Tafonomical landscapes

• Grant number: 19/16727-3
• Support type: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: July 01, 2020 - June 30, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Geology
• Principal Investigator: Fresia Soledad Ricardi Torres Branco
• Grantee: Fresia Soledad Ricardi Torres Branco
• Home Institution: Instituto de Geociências (IG). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Assoc. researchers: Adalene Moreira Silva ; Christopher Mark Berry ; Douglas Galante ; Flávia Callefo ; Isabela Jurigan ; Marcelo Adorna Fernandes ; Nora Katharina Noffke ; Rafael Delcourt de Seixas Ferreira ; Ticiano José Saraiva dos Santos

Abstract

The research of fossil assemblages is thought-provoking mainly when associated with exceptional deposition events in the geological record and/or with excellent preservation. The studies under the optics of taphonomic history offer the possibility of conducting innovative and differentiated research in Brazilian paleontology field. In this matter, the objective of the present project is to study bioclast accumulations as the product of differentiated events that have developed in paleoclimates, at different ages and environments. The aim is the characterization of assemblages, the paleoenvironment, and its influence on fossil diagenesis. For that, units with different fossil assemblages were selected, such as the icnofossils of the Pacuja / Ipu Formation, or the vertebrates assemblages (bones, scales, teeth, coprolites, etc) preserved in the Passa Dois (Irati and Corumbataí formations) and Bauru groups (Adamantina and Marília São Carlos formations) as well as assamblages with preserved microfossils and plants in nodules and chert layers of Ponta Grossa (Devonian) and Teresina (Permian) formations. For the study, field works will be carried out to characterize the in situ assemblages, geological description, and sample collections or previously collected samples may be included in the research. Then, the fossil studies with their petrography and geochemistry description will be carried out. The results may allow the knowledge of the biodiversity, genesis, mineralogical characterization, and diagenesis of these exceptionally rich concentrations in fossils presenting to general public some less explored Paleontology themes. (AU)