New paper on Burgess-Shale type preservation and the Mural Formation published

A new paper on the geochemistry and taphonomy of the Lower Cambrian Mural Formation, Alberta, Canada, has been published in the journal Emerging Topics in Life Sciences. In recent years geochemists and paleontologists have argued about the role of oxygen and redox state in the preservation of exceptional Cambrian fossils (Burgess Shale-Type localities). This paper examines the redox geochemistry of the Mural Formation, which represents an end-member of BST preservation: perhaps deposited in slightly shallower water, and with soft-part preservation not seen in standard shelly faunas, but not as exceptional as the deservedly more famous BST deposits. In the classification of Gaines (2014), this is a 'Tier 3' BST deposit (the worst level of fossil preservation). Redox geochemical data from this formation thus provides an important consistency check on the role of oxygen in BST preservation.  This work was in collaboration with Uwe Balthasar (Plymouth) and Christian Skovsted (Swedish Museum of Natural history).