9634141 Lyle These investigators from University of Michigan and Boise State University in Idaho will undertake a research cruise in the eastern Pacific Ocean to investigate detailed climatic and oceanographic conditions during the Paleogene period, a time of exceptional worldwide warmth compared to modern times. They will examine sediments deposited in a N-S transect across the Paleogene equator to determine the source (North America vs Asia) of wind-borne clay and silt, which will provide direct evidence of the location of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone in the ancient atmosphere. They will also examine fossils in the sediments to evaluate oceanographic conditions, and these data will be used to constrain models of the "Eocene hot house" conditions of worldwide warmth. In addition to these research topics, the seismic reflection and sediment core data collected during this cruise will be used to guide selection of specific sites for future deep ocean drilling to study this problem in more detail on a proposed cruise of D/V JOIDES Resolution, a vessel which conducts deep-ocean drilling for an international consortium of member nations coordinated by the National Science Foundation through the NSF Ocean Drilling Program. ***
