MICROFABRICS OF UPPER MORRISON PALEOSOLS NEAR COMO BLUFFS, WYOMING

While dinosaur anatomy and the sedimentology of the Morrison Formation have both been studied in detail for over one hundred years, little attention has been paid to paleosol development or correlations of vertebrate remains and lithology.

Paleosols are important paleoenvironmental indicators. Microfabric or microstructures found on the surface of paleosols are the result of weathering patterns characteristic of specific environments. Paleoenvironment information from the paleosols combined with vertebrate fossils collected from the different horizons allow us a closer look at the environments in which these vertebrates lived or were preserved. The correlation of the sediment/paleosol types with the preserved fossils may provide some insight on the extent to which sediment type influences the preservation of different fossil vertebrate taxa.