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Article: Vibrational spectroscopy of fossils

Publication: Palaeontology
Volume: 58
Part: 2
Publication Date: March 2015
Page(s): 201 211
Author(s): Alison Olcott Marshall and Craig P. Marshall
Addition Information

How to Cite

OLCOTT, A., MARSHALL, C.P. 2015. Vibrational spectroscopy of fossils. Palaeontology 58, 2, 201–211.

Author Information

  • Alison Olcott Marshall - Department of Geology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA (email: olcott@ku.edu)
  • Craig P. Marshall - Department of Geology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA (email: cpmarshall@ku.edu)

Publication History

  • Issue published online: 5 MAR 2015
  • Article first published online: 18 DEC 2014
  • Manuscript Accepted: 20 NOV 2014
  • Manuscript Received: 29 SEP 2014

Funded By

NSF. Grant Number: EAR-1053241
University of Kansas General Research Fund

Online Version Hosted By

Wiley Online Library (Free Access)
Get Article: Wiley Online Library [Free Access]

Abstract

Over the last two decades, there has an been increasing interest in applying vibrational spectroscopy in palaeontological research. For example, this chemical analytical technique has been used to elucidate the chemical composition of a wide variety of fossils, including Archaean putative microfossils, stromatolites, chitinozoans, acritarchs, fossil algae, fossil plant cuticles, putative fossil arthropods, conodonts, scolecodonts and dinosaur bones. The insights provided by these data have been equally far ranging: to taxonomically identify a fossil, to determine biogenicity of a putative fossil, to identify preserved biologically synthesized compounds and to elucidate the preservational mechanisms of fossil material. Vibrational spectroscopy has clearly been a useful tool for investigating various palaeontological problems. However, it is also a tool that has been misapplied and misinterpreted, and thus, this review is dedicated to providing a palaeontologist who is new to vibrational spectroscopy with a basic understanding of these techniques, and the types of chemical information that can be obtained. Two example applications of these techniques are discussed in detail, one looking into fossil palynomorph taxonomy and other into the enigmatic Burgess Shale-type preservation.

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