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Question
- explain how sedimentation can both help and hinder the preservation of fossils.
Sedimentation helps fossil preservation by quickly covering remains, protecting them from scavengers and decay. It can hinder by causing pressure - related damage (like compaction) or by burying fossils too deeply for discovery.
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Sedimentation helps fossil preservation as it rapidly covers organic remains, shielding them from destruction by scavengers and environmental factors that cause decay. However, it can hinder preservation because the weight of overlying sediments can lead to compaction, distorting or damaging the fossils. Also, excessive sedimentation can bury fossils so deeply that they may never be unearthed for study.