The response of the sedimentary system through Permian to Jurassic abrupt climatic and provenance changes in Northern Victoria Land

In the last years a series of profitable collaborations have been undertaken between the project proposers and the host institute due to similar research interests. The undertaken collaboration led the joint publication of papers in scientific journal regarding the stratigraphy, provenance and palynology of the Beacon Supergroup rocks in Victoria Land. In this context of mutual scientific exchange, KOPRI hosted in its laboratory two Siena University PhD students for one month to learn the using of U/Pb geochronology on detrital zircon for provenance study. The researchers of the two institutions (University of Siena and KOPRI) have already developed joint researches with exchange of data, samples and personnel, and the common participation to several international meeting, congresses and workshops. Following this network of common knowledge and scientific relationships, it will be greatly strategic to improve the collaboration and to join the international initiative and collaboration activity as stated in this proposal. In a more general way, this international collaboration between Italian and Korean institutions, moreover with Antarctica stations located in the same area and with great collaboration relationships, will facilitate in perspective also other logistic and scientific initiative, placing a solid landmark. In the specific frame of this proposal, Northern Victoria Land is the most interesting region for both countries for the presence of Beacon Supergroup outcrops. Indeed, the analysis of the sedimentary processes with a multidisciplinary (sedimentological, petrographic, geochronological and geochemical) approach is one of the targets of the KOPRI expeditions and collaboration with our team further expand the level of complementary competences. The Mesa Range represents a sector of Transantarctic Mountains where volcanic products of the Jurassic Ferrar Group largely crop out and led the opportunity to considers the relationship between sedimentation and volcanism. Moreover, the joint remote camp in the Mesa Range (NVL) lead the opportunity to save money and to simplify logistic operations because the study area and the target are compatible with needs of both groups.

Within the ambit of the scientific issue “The geology of Antarctica” and through a multidisciplinary study in Northern Victoria Land (NVL) the present proposal aims to improve the scientific knowledge of the complex relationships among lithosphere, biosphere, atmosphere and cryosphere which occurred in the Permian-Jurassic time interval in the southern Gondwana. The time interval comprised between the end of Palaeozoic and the middle Mesozoic represents a fundamental phase in the Earth's history, which is marked by dramatic global changes, including the Late Palaeozoic Ice Age (LPIA), the Earth's largest mass extinction at the Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB) and the Gondwana break-up during Mesozoic. These critical changes induced modifications in the hydrographic-environmental regime and in the paleo-ecological conditions, both recorded in the alluvial sedimentary successions. The siliciclastic sequence of the Beacon Supergroup outcropping along the Transantarctic Mountains, recorded changes in the fluvial regimes and in the sediment provenance and in its paleontological content. The proposed research is planned to provide new field and laboratory data to promote a better understanding of sedimentary processes which are documented in the NVL record of the terrestrial paleoenvironments during the LPIA (Late Palaeozoic Ice Age) and their subsequent evolution during the Triassic and early Jurassic global warming phase, in function of the paleo-landscape and paleoenvironment changes. At the same time, particular attention will be devoted to the relationships between sedimentation and volcanic activity during Jurassic. This major new research effort can be adequately supported in an international frame which, in this proposal, is provided by KOPRI (the Korea Polar Research Institute), with which the University of Siena collaborates actively, since several years, on topics linked to the science objectives of the present proposal. This collaboration will allow to develop the project within an international frame, allowing for optimization and rationalization of the scientific competences and of the logistic resources, as well as to establish a stronger integration and collaboration between Italy and South Korea geo-scientific and logistic activities. These last will define a stronghold for the Antarctica exploration and scientific research within Northern Victoria Land, with the perspective of greater strengthening of the future collaborations.