Taphonomic approaches toward the elucidation of sedimentary dynamics recorded in mudrocks

很大程度上，由于它们在沉积结构、构造和矿物学方面缺乏明显的非均质性，而这些非均质性通常构成常规沉积学研究的基础，因此，泥岩在解释其沉积成因方面是出了名的困难。 然而，越来越明显的是，它们所包含的化石可以作为此类信息的替代来源。拟议的研究旨在探索潜在的使用这种仍然是在泥为主的海洋环境中的沉积动力学指标，主要是基于古生态和埋藏（死后）的化石遗骸的属性。 申请人以前的许多研究都集中在使用富含贝壳的沉积物来通过安大略西南部的查塔姆凹陷桥接阿巴拉契亚和密歇根沉积盆地中的中泥盆世汉密尔顿群的地层。 拟议的研究将更多地侧重于它们作为古环境指标的使用，更具体地说，作为解释沉积动力学的工具，记录在古代，泥岩为主的海洋序列，否则缺乏沉积结构。

Largely due to their lack of obvious heterogeneities in sedimentary texture, structure and mineralogy that normally form the basis of conventional sedimentological studies, mudrocks are notoriously difficult to interpret with respect to their depositional origins. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that their contained fossils can serve as alternative sources of such information. The proposed research aims to explore potential use of such remains as indicators of the sedimentary dynamics in mud-dominated marine environments, based largely on the paleoecologic and taphonomic (post-mortem) attributes of the fossil remains. Much of the applicant's previous research has focused on the use of shell-rich deposits to bridge the stratigraphies of the Middle Devonian Hamilton Group in the Appalachian and Michigan sedimentary basins via the Chatham Sag of southwestern Ontario. The proposed research will focus more on their use as paleoenvironmental indicators, and more specifically, as tools for interpreting the depositional dynamics recorded in ancient, mudrock-dominated marine successions that are otherwise lacking in sedimentary structures.