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Molly F. Miller
Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, 1977
Paleoecology, Clastic Sedimentology and Ichnology

office: 5721 Science & Engineering Bldg.
phone: 615-322-3528
email: molly.f.miller@vanderbilt.edu

What is the relationship between soft-bodied animals and physical and biologic components of their environment, and how has this relationship changed through the Phanerozoic?  Has the history been different for those living in marine versus freshwater conditions?  Molly Miller’s long-term research goal is to find answers to these questions.  To reach this goal, she integrates sedimentologic data with information about biogenic structures and the ecology of living organisms in order to reconstruct the ecological controls on ancient soft-bodied organisms.

Molly Miller’s current research is on reconstructing the benthic communities of freshwater ecosystems and how they have changed through the Phanerozoic. Focused on the spectacularly well exposed upper Paleozoic to Mesozoic freshwater sequence in the Transantarctic Mountains, she uses biogenic structures and extent of bioturbation as a proxy for fossils of bottom-dwellers, and interprets the type and abundance of benthic animals in different environments (e.g. lakes, streams) during this crucial period in the development of freshwater habitats. Development of a semi-quantitative method for assessing bioturbation allows for comparison of benthic activity rocks of similar age deposited in the same environment in high latitude vs. low latitude settings and for comparison of animal activity in marine versus freshwater depositional systems. This work has documented that fresh water habitats were colonized by burrowing animals much later than those in the marine realm, and raises questions about mechanisms of colonization.

Miller also has studied the effect of obstacles (shell layers, hard grounds) on modern and ancient borrowing animals and how this response has changed through the Phanerozoic.  Long-term continuing interests include coastal processes and interpreting shoreline depositional processes in relation to the distribution of biogenic structures.  She is particularly interested in the (Devonian) Catskill deltaic complex of New York and in Pennsylvanian fluvio-deltaic deposits in northern Tennessee.  She has studied Permian nonmarine turbidite systems in the Transantarctic Mountains, which provided the sedimentologic background for current studies of the benthic ecosystems.

Additionally, Molly Miller is interested in linking biogenic structures to the behavior and natural history of the producing animals.  What controls an animal's behavior and thus the morphology of the structures it produces?  Evaluating the full range of biogenic structures produced by a type of animal yields the maximum information about its behavior and natural history.

Molly Miller’s students have undertaken a wide variety of projects ranging from sedimentologic and petrologic studies of shales and sandstones, to studies of modern and ancient bioturbation. The following are some examples of recent student research:

• Lisa Berrios (M.S. thesis currently in progress): environmental distribution of infaunal animals in Triassic lake and stream deposits, Newark and Deerfield Basins
• Nichole Knepprath (M.S. started 2003): some aspect of sedimentology and/or paleoecology of Permian-Triassic lacestone or fluvial deposits (in Antarctica 11/03-1/04)
• Kelsey Bitting (current undergraduate) Rate of clam shell dissolution in cold Antarctic waters
• Miriam Borosund (undergraduate project): Petrology and feldspar weathering in high paleolatitude Permian Sandstone, Antarctica
• Allison Holmes (B.A. 2003): Feldspar weathering in Pleistocene glacial deposits, Wyoming
• Trent McDowell (M.S. 2001): Bioturbation in Permian, Triassic, and Jurassic fluvial deposits, Colorado Plateau
• Suzanne Ankerstjerne (B.A. 2001): Bioturbation of Pennsylvanian marginal marine sedimentary rocks along Pennyrile Parkway, Kentucky
• Sam Henderson (B.S. 2002): Origin of wind blown gravels, Behnett Platform, Shackleton Glacer area, Antarctica

Miller, M.F., and Labandeira, C.C. (in press).  The slow crawl of invertebrates across the salinity divide. GSA Today.

Miller, M.F., McDowell, T.A., Smail, S.E., Shyr, Y., and Kemp, N.R. (2002).  Hardly used habitats: dearth and distribution of burrowing in Paleozoic and Mesozoic stream and lake deposits.  Geology, 30:527-530.

Miller, M.F., Hasiotis, S.T., Babcock, L.E., Isbell, J.L., and Collinson, J.W. (2001). Tetrapod and Large Burrows of Uncertain Origin in Triassic High Paleolatitude Flood-plain Deposits, Antarctica. Palaios, 16:218-232.

Miller, M.F., and Currin, H.A. (2001).  Behavioral plasticity of modern and Cenoroic barrowing thalassinidean shrimp.  Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeo-ecology, 166:219-236.

Miller, M.F. (2000).  Benthic aquatic ecosystems across the Permian – Triassic transition: record from biogenic structures in fluvial sandstones, Central Transantarctic Mountains. J. of Africian Earth Sciences, 31:157-164.

Babcock, L.E., Miller, M.F., Isbell, J.L., Collinson, J.W., and Hasiotis, S.T. (1998).  Paleozoic-Mesozoic crayfish from Antarctica: earliest evidence of freshwater decapod crustaceans.  Geology, 26(6):530-542.

Miller, M.F., and Smail, S.E. (1997).  A semiquantitative field method for evaluating bioturbation on bedding planes. PALAIOS, 12:391-396.

Miller, M. F., and Collinson, J.W. (1994).  Late Paleozoic post-glacial inland sea filled by fine-grained turbidites: Mackellar Formation, Central Transantarctic Mountains. In: Deynous, M. and Miller, J.M.G. (Eds.), The Earth’s Glacial Record, Cambridge University Press, p.215-233.

*Borosund, Miriam, Miller, Molly, and Isbell, John (2003).  Sandstone composition and feldspar weathering, Weller Col Measures (Per,mian), Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 35, p. 18.

*Holmes, Allison, Miller, Molly, and Isbell, John (2003).  Composition and feldspar alteration in Pleistocene glaial sands, Wind River Range, Wyoming: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 35, p. 18.

*Henderson, S.S., Miller, M.F., Isbell, J.L., and Mabin, M.C.G. (2002).  Coarse, wind blown gravel deposits, Bennett Platform, Antarctica: Constraining wind velocities during transport: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 34(2), p. A-9.