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 National Science
Foundation Award #9005224 |
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The Pliocene "Pinecrest" Bivalve Mollusk Fauna: Taxonomy, Environmental Stratigraphy, Geochronology and Biogeography
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| Investigator(s): |
Steven Stanley (PI)
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| Sponsor: |
Case Western Reserve University, OH 44106 2163684510
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| Start Date/Expiration Date |
1990-07-15 to 1991-07-01 (amended 1990-07-27) |
| Awarded Amount to Date: |
$517 |
| Abstract: This is a multifaceted study of a fossil fauna comprising about 200 species of marine bivalve mollusks that occupied southern Florida prior to the recent ice age and that suffered heavy extinction during the ice age. This fauna is spectacularly preserved in shell beds exposed by quarrying at Sarasota. PI is mapping the shell beds over a large area. Using information about habitats of surviving species and the physical nature of the shell beds, PI has concluded that the beds represent a complex of barrier island (or spit) and lagoonal environments. Further work will allow testing of hypotheses as to how the unusual vertical sequence of shell beds developed. The fauna is the tropical component of a large marine fauna that occupied the entire East and Gulf coasts of the U.S. Components of the fauna from northern Florida to Virginia are well studied. Completing the picture by studying the tropical component will enable me to investigate geographic patterns of extinction and migration during the ice age. To this end, PI will complete a species- level taxonomic study of the south Florida fauna, using general museum collections, his own collections, and type specimens--and employing morphometrics where appropriate. The precise age traditionally assigned to the fauna has recently been questioned. PI will attempt to resolve the issue using radiometric dating of fossil corals and biostratigraphy based on mollusks and microfossils. |
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| NSF Org: |
EAR - Division of Earth Sciences |
| Award Number: |
9005224 |
| Award Instrument: |
Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Felicia Fauntleroy
EAR Division of Earth Sciences
GEO Directorate for Geosciences
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| NSF Program(s): |
GEOLOGY & PALEONTOLOGY, GEOLOGY & PALEONTOLOGY
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| Field Application(s): |
Geological Sciences, Other nsf.applications NEC |
| Program Element Code(s): |
1571
, 1571
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