Considering the following information, do you think that the corpses of humans these days will be fossilized for later years? Explain.
1. Fossils are only kept intact in places that have few human disturbances, even though now a day we live in highly populated areas and are highly disrespectful to the environment.
2. Bodies are buried in wood caskets which are in cement boxes.
3. We have removed a whole bunch of sedimentary rock for our own personal use, therefore unable to preserve our corpses.
4. Cemeteries are built where there is dirt instead of rock which will decompose the dead bodies.
(Jackie James jackie.james@comcast.net)
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ReplyDeleteBones Can Fossilize
ReplyDeleteThe location of the corpse is a major consideration. If a body is buried in a well populated area, then it is more likely that it will not be preserved due to industrial and expansion reasons. The rate of decay is also depends on the environment. For example, bodies buried in “water decompose twice as fast as those left unburied on land”, and “decomposition is slowest underground” (Scheve). From the given information, cement boxes help protect the body and the cement will provide material that will help fossilize the bones. Bones are fossilized if they are left in an undisturbed environment for hundreds of years. Material from the dirt and soil will slowly settle in the bones and harden which will eventually convert bone to fossils. Mineral called apatite, reacts with the fluorine in the ground water to form fluorapatite. The proteins and collagen from the body tissues decay and the spaces in between get filled in with fluorapatite which harden to form quartz minerals. As the quartz hardens and fills up the empty spaces, the bones also harden and eventually form fossils (Woodmorappe). From the provided condition about sedimentary rock being removed, this will in turn not have any effect on the fossilization of bones because corpses are not buried in rocks, and the formation of rocks takes millions of years and by that time, bones will already be fossilized. From these considerations, there is a high chance that all or most of the corpses will fossilize.
Chandrika D.
(shiningstar0393@gmail.com)
Scheve, T. “How Body Farms Work”. How Stuff Works? Retrieved March 12, 2011, from
http://science.howstuffworks.com/body-farm1.htm
Woodmorappe, J. “How did Dinosaur Bones Turn Into Fossils?” Retrieved March 19, 2011 from http://www.rae.org/bones.html.
On the other hand, I disagree with the statement that the human remains will become fossilized. A coffin is a funerary box used in the display and containment of dead people; its sole purpose is not just to preserve the body, rather it's a part of human culture. A coffin can help preserve the human remains such as bone by creating a barrier between the soil and the bones. Given that a coffin generally slows the process of decay, the bones if not exposed to the outside environment become dry and brittle after 40-50 years. However, if the coffins barrier becomes ineffective and the bones become exposed to the outside environment then soil of neutral acidity may allow bones to last for hundreds of years, while acid peaty soil will gradually dissolve the bones. Furthermore, the coffins which create an airtight seal between the inside and outside environment can actually stimulate the growth of anaerobic bacteria that will speed up decomposition. In conclusion, I beleive that the bone will not fossilize because given our current demands for land, the bodies will not go undisturbed if they are still preserved. The coffin may preserve the bones for hundreds of years but it won't necessarily cause them to fossilize. We are missing the general elements necessary for proper fossilization, including sedimentary rock. Although Chandrika gives a valid argument about how the fossilization works, I beleive that given the following scenario with the four components listed, it's nearly impossible to preserve the bone permanently.
ReplyDeleteEryk Fundakowski- arthur2446@comcast.net
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9341079
http://www.reference.com/motif/Science/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-bone-to-decay
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffin
I agree with Eryk that the human remains cannot become fossilized in funerary boxes. However, even if the coffin is not exposed (such as holes not being worn into the box over time,) it is hard to keep bacteria out of these places, especially anaerobic ones. Even if the bodies were sealed off perfectly, some air is still left in the coffins, allowing aerobic bacteria to begin the decay and anaerobic bacteria could still find their ways into the box and continue the decaying process. The best example of this is the even of the egyptian mummies. The Pharaohs especially took every precaution to save their body from decay for use in the afterlife. However, almost all of the mummies found were nothing but bones and a few hairs. The better preserved ones had a bit more hair and sometimes some petrified skin. This had more to do with the bodies being packed with salts to "cure" them in a sense. However, the best preserved bodies were those of some of the peasants. Since this was a class that was too poor to afford a ceremony or coffin, they would dig large, deep holes in the sand and place the body in the pit. Because the sand had the effect of drawing the water out as well as surrounding the body, it left little area for air pocket or bacteria. Therefore, some (if not very few) of these bodies were almost perfectly preserved. An even better example of this is bog bodies. When a person fell into a bog and drowned, their body eventually settled in the thick mud at the very bottom. This creates an air tight seal around the body that essentially petrifies it and when these mummies are found, even the natural wrinkles on the skin due to age and creases in their clothes can still be seen. This worked especially well in sphagnum bogs where a combination of the acidity, low temperatures, and lack of oxygen content disallowed many decomposers from thriving in the detriment layer in bogs.
ReplyDeleteSources
http://science.howstuffworks.com/mummy.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffin
http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/bog/