2004/04/01 by Susannah M. Porter, S. M. PORTER · 2 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Geological formations and processes #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
paper · doi:10.1669/0883-1351(2004)019<0178:ctpwtf>2.0.co;2
openalex publication_date 2004/04/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/27
Other| April 01, 2004 Closing the Phosphatization Window: Testing for the Influence of Taphonomic Megabias on the Pattern of Small Shelly Fossil Decline SUSANNAH M. PORTER SUSANNAH M. PORTER 1Department of Geological Sciences, University of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9630, [email protected] Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information SUSANNAH M. PORTER 1Department of Geological Sciences, University of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9630, [email protected] Publisher: SEPM Society for Sedimentary Geology Accepted: 05 Nov 2003 First Online: 03 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1938-5323 Print ISSN: 0883-1351 Society for Sedimentary Geology PALAIOS (2004) 19 (2): 178–183. https://doi.org/10.1669/0883-1351(2004)019<0178:CTPWTF>2.0.CO;2 Article history Accepted: 05 Nov 2003 First Online: 03 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation SUSANNAH M. PORTER; Closing the Phosphatization Window: Testing for the Influence of Taphonomic Megabias on the Pattern of Small Shelly Fossil Decline. PALAIOS 2004;; 19 (2): 178–183. doi: https://doi.org/10.1669/0883-1351(2004)019<0178:CTPWTF>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyPALAIOS Search Advanced Search Abstract Small shelly fossils (SSFs) are a group of mostly problematic, small skeletal elements preserved primarily through secondary phosphatization. They dominate lower Cambrian diversity, but appear to suffer a sharp decline in the Botomian Stage or equivalent levels outside Siberia. This observed decline coincides with a significant reduction in phosphogenesis, suggesting that it may be attributable to the closure of a phosphatization taphonomic window. The influence of taphonomic bias on observed patterns of SSF extinction at the end of the Botomian was tested using a dataset consisting of 558 Cambrian skeletal genus occurrences compiled from 109 references. Analyses indicate that SSF preservation is significantly enhanced by, and for most taxa, restricted to, a phosphatization window. Independent proxies indicate that prevalence of secondary phosphatization declined from 74% and 64% of all preservational modes during Nemakit-Dal'dynian + Tommotian and Atdabanian + Botomian times, respectively, to 40% of all modes during Toyonian + middle Cambrian times, coincident with a severe reduction in observed SSF diversity. Subsampling methods that control for variations in the phosphatization window were used to test whether observed SSF diversity trajectories are biased. The corrected curve suggests that although the decline of SSFs was real, it may have been significantly exaggerated by the closure of a phosphatization window. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.