Three-dimensional elasto-plastic soil modelling and analysis of sauropod tracks

• Autorzy: Sanz E. , Arcos A. , Pascual C. , Pidal I.M.
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

This paper reports the use of FEA (Finite Element Analysis) to model dinosaur tracks. Satisfactory reproductions of sauropod ichnites were simulated using 3D numerical models of the elasto-plastic behaviour of soils. Though the modelling was done of ichnites in situ at the Miraflores I tracksite (Soria, Spain), the methodology could be applied to other tracksites to improve their ichnological interpretation and better understand how the type and state of the trodden sediment at the moment the track is created is a fundamental determinant of the morphology of the ichnite. The results obtained explain why the initial and commonly adopted hypothesis—that soft sediments become progressively more rigid and resistant at depth—is not appropriate at this tracksite. We explain why it is essential to consider a more rigid superficial layer (caused by desiccation) overlying a softer layer that is extruded to form a displacement rim. Adult sauropods left trackways behind them. These tracks could be filled up with water due to phreatic level was close to the ground surface. The simulation provides us with a means to explain the differences between similar tracks (of different depths; with or without displacement rims) in the various stratigraphic layers of the tracksite and to explain why temporary and variable conditions of humidity lead to these differences in the tracks. The simulations also demonstrate that track depth alone is insufficient to differentiate true tracks from undertracks and that other discrimination criteria need to be taken into account. The scarcity of baby sauropod tracks is explained because they are shallow and easily eroded.

Słowa kluczowe

EN

Sauropoda; ichnology; 3D analysis; mathematical simulation; elasto-plastic model; soil mechanics; Spain; soil; modelling; sauropod

• Wydawca: -
• Czasopismo: Acta Palaeontologica Polonica
• Rocznik: 2016
• Tom: 61
• Numer: 2
• Opis fizyczny: p.387-402,fig.,ref.

Twórcy

autor

Sanz E.

• Escuela de Caminos, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Campus Ciudad Universitaria C/Profesor Aranguren 3, 28040 Madrid, Spain

autor

Arcos A.

• Escuela de Caminos, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Campus Ciudad Universitaria C/Profesor Aranguren 3, 28040 Madrid, Spain

autor

Pascual C.

• Escuela de Caminos, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Campus Ciudad Universitaria C/Profesor Aranguren 3, 28040 Madrid, Spain

autor

Pidal I.M.

• Escuela de Caminos, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Campus Ciudad Universitaria C/Profesor Aranguren 3, 28040 Madrid, Spain

