Fossilization
Submitted to: Dr. Shafaq Fatima
Submitted by: Sarwat Ishaq
Class: BS IV (Maj/ Zoology:
Roll #: 339
LCWU
Definition
 preserved remains or traces of animals,
plants, and other organisms from the remote
past.
A Pectinatites amm
onite,
mould of a bivalve
shell
http://www.discoveringfossils.co.uk/kimmeridge_
fossisl.htm
Fossil record
 The totality of fossils
 their placement in fossiliferous,
Rock formations
 sedimentary layers (strata)
 fossil record
 important functions of the science of paleontology
 vary in size
 A fossil normally preserves only a portion of the
deceased organism
 bones and teeth of vertebrates,
 the chitinous or calcareous exoskeletons of
invertebrates.
Trace fossils (or ichnofossils)
 The type of fossil which consist of the marks left
behind by the organism while it was alive
Chirotherium footprints in a Triassicsandstone.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trace_fossil
Chemo fossils or biomarkers
Past life leaves some markers that
cannot be seen but can be detected
in the form of biochemical signals;
these are known as chemo fossils or
biomarkers
Fossilization
There are two major types of
fossils
1. Body fossils
2. Trace fossils
Taphonomy
• The process of fossilization is called taphonomy
1. First, there is the death of the organism
2. There are certain processes that can happen to the
organism before it is buried.
• processes can include body decay
3. different categories of fossils
What are some factors that can
affect fossilization
1. Body
construction
2. Environment
3. Predators
How is fossilization dependent
upon the environment
 The environment plays a crucial role
 The best scenario
 Area with high rate of sediment deposition
 The environment can also affect where the fossil is found
 Drier environments, lead to erosion
How do fossils form
1. Original soft part of organism
2. Original hard part of organism
3. Altered hard part of organism
4. Traces of organism
Original soft part of organism
 organisms are fossilized but under exceptionally
favorable conditions
 Even soft part of organisms
 Org. preserved in a medium that protect them
from bacterial decay
Examples
i. Ice
ii. Amber
iii. Volcanic ash
iv. Oil Saturated soil
i. Ice
 The best known example of fossil preserved in ice
 wooly Mammoth of Siberia and Alaska.
 huge elephant like animals died due to glaciation
about 23,000 years ago
 The first such find was reported in 1779
 The ice preservation is so perfect
Frozen Mammoth in
ICE
http://www.trat.com/Pages
/FossilPreservation.html
ii. Amber
 Amber is a natural tree resin
 that had hardened through various chemical changes
 Sometimes this sap surrounds an insect, preserve it with perfect
details & look like stone
 The formation of Amber
 Amber may trap foreign objects, which are called inclusions
a. An ant inside
the amber
b. wood resin,
source of amber
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber
AMBER WITH SMALL
SNAKE INCLUSION
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/164592561354978254/
iii. Volcanic Ash
 In AD 79 an eruption of Mount Vesuvius
 Volcanic ash and pumice rained down on the town for
about 18 hours
 many roofs collapsed under the weight
 followed by explosive superheated pyroclastic clouds of
toxic gas and debris
 and remained hidden for over 1600 years.
 In 1748, Pompeii was rediscovered
 not only its houses, but (eventually) some of its citizens
 only fragmentary skeletal remains
 Suffocated by volcanic gasses and covered in ash and debris
 their bodies eventually decayed inside the hardening matter.
