During Burial
The mineralisation process began to affect the organisms soon after they had been buried. Organisms' cells rapidly decayed and collapsed, meaning that a flattened two dimensional outline of the three dimensional organisms is all that is preserved. Pyrite began to precipitate from seawater trapped within the sediment forming lenses of framboidal (raspberry-shaped under magnification) crystals.
Read more about this topic: Burgess Shale Type Preservation
Famous quotes containing the word burial:
“I heard the bell tolled on thy burial day,
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And, turning from my nursery window, drew
A long, long sigh, and wept a last adieu!”
—William Cowper (1731–1800)
“How shall my animal
Whose wizard shape I trace in the cavernous skull,
Vessel of abscesses and exultation’s shell,
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