The K-Pg boundary
​In Antarctica

I am working as part of a multi-institution research group examining the K-Pg boundary in Antarctica. The James Ross Basin sediments are exposed on a small archipelago off the northeast of the Antarctic Peninsula. This highly-expanded shallow marine section was deposited during the Late Cretaceous and Early Paleogene as a back arc basin during the uplift of the Antarctic Peninsula. Due to a minimal burial history, fossil material is morphologically and geochemically well-preserved. Stable isotopic analysis can be used to reconstruct the temperature of seawater, allowing the examination of climate changes through a stratigraphic section. Statistical analysis of invertebrate fossil occurrences allows me to determine whether observed temperature changes correspond with any paleobiological changes.