Controls on carbonate preservation: implications for the skeletal record and the carbon cycle

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Skeletal carbonate is our primary source of paleo-biological information, and the primary means by which carbon is transferred from the atmosphere-ocean to the lithosphere. As such, processes which control its preservation and fidelity (i.e. taphonomy) are of primary importance to interpreting the fossil record and the carbon cycle. My research quantifies taphonomic processes and potential preservation biases at scales ranging from within individual environments to across latitudes, with a focus on coastal settings as the main locus of global elemental exchange and anthropogenic impact. Over the past 15 years samples and data from tropical, temperate, and now polar locations have been collected to form the foundation for these latitudinal comparisons. As part of the proposed research, preliminary death assemblages from the key Arctic setting (site of rapid environmental change and ice-scouring) will be expanded and complimented with experiments. Also, time-series experimental data will be obtained through the VENUS sub-sea observatory system in order to more closely track the nature and episodicity of taphonomic processes.