FIGURE 2.8 . Two-dimensional synthetic section across a sedimentary
basin from onshore (left)
to offshore (right).
The model used to produce the
synthetic section includes four eustatic sea-level cycles, producing
four depositional sequences, superimposed on a constant rate
of tectonic
subsidence (upper right). Maximum flooding surfaces, transgressive
surfaces, and sequence boundaries represent time lines through
the section.
While the sequences were being deposited, species with different ecological
(depth) preferences were allowed to evolve and to become
preserved in
the forming rock record. The colors represent differences in each species’
true time of extinction and the time of extinction observed in the synthetic
section: high fidelity of the fossil record is shown in blue, and
low fidelity is shown in red. The fossil record is poor onshore
and offshore above the
transgressive surfaces. Such models are useful for understanding large-scale
biases in the sedimentary rock and fossil records.
SOURCE: Reprinted
with permission from S.M. Holland and M.E. Patzkowsky, Models
for simulating the fossil record,
Geology,
v. 27, p. 491-494, 1999. Copyright
1999 Geological Society of American.
SCIENCE OPPORTUNITIES
56
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