Study of coprolites from the araripe sedimentary basin through FT-IR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction

Coprolites are fossilized faeces that constitute an important source of palaeobiological informations. This paper describes the characterization of some coprolite materials originated from the Romualdo Member of the Santana Formation (Araripe Basin, south of Ceara State in Brazil) by means of two te...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Cruz Lima, Ricardo Jorge, Freire, Paulo de Tarso Cavalcante, Sasaki, Jose Marcos, Feitosa Saraiva, Antonio Alamo, Lanfredi, Silvania [UNESP], Lima Nobre, Marcos Augusto de [UNESP]
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2007
Country:Brasil
Institution:Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
Repository:Repositório Institucional da UNESP
Language:Portuguese
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.unesp.br:11449/195892
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11449/195892
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:coprolites
X-ray diffraction
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
Description
Summary:Coprolites are fossilized faeces that constitute an important source of palaeobiological informations. This paper describes the characterization of some coprolite materials originated from the Romualdo Member of the Santana Formation (Araripe Basin, south of Ceara State in Brazil) by means of two techniques: X-ray powder diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). This characterization allowed us to determine the main composition of the coprolites, of the nodulus (where the coprolites were extracted) and of the sediment (where the nodulus was found) suggesting that the material was produced by a carnivorous fish of the Lower Cretaceous.