This award will support collaborative research between Dr. Judith Parrish of the University of Arizona, Tucson, and Dr. P.J.Cook of the Bureau of Mineral Resources, Canberra. The investigators will compare the predictions of paleoclimatic models with the actual distribution of such climatically significant natural deposits as coal and phosphates in order to better understand the paleoclimatology of the southern Pacific/Indian Ocean region. The project combines the expertise of the two investigators. The U.S. investigator is an expert in the construction of paleoclimatic models, while her Australian counterpart is experienced in the collection and analysis of naturally occurring data. If the models prove to be successful, they can be used to facilitate mineralogical exploration and also historical examination, e.g., that of the strength of the regional monsoons, and of periodic variations in the zonal atmospheric circulation. Finally, because paleoclimates have exerted strong controls on the distribution of many rock types, application of paleoclimatic models to the paleogeographic and lithologic data bases will provide an additional framework in which the data can be interpreted.
