Project Summary

The Shelf & Slope Experimental Taphonomy Initiative

A long-term experiment on the fate of organism's remains at the sediment-water interface

 

 

Experimental Design

Mollusk shells, crabs, urchins, wood, and brachiopods were placed in mesh bags strung on a PVC rod and placed on the sea floor. We also tethered gastropod shells to PVC rods using monofilament line to examinine the role of hermit crab occupation and predation on shells at the sediment water interface. Lastly, we placed a replicate set of mollusk shells on the bottom not contained in mesh or tethered so that we could track natural burial rates and to evaluate any effects of the mesh bags on shell taphonomy.

Mesh Bag Experiments

 

Poles retrieved from 72m on a hardground at the East Flower Garden Banks Marine Sanctuary after 8 years on the bottom

Tethered Shell Experiments

Twelve gastropods are tethered to PVC rod to examine the effects of hermit crab occupation in the shells and subsequent predation/mistaken predation. These experiments also serve as a comparison to bagged shells for affects of the bags on taphonomic condition

 

Taphonomic Analysis

 

 

Mesh Bag Contents