This award supports a paleobotanical study of existing samples from late Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rock formations in the Central Transantarctic Mountains. The project encompasses investigations of fossil forests, permineralized peat deposits, compression/impression floras, and palynomorphs (pollen). This project is a portion of a continuing effort to elucidate the paleobiology and biostratigraphy of the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic of Antarctic. This paleobotanical work forms the cornerstone of paleoenvironmental reconstructions for the time of formation of the rocks and provides an important method of testing paleoclimatic models for the region.
