ERTH 2401 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Eocene, Taphonomy, Trilobite

• School: Carleton University
• Department: Earth Sciences
• Course: ERTH 2401
• Professor: Claudia Schröder-Adams

Document Summary

Taphonomy: how do fossils form: taphonomy all the processes to form a fossil, dinosaurs are extinct since 66 million years, the fossil record, fossil lagerstaetten places (fossil deposits) of extraordinary preservation, ex. Igneous rocks crystalline rock from molten mineral matter: metamorphic rocks crystalline and sedimentary rock changed by heat, pressure and chemical fluids, sedimentary rocks are where we find fossils, hard parts results in better fossil records. Isolated bones buried and mineralized: find more single bones than articulated skeletons, body fossil vs. ichnofossil or tracefossil, body fossil describes actual organism. Ichnofossil describes activity: modern trace in a sand flat, fossil trace 80 million years old. Dinosaur footprint: casts, material filling the mold, ex. Cast of tyrannosaur track: the importance of ichnofossils, only preserved as imprints, ex. Ediacaran fauna: first multi-cellular organisms: fossilization processes after burial, 1. Chemical processes within soil and sediment: 2.