TY  - JOUR
T1  - Fossil Shell Color and Trace Element Concentration as Indicators of the Paleoenvironments of the Piney Point Formation at the Pamunkey River, Virginia Coastal Plain
AU - Sikder, Arif M. AU - Keily, Elizabeth AU - Turner, Joseph B. McGee AU - Suh, Jonathan AU - Boehling, Daniel AU - McCallister, S. Leigh 
JO  - Online Journal of Earth Sciences
VL  - 8
IS  - 1
SP  - 1
EP  - 12
PY  - 2014
DA  - 2001/08/19
SN  - 1991-7708
DO  - ojesci.2014.1.12
UR  - https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=ojesci.2014.1.12
KW  - Pamunkey River
KW  -Piney Point Formation
KW  -fossil fragments
KW  -paleoenvironments
KW  -trace elements
KW  -salinity
AB  - The minor and trace inorganic elements may contribute to different 
  colors of fossilized shells, depending on the environmental conditions of the 
  sea water, differential fossilization process and diagenesis, even though the 
  original color of the living biocalcifers’ 
  shell is primarily developed by a variety of organic pigments. The sediments 
  of the Piney Point Formation that crop up along the Pamunkey River are made 
  up of blue glauconitic sand and clay with scattered, distributed enormous shell 
  fossil fragments. Shattered fossil fragments of differing color from two exposures 
  along the Pamunkey River were studied in terms of minor and trace element concentration 
  to comprehend the relation between the color of fossil shells and paleoenvironments. 
  The fossil fragments were grouped and sorted according to color independently 
  of each of the other samples. Total 35 groups of fossil fragments resulted after 
  sorting. The samples were organized by place in the stratigraphic column, then 
  sorted into 5 similar color groups for analysis: Light, dark, gray, coated and 
  black. Fossil fragment samples from the Piney Point Formation exhibited apparently 
  lower concentrations of Barium than those in the Woodstock Member of the Nanjemoy 
  Formation. Magnesium and strontium values were also higher in the Piney Point 
  Formation. There was a higher level of strontium at the Piney Point-Old Church 
  boundary, this could be due to an increased salinity in the Old Church Formation. 
  Concentrations of sulfur and phosphorous in the partitioned fossil fragments 
  were mostly anomalous, though the black and dark fossil fragments of Old Church 
  Formation had significantly higher concentrations of sulfur. There were no linear 
  and explicit relationships between the colors of the fossil shells fragments 
  and trace metals concentration. Ba/Ca ratios tended to be higher in the fossil 
  fragments of the Piney Point sediments. The higher Ba/Ca ratios in the Piney 
  Point samples probably demonstrate an increase in biogenic activity. At the 
  time of deposition of Piney Point sediments, the water probably had higher temperatures 
  and the Piney Point-Old Church contact had an increased salinity condition.
ER  -