Paleonet: burial of large carcass

[Karl A. Wilson]

Raul,

You might contact Warron Allmon (allmon at museumoftheearth.org ) at the 
Museum of the Earth/Paleontological Research Institution at Ithaca, 
NY.  The museum obtained a right whale carcass and prepped the bones by 
bural (see http://www.priweb.org/whale2030/whale_tale.htm).  Not exactly 
what you have in mind, as I think the bones were pretty well flenzed out, 
but he might have some insights.

Karl



At 04:04 PM 12/17/2007 -0800, you wrote:
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>Dear paleonetters:
>
>I have a question related to experimental taphonomy.
>
>I'm planning on burying a medium- to large-sized carcass of a marine 
>animal (whale, dolphin, turtle) on a beach on a relatively isolated area, 
>outside of human influence, and then monitor it for water chemistry as it 
>decomposes over time. I wonder if any of you have done that or know of any 
>similar experiments in the past or present, which could provide some 
>orientation. The idea is ascertain the changes that happen in the pore 
>water and sediment around the decaying carcass, changes that could affect 
>potential fossilization. Since marine carccasses of these sizes are rare 
>to get and we must act really quickly, I want to avoid mistakes and 
>maximize both efforts and outcome. A colleague told me to bury some PVC 
>pipes in vertical position and at different distances from the carcass, 
>then at regular intervals of time retrieve some pore water and analyze it 
>for chemical content. Maybe I should contact people working at 
>environmental departments or agencies, but where or who?
>
>I would appreciate any suggestion.
>
>Raúl Esperante, PhD
>Paleontologist
>resperante at llu.edu
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