 This air space essentially formed a mold
 ash that had surrounded the person retained an imprint of the
body
 air pockets filled
with plaster
 The resulting
"plaster mummies”
 capture the human
tragedy of Pompeii
http://jasonstravels.com/2012/09/17/t
raveling-to-pompeii-with-the-
denver-museum-of-nature-and-
science/
Dog from Pompeii
http://jasonstravels.com/2012/09/17/traveling-
to-pompeii-with-the-denver-museum-of-
nature-and-science/
Pompeii city
http://www.mummytombs.com/pompeii/background.htm
Original hard Part of organisms
 Most of the animals have some hard parts
i. Calcite (CaCO3 )is the most abundant original skeletal
material found in fossils
ii. Aragonite (CaCO3) is preserved in the shells of some
corals and molluscs
iii. Tricalcium Phosphate (Ca3(PO4)2) is a chemically
resistant mineral found unaltered in vertebrate bones, some
arthropods and brachiopods
iv. Opal (SiO2H2O) is amorphous hydrated silica preserved
in latter geologic time in some Protozoans and sponges
v. Chitin is an organic compound that is resistant to bacterial
action and is not readily altered
Tricalcium Phosphate (Ca3 (PO4)2)
http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/ga
llery/image/17509-crocodilian-osteoderms/
CALCITE (CACO3 )
http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g191249d585694-
i22926045-Dinosaur_Isle-Sandown_Isle_of_Wight_England.html
3- Altered Hard Part
o The original hard structure of many organisms
o The preservation of altered hard part of organisms can
be classified as:
i. Carbonization or Distillations
ii. Permineralization or petrification
iii. Replacement
Carbonization or Distillations
o The type of fossil in which only the carbon remains
in the specimen
o volatile elements in organic matter distill away,
o thin carbon film as the only fossil record
o especially carbon copies of leaves, the flesh of fish
o organisms become trapped and squeezed, then
form compression
o fossils of leaves and insects are often formed by
compression
o The organic matter may be altered during decay
and rock formation
o distillation of volatile compounds and the
polymerization
o The thin, dark, film is made of stable, polymerized
carbon molecules
o impression
Cone & Needle
Compression
Leaf & Seed
Compression
Fish
Compression
http://petrifiedwoodmuseum.org/carbonization.
htm
Permineralization or petrification
• Permineralization is a process of fossilization in which
mineral deposits from internal casts of organisms
• Permineralization is a process of fossilization that occurs
when an organism is buried
• empty spaces filled with mineral-rich groundwater
• Minerals precipitate from the groundwater
• occupying the empty spaces
• This process can occur in very small spaces
• For permineralization organism must become covered by
sediment
• The permineralization process is very slow
• water seeps through the sediment that covers an organism;
• petrification may result in incredibly detailed preservation
•petrified fossils contain primarily silica
•undergone silicification
•When sulfur is involved, the process is called
pyritization
•Pyritization happens most commonly to marine
organisms
Permineralization
or petrification
http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-
permineralization.htm
Replacement
 Replacement takes place when water dissolves the original
hard parts and replaces them with mineral matter
 Bone, shells and wood are often well preserved in this
manner
 The most common replacement minerals are
i. calcite
ii. silica
iii. pyrite
iv. hematite
v. Aragonite
 This occurs when skeletal material is replaced, molecule
by molecule, by some new alien material
 process occurs gradually
(1) Silicification - where calcium carbonate is replaced
by silica, and
(2) Pyritization - where pyrite replaces calcium carbonate
 Minerals can replace bone, shell, wood, and even soft body
parts
 due to the action of water and decay
 The replacement of soft
Replacement occur when minerals precipitate out of
solution due
Silicified (replaced
with silica)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil#Wood
Trace of Organisms
•Mold
•Cast
•Tracks & Trails
•Burrows
•Gastroliths
Mold & Cast
Skeletons are frequently found completely
dissolved
 Formation of CAST
 cast is a positive image
I. natural mold
II. external mold
III. internal mold
Animals with shells or hard exoskeletons buried in
sediments are often acted upon by acid-rich ground water
which may dissolve away shells or other organic structures.
Cast & Mold
http://www.mpm.edu/content/colle
ctions/learn/reef/diagenesis.html
How mold & cast form?
http://www.guokr.com/post/477970/
Gastroliths
Modern birds use swallow stones
 muscular stomach
 gastrolithes
Tracks & trails
 particular form of trace fossil
 range from the worm trails to dinosaur
 even the footprints of Stone Age people
 great variety of invertebrate’s tracks
Reptile’s tracks
http://www.t-rat.com/Pages/
FossilPreservation.html
Burrows
o evidence of bottom-living creatures
o labyrinth of hollow tunnels
o filled by silt & preserved
o labyrinth of hollow tunnels
o rarely show much detail
http://www.t-rat.com/Pages
/FossilPreservation.html
Conclusion
 fossil record does not represent all of the living
things
 The reason
 Some organisms may have decayed
 Organisms that live on land or have soft body
parts
 fossils provide a piece of Earth's history
References
Cleal C.J. & Thomas, B.A. (2009). Introduction to Plant
Fossils. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
Grimaldi, D. & Engel, M.S., (2005). Evolution of the
Insects. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Meyer, H.W., (2003). The Fossils of Florissant. Washington:
Smithsonian Books.
