Depositional and diagenetic models developed by the PI for cyclic sedimentation in the Midcontinent Pennsylvanian involve periodic eustatic fluctuations in sea level and the hydrologic consequences of repeated marine withdrawal and inundation. Increasingly refined conodont biostratigraphic control has corrected several miscorrelations of stratigraphic units along outcrop, and has produced detailed correlations with the cyclic sequences in Texas and Illinois. NSF funds will support one of 3 interactive projects within this research program: detailed study of a biostratigraphically constrained coeval paleosol interval from Texas and Nebraska to the Appalachians, to determine both the geographic patterns of climate during a sea-level low-stand and the succession of climate changes related to minor sea-level fluctuations during this time of low stand. This work is designed to lead to delineation of the geographic and temporal patterns of climate change during lower stands of sea level.
