Stressed out trilobiteThis trilobite probably feels like an awful lot of us these days. It started o

Stressed out trilobiteThis trilobite probably feels like an awful lot of us these days. It started off in its normal shape, discarded onto the ocean floor as the organism shed it. That little trilobite shell found its way into sediment and eventually became part of a rock. But then, something happened to that rock – it was put under stress, from the old sedimentary layer being pulled into a mountain building event. The stress was gentle enough that the rock didn’t break, but it was strong enough and lasted long enough that the rock started to gradually shift its shape. Our once normal looking trilobite began shearing and twisting under the strain, bending to the side and eventually taking the shape seen here.Geologists who find objects like the can find them quite useful – we know what the shape of the trilobite used to be based on undeformed trilobites, so we can estimate how much the rock has been deformed using this fossil. Other objects, such as clasts in conglomerate rocks, can be used similarly. However, if a rock is taken to too stressful of conditions, such as medium to high grade metamorphism, fossils like these would instead be destroyed and recrystallized.-JBBImage credit: Marli Miller (CC licensed/Noncommercial)https://i1.wp.com/geologypics.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/SrD-53.jpg?ssl=1Read more:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00288306.1990.10425690https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/ks3/webdav/site/GSL/shared/pdfs/education%20and%20careers/RockCycle/Deformed%20Fossils%20Experiment.pdf -- source link

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