Thompson, I. (1982). National Audubon Society Field Guide
to Fossils. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Schopf, J.M. (1975). Modes of Fossil Preservation. Review
of Palaeobotany and Palynology, vol 20: pp. 27-53.
Fossilization ppt

Fossilization ppt

  • 1.
    Fossilization Submitted to: Dr.Shafaq Fatima Submitted by: Sarwat Ishaq Class: BS IV (Maj/ Zoology: Roll #: 339 LCWU
  • 2.
    Definition  preserved remainsor traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. A Pectinatites amm onite, mould of a bivalve shell http://www.discoveringfossils.co.uk/kimmeridge_ fossisl.htm
  • 3.
    Fossil record  Thetotality of fossils  their placement in fossiliferous, Rock formations  sedimentary layers (strata)  fossil record  important functions of the science of paleontology  vary in size  A fossil normally preserves only a portion of the deceased organism  bones and teeth of vertebrates,  the chitinous or calcareous exoskeletons of invertebrates.
  • 4.
    Trace fossils (orichnofossils)  The type of fossil which consist of the marks left behind by the organism while it was alive Chirotherium footprints in a Triassicsandstone. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trace_fossil
  • 5.
    Chemo fossils orbiomarkers Past life leaves some markers that cannot be seen but can be detected in the form of biochemical signals; these are known as chemo fossils or biomarkers
  • 6.
    Fossilization There are twomajor types of fossils 1. Body fossils 2. Trace fossils
  • 7.
    Taphonomy • The processof fossilization is called taphonomy 1. First, there is the death of the organism 2. There are certain processes that can happen to the organism before it is buried. • processes can include body decay 3. different categories of fossils
  • 8.
    What are somefactors that can affect fossilization 1. Body construction 2. Environment 3. Predators
  • 9.
    How is fossilizationdependent upon the environment  The environment plays a crucial role  The best scenario  Area with high rate of sediment deposition  The environment can also affect where the fossil is found  Drier environments, lead to erosion
  • 10.
    How do fossilsform 1. Original soft part of organism 2. Original hard part of organism 3. Altered hard part of organism 4. Traces of organism
  • 11.
    Original soft partof organism  organisms are fossilized but under exceptionally favorable conditions  Even soft part of organisms  Org. preserved in a medium that protect them from bacterial decay
  • 12.
    Examples i. Ice ii. Amber iii.Volcanic ash iv. Oil Saturated soil
  • 13.
    i. Ice  Thebest known example of fossil preserved in ice  wooly Mammoth of Siberia and Alaska.  huge elephant like animals died due to glaciation about 23,000 years ago  The first such find was reported in 1779  The ice preservation is so perfect
  • 14.
  • 15.
    ii. Amber  Amberis a natural tree resin  that had hardened through various chemical changes  Sometimes this sap surrounds an insect, preserve it with perfect details & look like stone  The formation of Amber  Amber may trap foreign objects, which are called inclusions
  • 16.
    a. An antinside the amber b. wood resin, source of amber http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber
  • 17.
    AMBER WITH SMALL SNAKEINCLUSION https://www.pinterest.com/pin/164592561354978254/
  • 18.
    iii. Volcanic Ash In AD 79 an eruption of Mount Vesuvius  Volcanic ash and pumice rained down on the town for about 18 hours  many roofs collapsed under the weight  followed by explosive superheated pyroclastic clouds of toxic gas and debris  and remained hidden for over 1600 years.
  • 19.
     In 1748,Pompeii was rediscovered  not only its houses, but (eventually) some of its citizens  only fragmentary skeletal remains  Suffocated by volcanic gasses and covered in ash and debris  their bodies eventually decayed inside the hardening matter.  This air space essentially formed a mold  ash that had surrounded the person retained an imprint of the body
  • 20.
     air pocketsfilled with plaster  The resulting "plaster mummies”  capture the human tragedy of Pompeii http://jasonstravels.com/2012/09/17/t raveling-to-pompeii-with-the- denver-museum-of-nature-and- science/
  • 21.
  • 22.
  • 23.
    Original hard Partof organisms  Most of the animals have some hard parts i. Calcite (CaCO3 )is the most abundant original skeletal material found in fossils ii. Aragonite (CaCO3) is preserved in the shells of some corals and molluscs iii. Tricalcium Phosphate (Ca3(PO4)2) is a chemically resistant mineral found unaltered in vertebrate bones, some arthropods and brachiopods iv. Opal (SiO2H2O) is amorphous hydrated silica preserved in latter geologic time in some Protozoans and sponges v. Chitin is an organic compound that is resistant to bacterial action and is not readily altered
  • 24.
