Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T07:38:47.800Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Completeness of the rock and fossil record: some estimates using fossil soils

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2016

Greg Retallack
Greg Retallack*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Surprisingly, there is a relationship between rates of sediment accumulation and the time spans for which they have been calculated. This relationship can be used to estimate expected rates for specific sedimentary environments and time spans. The most probable completeness of a given sedimentary section at a given short time span can be calculated by the ratio of the measured long-term rate of sediment accumulation to the expected short-term rate. Although the measured time span is usually based on radiometric and paleomagnetic data, the cumulative time of formation estimated from fossil soils in a sequence may also be used to calculate rates and may be useful in comparing the completeness and rate of accumulation of different sequences. By both kinds of estimates, terrestrial sedimentary successions are disappointingly incomplete. Some reasons for incompleteness are illustrated with a simple model of episodic flooding, exceeding a threshold for destruction and sedimentation over a particular kind of vegetation, and thus initiating a new cycle of soil formation. In such a model, rock record is lost to erosion during cutting and filling cycles, to overprinting of weakly developed soils by later, better-developed soils, and to continued development, near steady state, of the soils preserved.

Because fossil soils are evidence of ancient environments and ecosystems independent of the fossil record, they may provide evidence of expected kinds of fossils, such as silica phytoliths, calcareous phytoliths, pollen, leaves, fruits, seeds, charcoal, land snails, coprolites, and bones. The degree to which the kinds of fossils actually found fail to meet these expectations is a crude measure of the completeness of representation of a former ecosystem in the fossil record. Some of the discrepancy between expected and actual occurrence of fossils can be related to the original Eh and pH of a fossil soil, as approximated by the oxidation state of iron in its minerals (for Eh) and by carbonate or zeolite content (for pH). Different kinds of fossils can be envisaged as having a characteristic Eh-pH stability field within which they can be expected to have been preserved if originally present. Even under ideal conditions of preservation, it takes some time for fossils to accumulate in soils to levels at which representative collections can be made. Estimates of this temporal control on preservation can be gained by comparing fossil occurrences with the degree of development of fossil soils. Neither these chemical nor temporal factors account fully for the degree of incompleteness observed because original abundance, trampling, predation and many other factors are also important determinants of fossil occurrence.

These considerations can be used as guidelines for choosing stratigraphic sections appropriate for particular paleobiological and geological problems. For example, a study of speciation of terrestrial vertebrates would best be in a sequence of weakly developed, calcareous fossil soils (Entisols and Inceptisols), of near-uniform texture and yellow to brown color, formed under an extraordinarily high long-term rate of sediment accumulation. On the other hand, a study of coevolution of vertebrates and plants would best be based on a sequence of weakly to moderately developed, calcareous fossil soils of predominantly drab (gray, green, and blue) color, with interbedded carbonaceous shales.

Type
Articles
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , Winter 1984 , pp. 59 - 78
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