Bibliografia

• Abo-Elnor, M., Hamilton, R., and Boyle, J.T. 2004. Simulation of soilblade interaction for sandy soil using advanced 3D finite element analysis. Soil and Tillage Research 75 (1): 61−73.
• Alexander, R.M. 1976. Estimates of speeds of dinosaurs. Nature 261: 129−130.
• Alexander, R.M. 1989. Dynamics of Dinosaurs and Other Extinct Giants. 167 pp. Columbia University Press, New York.
• Anfinson, O.A., Lockley, M.G., Kim, S.H., Kim, K.S., and Kim, J.Y. 2009. First report of the small bird track Koreanaornis from the Cretaceous of North America: implications for avian ichnotaxonomy and paleoecology. Cretaceous Research 30: 885−894.
• Arbour, V.M. and Slevely, E. 2009. Finite element analyses of ankylosaurid dinosaur tail club impacts. The Anatomical Record: Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology 292: 1412−1426.
• Arcos, A., Sanz, E., Pascual, C., Uriel, S., Latorre, P., and Hernández, N. 2006. Las deformaciones producidas en los sedimentos por el paso de grandes dinosaurios: el caso del yacimiento de saurópodos de Miraflores I, Fuentes de Magaña (Soria, España). In: Colectivo Arqueológico - Paleontológico Salense (ed.), Actas de las III Jornadas sobre Dinosaurios y su Entorno, 193−222. Salas de los Infantes, Burgos.
• Baird, D. 1957. Triassic reptile footprint faunules from Milford, New Jersey. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 117: 449−520.
• Bates, K.T., Falkingham, P.L., Hodgetts, D., Farlow, J.O., Breithaupt, B.H., O’Brien, M., Matthews, N., Sellers, W.I., and Manning, P.L. 2009a. Digital imaging and public engagement in palaeontology. Geology Today 25: 95−100.
• Bates, K.T., Manning, P.L., Hodgetts, D., and Sellers, W.I. 2009b. Estimating mass properties of dinosaurs using laser imaging and 3D computer modelling. PLoS ONE 4 (2): e4532.
• Bates, K.T., Manning, P.L., Vila, B., and Hodgetts, D. 2008a. Three dimensional modelling and analysis of dinosaur trackways. Palaeontology 51: 999–1010..
• Bates, K.T., Rarity, F., Manning, P.L., Hodgetts, D., Vila, B., Oms, O., Galobart, À., and Gawthorpe, R. 2008b. High-resolution LiDAR and photogrammetric survey of the Fumanya dinosaur tracksites (Catalonia): Implications for the conservation and interpretation of geological heritage sites. Journal of the Geological Society, London 165: 115−127.
• Bates, K.T., Savage, R., Pataky, T.C., Morse, S.A., Webster, E., Falkingham, P.L., Ren, L., Qian, Z., Collins. D., Bennett, M.R., McClymont, J., and Crompton, R.H. 2013. Does footprint depth correlate with foot motion and pressure? Journal of the Royal Society Interface 10: 20130009.
• Bellian, J.A., Kerans, C., and Jennette, D.C. 2005. Digital outcrop models: applications of terrestrial scanning LIDAR technology in stratigraphic modelling. Journal of Sedimentary Research 75: 166–176.
• Breithaupt, B.H. and Matthews, N.A. 2001. Preserving paleontological resources using photogrammetry and geographic information systems. In: D. Harmon (ed.), Crossing Boundaries in Park Management. Proceedings of the 11th Conference on Research and Resource Management in Parks and Public Lands, 62−70. The George Wright Society, Inc., Hancock.
• Breithaupt, B.H., Matthews, N., and Noble, T. 2004. An integrated approach to three-dimensional data collection at dinosaur tracksites in the Rocky Mountain West. Ichnos 11: 11−26.
• Breithaupt, B.H., Southwell, E.H., Adams, T., and Matthews, N.A. 2001. Innovative documentation methodologies in the study of the most extensive dinosaur tracksite in Wyoming. In: V.L. Santucci and L. McClelland (eds.), 6th Fossil Research Conference Proceedings Volume, 113−122. Geologic Resources Division, Lakewood.
• Clemente, P. 2010. Review of the Upper Jurassic−Lower Cretaceous stratigraphy in Western Cameros Basin, Northern Spain. Revista de las Sociedad Geológica de España 23: 101−143.
