The National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Earth Sciences awarded a $191,102 Project Grant to The University of Iowa to conduct collaborative research on the role of the Porcupine Fault System in the Mesozoic opening of the Arctic Ocean. This grant, funded under NSF's Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050), aims to examine this fault system in northeastern Alaska and northwestern Yukon, Canada, which is believed to have played a significant yet poorly understood part in the formation of the Arctic Ocean basin.
The research involves a new collaboration between early career and senior academic researchers at four U.S. institutions and government agencies in the U.S. and Canada. The project will generate research and training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, while also providing educational and outreach activities in a rural native Alaskan community and public lectures at the participating universities. The results of this study will improve understanding of Mesozoic-Cenozoic tectonic and paleogeographic models for the circum-Arctic region and provide insights into the dynamics of brittle fault systems.