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Taphonomy of Recent Bioclastic Deposits from the Southern Brazil Shelf: Stratigraphic Potential

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Actualistic Taphonomy in South America

Part of the book series: Topics in Geobiology ((TGBI,volume 48))

Abstract

In the Southern Brazil Shelf (SBS), surface bioclastic concentrations are associated with putative paleo-shorelines formed where wave ravinement surfaces are probably present. From the late Last Glacial Maximum, the SBS can be considered a sediment-starved passive margin continental shelf, with its morphostructural development fairly known. There, fourteen molluscan shell samples from near shelf-break deposits (“distal shell-rich”), eleven from proximal, low depth bioclastic deposits (“proximal shell-rich”) and ten samples from sandy substrate (“shell-poor”) were evaluated for taphonomic damage accordingly to updated protocols. Multivariate statistical analysis showed significant differences between the three groups of shelly samples. Low-intensity damage states (such as natural bright and ornamentation) dominate samples from the distal shell-rich deposit, whereas the inverse occurs in the proximal deposit (samples from the shell-poor locations present an intermediate damage pattern). This pattern is consistent either with onlap/toplap and backlap shell bed formation, according to characteristics determined in the literature. The condition of these three areas may reflect degrees of exposure at the taphonomically-active zone, the magnitude of time averaging and duration of shell accumulation, and even the lack of shelf accommodation space, which in turn is related to glacioeustatic sea-level oscillations.

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Acknowledgements

This paper greatly benefited from comments and discussion with several people: I. C. S. Corrêa and E. R. Beltram (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul), R. S. Horodyski (Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos), M. L. Assine (Universidade Estadual Paulista at Rio Claro), and M. G. Simões (Universidade Estadual Paulista at Botucatu). Brazil funding agencies (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—CAPES, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico—CNPq), and Petroleum National Agency (ANP) partly funded this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Paleontologia e Estratigrafia, Instituto de Geociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, 91501-970, Brazil

    Fernando Erthal

  2. Centro de Estudos Costeiros, Limnológicos e Marinhos, Campus Litoral Norte, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Imbé, Rio Grande do Sul, 95625-000, Brazil

    Matias do Nascimento Ritter

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  1. Fernando Erthal
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Correspondence to Fernando Erthal .

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  1. Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Sergio Martínez

  2. Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Alejandra Rojas

  3. Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Fernanda Cabrera

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Erthal, F., do Nascimento Ritter, M. (2020). Taphonomy of Recent Bioclastic Deposits from the Southern Brazil Shelf: Stratigraphic Potential. In: Martínez, S., Rojas, A., Cabrera, F. (eds) Actualistic Taphonomy in South America. Topics in Geobiology, vol 48. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20625-3_1

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