An Upper Mississippian trace-fossil assemblage from the Tar Springs Sandstone, southern Illinois

Wescott, William A.; Utgaard, John

doi:10.1017/s0022336000028432

Cited by 22 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Chondrites and phycosiphoniform assemblages are usually reported from a range of marine settings: abyssal (Wetzel, 2010), deep marine (Buatois and Angriman, 1992), offshore (Buatois et al 2013;Buatois and Angriman, 1992;Głuszek, 1998;Izumi, 2015), shallow/nearshore (Bjerstedt 1987;Angulo and Buatois, 2012;Pollard, 1988) and tidal flats (Hertweck et al, 2005;Wescott and Utgaard, 1987). This study is the first detailed report of ichnofauna from a Palaeozoic terrestrial tetrapod site where Chondrites and phycosiphoniform burrows predominate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Ichnofauna record cryptic marine incursions onto a coastal floodplain at a key Lower Mississippian tetrapod site

Bennett

Howard

Davies

et al. 2017

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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Ichnofossils from a Lower Mississippian (Tournaisian) coastal plain succession with a rich vertebrate fauna, including early tetrapods, record repeated, short-lived marine interactions that influenced floodplain lake development and ecosystems. The ichnofauna contrasts with the more typical Scoyenia Ichnofacies of other Devonian-Carboniferous tetrapod sites. In the Tournaisian Ballagan Formation of the Scottish Borders, Chondrites is identified in 128 horizons within a 500-m succession and is associated with lesser occurrences of phycosiphoniform burrows, Diplocraterion, Rhizocorallium and Zoophycos?. Chondrites and phycosiphoniform burrows commonly occur within dolostones, interpreted as part of a saline-hypersaline lake facies association, containing a non-marine to marginal marine macrofauna of bivalves, ostracods, Spirorbis, Serpula and sarcopterygian fish. Marine scolecodonts are reported from 18 horizons of diverse lithology, four of which co-occur with Chondrites. The single-colonisation, single-tier, high ichnofabric index and thin beds (mean 10 cm thick) that characterise Chondrites horizons indicate: 1) adverse Tournaisian coastal floodplain ichnofauna Bennett et al. 2016 2 environmental conditions; 2) rapid colonisation of the sediment; and 3) short-lived bioturbation episodes.Other ichnotaxa identified are Monocraterion and Asterosoma?, which occur exclusively within the overbank or fluvial facies associations, and are here interpreted to have lived in freshwater conditions. The Chondrites trace-makers are interpreted as having originated in shallow-marine waters and were transported into floodplain lakes by storm surge events, although a few examples suggest more significant transgressions. Ichnofossils are much more common than marine body fossils or scolecodonts, and thus record cryptic marine incursions that might otherwise remain unidentified. This study contributes to our understanding of the complex mosaic of environments present when terrestrial tetrapods first appeared.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Ichnofauna record cryptic marine incursions onto a coastal floodplain at a key Lower Mississippian tetrapod site

Bennett

Howard

Davies

et al. 2017

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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“…The Manitou Embayment is a triangular structural inlier in the Front Range of Colorado (Langford and Fishbaugh, 1984), the southwestern edge of which is bounded by the Ute Pass Fault. The Fountain Formation has been interpreted as a clas sical alluvial fan for many years (see discussion in Wilson, 1975); however, recent recognition of intercalated marine and nonmarine facies within the lower part of the Fountain Formation ( Figure 2) has led a number of workers to conclude that the Fountain alluvial sediments were deposited in a coastal setting (Wescott and Ethridge, 1980;Langford and Fishbaugh, 1984;Shultz, 1984;Suttner, 1984). Based largely on descriptions from the literature, McPherson et al (1987) interpreted sediments of the lower part of the Fountain Formation in the Manitou Em bayment to have been deposited in a braid-delta setting.…”

Section: Introduction and Stratigraphic Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trace fossils and marine-nonmarine cyclicity in the Fountain Formation (Pennsylvanian: Morrowan/Atokan) near Manitou Springs, Colorado

Maples

Suttner

1990

J. Paleontol.

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The Lower Pennsylvanian (Morrowan/Atokan) portion of the Fountain Formation in the Manitou Springs, Colorado, area commonly has been interpreted as a subaerial alluvial fan. However, approximately 12 marine-nonmarine cycles, each represented by a discrete progradational sequence, have been recognized within the lower third of the Fountain Formation in this area. The typical cycle is composed of six lithofacies: 1) transgressive-lag conglomerate; 2) offshore mudstone; 3) hummocky crossbedded sandstone; 4) planar crossbedded granular sandstone; 5) low-angle, crossbedded, coarse-grained sandstone; 6) lenticular conglomeratic sandstone. Only lithofacies 6 is nonmarine (alluvial) in origin. Two diverse trace-fossil assemblages (totalling 18 ichnogenera and 20 ichnospecies) within the Fountain Formation are restricted to the marine portions of the section, or to those portions within 1 m below marine-deposited strata. The assemblage includes Arenicolites carbonarius, ?A. ichnosp., Aulichnites parkerensis, two types of Chondrites, ?Conostichus broadheadi, ?Crossopodia ichnosp., Curvolithus manitouensis (ichnosp. nov.), Eione ichnosp., Lockeia ichnosp., Macaronichnus segregatis, Palaeophycus heberti, Palaeophycus striatus, Planolites beverleyensis, Psammichnites plummeri, Rhizocorallium irregulare, ?Skolithos ichnosp., Taenidium serpentinum, ?Teichichnus ichnosp., ?Thalassinoides ichnosp., ?Zoophycos ichnosp., and several unnamed traces.Trace fossils in the Fountain Formation can be used as indicators of sedimentary processes (e.g., rates of deposition, energy regime). Trace-fossil composition changes along a roughly south-to-north, nearshore-to-offshore gradient, generally reflecting increased influence and duration of normal-marine sedimentation. Ichnotaxa present and their distributions within marine strata in the lower part of the Fountain Formation suggest that they belong to the Curvolithus ichnoassemblage, which has been shown to indicate high sedimentaiton rates in relatively nearshore shelf settings. The Curvolithus ichnoassemblage can be subdivided into Macaronichnus-dominated and Curvolithus-dominated parts. Macaronichnus-dominated portions of the Fountain Formation indicate generally higher wave-energy sedimentation as compared with Curvolithus-dominated portions.

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Trace fossils from Lower Miocene (Ottnangian) molasse deposits of Upper Austria

Uchman

Krenmayr

1995

Paläontol. Z.

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An Upper Mississippian trace-fossil assemblage from the Tar Springs Sandstone, southern Illinois

Cited by 22 publications

References 10 publications

Ichnofauna record cryptic marine incursions onto a coastal floodplain at a key Lower Mississippian tetrapod site

Ichnofauna record cryptic marine incursions onto a coastal floodplain at a key Lower Mississippian tetrapod site

Trace fossils and marine-nonmarine cyclicity in the Fountain Formation (Pennsylvanian: Morrowan/Atokan) near Manitou Springs, Colorado

Trace fossils from Lower Miocene (Ottnangian) molasse deposits of Upper Austria

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