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Stable Carbon-Isotope Compositions of Compression Fossils from Lower Paleozoic Konservat-Lagerstätten

¹ Department of Geography and Geology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI 48197
² Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405

ABSTRACT

Taxon-specific stable carbon-isotope ratios were determined for 7 graptolite (consumer) and 4 alga (primary producer) taxa preserved as thin organic compressions within North American Silurian Konservat-Lagerstätten. Values range from –26.6 for a graptolite from the Goat Island Formation, New York, to –32.3 for an alga from the Cape Phillips Formation, Arctic Canada. Co-occurring graptolite taxa display nearly identical ¹³C compositions (within 0.2). Algal taxa co-occurring with graptolite taxa have ¹³C compositions which are 1–2 more negative than those of associated graptolites. The observed isotopic offset between associated graptolites and macroalgae, both of which are common sources of organic matter in Paleozoic strata, holds implications for the interpretation of time-series ¹³C_org curves, and suggests that stable carbon-isotope composition could serve as a chemosystematic tool for discerning the affinities of organic macrofossil problematica.