Abel, O. 1926. Amerikafahrt: Eindrücke, Beobachtungen und Studien eines Naturforschers auf einer Reise nach Nordamerika und Westindien. 462 pp. Fischer; Jena.Google Scholar
Abel, O. 1935. Vortzeitliche Lebensspuren. 644 pp. Fischer; Jena.Google Scholar
Amstutz, G. C. 1958. Coprolites: a review of the literature and a study of specimens from southern Washington. J. Sediment. Petrol. 28:498–508.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baas-Becking, L. G. M., Kaplan, I. R., and Moore, D. 1960. Limits of the natural environment in terms of pH and oxidation-reduction potential. J. Geol. 68:243–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barrell, J. 1917. Rhythms and the measurement of geologic time. Bull. Geol. Soc. Am. 28:745–904.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Behrensmeyer, A. K. 1978. Taphonomic and ecological information from bone weathering. Paleobiology. 2:150–162.Google Scholar
Behrensmeyer, A. K. 1981. Vertebrate paleoecology in a Recent East African ecosystem. Pp. 591–615. In: Gray, J., Boucot, A. J., and Berry, W. B. N., eds. Communities of the Past. Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross; Stroudsburg, Pa.Google Scholar
Behrensmeyer, A. K. 1982a. Time sampling intervals in the vertebrate fossil record. Proc. 3d N. Am. Paleontol. Conv. 1:41–45.Google Scholar
Behrensmeyer, A. K. 1982b. Time resolution in fluvial vertebrate assemblages. Paleobiology. 8:211–227.Google Scholar
Behrensmeyer, A. K. and Hill, A. P., eds. 1980. Fossils in the Making. 338 pp. Univ. Chicago Press; Chicago.Google Scholar
Birkeland, P. W. 1974. Pedology, Weathering and Geomorphological Research. 285 pp. Oxford Univ. Press; New York.Google Scholar
Bjork, P. R. and MacDonald, J. R. 1981. Geology and paleontology of the Badlands and Pine Ridge area, South Dakota. Pp. 211–221. In: Rich, F. J., ed. Geology of the Black Hills, South Dakota and Wyoming. Field-trip Guidebook Geol. Soc. Am. Rocky Mtn. Sea. Ann. Mtg.; Rapid City.Google Scholar
Bowler, J. M. and Polach, H. A. 1971. Radiocarbon analyses of soil carbonates: an evaluation from paleosols in southeastern Australia. Pp. 97–108. In: Yaalon, D. H., ed. Paleopedology. Int. Soc. Soil Sci. and Israel Univ. Press; Jerusalem.Google Scholar
Bown, T. M. 1980. The Willwood Formation (Lower Eocene) of the southern Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, and its mammalian fauna. Pp. 127–138. In: Gingerich, P. D., ed. Early Cenozoic Paleontology and Stratigraphy of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. Pap. Paleontol. Univ. Michigan24.Google Scholar
Bown, T. M. and Kraus, M. J. 1981a. Lower Eocene alluvial paleosols (Willwood Formation, northwest Wyoming, U.S.A.) and their significance for paleoecology, paleoclimatology and basin analysis. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclim. Palaeoecol. 34:1–30.Google Scholar
Bown, T. M. and Kraus, M. J. 1981b. Vertebrate fossil-bearing paleosol units (Willwood Formation, northwest Wyoming, U.S.A.): implications for taphonomy, biostratigraphy and assemblage analysis. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclim. Palaeoecol. 34:31–56.Google Scholar
Bradley, W. H. 1946. Coprolites from the Bridger Formation of Wyoming: their composition and microorganisms. Am. J. Sci. 244:215–239.Google Scholar
Brewer, R. 1964. Fabric and Mineral Analysis of Soils. 470 pp. Wiley; New York.Google Scholar
Bryant, V. M. and Williams-Dean, G. 1975. The coprolites of man. Sci. Am. 232:100–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buol, S. W., Hole, F. D., and McCracken, P. J. 1981. Soil Genesis and Classification. 406 pp. Iowa Univ. Press; Ames.Google Scholar
Cady, J. G. and Daniels, R. B. 1968. Genesis of some very old soils—the Paleudults. Ninth Int. Soil Sci. Congr. Trans. Adelaide. 4:103–112.Google Scholar
Carpenter, K. 1982. Baby dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous Lance and Hell Creek Formations and a description of a new species of theropod. Contrib. Geol. Univ. Wyoming. 20:123–134.Google Scholar
