This project uses high-precision, U-Pb dating of zircons from the Ferrar igneous intrusion of Antarctica to determine when it formed and whether it caused a major extinction event. Amongst the world?s largest intrusions, the Ferrar is also associated with breakup of Gondwana, the last supercontinent. Data from this project will show how the Ferrar and similar intrusions form and their potential to cause mass extinctions. Intrusion of the Ferrar has been tentatively linked to the Toarcian extinction event of 183 million years ago, thought to have been caused by methane released when the Ferrar intersected subterranean coal beds. The broader impacts are undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral involvement in research, new collaborations between a research and primarily undergraduate institution, and K12 outreach.
