Fossilization theory - Kasekiseiseiron

Japanese: 化石生成論 - かせきせいせいろん

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[Origin of fossils]
Fossils are part of the past biosphere as paleontological organisms, and at the same time, they are one of the materials that make up the present lithosphere. The branch of paleontology that deals with the entire process of transformation between these two is called taphonomy. It deals with the causes of death of paleontological organisms, decomposition of the body's soft tissues, burial outside of their habitat, mechanical destruction of hard tissues prior to burial, selective dissolution, arrangement of the body in the sediment, traces on the sediment surface caused by the body, diagenesis of fossils, nucleation process, deformation of fossils, selective dissolution during diagenesis, molecular rearrangement and recrystallization, formation of nodules in the strata, metasomatism of fossils (the gradual replacement of one mineral by another), and preservation of hard tissues.

From [Paleontology]

…The study of trace fossils is paleontology, which also includes fossil pathology and fossil coprobiology. The process by which paleontological organisms become fossilized after death is the subject of taphonomy, which is further divided into fossil diagenesis and fossil occurrence theory. Paleoecology deals with fossilized paleontological organisms and their habitats, and studies population structure, inter-individual and inter-species relationships, and relationships with the paleoenvironment. …

*Some of the terminology that refers to "taphiogenesis" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

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【化石の成因】
　化石は古生物として過去の生物圏の一員であると同時に，現在は岩石圏を構成する物質の一つである。この間の転化の全過程を対象とする古生物学の分野を化石生成論taphonomyという。ここでは古生物の死因，遺体の軟組織の分解，生息地外の場への埋没，埋没に先立つ硬組織の機械的破壊，選択的溶解，堆積物中における配置様式，遺体により生じた堆積物表面の痕跡，化石の続成過程，石核形成過程，化石の変形，続成過程における選択的溶解，分子の再配列･再結晶，地層中での団塊形成，化石の交代作用(一つの鉱物から他の化学組成をもつ鉱物に漸進的に置換される作用)，硬組織の保存などが扱われる。…

【古生物学】より

…生痕化石を対象とするのは古生痕学であり，化石病理学や化石糞学もこれに含められる。古生物が死後，化石化するまでの過程は化石生成論の対象であり，これはさらに化石続成論と化石産出論に分けて論じられる。化石化した古生物とその生息環境を扱うのが古生態学で，個体群構造や個体間･種間関係の解析，古環境との関係などが研究される。…

※「化石生成論」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について | 情報

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