• Currie, P.J. 1983. Hadrosaur trackways from the Lower Cretaceous of Canada. Acta Paleontologica Polonica 28: 63−73.
• Falkingham, P.L. 2010. Computer Simulation of Dinosaur Tracks. 201 pp. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of Manchester, Manchester.
• Falkingham, P.L. 2012. Acquisition of high resolution 3D models using free, open-source, photogrammetric software. Palaeontologia Electro nica 15 (1): 15.1.1T. http://palaeo-electronica.org/content/issue1-2012technicalarticles/92-3d-photogrammetry
• Falkingham, P.L., Bates, K.T., Margetts, L., and Manning, P.L. 2011a. Simulating sauropod manus-only trackway formation using finite-element analysis. Biology Letters 7: 142–145.
• Falkingham, P.L., Bates, K.T., Margetts, L., and Manning, P.L. 2011b. The ‘Goldilocks’ effect: preservation bias in vertebrate track assemblages. Journal of the Royal Society Interface 8: 1142–1154.
• Falkingham P.L., Hage, J., and Bäker, M. 2014. Mitigating the Goldilocks effect: the effects of different substrate models on track formation potential. Royal Society Open Science 1 (3): 140225.
• Falkingham, P.L., Margetts, L., and Manning, P.L. 2010. Fossil vertebrate tracks as paleopenetrometers: Confounding effects of foot morphology. Palaios 25: 356–360.
• Falkingham, P.L., Margetts, L., Smith, I.M., and Manning, P.L. 2009. Reinterpretation of palmate and semi-palmate (webbed) fossil tracks; insights from finite element modelling. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 271: 69−76.
• Fervers, C.W. 2004. Improved FEM simulation model for tire-soil interaction. Journal of Terramechanics 41: 87−100.
• Guiraud, M. and Seguret, M. 1985. A releasing solitary overstep model for the Late Jurassic−Early Cretaceous (Wealdian) Soria strike-slip basin (Northern Spain). In: N. Christie-Blick and K.T. Biddle (eds.), Strike-Slip Deformation, Basin Formation, and Sedimentation. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Special Publication 37: 159−175.
• Henderson, D.M. 2006. Simulated weathering of dinosaur tracks and the implications for their characterization. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 43: 691−704.
• Kraft, R.H., Mckee, P.J., Dagro, A.M., and Grafton, S.T. 2012. Combining the finite element method with structural connectome-based analysis for modeling neurotrauma: connectome neurotrauma mechanics. PLoS Comput Biol 8 (8): e1002619.
• Lockley, M.G. 2007. The morphodinamics of dinosaurs, other archosaurs, and their trackways: holistic insights into relationship between feet, limbs, and the whole body. In: Sediments organism interactions: A multifunctional Ichnology. SEMP Special Publication 88: 27−51.
• Lockley, M., Chin, K., Houck, K., Matsukawa, M., and Kukihara, R. 2009. New interpretations of Ignotornis, the first-reported Mesozoic avian footprints: implications for the paleoecology and behavior of an enigmatic Cretaceous bird. Cretaceous Research 30: 1041−1061.
• Latorre Macarrón, P., Pascual Arribas, C., Sanz Pérez, E., and Hernández Medrano, N. 2006. El yacimiento con huellas de Saurópodos de Miraflores I. Fuentes de Magaña. (Soria, España). In: Colectivo Arqueológico-Paleontológico de Salas (ed.), Actas de las III Jornadas Internacionales sobre Paleontología de Dinosaurios y su entorno, 235−252. Salas de los Infantes, Burgos.
• Madzvamuse, A., Wathen, A.J., and Maini, P.K. 2003. A moving grid finite element method applied to a model biological pattern generator. Journal of Computational Physics 190: 478–500.
• Manning, P.L., Margetts, L., Johnson, M.R., Withers, P.J., Sellers, W.I., Falkingham, P.L., Mummery, P.M., Barrett, P.M., and Raymont, D.R. 2009. Biomechanics of dromaeosaurid dinosaur claws: application of X-ray microtomography, nanoindentation, and finite element analysis. The Anatomical Record: Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology 292: 1397−1405.
