The Process of Fossilization

Sandstone with bivalves, found at Castello, Puos d’Alpago. (Photo F. Padovan)

     Display case 47: beginning from the top, on the first two shelves the fossils show various kinds of fossilization, such as solution, impregnation, dolomitization, etc.
     The middle shelf shows how the same organism can turn into various fossils depending on the chemical composition of the silt, and the kind of fossilization process described above (e.g. internal and external model, shell replaced, etc.)
     The bottom shelf has two examples of cryoconservation (a mammoth on permafrost and a human being on ice) and an example of preservation in amber (a trapped insect perfectly preserved).