Abstract
Maastrichtian dinosaur bone remains from the Naran Bulak locality (the Gobi Desert) with well-preserved bone textural features are enriched in some trace elements, primarily in REE. These features of vertebrate fossils were formed during diagenesis following rapid burial in mudflow sediments, and prior to postfossilization epigenetic changes. Trace elements are mainly concentrated in diagenetic apatite. Their contents in the bones correlate with that in their enclosing sediments for both maxima and minima. Fossil and sediment compositions were established under the influence of paleoclimate. They are correlated with long-term climatic changes with the aridity maximum at the K/T boundary. Climatic changes were recorded via the change of salinity of waters interacting with the buried vertebrate remains.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 15-39 |
Number of pages | 25 |
Journal | Sedimentary Geology |
Volume | 143 |
Issue number | 1-2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 26 Sep 2001 |
Keywords
- Bone diagenesis
- Dinosaur
- Geochemistry
- K/T boundary
- South Mongolia
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Geology
- Stratigraphy