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Derrick A. Arena
Exceptional preservation of plants and invertebrates by phosphatization, Riversleigh, Australia
Palaios (July 2008), 23(7):495-502
Abstract: Index Terms/Descriptors: Latitude & Longitude:
GeoRef, Copyright 2008, American Geological Institute. Reference includes data from GeoScienceWorld, Alexandria, VA, United States. Reference includes data supplied by SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology), Tulsa, OK, United States
Phosphatic concretions containing mineralized three-dimensional plant and invertebrate tissues occur in a mid-Cenozoic terrestrial freshwater carbonate deposit at the Riversleigh World Heritage area in northwestern Queensland, Australia. Mineralogical composition and microstructure of the concretions show that this fossil assemblage was preserved by rapid, early diagenetic phosphatization. Preserved material includes tissues typically considered to have a poor potential for phosphatization, such as internal plant structure and arthropod exoskeletal components. Phosphatization may have been mediated by the presence of microbial films. Study of this rich assemblage has the potential to make significant contributions to both the Australian Cenozoic terrestrial invertebrate fossil record and the Cenozoic plant megafossil record of northern Australia.
Australasia; Australia; carbonate rocks; Cenozoic; concretions; fresh-water environment; Invertebrata; lithostratigraphy; middle Cenozoic; paleoenvironment; phosphatization; Plantae; preservation; Queensland Australia; Riversleigh; secondary structures; sedimentary rocks; sedimentary structures; taphonomy
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E138°43'00" (Search for maps and images at Alexandria Digital Library)