Collaborative Research: Integrated Study Linking Paleosol Biotic Communities and Ancient Alluvial Landscapes

合作研究：古土壤生物群落与古代冲积景观的综合研究科罗拉多大学堪萨斯大学摘要本项目是对河流洪泛平原上的化石土壤或古土壤中发现的不同类型的痕迹化石（古代洞穴、足迹和小径）进行合作研究。古土壤为始新世早期（~ 5500万年），位于怀俄明州北部。主要研究人员将与研究生和本科生一起，通过详细的实地考察和实验室分析来描述不同种类的痕迹化石，并确定各种痕迹化石如何在不同种类的古土壤中分布。由于不同的古土壤代表不同的古代环境条件，该项目将确定哪些痕迹化石对环境敏感，并可用于其他岩石中来解释古代环境条件。古土壤和痕迹化石数据还将与现有的气候数据相结合，以确定痕迹化石的变化是否与怀俄明州北部始新世早期记录的气候波动相吻合。将化石研究与古土壤研究相结合，为解释古代洪泛平原环境提供了一种有价值的新工具。该项目的结果将为土壤生物（以微量化石为代表）、古漫滩特定区域的土壤环境和气候之间的关系提供新的见解。该研究结果可用于确定哪些痕迹化石可用于其他古河漫滩沉积物，以确定古代生态和气候背景。本研究为开发一种解释工具提供了一个独特的机会，该工具可以描述控制古漫滩记录中微量化石分布的环境、水文和气候因素，并阐明它们的分布。

Collaborative Research: Integrated Study Linking Paleosol Biotic Communities and Ancient Alluvial LandscapesMary Kraus-EAR-0228858 University of ColoradoStephen T. Hasiotis-EAR-0229300 University of KansasABSTRACT This project is a collaborative study of the different kinds of trace fossils (ancient burrows, tracks, and trails) found in fossil soils or paleosols that developed on river floodplains. The paleosols are of early Eocene age (~55 million years old) and are located in northern Wyoming. The principal investigators, together with graduate and undergraduate students, will use detailed fieldwork and laboratory analyses to describe the different kinds of trace fossils and to determine how the various trace fossils are distributed within different kinds of paleosols. Because different paleosols represent different ancient environmental conditions, the project will determine which trace fossils are environmentally sensitive and can be used in other rocks to interpret ancient environmental conditions. The paleosol and trace fossil data will also be combined with available climatic data to determine if changes in the trace fossils coincided with documented climatic fluctuations during the early Eocene in northern Wyoming. Combining the study of trace fossils with the study of paleosols offers a valuable new tool for interpreting ancient floodplain environments. Results from this project will provide new insights into the relationships among soil organisms (represented by trace fossils), the soil environment in a particular area of the ancient floodplain, and climate. Results from this study can be used to determine which trace fossils can be used in other ancient floodplain deposits to identify ancient ecologic and climatic settings. This study provides a unique opportunity to develop an interpretational tool that can delineate among environmental, hydrologic, and climatic factors that control the distribution of trace fossils in the ancient floodplain record and clarify their distribution.