Processes leading to exceptional soft-tissue preservation in Mazon Creek (Carboniferous) concretions: A combined palaeontological, organic and inorganic geochemical approach

Abstract

This thesis used lipid biomarkers, combined with a range of multidisciplinary techniques, to characterise molecular preservation in Carboniferous fossil samples, from the renowned Mazon Creek fossil Lagerstätte. Overall, it was demonstrated that rapid encapsulation of organic matter within carbonate concretions promotes not only soft tissue fossil preservation, but the preservation of source-derived organic molecules, such as dietary cholesteroid compounds in coprolites, and fern-derived hopanoid molecules, providing important palaeoecological and organic geochemical insights.