Biased, Spasmodic, and Ridiculously Incomplete: Sequence Stratigraphy and the Emergence of a New Approach to Stratigraphic Complexity in Paleobiology, 1973–1995

• Published in: Journal of the history of biology Vol. 56; no. 3; pp. 419 - 454
• Main Author: Dresow, Max
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.10.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Fieldwork; Geology; History; History of Science; Original Research; Paleobiology; Paleontology; Philosophy of Biology; Stratigraphy; Sequence stratigraphy; Derek Ager; Stratigraphy; Peter Vail; Steven Holland; Paleobiology
• ISSN: 0022-5010; 1573-0387
• DOI: 10.1007/s10739-023-09720-0

This paper examines the emergence of a new approach to stratigraphic complexity, first in geology and then, following its creative appropriation, in paleobiology. The approach was associated with a set of models that together transformed stratigraphic geology in the decades following 1970. These included the influential models of depositional sequences developed by Peter Vail and others at Exxon. Transposed into paleobiology, they gave researchers new resources for studying the incompleteness of the fossil record and for removing biases imposed by the processes of sedimentary accumulation. In addition, they helped reconfigure the cultural landscape of paleobiology, consolidating a growing emphasis on fieldwork and eroding the barrier that had been erected in the 1970s between “paleontology” and “paleobiology.” This paper traces these developments, paying special attention to the simulation models of stratigraphic paleobiologist Steven Holland. It also considers how the integration of sequence and event stratigraphy and paleobiology has begun to influence long-running discussions of incompleteness and bias in the fossil record.