NSF Org:	EAR Division Of Earth Sciences
Recipient:	UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT
Initial Amendment Date:	September 10, 2020
Latest Amendment Date:	August 4, 2022
Award Number:	2021686
Award Instrument:	Continuing Grant
Program Manager:	Richard Yuretich ryuretic@nsf.gov  (703)292-4744 EAR  Division Of Earth Sciences GEO  Directorate for Geosciences
Start Date:	September 15, 2020
End Date:	August 31, 2025 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$507,650.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$507,650.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 2020 = $336,373.00 FY 2022 = $171,277.00
History of Investigator:	Clay Tabor (Principal Investigator) clay.tabor@uconn.edu Charles Bardeen (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	University of Connecticut 438 WHITNEY RD EXTENSION UNIT 1133 STORRS CT  US  06269-9018 (860)486-3622
Sponsor Congressional District:	02
Primary Place of Performance:	University of Connecticut 354 Mansfield Road - Unit 1045 Storrs CT  US  06269-1045
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:	02
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	WNTPS995QBM7
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s):	FRES-Frontier Rsrch Earth Sci
Primary Program Source:	01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002223DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s):
Program Element Code(s):	111Y00
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.050

ABSTRACT

Sixty-six million years ago at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary (KPB), an asteroid impact in the Yucatán Peninsula resulted in the loss of about 75% of all species on Earth. As the most recent, well documented, and rapid mass extinction in Earth?s history, study of the KPB extinction is ideal for understanding the effects of climate change on biodiversity. However, the causes of the KPB extinctions remain uncertain. This project will use a combination of novel climate model simulations and geologic records to explore climate change and kill mechanisms associated with the asteroid impact. Measuring various geologic records from across the KPB will constrain the types and magnitudes of emissions from the asteroid impact. These emission estimates will then be used in climate model simulations to determine the Earth system responses to the asteroid impact through time. Project results will provide a mechanistic understanding of KPB extinction, which, in turn, will improve interpretation of many records from this time period, deliver insights into ecosystem collapse and recovery, and lead to valuable climate model development. Outreach activities include creation of a KPB exhibit, develop of a geochemistry high school project, recruitment of three underrepresented undergraduate interns, and engagement of student researchers at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, a Hispanic majority university.
To determine the relative importance of various processes that could have led to the KPB extinction and subsequent environmental recovery, the PIs will use an Earth system model to perform KPB simulations that mimic forcings from the asteroid impact. The model contains an explicit aerosol resolving scheme and high-top atmosphere, both essential for capturing the processes associated with these perturbations. Further, development and implementation of an ocean biogeochemistry module will allow for direct comparison with paleontological, chemical, and isotopic records across the KPB. The PIs will also collect high resolution soot, temperature, and biomarker records to constrain and validate the KPB simulations. Samples will be analyzed for soot and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to test the asteroid impact fires hypothesis and provide refined soot emission data for the simulations. New estimates of temperature change after impact will be generated from phosphatic microfossils and biomarkers. These records will provide sub-millennial to millennial scale constraints on temperature, and in combination with simulations and soot estimates, a means to backout CO2 emission associated with the impact. Finally, high resolution biomarker work will shed light on the rate of marine planktonic recovery, which will be compared with the ocean biogeochemistry simulations.

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.

Please report errors in award information by writing to: awardsearch@nsf.gov.