Chaney, R. W. 1925. Notes on two fossil hackberries from the Tertiary of the western United States. Publ. Carnegie Inst. Washington. 349:51–56.Google Scholar
Chaplin, R. E. 1971. The Study of Animal Bones from Archaeological Sites. 170 pp. Seminar Press; London.Google Scholar
Clark, J. 1937. The stratigraphy and paleontology of the Chadron Formation in the Big Badlands of South Dakota. Ann. Carnegie Mus. 25:261–350.Google Scholar
Clark, J. 1975. Controls of sedimentation and provenance of sediments in the Oligocene of the central Rocky Mountains. Pp. 95–117. In: Curtis, B. F., ed. Cenozoic History of the Southern Rocky Mountains. Mem. Geol. Soc. Am.144.Google Scholar
Clark, J., Beerbower, J. R., and Kietzke, K. K. 1967. Oligocene Sedimentation in the Big Badlands of South Dakota. 158 pp. Fieldiana Geol. Mem. 5.Google Scholar
Cope, M. J. and Chaloner, W. G. 1980. Fossil charcoal as evidence of past atmospheric composition. Nature. 283:647–648.Google Scholar
Csongor, E., Borsy, Z., and Sabó, I. 1980. Ages of charcoal samples of geomorphic interest in northeast Hungary. Radiocarbon. 22:774–777.Google Scholar
Dalrymple, G. B. 1979. Critical tables for conversion of K-Ar ages from old to new constants. Geology. 7:558–560.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daubenmire, R. 1968. Plant Communities. 300 pp. Harper & Row; New York.Google Scholar
Dimbleby, G. W. 1955. The ecological study of buried soils. Adv. Sci. Lond. 11:11–16.Google Scholar
Dimbleby, G. W. 1957. Pollen analysis of terrestrial soils. New Phytol. 56:12–28.Google Scholar
Dregne, H. E. 1976. Soils of Arid Regions. 237 pp. Elsevier; New York.Google Scholar
Edwards, P. D. 1973. Qualitative X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence analysis of some Oligocene coprolites. Contrib. Geol. Univ. Wyoming. 12:25.Google Scholar
Edwards, P. D. and Folk, R. L. 1979. Coprolites. Pp. 224–225. In: Fairbridge, R. W. and Jablonski, D., eds. The Encyclopedia of Paleontology. Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross; Stroudsburg, Pa.Google Scholar
Edwards, P. D. and Yatkola, D. 1974. Coprolites of White River (Oligocene) carnivorous mammals: origin and paleoecological significance. Contrib. Geol. Univ. Wyoming. 13:67–73.Google Scholar
Elsik, W. C. 1971. Microbiological degradation of sporopollenin. Pp. 480–511. In: Brooks, J., Grant, P. R., Muir, M., van Gijzel, P., and Shaw, G., eds. Sporopollenin. Academic Press; London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, J. G. 1972. Land Snails in Archaeology. 436 pp. Seminar Press; London.Google Scholar
Fölster, H. and Hetsch, W. 1978. Paleosol sequences in the eastern Cordillera of Colombia. Quaternary Res. 9:238–248.Google Scholar
Gile, L. H., Peterson, F. F., and Grossman, R. B. 1966. Morphologic and genetic sequences of carbonate accumulation in the desert soils. Soil Sci. 101:347–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gingerich, P. D. 1976. Paleontology and phytogeny, patterns of evolution at the species level in Tertiary mammals. Am. J. Sci. 276:1–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gingerich, P. D. 1977. Patterns of evolution in the mammalian fossil record. Pp. 469–500. In: Hallam, A., ed. Patterns of Evolution as Illustrated by the Fossil Record. Elsevier; Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Gingerich, P. D. 1980. Evolutionary patterns in early Cenozoic mammals. Ann. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 8:407–424.Google Scholar
Gingerich, P. D. 1982. Time resolution in mammalian evolution: sampling, lineages and faunal turnover. Proc. 3d N. Am. Paleontol. Conv. 1:205–210.Google Scholar
Glob, P. V. 1969. The Bog People. 200 pp. Cornell Univ. Press; Ithaca, N.Y.Google Scholar
Gordon, C. C. and Buikstra, J. E. 1981. Soil pH, bone preservation and sampling bias at mortuary sites. Am. Antiq. 46:566–571.Google Scholar
Goudie, A. 1973. Duricrust in Tropical and Subtropical Landscapes. 174 pp. Clarendon; Oxford.Google Scholar