• Margetts, L., Smith, I.M., and Leng, J. 2005. Simulating dinosaur track formation. In: E. Oñate and D.R.J. Owen (eds.), VIII International Conference on Computational Plasticity (COMPLAS), Extended Abstracts, 4. CIMNE, Barcelona.
• Margetts, L., Smith, I.M., Leng, J., and Manning, P.L. 2006. Parallel three-dimensional finite element analysis of dinosaur trackway formation. In: H.F. Schweiger (ed.), Numerical Methods in Geotechnical Engineering, 743−749. Taylor & Francis, London.
• Martín-Closas, C. and Alonso Millán, A. 1998. Estratigrafía y bioestratigrafía (Charophyta) del Cretácico Inferior en el sector occidental de la Cuenca de Cameros (Cordillera Ibérica). Revista de la Sociedad Geológica de España 11: 253−269.
• Marty, D., Strasser, A., and Meyer, C.A. 2009. Formation and taphonomy of human footprints in microbial mats of present-day tidal-flat environments: Implications for the study of fossil footprints. Ichnos 16: 127−142.
• Mas, R., Benito M.I., Arribas, J., Alonso, A., Arribas, M.E., Lohmann, K.C., González-Acebrón, L., Hernán, J., Quijada, E., Suárez, P., and Omodeo, S. 2011. Evolution of an intraplate rift basin: the Latest Jurassic−Early Cretaceous Cameros Basin (Northwest Iberian Ranges, North Spain). In: C. Arenas, L. Pomar, and F. Colombo (eds). Post-Meeting Field Trips Guidebook, 28th IAS Meeting Zaragoza. Geo-Guías 8: 117−154.
• Mas, R., García, A., Salas, R., Meléndez, A., Alonso, A., Aurell, M., Bádenas, B., Benito, M.I., Carenas, B., García-Hidalgo, J.F., Gil, J., and Segura, M. 2004. Segunda fase de rifting: Jurásico Superior–Cretácico inferior. In: J.A. Vera (ed.), Geología de España, 503−522. SGEIGME, Madrid.
• Matthews, N.A., Breithaupt, B.H., Noble, T., Titus, A., and Smith, J. 2005. A geospatial look at the morphological variation of tracks at the Twentymile Wash dinosaur tracksite, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25: 90A.
• Matthews, N.A., Noble, T.A., and Breithaupt, B.H. 2006. The application of photogrammetry, remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) to fossil resource management. Bulletin New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science 34: 119−131.
• McHenry, C.R., Clausen, P.D., Daniel, W.J.T., Meers, M.B., and Pendharkar, A. 2006. Biomechanics of the rostrum in crocodilians: a comparative analysis using finite-element modeling. The Anatomical Record 288A: 827–849.
• Milàn, J. 2006. Variations in the morphology of emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) tracks reflecting differences in walking pattern and substrate consistency: ichnotaxonomic implications. Palaeontology 49: 405−420.
• Milàn, J. and Bromley, R.G.2006. True tracks, undertracks and eroded tracks, experimental work with tetrapod tracks in laboratory and field. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 231: 253−264.
• Milàn, J. and Bromley, R.G. 2008. The impact of sediment consistency on track and undertrack morphology: experiments with emu tracks in layered cement. Ichnos 15: 19–27.
• Milàn, J., Clemmensen, L.B., and Bonde, N. 2004. Vertical sections through dinosaur tracks (Late Triassic lake deposits, East Greenland)—undertracks and other subsurface deformation structures revealed. Lethaia 37: 285−296.
• Moreno, K., Carrano, M.T., and Snyder, R. 2007. Morphological changes in pedal phalanges through ornithopod dinosaur evolution: A biomechanical approach. Journal of Morphology 268: 50−63.
• Mulungye, R.M., Owende, P.M.O., and Mellon, K. 2007. Finite element modelling of flexible pavements on soft soil subgrades. Materials & Design 28: 739−756.
