Abstract
Fossils are mineralized remains or traces from animals, plants and other
organisms aged to about 108 years. The chemical processes of
fossilization are dated back from old geological periods on Earth. The
understanding of these processes and the structure of the fossils are
one of the goals of paleontology and geology in the sedimentary
environments. Many researches have tried to unveil details about special
kinds of biological samples; however, a lack of data is noticed for
various other specimens. This study reports the investigations through
infrared spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction
measurements for two types of fish fossils from the Cretaceous Period.
The sample of Cladocyclus gardneri and Vinctifer comptoni fossils were
collected from the Ipubi Formation, being one of the less studied, among
the formations that constitute the important Santana group in the
Araripe Basin, Brazil. The results obtained through different
techniques, showed that the C gardneri fish fossil contains
hydroxyapatite and calcite as constituents whereas its rock matrix was
formed by calcite, quartz and pyrite. Regarding the V. comptoni, the
measurements confirmed the presence of hydroxyapatite in the fossil and
its rock matrix gypsum, pyrite, quartz and calcite. The above scientific
data contributed to the understanding the fossil formation in the Ipubi
Formation, an important environment of the Cretaceous Period, which is
rich in well-preserved fossils from different species. (C) 2015 Elsevier
B.V. All rights reserved.
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