| Summary: | The Late Triassic is characterized by major geologic and evolutionary events in Earth’s history. During this time, the super continent Pangaea began to break up while numerous faunal groups, including dinosaurs, crocodylomorphs, pterosaurs and mammaliaformes, first appeared. The period terminates with one of history’s largest biotic crisis in the end-Triassic extinction associated with extensive volcanism of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province. The chronology of these unique geologic and biotic events are critical to understand this period in Earth’s history. One of the key sections for understanding the paleoclimatic and biological evolution of the Late Triassic is the lacustrine sediments of the Fleming Fjord Group in central East Greenland. These sediments represent an up to 350-m thick cyclic bedded succession deposited in the Jameson Land basin, which was situated in the pre-Atlantic rift basin at the northern margin of Pangaea. The Late Triassic sediments contain a diverse vertebrate fauna including dinosaurs, early mammaliaforms, phytosaurs, an aetosaur, a pterosaur, fishes, amphibians and turtles. A detailed and reliable chronostratigraphy of the Fleming Fjord Group is essential to incorporate this important vertebrate fauna into global models on biological evolution in the Late Triassic. Moreover, lacustrine sediments are generally excellent recorders of climate change and have often been used to construct records on past climate conditions. Thus, the lake sediments of the Fleming Fjord Group may reflect past climate conditions that can be used to expand our knowledge of Late Triassic climate models and climate dynamics. These sediments are unique due to exceptional exposure and excellent age registry, which allows for an investigation of the paleoclimate and orbital forcing of the paleoclimate in a world with extremely high atmospheric CO2 concentration. The collective aim of this PhD study is to strengthen the stratigraphic, temporal, paleoclimatic, and paleoenvironmental interpretations of the ...
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