    Tricalcium Phosphate (Ca3(PO4)2) http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/ga llery/image/17509-crocodilian-osteoderms/
  • 25.
  • 26.
    3- Altered HardPart o The original hard structure of many organisms o The preservation of altered hard part of organisms can be classified as: i. Carbonization or Distillations ii. Permineralization or petrification iii. Replacement
  • 27.
    Carbonization or Distillations oThe type of fossil in which only the carbon remains in the specimen o volatile elements in organic matter distill away, o thin carbon film as the only fossil record o especially carbon copies of leaves, the flesh of fish o organisms become trapped and squeezed, then form compression
  • 28.
    o fossils ofleaves and insects are often formed by compression o The organic matter may be altered during decay and rock formation o distillation of volatile compounds and the polymerization o The thin, dark, film is made of stable, polymerized carbon molecules o impression
  • 29.
    Cone & Needle Compression Leaf& Seed Compression Fish Compression http://petrifiedwoodmuseum.org/carbonization. htm
  • 30.
    Permineralization or petrification •Permineralization is a process of fossilization in which mineral deposits from internal casts of organisms • Permineralization is a process of fossilization that occurs when an organism is buried • empty spaces filled with mineral-rich groundwater • Minerals precipitate from the groundwater • occupying the empty spaces • This process can occur in very small spaces • For permineralization organism must become covered by sediment • The permineralization process is very slow • water seeps through the sediment that covers an organism; • petrification may result in incredibly detailed preservation
  • 31.
    •petrified fossils containprimarily silica •undergone silicification •When sulfur is involved, the process is called pyritization •Pyritization happens most commonly to marine organisms
  • 32.
  • 33.
    Replacement  Replacement takesplace when water dissolves the original hard parts and replaces them with mineral matter  Bone, shells and wood are often well preserved in this manner  The most common replacement minerals are i. calcite ii. silica iii. pyrite iv. hematite v. Aragonite
  • 34.
     This occurswhen skeletal material is replaced, molecule by molecule, by some new alien material  process occurs gradually (1) Silicification - where calcium carbonate is replaced by silica, and (2) Pyritization - where pyrite replaces calcium carbonate  Minerals can replace bone, shell, wood, and even soft body parts  due to the action of water and decay  The replacement of soft Replacement occur when minerals precipitate out of solution due
  • 35.
  • 36.
    Trace of Organisms •Mold •Cast •Tracks& Trails •Burrows •Gastroliths
  • 37.
    Mold & Cast Skeletonsare frequently found completely dissolved  Formation of CAST  cast is a positive image I. natural mold II. external mold III. internal mold
  • 38.
    Animals with shellsor hard exoskeletons buried in sediments are often acted upon by acid-rich ground water which may dissolve away shells or other organic structures.
  • 39.
  • 40.
    How mold &cast form? http://www.guokr.com/post/477970/
  • 41.
    Gastroliths Modern birds useswallow stones  muscular stomach  gastrolithes
  • 42.
    Tracks & trails particular form of trace fossil  range from the worm trails to dinosaur  even the footprints of Stone Age people  great variety of invertebrate’s tracks Reptile’s tracks http://www.t-rat.com/Pages/ FossilPreservation.html
  • 43.
    Burrows o evidence ofbottom-living creatures o labyrinth of hollow tunnels o filled by silt & preserved o labyrinth of hollow tunnels o rarely show much detail http://www.t-rat.com/Pages /FossilPreservation.html
  • 44.
    Conclusion  fossil recorddoes not represent all of the living things  The reason  Some organisms may have decayed  Organisms that live on land or have soft body parts  fossils provide a piece of Earth's history
  • 45.
    References Cleal C.J. &Thomas, B.A. (2009). Introduction to Plant Fossils. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. Grimaldi, D. & Engel, M.S., (2005). Evolution of the Insects. New York: Cambridge University Press. Meyer, H.W., (2003). The Fossils of Florissant. Washington: Smithsonian Books. Thompson, I. (1982). National Audubon Society Field Guide to Fossils. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Schopf, J.M. (1975). Modes of Fossil Preservation. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, vol 20: pp. 27-53.