Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region
Tags: physical sciences, biology, fossils, paleontology, geological timeline
| Principal Investigator: | Eberle, Jaelyn J (3) |
| Licence Number: | 13652 |
| Organization: | University of Colorado Museum |
| Licensed Year(s): |
2010
2004
2003
|
| Issued: | Jun 01, 2004 |
| Project Team: | Mary Dawso |
Objective(s): Early Eocene (~55 million year-old) rocks of the Eureka Sound Group preserve a time when the Canadian High Arctic was home to alligators, tortoises, lizards, and a diverse mammalian fauna that included primates, rodents, and rhinoceros. These animals lived in a warm, temperate climate, in or near vast, lowland swamps. To date, the Eureka Sound fossil vertebrate fauna has been documented only from the eastern Canadian Arctic (i.e. Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg Islands). Hence, this project will extend the research west, and search for fossils in the extensive exposures of the Eureka Sound Group on Banks Island. The specific goals are to: (1) refine the age of Eureka Sound rocks on Banks Island using fossil vertebrates and pollen; and (2) correlate the fauna and flora of the western Arctic to recently acquired data in the eastern Arctic. Ultimately, researchers hope to develop a high-latitude land mammal biostratigraphy and correlation of Eocene terrestrial strata across the Canadian Arctic, which should prove useful to a variety of geologists working in the area. This research may also help constrain the timing of polar land bridges and migratory routes between North America and both Europe and Asia, and provide insight into the evolution of certain mammalian taxa at high latitudes. Additionally, the fossils are valuable paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental indicators - they provide a "window" into an ancient, warm temperate Arctic.
