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Spatial characterization of Western Interior Seaway paleoceanography using foraminifera, fuzzy sets and Dempster-Shafer theory

Lockshin, Sam
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1462803004

Abstract Details

2016, Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, Geology.
The spatial paleoceanography of the entire Western Interior Seaway (WIS) during the Cenomanian-Turonian Oceanic Anoxic Event has been reconstructed quantitatively for the first time using Geographic Information Systems. Models of foraminiferal occurrences—derived from Dempster-Shafer theory and driven by fuzzy sets of stratigraphic and spatial data—reflect water mass distributions during a brief period of rapid biotic turnover and oceanographic changes in a greenhouse world. Dempster-Shafer theory is a general framework for approximate reasoning based on combining information (evidence) to predict the probability (belief) that any phenomenon may occur. Because of the inherent imprecisions associated with paleontological data (e.g., preservational and sampling biases, missing time, reliance on expert knowledge), especially at fine-scale temporal resolutions, Dempster-Shafer theory is an appropriate technique because it factors uncertainty directly into its models. Locality data for four benthic and one planktic foraminiferal species and lithologic and geochemical data from sites distributed throughout the WIS were compiled from four ammonoid biozones of the Upper Cenomanian and Early Turonian stages. Of the 14 environmental parameters included in the dataset, percent silt, percent total carbonate, and depositional environment (essentially water depth) were associated with foraminiferal occurrences. The inductive Dempster-Shafer belief models for foraminiferal occurrences reveal the positions of northern and southern water masses consistent with the oceanographic gyre circulation pattern that dominated in the seaway during the Cenomanian- Turonian Boundary Event. The water-mixing interface in the southwestern part of the WIS was mostly restricted to the Four Corners region of the US, while the zone of overlap of northern and southern waters encompassed a much larger area along the eastern margin, where southern waters occasionally entered from the tropics. In addition to its paleospatial significance, this study introduces a rigorous, quantitative methodology with which to analyze paleontological occurrence data, assess the degree of uncertainty and prioritize regions for additional data collection.
Margaret Yacobucci, Dr. (Advisor)
Peter Gorsevski, Dr. (Committee Member)
Andrew Gregory, Dr. (Committee Member)
132 p.
Earth; Geographic Information Science; Geography; Geology; Marine Geology; Oceanography; Paleoecology; Paleontology; Statistics
paleontology; GIS; foraminifera; species distribution modeling; fuzzy sets; Dempster-Shafer theory; paleoceanography; Western Interior Seaway; Cenomanian; Turonian; spatial modeling; Bayesian statistics; Oceanic Anoxic Event; uncertainty modeling; ArcGIS

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Lockshin, S. (2016). Spatial characterization of Western Interior Seaway paleoceanography using foraminifera, fuzzy sets and Dempster-Shafer theory [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1462803004

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Lockshin, Sam. Spatial characterization of Western Interior Seaway paleoceanography using foraminifera, fuzzy sets and Dempster-Shafer theory. 2016. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1462803004.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Lockshin, Sam. "Spatial characterization of Western Interior Seaway paleoceanography using foraminifera, fuzzy sets and Dempster-Shafer theory." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1462803004

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.