>Lamination is not surprising if the bottom of the lake was low in oxygen
>and thus uninhabitable by bioturbators. This is commonly the case in
>modern lakes; all I know relevant about the Green River is that there are
>some evaporites (indicating limited drainage and warm, low-oxygen water)
>and oil shales (indicating low oxygen) in the area.
Paul sent me the following:
One of my students conducted his MS thesis on this very topic. He studied a
number of stratified lakes with finely laminated sediments in New York
(Fayetville Green Lake), Minnesota, and elsewhere and found that there
were NO fish bones preserved... although these lakes contain abundant
fish in the epilimnion. However, Salton Sea, a large desert lake in
southern California, does contain abundant fish bones and scales in
laminated sediments... and the lake is not stratified! Another student
recently completed a MS thesis on the distribution of laminated
sediments in Salton Sea. It is of interest to note that laminae numbers
and thickness of laminated sediments increase toward inflow areas. This
is not published yet. Salton Sea has only been in existence as a modern
lake since 1905.