Sprecher
Beschreibung
Digital Fossil Mining (DFM) is a new technique established by one of us (YI) that enables all fossils and other inclusions within a rock to be recorded as high-resolution tomographic images in a fully digitized form. The method has already produced significant results, including the discovery and reconstruction of marine organisms and terrestrial plants preserved in Cretaceous calcareous concretions. The Rhynie Chert is an ideal material for the application of DFM, and here we report some initial results, together with its future potential. Two chert blocks have been subjected to serial grinding and imaging. One represents a peaty soil and contains accumulated plant remains, several types of sporangia, and fungi. The second is a large block that preserves plants growing on peat during a series of depositional events, documenting their progressive burial by repeated influxes of sediment. These data have made it possible to obtain an integrated view of changes in species composition, life histories, and ecosystem structure among plant communities influenced by continual sediment accumulation. For individual plants, we have succeeded for the first time in reconstructing their original 3D forms and have clarified certain morphological features previously less understood. Research on associated organisms, including arthropods and fungi, is also progressing. DFM can address a wide range of questions spanning from biology to earth sciences and has opened new directions for Rhynie Chert research. In addition, the resulting visualized digital environment has considerable potential for educational use in museums and other public settings.