University of Bristol EARTH SCIENCES

Diagenesis/diagenetics All the changes that take place in a sediment at low temperature and pressure after deposition. With increasing temperatures and pressures the diagenesis grade into higher grades of metamorphism.It is also used to describe compaction of sediments that form rocks such as sandstone and coal.

Disarticulation The breakup of bodily parts following the decay of soft tissues, ususally occurs at skeletal joints such as the limbs and the head.

Dissolution The process of the dissolving of inorganic matter.

Fossilisation The process by which a fossil is formed.It is unusual for organisms to be preserved complete and unaltered: generally, the soft parts decay and the hard parts undergo various degrees of change.

Macromolecules Large molecules e.g. proteins.

Palaeoecology The application of ecological concepts to fossil and sedimentary evidence in order to study the interactions of the earth's surface and biosphere in pre historic and geological time.

Palaeoenvironments Ancient environments.

Problematic A named group into which geological structures are placed if their affinity is uncertain but their origin is cinsidered to be organic.

Preservation The longevity of a fossilised organism (whether animal or plant) to survive through time, and the amount of detail of structure that survives.