Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

Cretaceous sedimentary basins in Western and Arctic Canada are the largest hydrocarbon producers in Canada. Sedimentation and paleobiological communities of Creataceous time are linked to a warm Greenhouse climate and commonly high sea levels forming the Western Interior Sea at times connectingthe Boreal and the Tethyan seas. Most work focused on the southern regions where the majority of petroleum wells are drilled. This research addresses the less studied cretaceous basins of Canada's North including the Eagle Plain and Mackenzie Plain located close to the northern entrance way of the Western Interior Sea and compare those with the Arctic islands relfecting paleoenvironments of the Boreal Sea. These are crucial areas to understandCretaceous paleoclimates, response of flora and fauna and the Boreal paleoceanographic influence on the seaway. Intergrated Cretaceous biostratigraphic frameworks will bring together multiple fossil groups in order to refine existing paleogeographic reconstructions and aid any new mapping efforts. Associated detrital zircon studies will enhance assessment of basin sedimentation and tectonic patterns and constrain provenance interpretations. Carbon isotopes studies will for the first time establish the response of these northern seas tooceanic anoxic events that were common throughout the Cretaceous. The identification of reliable pan-Artic biostratigraphic markers will support future hydrocarbon drilling activities. The project delivers an excellent student training component for industry-related, multidisciplinary field and laboratory based research.