• Nakashima, H. and Oida, A. 2004. Algorithm and implementation of soiltire contact analysis code based on dynamic FE-DE method. Journal of Terramechanics 41: 127−137.
• Nakashima, H. and Wong, J.Y. 1993. A three-dimensional tire model by the finite element method. Journal of Terramechanics 30: 21−34.
• Oldfield, C.C., McHenry, C.R., Clausen, P.D., Chamoli, U., Parr, W.C., Stynder, D.D., and Wroe, S. 2012. Finite element analysis of ursid cranial mechanics and the prediction of feeding behaviour in the extinct giant Agriotherium africanum. Journal of Zoology 286: 171–171.
• Panagiotopoulou, O. 2009. Finite element analysis (FEA): applying an engineering method to functional morphology in anthropology and human biology. Annals of Human Biology 36: 609−623.
• Pascual Arribas, C., Latorre Macarrón, P., Hernández Medrano, N., and Sanz Pérez, E. 2005. Las huellas de dinosaurios de los yacimientos del arroyo Miraflores (Fuentes de Magaña-Cerbón-Magaña, Soria). Celtiberia 99: 413−442.
• Popescu, R., Prevost, J.H., and Deodatis, G. 2005. 3D Effects in Seismic Liquefaction of Stochastically Variable Soil Deposits. Geotechnique 55: 21−32.
• Popescu, R., Prevost, J.H., Deodatis, G., and Chakrabortty, P. 2006. Dynamics of nonlinear porous media with applications to soil liquefaction. Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 26 (6−7): 648−665.
• Quijada, I.E., Suarez-Gonzalez, P., Benito, M.I., and Mas, R. 2013. New insights on stratigraphy and sedimentology of the Oncala Group (eastern Cameros Basin): implications for the paleogeographic reconstruction of NE Iberia at Berriasian times. Journal of Iberian Geology 39: 313−334.
• Razzolini, N.L., Vila, B., Castanera, D., Falkingham, P.L., Barco, J.L., Canudo, J.I., Manning, P.L., and Galobart, A. 2014. Intra-trackway morphological variations due to substrate consistency: The El Frontal Dinosaur Tracksite (Lower Cretaceous, Spain). PLoS ONE 9 (4): e93708.
• Rayfield, E.J. 2007. Finite element analysis and understanding the biomechanics and evolution of living and fossil organisms. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 35: 541–576.
• Schanz, T., Lins, Y., Viefhaus, H., Barciaga, T., Sashima, L., Preuchoft, H., Witzel, U., and Sander, P.M. 2013. Quantitative interpretation of tracks for determination of body mass. PLoS ONE 8 (10): e77606.
• Sellers, W.I., Manning, P.L., Lyson, T., Stevens, K., and Margetts, L. 2009. Virtual palaeontology: gait reconstruction of extinct vertebrates using high performance computing. Palaeontologia Electronica 12 (3): 12.3.13A. http://palaeo-electronica.org/2009_3/180/index.html
• Schudack, U. and Schudack, M. 2009. Ostracod biostratigraphy in the Lower Cretaceous of the Iberian Chain (eastern Spain). Journal of Iberian Geology 35: 141−168.
• Terzaghi, K. 1943. Theoretical Soil Mechanics. 538 pp. John Wiley and Sons, New York
• Thulborn, T. 1990. Dinosaur Tracks. 410 pp. Chapman & Hall, London.
• Tischer, G. 1966. Über die Wealden-Ablagerung und die Tektonik der östlichen Sierra de los Cameros in den nordwestlichen Iberischen Ketten (Spanien). Beihefte zum Geologischen Jahrburch 44: 123−164.
• Vila, B., Oms, O., Galobart, A., Bates, K.T., and Egerton, V.M. 2013. Dynamic Similarity in Titanosaur Sauropods: Ichnological Evidence from the Fumanya Dinosaur Tracksite (Southern Pyrenees). PLoS ONE 8 (2): e57408.
• Walmsley, C.W., McCurry, M.R., Clausen, P.D., and McHenry, C.R. 2013. Beware the black box: investigating the sensitivity of FEA simulations to modelling factors in comparative biomechanics. PeerJ 1: e204.
• Xing, L., Yong, Y.E., Chunkang, S.H.U., Guangzhao, P., and Hailu, Y.O.U. 2009. Structure, orientation and finite element analysis of the tail club of Mamenchisaurus hochuanensis. Acta Geologica Sinica 83: 1031−1040.

Identyfikatory

DOI

10.4202/app.00098.2014