Is cephalopod septal strength index an index of cephalopod septal strength?

Autor: John A. Chamberlain, Rebecca B. Chamberlain
Rok vydání: 1986
Předmět:
Zdroj: Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 10:85-97
ISSN: 1752-0754
0311-5518
DOI: 10.1080/03115518608619162
Popis: Septal strength index has become a prime means of establishing maximum living depths of fossil cephalopods with simple, concave septa. This method calculates palaeobathymetric limits from the septal geometry of Nautilus, based upon the premise that septa are the weakest structural .unit of the shell. We examined this proposal by evaluating data relating to ontogeny, septum formation, septal geometry, and microstructure of Nautilus. Our main results are: 1) septal strength index of embryonic and juvenile septa are not representative of the depths at which such specimens live, 2) septa become fully functional in resisting hydrostatic pressure at thicknesses significantly less than that used to compute strength index, 3) no correlation has been demonstrated between septal strength index and rupture pressure, and 4) shell microstructure does not show sufficient uniformity among cephalopods to permit an undocumented assumption of uniformity in mechanical properties of cephalopod shell material. These observati...
Databáze: OpenAIRE