See more from this Division: Topical Sessions
See more from this Session: Quantifying the Early Evolution of Life: Numerical Approaches to the Evaluation of Precambrian-Cambrian Animals and Ecosystems
Abstract:
Until recently, evidence for the agronomic and Cambrian substrate revolutions had not been evaluated quantitatively. Semi-quantitative methods for assessing bioturbation intensity, such as ichnofabric indices (Droser and Bottjer 1986) and bedding plane bioturbation indices (Miller and Smail 1999), have proven effective for field scoring but lack the precision necessary for fine-scale studies. Using grid-based methods to estimate the percentage bioturbation on bedding planes helps to improve dataset consistency by reducing subjectivity. For example, the grid-based point-intersection method generated results within 0.50% error when applied to hypothetical bedding planes for which the exact percentage bioturbated was known (Marenco and Bottjer in prep).
In order to better understand the initial phase of the agronomic revolution as it occurred in different shallow marine environments, field studies were conducted at Lower Cambrian localities in California and Nevada that fall along a paleo-onshore-offshore transect. Because bioturbation is typically restricted to bedding plane surfaces in the Lower Cambrian, particular attention was paid to bedding plane exposures and the strata associated with them. In addition to field paleoecological methods, including visual scoring of bioturbation, the point-intersection method was applied to digital photographs of the studied bedding planes. The resulting dataset provides a new, quantitative perspective on the interaction between early animals and their environment.
See more from this Division: Topical Sessions
See more from this Session: Quantifying the Early Evolution of Life: Numerical Approaches to the Evaluation of Precambrian-Cambrian Animals and Ecosystems