This award funds a research collaboration among geologists at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) and geologists at Ethiopia's Mekelle University to integrate field mapping, remote sensing, and geographic information systems in order to assess the historical and economic context of poorly studied Neoproterozoic (~700 million years ago) sedimentary rocks in northern Ethiopia. Israeli scientists are also involved in this project, funded by a separate US-Israel grant. The geologic units of interest coincide with a unique episode of global climate change, recently popularized as the "Snowball Earth Hypothesis", during which Earth's climate shifted rapidly between times of extensive ice cover and times when climate was much warmer than today.
This project will contribute to understanding of the Snowball Earth Hypothesis by adding new geologic information from the Arabian Nubian Shield, Earth's largest tract of Neoproterozoic crust. The proposed interaction will help strengthen geology faculty and students in the Dept. of Applied Geology at Mekelle University, Ethiopia's fastest growing university, and an affiliated government-owned mining corporation (Ezana Company). Interaction of UTD scientists with MU faculty and students and Ezana personnel in Ethiopia, reinforced by short training visits to UTD by MU and Ezana personnel will help these scientists develop and implement a plan for incorporating new technologies (GIS, remote sensing) into their programs. Ties developed between UTD and MU are expected to expand to links involving other departments.
