Preliminary Palynology of the Hell Creek Formation in Garfield County, Montana
Department
Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering
Major
Geology and Geophysics
Research Advisor
Oboh-Ikuenobe, Francisca
Advisor's Department
Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering
Abstract
The Hell Creek Formation straddles the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary, which recorded the mass extinctions that affected dinosaurs and other organisms. An excavation expedition consisting of researchers from Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis Community College – Meramec, and St. Louis Science Center extracted samples from the Hell Creek Formation in Garfield County, Montana in 2008 recovered fossil bones of the dinosaur Triceratops and sampled the sedimentary sequence for further study. Twenty-six samples are being studied for their dispersed organic matter components (palynofacies) and palynomorphs. Palynofacies results indicate that comminuted and degraded phytoclasts dominate the sediments, suggesting that the sediments were deposited in continental paleoenvironment. Additionally, preliminary assessment of palynomorphs shows an overwhelming abundance of terrestrially derived forms (mostly pollen), and support the palynofacies result. Integration of palynology with other techniques (sedimentology, vertebrate paleontology, etc.) will help further constrain the depositional environment.
Biography
Christopher Zacher is a senior majoring in Geology and Geophysics, with a minor in Biology. He is a member of The Missouri Academy of Science, and The Eastern Missouri Society for Paleontology. Chris has also done volunteer work for The St. Louis Science Center.
Research Category
Sciences
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Document Type
Poster
Location
Upper Atrium/Hallway
Presentation Date
08 Apr 2009, 9:00 am - 11:45 am
Preliminary Palynology of the Hell Creek Formation in Garfield County, Montana
Upper Atrium/Hallway
The Hell Creek Formation straddles the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary, which recorded the mass extinctions that affected dinosaurs and other organisms. An excavation expedition consisting of researchers from Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis Community College – Meramec, and St. Louis Science Center extracted samples from the Hell Creek Formation in Garfield County, Montana in 2008 recovered fossil bones of the dinosaur Triceratops and sampled the sedimentary sequence for further study. Twenty-six samples are being studied for their dispersed organic matter components (palynofacies) and palynomorphs. Palynofacies results indicate that comminuted and degraded phytoclasts dominate the sediments, suggesting that the sediments were deposited in continental paleoenvironment. Additionally, preliminary assessment of palynomorphs shows an overwhelming abundance of terrestrially derived forms (mostly pollen), and support the palynofacies result. Integration of palynology with other techniques (sedimentology, vertebrate paleontology, etc.) will help further constrain the depositional environment.
Comments
Joint project with Ashley Shockley