Although crinoid ossicles (skeletal plates) are common components of many ancient limestones and shales, they have received relatively little attention from the standpoint of taphonomy. With the recent documentation of crinoid ossicles in Recent sea floor sediment, the opportunity now exists to pursue actualistic studies of the taphonomy of individual plates. The main emphasis of the study lies in the area of plate degradation: objectives are to determine relative resistance to abrasion and dissolution, to examine the distribution of these taphonomic processes and others in the study area, and to set some constraints on the rates of these processes. With respect to transport, objectives are to determine the sites of accumulation of transported ossicles, and to see if ossicles travel as bedload. The primary objectives with regard to diagenesis are to determine if ossicles are "prefossilized" by sediment infilling or early diagenesis and to determine if biostratinomic signatures are still recognizable in ossicles recovered from Pleistocene reef rocks. Sediment samples taken from the upper 2-3 cm of the sediment and from 1-2 meter cores will be used to map the distribution of plates and their degree and type of alteration. Laboratory experiments of abrasion and dissolution and implants on the sea floor will aid in defining processes and constraining rates of degradation. Because the vast majority of fossil crinoid material consists of disarticulated skeletons, this approach will help to make a large volume of fossil material more useful to other scientists, assisting geologists from sedimentologists to crinoid specialists.
