An eighteen month study of taphonomic and sedimentologic processes in a modern marine carbonate environment will be conducted. PIs will assess the biologic and physical and sedimentologic characteristics of six diverse environments in Graham's Harbor, Bahamas. The objectives of the study are (1) to contrast and compare rates of taphonomic loss from a variety of carbonate environments within Graham's Harbor with those measured rates along the Texas coast--are loss rates in clastic environments different than those in carbonate environments? Loss rates in carbonate environments may be less than in clastic environments. If loss rates are less, then the death assemblage and by analyogy, the fossil record, might contain more of the original thought. (2) to recognize transported assemblages on a very fine environmental scale--we will quantify transport between and within habitat in Graham's Harbor. The techniques developed and perfected in this study should be transferable to the analysis of fossil outcrops. (3) size frequency analysis of the living community and death assemblage--do carbonate death assemblages contain a more accurate representation of the population dynamics of the living community than in clastic environments? (4) Taphonomic signatures of the biota from six distinct environments in Graham's Harbor will be determined and compared with the sedimentary record. How closely do sedimentologic parameters reflect taphonomic properties?
