9223759 Gibson PI will study the taxonomy, biostratigraphy, and paleoecology of macroinvertebrates in the Pennsylvanian-age Mary Lee coal zone (especially the Morris shale), Black Warrior basin. Sections will be described and sampled, fauna described, and biostratigraphic and biogeographic ranges determined. Paleocommunity and facies analyses will produce a bed-by-bed reconstruction of depositional environments for the Morris shale, to reconstruct vertical shifts in paleoenvironments and test tectonic-eustatic models for the Black Warrior basin. In this RUI investigation, a number of undergraduates will be actively involved in field and laboratory aspects of the work.
