Global controls on phosphatization of fossils during the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event

Konservat-Lagerstätten—deposits with exceptionally preserved fossils—vary in abundance across geographic and stratigraphic space due to paleoenvironmental heterogeneity. While oceanic anoxic events (OAEs) may have promoted preservation of marine lagerstätten, the environmental controls on their taph...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2021-12, Vol.11 (1), p.24087-24087, Article 24087
Main Authors: Sinha, Sinjini, Muscente, A. D., Schiffbauer, James D., Williams, Matt, Schweigert, Günter, Martindale, Rowan C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/158/47
631/158/670
631/158/852
631/181/414
704/158/2462
704/158/47
704/158/670
704/158/852
Fossils
Heterogeneity
Humanities and Social Sciences
Jurassic
Mineralization
multidisciplinary
Phosphorus
Preservation
Scanning electron microscopy
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Sea level changes
Shale
Taphonomy
X-ray spectroscopy
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Konservat-Lagerstätten—deposits with exceptionally preserved fossils—vary in abundance across geographic and stratigraphic space due to paleoenvironmental heterogeneity. While oceanic anoxic events (OAEs) may have promoted preservation of marine lagerstätten, the environmental controls on their taphonomy remain unclear. Here, we provide new data on the mineralization of fossils in three Lower Jurassic Lagerstätten—Strawberry Bank (UK), Ya Ha Tinda (Canada), and Posidonia Shale (Germany) —and test the hypothesis that they were preserved under similar conditions. Biostratigraphy indicates that all three Lagerstätten were deposited during the Toarcian OAE (TOAE), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) show that each deposit contains a variety of taxa preserved as phosphatized skeletons and tissues. Thus, despite their geographic and paleoenvironmental differences, all of these Lagerstätten were deposited in settings conducive to phosphatization, indicating that the TOAE fostered exceptional preservation in marine settings around the world. Phosphatization may have been fueled by phosphate delivery from climatically-driven sea level change and continental weathering, with anoxic basins acting as phosphorus traps.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-03482-7