Biological and Physical Contributions to the Accumulation of Strombid Gastropods in a Pliocene Shell Bed

Abstract

Before the evolutionary and ecological information contained in shell beds can be interpreted, the conditions of shell bed formation must be understood. Here the authors investigate the mode and time scale of accumulation of a dense layer of Strombus floridanus in the Pliocene Pinecrest Beds of Florida. They utilize a variety of comparative taphonomic data, including the extent of encrustation and boring on strombid shells of different ontogenetic ages, and on accompanying pelecypods of different ecological types. The taphonomic comparisons enable them to reconstruct more accurately the events of shell bed formation. The formation of the strombid shell layer involved both biological and physical components. The characteristically gregarious behavior of Strombus is reflected in the large number of individuals preserved in this layer. Based on average densities of individuals in strombid colonies today, the authors estimate that a time period of tens to hundreds of years was required to accumulate these fossils. Repeated sediment winnowing by storms, followed by rapid reburial in a regime of at least episodically high sedimentation rates, is the most likely mechanism of accumulation, and accounts for the observed patterns of encrustation and boring on the shells of Strombus and various associated pelecypods. The origin ofmore » Florida's Plio-Pleistocene shelly sands is poorly understood; analysis of this bed may provide a working model for future taphonomic studies.« less