Research Interests
My research is composed of several projects related to the central themes of ichnology, paleopedology, and climate change. Ichnology is the study of trace fossils and it incorporates the traditional studies of paleontology, sedimentology, paleopedology (study of ancient soils), ethology (study of animal behavior), microbiology, and ecology. Ichnology offers new insight into the geologic, biologic, hydrologic, and atmospheric influences on the development of ancient and modern ecosystems that other disciplines cannot.
Trace fossils (i.e., burrows, nests, borings, footprints etc.) preserve the interaction between an organism and a medium (i.e., sediment, soil, wood, rock, bone) that records the organism’s behavior. In the absence of body fossils, trace fossil represent hidden biodiversity and are important in situ indicators of degree of pedogenesis, paleohydrologic regime, paleoecology, and paleoclimatic setting. Ichnofossils and paleosols are important for interpreting basin history by providing information on paleotopography, subsidence, and sediment accumulation rates. They are used also to distinguish between continental and marine paleoenvironments in both outcrop and core, and can identify sequence stratigraphic boundaries as they both represent varying periods of subaerial exposure and depositional hiatus.
Current Research Projects and Publications
Ichnology and paleoenvironmental implications of invertebrate and vertebrate trace fossils in paleosols and calcretes of the Ogallala Formation, western Kansas; most recently focusing on likely ant nest fossils (Smith et al., 2011)
Stratigraphic architecture and Neogene climate change data from alluvial deposits and calcareous paleosols of the High Plains succession, western Kansas (Smith et al., 2008, 2009; Ludvigson et al., 2009).
Calibrating paleoclimate proxies using sphaerosiderite and associated pedogenic fabrics forming in modern environments (Ludvigson et al, 2009; Driese et al., 2010).
Distribution and abundance of ichnofossils in the Paleogene Willwood Formation, Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, especially in relation to the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM): response of ancient soil biota to a well-documented global warming event (Smith et al., 2008a, Smith et al., 2008b, Smith et al., 2008c; Smith et al., 2009)
Laboratory and field experiments documenting burrowing behaviors and the types of traces produced by modern soil-dwelling organisms (Smith and Hasiotis, 2008; Hasiotis et al., 2008; Smith et al., 2011)
Stable isotope chemostratigraphy, paleoclimatology and paleoecology of Early Cretaceous dinosaur-bearing terrestrial deposits in Zhonggou Formation, Changma Basin, Gansu Province, China
Fractionation of δ13C and δ18O from differing paleosol sources: comparing the stable isotopes of carbonate nodules, carbonate rhizoliths, carbonate-filled burrows, mollusk shells, carbonaceous rhizoliths, and coalized organic matter from paleosols of the Willwood Formation, Bighorn Basin, Wyoming.
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Please also visit the web sites of my colleagues:
Stephen T. Hasiotis * Mary J. Kraus * Brian Platt * Luis Gonzalez* Greg Ludvigson * Hai-lu You * Daniel Hembree
