Taphonomy of the Mother's Day Quarry, Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation, South-Central Montana, Usa

Myers, Timothy S.; Storrs, Glenn W.

doi:10.2110/palo.2005.p05-123r

Cited by 38 publications

(83 citation statements)

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“…We suggest that the depositional environment was a high density flash flow based on the poor sorting, the lack of unidirectional sedimentary structures and the bone fragments observed with their long axes oriented sub-vertically (Behrensmeyer, 1988;Abdullatif, 1989;Eberth and Miall 1991;Miall 1996;Benvenuti and Martini, 2002;Rogers, 2005;Eberth et al, 2006;Myers and Storrs 2007;Lauters et al, 2008;Britt et al, 2009).…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 86%

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Facies architecture and palaeoenvironmental implications of the upper Cretaceous (Santonian) Csehbánya formation at the Iharkút vertebrate locality (Bakony Mountains, Northwestern Hungary)

Botfalvai

Haas

Bodor

et al. 2016

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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The Csehbánya Formation (Santonian), exposed in the Iharkút open-pit, BakonyMountains, Hungary, is made up of a cyclic alternation of conglomerate, sandstone, and variegated siltstone and clay deposited in a fluviolacustrine environment. As a result of continuous excavation since 2002 it has yielded rich and diverse continental vertebrate and plant assemblages. A facies and architectural analysis of the Csehbánya Formation at this location identified four main lithofacies associations with eight subtypes consisting of (1) lenticular sandstones representing river channels, (2) conglomerates with sandstone (coarse grained likewise representing channel deposits), (3) heterolithic-channel fill (high density flash flow deposits) (4) splay sandstones produced by crevasse splays, (5) dark sandy siltstone (small-scale stagnant pool deposits with high organic content), (6) greenish-grey claystone (deposits of shallow lakes and ponds), (7) reddish (moderately drained) paleosols, (7) yellowish, mottled (hydromorphic) paleosols.The sedimentological investigations revealed that the terrestrial deposits exposed by the Iharkút open-pit were formed in an anastomosing fluvial system because: (i) the alluvial architecture is characterized by large proportion of overbank deposits encasing the channel sandstone bodies, (ii) the ribbon shaped sandstone bodies are dominant, (iii) cross-bedding and lateral accretion are almost completely absent in the channel fill deposits and (iv) the sandstone bodies are clearly isolated from each other, embedded in floodplain sediments, suggesting multiple co-existing channels.The most important vertebrate fossil site (SZ-6) was examined in special detail because it shows peculiar lithological features. The layers richest in fossils (Unit 1) of site is interpreted as a lag deposit formed during an episodic high density flash flood event representing a relatively short time interval, i.e., probably within a single rainy season. A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 1 1. INTRODUCTIONA significant part of continental vertebrate fossils is found in alluvial deposits thus the reconstruction of the depositional history of alluvial sequences is the main goal of any sedimentological, paleontological and taphonomical examination of vertebrate sites (Behrensmeyer, 1982(Behrensmeyer, , 1988Retallack, 1984; Badgley, 1986a,b;Eberth and Miall, 1991;Nadon, 1993;Therrien, 2005;Roberts, 2007). One of the reasons for the accumulation of rich vertebrate fossil-bearing strata is that a relatively high number of animals are attracted to the floodplain due to abundant water and food supply (different plants or prey), which can result in a rich accumulation of bones (Behrensmeyer, 1988;Nadon, 1993;Andersson and Kaakinen, 2004). Furthermore, certain floodplain environments are favourable for bone preservation because of the relatively high depositional rate, post-mortem transportation, and reworking of animal remains by various fluvial processes (Behrensmeyer, 1988;Aslan and Behrensmeyer, 1996)....

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Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…Myers and Storrs, 2007), resulting in efficient reworking of the material of the interfluve areas (e.g. Retallack, 2005).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Facies architecture and palaeoenvironmental implications of the upper Cretaceous (Santonian) Csehbánya formation at the Iharkút vertebrate locality (Bakony Mountains, Northwestern Hungary)

Botfalvai

Haas

Bodor

et al. 2016

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It is recognized that sauropod vertebrae and skull elements are dramatically different from elephants. However, Myers (2007) established that the differences, particularly in the vertebrae, were not significant. The number of skull elements is minor in comparison to the overall number of bones, so the presence of skull elements will not dramatically affect the transport group distribution.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Myers (2007) suggested that elephant bones, with the exception of the skull and mandible, are more comparable in size and density to sauropods. Elephant bones were used for comparison because Frison and Todd (1986) did experiments and established transport groups for elephant bones.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The number of skull elements is minor in comparison to the overall number of bones, so the presence of skull elements will not dramatically affect the transport group distribution. To further ensure that transport group estimates are accurate, the data were plotted with and without the skull elements (as suggested by Myers, 2007). The distribution groups vary between the elephant bones and the coyote bones, with the sacrum, patella, astragalus, calcaneus and all vertebrae except the atlas in fluvial transport index (FTI) 1; ribs, scapulae, humerii, tibiae and metacarpals in FTI 2; and atlas, mandible, pelvis, radius-ulna and femur in FTI 3 (Table 3) (Frison and Todd, 1986).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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