CAREER: Developing the next generation of Proterozoic paleogeographic models through integrated data development, synthesis and education

GSTDTAP

项目编号	1847277
	CAREER: Developing the next generation of Proterozoic paleogeographic models through integrated data development, synthesis and education
	Nicholas Swanson-Hysell (Principal Investigator)
主持机构	University of California-Berkeley
项目开始年	2019
	2019-07-01
项目结束日期	2024-06-30
资助机构	US-NSF
项目类别	Continuing grant
项目经费	431313(USD)
国家	美国
语种	英语
英文摘要	This project will focus on improving scientific and public understanding of the geography of Earth's continents during the Proterozoic, a period of time that spans a range from about 2.5 billion years ago to 542 million years ago. The reconstruction of past continental positions derives from tectonic processes and is central to research that seeks to understand how the Earth has changed through time from its interior to its surface environment. The project will involve studies of sedimentary rocks from the mid-continent of North and igneous rocks from West Africa. Data from the project will be developed in conjunction with an undergraduate research program that targets the participation of underrepresented and first-generation students in an important STEM discipline. The project will contribute to increased public scientific literacy by the development of scientific content derived from the research that will be included with an interactive global Science on a Sphere display system at the University of California Berkeley Lawrence Hall of Science. This display shows the changing position of the continents through geological time and will be viewed by 250,000 members of the public every year. The content will also be made available to 153 other science centers with the display system. In conjunction with this dynamic content, a public program at the Lawrence Hall of Science will be developed that illuminates the Earth science concepts behind the projects outcomes that intended for informal science education aimed at a broad audience. Undergraduate students mentored by the principal investigator and museum staff will deliver the presentations. The project will provide training opportunities for graduate students who will be involved in the research and outreach efforts. Classroom visits and field trips for elementary school students from low-income neighborhoods in Oakland will be run to the Lawrence Hall of Science in each project year. These trips will utilize the Science on a Sphere content and provide a hands-on educational experience for 560 Oakland elementary school students over the course of the project. Project research will focus on developing and synthesizing data to test hypotheses that are fundamental to Proterozoic paleogeography and the configuration of the Nuna and Rodinia supercontinents. Research in Laurentia will test a provocative hypothesis that translation within the Grenvillian orogeny results in the Grenville Loop portion of Laurentia's apparent polar wander path not being representative of the continent. This apparent polar wander path central in efforts to reconstruct the assembly and configuration of Rodinia. Chronostratigraphic constraints reveal that a missing link in the path from the craton can be filled with paleomagnetic data to test these hypotheses. Project research will seek to develop new constraints on Proterozoic paleogeography from the West African craton; the position of which is poorly known due to a lack of data. Recently dated Proterozoic dikes provide an opportunity to test a hypothesized long-lived connection of West Africa to Amazonia that is essential to reconstructing Nuna, Rodinia and the assembly of Gondwana. New data developed through project research will be used in conjunction with the global database to develop a paleogeographic model that spans the Proterozoic and links up with Phanerozoic reconstructions. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
文献类型	项目
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.173/C666/handle/2XK7JSWQ/213069
专题	环境与发展全球科技态势
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Nicholas Swanson-Hysell .CAREER: Developing the next generation of Proterozoic paleogeographic models through integrated data development, synthesis and education.2019.