beardmore Glacier area
Entry ID:
miller_0126146
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Summary
The 4 km thick sequence of sedimentary rocks in the Beardmore Glacier area records 90 million years of Permian through Jurassic history of this high-paleolatitude sector of Gondwana. It accumulated in a foreland basin with rate of subsidence approximately equal to rate of deposition. The deposits have yielded diverse vertebrate fossils, in situ fossil forests, and exceptionally well ... preserved plant fossils. They provide a unique glimpse of glacial, lake, and stream/river environments and ecosystems and preserve an unparalleled record of the depositional, paleoclimatic, and tectonic history of the area. Studies done to date provide a firm base of information for investigating more specific questions.
We propose a collaborative study of this stratigraphic section that will integrate sedimentologic, paleontologic, and ichnologic observations to answer focused questions, including: (1) What are the stratigraphic architecture and alluvial facies of Upper Permian to Jurassic rocks in the Beardmore area?; (2) In what tectonostratigraphic setting were these rocks deposited?; (3) Did vertebrates inhabit the cold, near-polar Permian floodplains, as indicated by vertebrate burrows, and can these burrows be used to identify, for the first time, presence of small early mammals in Mesozoic deposits?; and (4) How did bottom-dwelling animals in lakes and streams use substrate ecospace, how did ecospace use at these high paleolatitudes differ from ecospace use in equivalent environments at low paleolatitudes, and what does burrow distribution reveal about seasonality of river flow and thus about paleoclimate?
Answers to these questions will clarify the paeloclimatic, basinal, and tectonic history of this part of Gondwana, elucidate the colonization of near-polar ecosystems by vertebrates, provide new information on the environmental and paleolatitudinal distributions of early mammals, and allow semi-quantitative assessment of the activity and abundance of bottom-dwelling animals in different freshwater environments at high and low latitudes.
Geographic Coverage
Spatial coordinates
| N: -83.75 |
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S: -83.75 |
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E: 171.0 |
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W: 171.0 |
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Min Altitude: 1600
Max Altitude: 3000
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Temporal Coverage
Start Date:
2003-11-18
Stop Date:
2003-12-21
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Paleo Temporal Coverage
Location Keywords
Science Keywords
ISO Topic Category
Platform
Project
Ancillary Keywords
Data Set Progress
Originating Center
Data Center
Personnel
MOLLY
MILLER
Role:
INVESTIGATOR
Phone:
615-322-2976
Fax:
615-322-2138
Email:
molly.miller at vanderbilt.edu
Contact Address:
Vanderbilt University
Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences
2301 Vanderbilt Place
City:
Nashville
Province or State:
TN
Postal Code:
37235
Country:
USA
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Related URL
Link:
VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE
Link:
VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE
Link:
VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE
Description:
The first is Chris Sidor's (senior personnel) web site. It describes his finding of an amphibian (Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology) and of a vertebrate burrow, both in the Beardmore area.
The second is a Vanderbilt Exploration Science Magazine article about Miller's work in the Beardmore area.
The third is Miller's departmental website.
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Publications/References
Isbell, J.L., Miller, M.F., Wolfe, K.L., Lenaker, P.A.(2003), Timing of late Paleozoic glaciation in Gondwana: Was glaciation responsible for the development of northern hemistphere cyclothems?, in Chan, M.A., and Archer, A.A., editors, Sedimentary Giants Extreme Depositional Environments: Geological Society of America Special Paper 370. p. 1-20.
Miller, M.F., and Isbell, ... J.L., in press, Reconstruction of a high-latitude post-glacial lake: Mackellar Formation (Permian), Transantarctic Mountains: Geol. Soc. Amer. Spec. Paper. (L. Buatois, ed.)
Miller, M.F., and White, D.S., 2007, Ecological and Evolutionary Controls on the Composition of Marine and Lake Ichnofacies, in Miller, W.ed., Trace Fossils Concepts, Problems, Prospects: Elsevier, Amsterdam, p. 531-544.
Sidor, C. A., J. S. Steyer, and R. Damiani, in review. Parotosuchus (Temnospondyli: Mastodonsauridae) from the Triassic of Antarctica. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Sidor, C.A., Miller,M.F., and Isbell, J.L., in review, Tetrapod burrows from the Triassic of Antarctica: Jour. Vertebrate Paleontology.
White, D.S. and Miller, M.F., Controls and patterns of benthic invertebrate activity in lakes: linking present to past: PALAIOS (accepted).
Knepprath, N. E., Miller, M.F., and Isbell, J.L., 2004, Dense Permian polar forests with large trees: Upper Buckley Formation, Central Transantarctic Mountains: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs,v. 36, (5), p. 92.
Miller, M.F. and Isbell, J.L., 2004, Biogenic structures reveal impact of Permian extinction on stream infauna and high paleolatitude preciptiation pattern: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 36 (5), p. 337.
Bitting, Kelsey, and Miller, M.F., 2005, Experimental study of bivalve shell dissolution rates at varying water temperatures: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 37, p.
Miller, M.F., McDowell, T.A., Berrios, L. and Shyr, Y., 2005, Bioturbation as a proxy for infaunal animal activity in Permian Jurassic freshwater deposits: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 37, p. 340.
Isbell, J.L., Miller, M.F., Lenaker, P.a., Koch, Z.J., 2005, Late Paleozoic glaciation in Antarctica: are models depicing an immense icesheet correct? Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 37, p. 257.
Knepprath, N.E., Miller, M.F., and Isbell, J.L., 2005, Permian high-latitude Gondwanan climate and environment constrained by plant taphonomy: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 37, p. 484.
Miller, M.F., Sidor, C.A., and Isbell, J.L., 2005, Permian tetrapods in Antarctica? probably not: In: Pankhurst, R.J. and Veiga, G.C. (eds) Gondwana 12: Geological and Biological Heritage of Gondwana, Abstracts, Academia Nacional de Ciencias, Cordoba, Argentina, p. 257.
Isbell, J.L., Miller, M.F., Lenaker, P.A., Koch, Z. and Askin, R., 2005, How extensive was Gondwana glaciation in Antarctica? In: Pankhurst, R.J. and Veiga, G.C. (eds) Gondwana 12: Geological and Biological Heritage of Gondwana, Abstracts, Academia Nacional de Ciencias, Cordoba, Argentina, p. 208.
Isbell, J.L., Flaig, P.P., Miller, M..F., Sidor, C.A., 2005, Fluvial architecture of Permian and Triassic strata in the Beardmore Glacier region, Antarctica: was plant extinction or tectonics the cause of fluvial changes across the P-T boundary? In: Pankhurst, R.J. and Veiga, G.C. (eds) Gondwana 12: Geological and Biological Heritage of Gondwana, Abstracts, Academia Nacional de Ciencias, Cordoba, Argentina, p. 209.
Creation and Review Dates
DIF Creation Date:
2007-06-20
Last DIF Revision Date:
2007-06-21
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