Rock outcrops of the sedimentary–stratigraphic record often reveal bedding planes that can be considered to be true substrates: preserved surfaces that demonstrably existed at the sediment–water or sediment–air interface at the time of deposition. These surfaces have high value as repositories of palaeoenvironmental information, revealing fossilized snapshots of microscale topography from deep time. Some true substrates are notable for their sedimentary, palaeontological and ichnological signatures that provide windows into key intervals of Earth history, but countless others occur routinely throughout the sedimentary–stratigraphic record. They frequently reveal patterns that are strikingly familiar from modern sedimentary environments, such as ripple marks, animal trackways, raindrop impressions or mudcracks: all phenomena that are apparently ephemeral in modern settings, and which form on recognizably human timescales. This paper sets out to explain why these short-term, transient, small-scale features are counter-intuitively abundant within a 3.8 billion year-long sedimentary–stratigraphic record that is known to be inherently time-incomplete. True substrates are fundamentally related to a state of stasis in ancient sedimentation systems, and distinguishable from other types of bedding surfaces that formed from a dominance of states of deposition or erosion. Stasis is shown to play a key role in both their formation and preservation, rendering them faithful and valuable archives of palaeoenvironmental and temporal information. Further, the intersection between the time–length scale of their formative processes and outcrop expressions can be used to explain why they are so frequently encountered in outcrop investigations. Explaining true substrates as inevitable and unexceptional by-products of the accrual of the sedimentary–stratigraphic record should shift perspectives on what can be understood about Earth history from field studies of the sedimentary–stratigraphic record. They should be recognized as providing high-definition information about the mundane day to day operation of ancient environments, and critically assuage the argument that the incomplete sedimentary–stratigraphic record is unrepresentative of the geological past.

中文翻译：

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真正的基材：在床上用品表面上的超常分辨率和深度时间快照的非凡保存

沉积-地层记录的岩石露头通常显示出可以被认为是真正基质的层理平面：沉积时明显存在于沉积物-水或沉积物-空气界面的保存表面。这些表面作为古环境信息的储存库具有很高的价值，可以揭示来自深层的微尺度地形的化石快照。一些真正的底物以其沉积、古生物学和地质学特征而著称，这些特征为了解地球历史的关键间隔提供了窗口，但在整个沉积地层记录中，还有无数其他底物经常出现。它们经常揭示现代沉积环境中非常熟悉的图案，例如波纹痕迹、动物轨迹、雨滴印记或泥泞：所有在现代环境中明显转瞬即逝的现象，并在可识别的人类时间尺度上形成。本文旨在解释为什么这些短期的、​​瞬态的、小尺度的特征在一个长达 38 亿年的沉积地层记录中反直觉地丰富，而该记录被认为是固有的时间不完整。真正的基质从根本上与古代沉积系统中的停滞状态有关，并且与由沉积或侵蚀状态主导形成的其他类型的层理表面不同。停滞在它们的形成和保存中发挥着关键作用，使它们成为古环境和时间信息的忠实而有价值的档案。更远，它们形成过程的时间长度尺度与露头表达之间的交集可以用来解释为什么它们在露头调查中如此频繁地遇到。将真正的底物解释为沉积地层记录积累过程中不可避免的和普通的副产品，应该改变对沉积地层记录实地研究可以理解的地球历史的看法。它们应该被认为提供了关于古代环境日常运作的高清信息，并批判性地缓和了不完整的沉积地层记录不能代表地质历史的论点。将真正的底物解释为沉积地层记录积累过程中不可避免的和普通的副产品，应该改变对沉积地层记录实地研究可以理解的地球历史的看法。它们应该被认为提供了关于古代环境日常运作的高清信息，并批判性地缓和了不完整的沉积地层记录不能代表地质历史的论点。将真正的底物解释为沉积地层记录积累过程中不可避免的和普通的副产品，应该改变对沉积地层记录实地研究可以理解的地球历史的看法。它们应该被认为提供了关于古代环境日常运作的高清信息，并批判性地缓和了不完整的沉积地层记录不能代表地质历史的论点。