Sediment accumulation rate predicts the temporal resolution of marine fossil assemblages

Autor(en): Michał Kowalewski, Adam Tomašových, Rafał Nawrot, Daniele Scarponi, Martin Zuschin, Paolo G. Albano, Quan Hua, Darrell S. Kaufman, Susan M. Kidwell, Matias Ritter, Marcello G. Simões, Luis Torres, Bettina Bachmann, Michaela Berensmeier, Troy A. Dexter, Alexandra Haselmair, Ivo Gallmetzer, Claudio Pellegrini, Lukas Schweigl, Jan Steger, Matthew A. Kosnik
Abstrakt: Time averaging (TA), the mixing of noncontemporaneous organisms in fossil assemblages, governs the resolution of paleontological data and determines which biological and environmental processes are recorded in the geological record. To assess variation in TA and its dependence on external drivers, we used amino acid and radiocarbon methods to individually date 7,593 specimens across 384 samples from late Quaternary marine assemblages of calcifying organisms. Bivalve mollusks dominated the data, but 65 samples represented other taxa. Estimates of TA, measured by dispersion of specimen ages within samples, ranged from decades to millennia and scaled proportionally (r² = 0.77) with sediment accumulation time (SAT), an inverse of sediment accumulation rate (SAR) that accounts for the stratigraphic span of samples. In agreement with numerical modeling, the observed TA estimates were an order-of-magnitude higher than SAT and modulated by SAT-dependent effects of vertical mixing and skeletal disintegration. When SAT is short, effective disintegration rates are too slow to suppress the amplifying role of mixing but increase in importance when SAT is long. The strong dependency of TA on SAT points to the overriding role of SAR in controlling the temporal resolution of fossil assemblages, notwithstanding other interacting drivers known to influence TA. These results demonstrate a long-suspected paleontological rule: The temporal resolution of fossil assemblages scales predictably with SAR. This straightforward relationship provides a quantitative guideline for determining the temporal adequacy of sedimentary records as archives of Earth system processes.
Organisation(en): Institut für Paläontologie, Institut für Biologische Chemie
Externe Organisation(en): Florida Museum of Natural History, Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Università di Bologna, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), University of Queensland, Northern Arizona University, University of Chicago, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Universidade Estadual Paulista „Júlio de Mesquita Filho“, University of Florida, Gainesville, University of Bahamas, Naturhistorisches Museum Wien (NHM), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Macquarie University
Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Band: 123
ISSN: 0027-8424
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2615368123
Publikationsdatum: 08-2026
Peer-reviewed: Ja
ÖFOS 2012: 105118 Paläontologie
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete: General
Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 14 – Leben unter Wasser
Link zum Portal: https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/fa0f8acc-a8a3-4065-a614-9a1da5cd4e65

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