MANIFESTO OF THE SOUTH AMERICAN SCHOOL OF (ACTUALISTIC) TAPHONOMY

RITTER, M.; DE FRANCESCO, CLAUDIO G.; ERTHAL, F.; HASSAN, GABRIELA S.; TIETZE, ELEONOR; MARTÍNEZ, S.

PALAIOS

SEPM-SOC SEDIMENTARY GEOLOGY

Lugar: Lawrence; Año: 2016 vol. 31 p. 20 - 24

0883-1351

South America is particularly suited to test taphonomic ideas thanks to therecent geological evolution of the area, associated with sea level oscillationssince the Pleistocene, which left numerous lagoons and estuaries along thecoast. In fact, the Patos Lagoon (Brazil) and Río de La Plata (Uruguay andArgentina) are the largest lagoon and one of the largest estuaries in the world,respectively, providing vast areas of diverse shallow coastal environments. Inthe terrestrial realm, southern Argentina is characterized by fluvial systemsoriginating in the high Andes Cordillera as well as numerous permanent andtemporary lakes due to the gentle slope of the plain. In addition to a diversearray of marine and terrestrial environments, exposures of fossiliferous accumulationsfrom continental shelf, coastal plain, and freshwater basin settingsprovide exceptional opportunities for comparing modern death assemblageswith fossil counterparts.