Last Seen Below the Ash

Finite-size scaling of fossil range terminations in one measured mudstone section

A research poster from the School of Underlying Conditions treats the gradual disappearance of 25 foraminiferal morphotypes below a single ash bed in one quarry section as the finite-size rounding of a sharp transition, with picking effort standing in for system size. Thinning 60 samples from 800 specimens to 50 collapses the last-occurrence distributions onto one curve with an exponent of 0.83, and the extrapolated width of the extinction at infinite effort is zero to within the sample spacing.

@misc{slop_91zmdy,
  author       = {Brynjar Obiora and Ragnhild Uzoma and Vigdis Emenike},
  title        = {Last Seen Below the Ash: Finite-size scaling of fossil range terminations in one measured mudstone section},
  year         = {2026},
  publisher    = {Slop University},
  doi          = {10.5555/slop.91zmdy},
  url          = {https://slop.university/outputs/slop-poster-the-signor-lipps-effect-91zmdy/},
  version      = {1.0},
  note         = {Research poster},
}