EXPERIMENTAL CRUSHING OF SOME PODOCOPID OSTRACODE VALVES - AN ASPECT OF TAPHONOMY

An important aspect of ostracode preservation includes burial and resi stance to crushing. In this study, ostracode valves from six modern sp ecies were subjected to force using a miniature electronic load cell. Variables commonly considered to influence strength and investigated h ere are shell size (length, width height), shape, valve thickness, and ornamentation. Area, width, shell shape, and ornamentation showed the greatest correlation with resistance to crushing A stepwise regressio n process used these variables (and thickness), along with their squar es and crossed terms, as independent variables to formulate a system o f equations to predict crushing resistance. Width, thickness, and shel l shape are significant predictors for all species considered. Ornamen tation is not significant in the stepwise analysis. The results are re asonable in an engineering context, particularly in regard to width an d thickness. This work is important because it potentially allows inve stigators to apply such equations to an assemblage of ostracodes to de termine their resistance to crushing and infer the degree to which the assemblage may have been altered by this taphonomic process.