Greene, F. V. 1853. Chemical investigations of the remains of fossil mammals. Am. J. Sci. 16:16–20.Google Scholar
Harden, J. W. 1982. A quantitative index of soil development from field descriptions: examples from a chronosequence in central California. Geoderma. 28:1–28.Google Scholar
Havinga, A. J. 1971. An experimental investigation into the decay of pollen and spores in various soil types. Pp. 446–479. In: Brooks, J., Grant, P. R., Muir, M., van Gijzel, P. and Shaw, G., eds. Sporopollenin. Academic Press; London.Google Scholar
Heizer, R. F. and Napton, L. K. 1969. Biological and cultural evidence from prehistoric human coprolites. Science. 165:563–568.Google Scholar
Houston, R. S., Toots, H., and Kelley, J. C. 1966. Iron content of fossil bones of Tertiary age in Wyoming, correlated with climatic change. Contrib. Geol. Univ. Wyoming. 5:1–18.Google Scholar
Hutchinson, G. E. 1950. Survey of Contemporary Knowledge of Biogeochemistry. 3. The Biogeochemistry of Vertebrate Excretion. 554 pp. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 96.Google Scholar
Jenny, H. 1941. Factors of Soil Formation. 281 pp. McGraw-Hill; New York.Google Scholar
Jenny, H. 1980. The Soil Resource. 377 pp. Springer; New York.Google Scholar
Jones, R. C. 1975. Discussion on papers 5 and 6. Pp. 47. In: Institute of Civil Engineers, Flood Studies Conference. Inst. Civil Engineers; London.Google Scholar
Kochel, R. C. and Baker, V. R. 1982. Paleoflood hydrology. Science. 215:353–361.Google Scholar
Krumbein, W. C. and Garrels, R. M. 1952. Origin and classification of chemical sediments in terms of pH and oxidation-reduction potential. J. Geol. 60:1–33.Google Scholar
Kukla, G. J. and Kočí, A. 1972. The end of the last Interglacial in the loess record. Quaternary Res. 2:374–383.Google Scholar
Lanning, F. C. 1961. Calcite in Lesquerella ovalifolia trichomes. Science. 133:380.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leo, R. F. and Barghoorn, E. S. 1976. Silica in the biosphere. Acta Cient. Venez. 27:231–234.Google Scholar
Lindsay, W. L. and Vlek, P. L. G. 1977. Phosphate minerals. Pp. 639–672. In: Dixon, J. B. and Weed, S. B., eds. Minerals in Soil Environments. Soil Sci. Soc. Am.; Madison, Wisc.Google Scholar
McDowell, F. W., Wilson, J. A., and Clark, J. 1973. K-Ar dates for biotite from two paleontologically significant localities: Duchesne River Formation, Utah and Chadron Formation, South Dakota. Isochron West. 7:11–12.Google Scholar
Mellett, J. S. 1974. Scatological origin of microvertebrate fossil accumulations. Science. 185:349–350.Google Scholar
Morrison, R. B. 1978. Quaternary soil stratigraphy—concepts, methods and problems. Pp. 77–108. In: Mahaney, W. C., ed. Quaternary Soils. Geoabstracts; Norwich, England.Google Scholar
Obradovich, J. S., Izett, G. A., and Naeser, C. W. 1973. Radiometric ages of volcanic ash and pumice beds in the Gering Sandstone, earliest Miocene of the Arikaree Group, southwestern Nebraska. Abstr. Prog. 26th Annu. Mtg. Rocky Mtn. Sect., Geol. Soc. Am., Boulder. 5:499–500.Google Scholar
Potter, L. D. and Rowley, J. 1960. Pollen rain and vegetation, San Augustin Plains, New Mexico. Bot. Gaz. 122:1–25.Google Scholar
Prothero, D. R., Denham, C. R., and Farmer, H. G. 1982. Oligocene calibration of the magnetic polarity time scale. Geology. 10:650–653.Google Scholar
Reisz, R. R., Heaton, M. R., and Pynn, B. R. 1982. Vertebrate fauna of Late Pennsylvanian Rock Lake Shale, near Garnett, Kansas: Pelycosauria. J. Paleontol. 56:741–750.Google Scholar
Retallack, G. J. 1977. Triassic palaeosols of the upper Narrabeen Group of New South Wales. II. Classification and reconstruction. J. Geol. Soc. Australia. 24:19–36.Google Scholar
Retallack, G. J. 1981. Fossil soils: indications of ancient terrestrial environments. Pp. 55–102. In: Niklas, K. J., ed. Paleobotany, Paleoecology and Evolution. Praeger; New York.Google Scholar
Retallack, G. J. 1983. Late Eocene and Oligocene Paleosols from Badlands National Park, South Dakota. 82 pp. Geol. Soc. Am. Spec. Pap. 193.Google Scholar
