Understanding fossil phytolith preservation: the role of partial dissolution in paleoecology and archaeology

Opaline phytoliths are important microfossils used for paleoecological and archaeological reconstructions that are primarily based on relative ratios of specific morphotypes. Recent studies have shown that phytolith assemblages are prone to post-depositional alteration involving partial dissolution,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inPloS one Vol. 10; no. 5; p. e0125532
Main Authors Cabanes, Dan, Shahack-Gross, Ruth
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Public Library of Science 20.05.2015
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects
Archaeological sites
Archaeology
Archaeology - methods
Arqueologia
Dissolution
Fitòlits
Flowers & plants
Fossils
Grasses
Historic buildings & sites
Historic sites
Microfossils
Microorganisms
Morphology
Paleoecologia
Paleoecology
Phytoliths
Plants - chemistry
Preservation
Preservation, Biological - methods
Silicon
Solubility
Surface area
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Opaline phytoliths are important microfossils used for paleoecological and archaeological reconstructions that are primarily based on relative ratios of specific morphotypes. Recent studies have shown that phytolith assemblages are prone to post-depositional alteration involving partial dissolution, however, the manner in which partial dissolution affects morphotype composition is poorly understood. Here we show that morphotype assemblages from four different plant species subjected to controlled partial dissolution are significantly different from the original assemblages, indicating that the stability of various morphotypes differs, mainly depending on their surface area to bulk ratios. This underlying mechanism produces distorted morphotype compositions in partially dissolved phytolith assemblages, bearing vast implications for morphotype-based paleoecological and archaeological interpretation. Together with analyses of phytolith assemblages from a variety of archaeological sites, our results establish criteria by which well-preserved phytolith assemblages can be selected for accurate paleoecological and archaeological reconstructions.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
Conceived and designed the experiments: DC RS-G. Performed the experiments: DC RS-G. Analyzed the data: DC RS-G. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: DC RS-G. Wrote the paper: DC RS-G. Prepared the phytolith assemblages from modern plants and from Tell es-Safi/Gath, and conducted morphotype analyses including measurements and calculation of surface to bulk ratios: DC. Prepared the phytolith assemblages from Aşıklı Höyük and carried out the dissolution experiments: RS-G.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0125532