CSI Antarctica

CSI Antarctica

Despite considerable research, debate persists about the relative importance of potential causes of the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction (66.0 Ma). The Coring Seymour Island project will focus on developing a more rigorous description of extinction patterns and depositional conditions during the K-Pg interval from a high paleolatitude location to better understand the nature of the K-Pg mass extinction. Macrofossils from this site are well-preserved and consequently well-studied, but sedimentary structures, geochemistry, and microfossils have all been significantly affected by recent surface oxidative and freeze-thaw weathering, and have received significantly less research. Surficial chemical and physical alteration has complicated interpretation of Seymour Island deposits, which represent the only high southern latitude K-Pg outcrop section. To move past the weathering horizon and collect more pristine material, drilling (supported by IDP) will recover sedimentary cores from high priority stratigraphic intervals. These cores will permit sampling at a much higher stratigraphic resolution and with much greater geochemical fidelity when compared with previous work attempted from surface samples. As contingency plan for any coring difficulties, rock samples from hand trenches will be recovered from previously identified areas with high erosion rates to try to access the least altered material possible.