Lecture 6 Tracks, Trackways, Depositional Environments

Question 1

trackway

Answer 1

set of impressions made by an individual traveling over a soft substrate

if impressions are buried quickly, they may survive into fossil record

Question 2

what can we tell from tracks in a trackway?

Answer 2

size of the tracemaker

speed of travel

how the organism moved

if it travelled alone/in groups

Question 3

Dinosaur Autobahn

Answer 3

in tumbler ridge, a site being clear of soil that has estimated over 1000 tracks to be uncovered

Question 4

what are sedimentary environments

Answer 4

places where sand, gravel, mud are deposited

divided into marine, marginal marine, nonmarine/terrestrial

Question 5

examples of marine sedimentary environments

Answer 5

the sea

Question 6

examples of marginal marine

Answer 6

river (fluvial)

lake (lacustrine)

swamp (paludial)

Question 7

examples of terrestrial sedimentary

Answer 7

desert (eolian)

Question 8

fluvial sedimentary environments

Answer 8

where most dino fossils are found

eg meandering stream channel system

Question 9

lacustrine sedimentary environments

Answer 9

sandy lake margin deposits (muddy sand near water)

Question 10

eolian sedimentary environments

Answer 10

no groundwater near surface, limited mineralization of bones

lots of trackways and fossil eggs, nests

eg velociraptor

Question 11

deltaic sedimentary environemtns

Answer 11

delta front (river into ocean)

prodelta (quiet water)

delta plain (land)

dino fossilsfound in PLAIN AND FRONT