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"We've had projects for the last 20 years in Alaska trying to integrate sedimentology, dinosaur paleontology and the paleoclimate indicators," McCarthy said.

With experts in sedimentology, paleontology, geochemistry, biogeochemistry and mathematical modeling, the group literally dug deep to geochemically analyze hundreds of samples scattered across different continents.

The study, which has now been published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, shows how genetics, in interaction with sedimentology, paleobiology and geochemistry, can improve the diagnostic value of biomarkers and refine the reconstruction of early ecosystems.

"This research work is an important step toward a better understanding of the ways in which ocean currents control the deposition of particles in the seafloor, which has important implications for paleoceanographic reconstructions and benthic ecology. This introduces a new branch of research that will probably lead to even more exciting discoveries," according to Elda Miramontes, co-author of the study and head of the "Sedimentology" working group at MARUM.

“It doesn’t match the sedimentology that we find,” said Nicholas Pyenson, a paleontologist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., and an author of the study.