| NSF Org: |
EAR Division Of Earth Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | April 1, 2008 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | April 1, 2008 |
| Award Number: | 0738874 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Stephen Harlan
EAR Division Of Earth Sciences GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | March 1, 2008 |
| End Date: | February 29, 2012 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $291,023.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $291,023.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1523 UNION RD RM 207 GAINESVILLE FL US 32611-1941 (352)392-3516 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
1523 UNION RD RM 207 GAINESVILLE FL US 32611-1941 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
Tectonics, International Research Collab |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.050 |
ABSTRACT
Two different hypotheses for the relationship between the Congo and
Kalahari cratons, during the Rodinia and Gondwana supercontinent cycles,
will be evaluated. Co-funding for this work has been provided by the
Office of International Science and Engineering.
Congo and Kalahari presently reside within Africa and are juxtaposed
across the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian Damara-Lufilian-Zambezi orogenic system.
The primary controversy surrounding the assembly of these two cratons
in the supercontinent cycle centers on the extent to which Congo and
Kalahari remained associated geographically throughout the cycle,
i.e., were the two cratons directly adjacent to one another in
Rodinia, and, did they remain so until amalgamated in Gondwana, or
was one (or both) not in Rodinia at all and were not joined until
Gondwana formed? The metamorphosed sedimentary detritus within the
Damara orogenic zone records the separation of these blocks from
Rodinia and accretion within Gondwana. The U/Pb age and Hf-isotopic
compositions of detrial zircons from the metasedimenatry rocks, along
with whole-rock Nd isotopes, will be measured to define the origin of the
continental detritus in the suture zone. The significance of the
alternative hypotheses relates to the configuration of Rodinia, the
amalgamation of Gondwana (E-W or N-S final suturing), and the degree
to which Rodinia was fragmented during break-up.
The accretion and dispersal of supercontinents remains one of the
most significant problems in understanding global dynamics and motions
of continents through time and the convection of rock in the mantle.
The growth and break-up of two supercontinents in late Precambrian
time ? Rodinia and Gondwana ? are particularly significant for
understanding the supercontinent cycle, because they overlap the
development and dispersal of complex life forms in the shallow oceans
along their margins. The hypotheses being tested in this project
have implications for the dispersal and source of sediment in the
shallow seas, the initiation and proliferation of early life in those seas,
the evolving paleoclimatic system of the planet, and the time that the
younger supercontinent cycle of Pangea initiated.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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