AWARD (0526529) Class Intellectual Merit: This research funds the participation of a US researcher from Columbia University in New York on an international, collaborative dredging cruise funded by the German government on the R/V Polarstern from April to June 2006. The cruise objective is to carry out a geophysical and petrological study in the South Atlantic Ocean in the vicinity of the Shona Ridge - Meteor Rise - Agulhas Ridge - Cape Rise and Discovery Seamount. A better understanding of this part of the seafloor is important because it represents major bathymetric anomalies in the South Atlantic, and through this cruise, they will be thoroughly sampled for the first time. Age progressive volcanic studies along similar features in the South Atlantic have been instrumental in constraining plate motions and global tectonic reconstructions. The dating of plume tracks, such as those represented by the Shona and Discovery hotspots is required to improve such models. On the cruise a comprehensive suite of samples will be collected. Their geochemical characterization will be funded through a different award.
Broader impacts: The research supports a female researcher at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory who is returning to the workforce. It also involves a German-American-South African-Dutch international collaboration.