Sadler, P. M. 1981. Sediment accumulation rates and the completeness of stratigraphic sections. J. Geol. 89:569–584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sadler, P. M. and Dingus, L. W. 1982. Expected completeness of sedimentary sections: estimating a time-scale dependent, limiting factor in the resolution of the fossil record. Proc. 3d N. Am. Paleontol. Conv. 2:461–464.Google Scholar
Schindel, D. E. 1982. Resolution analysis: a new approach to the gaps in the fossil record. Paleobiology. 8:340–353.Google Scholar
Schumm, S. A. 1977. The Fluvial System. 338 pp. Wiley-Inter-science; New York.Google Scholar
Seward, A. C. 1898. Fossil Plants. Vol. 1. 452 pp. Cambridge Univ. Press; Cambridge.Google Scholar
Seward, A. C. 1917. Fossil Plants. Vol. 3. 656 pp. Cambridge Univ. Press; Cambridge.Google Scholar
Shipman, P. 1981. Life History of a Fossil. 222 pp. Harvard Univ. Press; Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Sinclair, W. J. 1921. The “Turtle-Oreodon” or “Red Layer,” a contribution to the stratigraphy of the White River Oligocene. Proc. Am. Philos. Soc. 60:457–466.Google Scholar
Soil Survey Staff. 1975. Soil Taxonomy. 754 pp. U.S. Dept. Agr. Handbook. 436.Google Scholar
Stebbins, G. L. 1981. Coevolution of grasses and herbivores. Ann. Miss. Bot. Gard. 68:75–86.Google Scholar
Stovall, T. W. and Strain, W. S. 1936. A hitherto undescribed coprolite from the White River Badlands of South Dakota. J. Mammal. 17:27–28.Google Scholar
Vogel, J. C. and Zagwijn, W. H. 1967. Groningen radiocarbon dates VI. Radiocarbon. 9:63–103.Google Scholar
Vogeltanz, R. 1965. Austrocknungstrukturen bei Koprolithen. N. Jb. Geol. Paläontol. Monats. 6:362–371.Google Scholar
Vogeltanz, R. 1967. Erganzends Mitteilung über Koprolithen-Untersuchungen aus dem Unteroligozan von Nebraska. N. Jb. Geol. Paläontol. Monats. 2:188–191.Google Scholar
Wanless, H. R. 1923. The stratigraphy of the White River Beds of South Dakota. Proc. Am. Philos. Soc. 62:190–269.Google Scholar
Watson, J. P. 1967. A termite mound in an Iron Age burial ground in Rhodesia. J. Ecol. 55:663–669.Google Scholar
Webb, S. D. 1977. A history of savanna vertebrates in the New World. I. North America. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 8:355–380.Google Scholar
Wenz, W. 1923. Fossilium Catalogus. I. Animalia Partes 17, 18 et 20, Gastropoda Extramarina Tertiaria. I Vorwort, Literatur, Pulmonata I. 884 pp. Junk; The Hague.Google Scholar
West, I. M. 1975. Evaporites and associated sediments of the basal Purbeck Formation (Upper Jurassic) of Dorset. Proc. Geol. Assoc. 86:205–225.Google Scholar
Wilding, L. P. and Drees, L. R. 1972. Biogenic opal in Ohio soils. Proc. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. 35:1004–1010.Google Scholar
Wilding, L. P., Hallmark, C. T., and Smeck, N. E. 1979. Dissolution and stability of biogenic opal. Proc. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. 43:800–802.Google Scholar
Williams, G. E. and Polach, H. A. 1971. Radiocarbon dating of arid-zone calcareous paleosols. Bull. Geol. Soc. Am. 82:3069–3086.Google Scholar
Wilson, R. W. 1975. The National Geographic Society-South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Expedition into the Big Badlands of South Dakota, 1940. Res. Rept. Nat. Geogr. Soc. 8:79–85.Google Scholar
Wing, S. L. 1980. Fossil floras and plant-bearing beds of the central Bighorn Basin. Pp. 81–85. In: Gingerich, P. D., ed. Early Cenozoic Paleontology and Stratigraphy of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. Pap. Paleontol. Univ. Michigan 24.Google Scholar
Winkler, D. A. 1980. Taphonomy and faunal sampling of the Clark's Fork Basin, Wyoming. Pp. 81–85. In: Gingerich, P. D., ed. Cenozoic Paleontology and Stratigraphy of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. Pap. Paleontol. Univ. Michigan24.Google Scholar
Yanovsky, E., Nelson, E. K., and Kingsbury, R. M. 1932. Berries rich in calcium. Science. 75:565–566.Google Scholar