EAR-PF: Testing the boundaries of Burgess Shale-Type preservation with literature meta-analysis, decay experimentation, and fossil investigation

埃文·安德森博士获得了EAR博士后奖学金，在密苏里大学开展研究和教育计划。研究计划将重点从多个角度研究Burgess页岩型(BST)软体保存模式，以更好地了解这一古生物重要保存模式的范围和运行机制。软体化石可以提供化石记录中其他地方没有的生态和进化信息。教育活动将包括为K12和本科生开发教学模块。这些模块的材料将包括普通软体材料(即笔石和植物碎片)、特殊软体材料的3D打印和传统打印输出，以及为本研究收集的材料。首先，文献荟萃分析将研究和扩展异常软体化石沉积(或拉格斯塔顿)的概要，以分离出整个地球历史上的BST和类似BST的沉积。比较这些沉积物将既突出共同的特征，又探索BST石化模式中的差异。其次，衰变实验将测试两种BST保存模型在减缓软体降解方面的有效性。其中一项实验将测试这一假设，即复杂的生物扰动通过使沉积物氧化并通过模拟不同类型的洞穴穿透埋藏腐烂有机体的沉积物来加强腐烂，从而阻止BST的保存。第二个实验将验证这样一个假设，即升高的钙和碱度水平允许在BST沉积物中形成方解石渗透性密封层，保护埋藏的生物免受退化。最后，一项基于化石的调查将比较从类似BST的温尼西克和Waukeha Lagerstätten新收集的材料的埋葬环境和化石保存情况，以及来自犹他州寒武纪豪斯山脉的传统开放海洋BST沉积物。尽管类BST矿床来自水循环受限的后寒武纪沉积，但如果类BST和BST的化石保存矿物学和性质相似，那么它们的埋藏环境条件应该是相似的(即方解石盖层)。

Dr. Evan Anderson has been granted an EAR Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out research and education plans at the University of Missouri. The research plan will focus on studying the Burgess Shale-type (BST) mode of soft-bodied preservation from multiple approaches to better understand the scope and operational mechanisms of this paleontologically important preservation mode. Soft-bodied fossils can provide ecological and evolutionary information available nowhere else in the fossil record. The education activities will include developing teaching modules for K12 and undergraduate students. The materials for these modules will include common softbodied materials (i.e. graptolites and plant debris), 3-D printed and traditional print-outs of exceptional soft-bodied materials, and materials collected for this study. This investigation will have three components. First, a literature meta-analysis will study and expand a compendium of exceptional soft-bodied fossil deposits (or lagerstätten) to isolate BST and BST-like deposits throughout earth history. Comparing these deposits will both highlight shared characteristics and explore the variation within the BST mode of fossilization. Second, decay experiments will test two models of BST preservation for their effectiveness in slowing soft-bodied degradation. One experiment will test the hypothesis that complex bioturbation prevents BST preservation by oxygenating sediments and enhancing decay by simulating different kinds of burrows penetrating the sediment in which a decay organism is buried. The second experiment will test the hypothesis that elevated calcium and alkalinity levels allows for the development of calcite permeability seals in BST deposits, protecting buried organisms from degradation. Finally, a fossil-based investigation will compare the burial context and fossil preservation of freshly collected material from the BST-like Winneshiek and Waukesha lagerstätten to traditional open marine BST deposits from the Cambrian House Range of Utah. Although the BST-like deposits come from post-Cambrian deposits with restricted water circulation, if the fossil preservational mineralogies and qualities are similar between the BST-like and BST deposits, then their burial environment conditions should be comparable (i.e. calcite seals).