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Exceptional Fossil Conservation through Phosphatization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2017

James D. Schiffbauer
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA
Adam F. Wallace
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716, USA
Jesse Broce
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA
Shuhai Xiao
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA
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Abstract

This paper addresses the taphonomic processes responsible for fossil preservation in calcium phosphate, or phosphatization. Aside from silicification and rarer examples of carbonaceous compression, phosphatization is the only taphonomic mode claimed to preserve putative subcellular structures. Because this fossilization window can record such valuable information, a comprehensive understanding of its patterns of occurrence and the geochemical processes involved in the replication of soft tissues are critical endeavors. Fossil phosphatization was most abundant during the latest Neoproterozoic through the early Paleozoic, coinciding with the decline of non-pelletal phosphorite deposits. Its temporal abundance during this timeframe makes it a particularly valuable window for the study of early animal evolution. Several occurrences of phosphatization from the Ediacaran through the Permian Period, including Doushantuo-type preservation of embryo-like fossils and acritarchs, phosphatized gut tracts within Burgess Shale-type carbonaceous compressions, Orsten-type preservation of meiofaunas, and other cases from the later Paleozoic are reviewed. In addition, a comprehensive description of the geochemical controls of calcium phosphate precipitation from seawater is provided, with a focus on the rates of phosphate nucleation and growth, favorable nucleation substrates, and properties of substrate tissue and pore-fluid chemistry. It is hoped that the paleontological and geochemical summaries provided here offer a practical and valuable guide to the Neoproterozoic–Paleozoic phosphatization window.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 by The Paleontological Society 

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