Late permian reefs of southern Tunisia: Facies patterns and comparison with the capital reef, southwestern United States

Toomey, Donald Francis

doi:10.1007/bf02536757

Cited by 29 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Phylloid algae are a major contributor to their construction (Wray, 1968;Heckel, 1974;Wilson, 1975Wilson, , 1977Toomey, 1980) during the Pennsylvanian, when phylloid algal mounds had worldwide distribution: Canadian Arctic Archipelago Beauchamp et al, 1989), Arctic of Norway (Bruce and Toomey, 1992), Russian Platform (Chuvashov, 1983), Northern Africa (Vachard et al, 1989;Toomey, 1991), and China (Fan and Rigby, 1994). Most Pennsylvanian mounds are reported from the central and western United States (see Heckel and Cocke, 1969;Heckel, 1974;Fagerstrom, 1987;West, 1988 ; among others, for reviews).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Construction versus accumulation in phylloid algal mounds: an example of a small constructed mound in the Pennsylvanian of Kansas, USA

Samankassou

West

2002

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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Most phylloid algal mounds are currently interpreted as no more than accumulations of leaf-like thalli supported by mud. We report here phylloid algae from the Upper Pennsylvanian (Late Carboniferous) Frisbie Limestone Member in Kansas, USA, which built small mounds with recognizable primary topographic relief. Cup-shaped algal thalli, growing closely packed and juxtaposed near and above one another, produced a framework in the shapes of topographically conspicuous mounds from smaller, centimeter-scale to meter-scale features. Meter-scale mounds are composites of smaller, juxtaposed, centimeter-scale mounds and intramound areas contain crinoid debris, sponges, bryozoans, brachiopods, and skeletal grains. The intercup voids enclosed in the framework fabrics of individual thalli are filled with a variety of matrix and cements: (1) peloidal grains, both in clotted wackestone and grainstone; (2) early marine cement; (3) microbial encrustations, often oriented against gravity; and (4) mudstone. Bedded limestones equivalent to and overlying the mounds are bioclastic wackestone and differ fundamentally from the mound limestone in facies, biotic components, absence of both frameworks and of peloidal clotted grains. Topographic relief above the sea floor, the growth fabrics with a framework including primary intramound and intercup voids and their complex infillings, and the lithic and biotic differences between mound and off-mound intervals fulfil the stratigraphic and biological criteria characterizing reefs. The model proposed here interprets these mounds as the result of active constructional algal growth, in contrast to published hypotheses that most phylloid algal mounds were passive accumulations of algal thalli within a mud matrix and/or early diagenetic marine cements.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Construction versus accumulation in phylloid algal mounds: an example of a small constructed mound in the Pennsylvanian of Kansas, USA

Samankassou

West

2002

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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“…Low-diversity algal mounds occurring throughout Pennsylvanian and Permian deposits strongly support this assumption (Flügel 1979;Toomey 1991;Forsythe et al 2002;Samankassou 2003;Samankassou and West 2003). Indeed, chemical defense used by algae is documented from studies of recent reefs (Hay 1997;Paul 1997) and other environments (G. Gerdes, personal communication, 1998).…”

Section: Biodiversity Ecological Communitymentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Although numerous studies dealt with Pennsylvanian and Permian sequences in southern China (GGMRB 1987), Pennsylvanian algal buildups so widespread elsewhere-e.g., in Northern America (Pray and Wray 1963;Heckel and Cocke 1969;Toomey 1976Toomey , 1983; among others), the Arctic Canadian Archipelago Davies et al 1989), the Carnic Alps in Austria and Italy (Flügel 1979;Samankassou 2003), and North Africa (Toomey 1991)-were surprisingly rarely reported from China, which is among the largest province for Late Paleozoic carbonate rocks (see Wahlman 2002). The short report of phylloid algal reefs by Fan and Rigby (1994) is the unique description to date.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paleoecology of Pennsylvanian phylloid algal buildups in south Guizhou, China

Gong

Samankassou

Guan

et al. 2007

Facies

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“…attached Tetrataxis). The concentration of Donezella and its ally taxa may have directly contributed to the low biological diversity; low diversity assemblages characterised by dominant algal communities have been attributed to the exclusion of other biota from the living space via both chemical defence (poisons produced by the algae) and through the occupation of all available living space (Toomey 1976(Toomey , 1991Forsythe et al 2002;Samankassou and West 2003;Enpu et al 2007). Petschoria, Archaeolithophyllum, Komia and Ungdarella were all observed to be present within the mound facies, in far lesser numbers than the dominant biotas described above.…”

Section: Palaeoecology Of the Moundsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A novel population of composite mounds: their initiation, growth and demise. San Emiliano Formation, Cantabrian Mountains, Spain

Rogers

2018

J Iber Geol

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Purpose Mounds from the Pennsylvanian aged San Emiliano Formation (Cantabrian Mountains, Spain) are commonly well exposed. These mounds range from 2 to 50 m in height and are observed to be primary geological features. The mounds are described and classified and the factors and controls of mound nucleation, growth and demise have been established. Methods Microfacies analysis of 177 thin sections has revealed the composition of the mounds and surrounding carbonates. Results Composite mounds, exhibiting characteristic components of both Cluster mounds and Agglutinated Microbial mounds are described. The mounds are skeletal-microbial/pack-wackestones. Peloidal, homogenous and clotted micrites are the main sedimentological constituents of the mounds. Microfossils are dominant with Donezella, Claracrusta, Rothpletzella and Girvanella being common. Small foraminifera, bryozoans, corals and algae are all present within the mounds, but are more common within off-mound carbonates. Conclusions The formation of the mounds was controlled by a dynamic relationship between Donezellacean algae, and microscopic encrusters, a bio-mechanism not observed in mud mounds elsewhere. Fluctuating environmental conditions lead to the alternate dominance between the two groups, resulting in accretion and stabilisation of carbonate muds. These mounds are compositionally different to their Pennsylvanian counterparts.Keywords Composite mound · Agglutinated microbial mound · Cluster mound · Donezella · Encrusting biota · Microfacies analysis · Pennsylvanian Resumen Propósito Los montículos de la Formación San Emiliano de edad Pensilvaniense (Cantabrian Mountains, España) están comúnmente bien bexpuestos. Estos montículos tienen una altura de 2 a 50 m y se observa que son rasgos geológicos primarios. El los montículos se describen y clasifican y los factores y controles de la nucleación, el crecimiento y la fallecimiento tienen que ver con los siguientes factores se ha establecido. Métodos El análisis de microfacias de 177 sección delgada ha revelado la composición de los montículos y carbonatos circundantes. Resultados Montículos compuestos, que exhiben los componentes característicos de ambos montículos Cluster y Microbial aglutinado. Se describen los montículos. Los montículos son esqueléticos-microbianos lodogranular/lodosa. Peloide, homogéneo y coagulado micrites son los principales componentes sedimentológicos de los montículos. Los microfósiles dominan con Donezella, Claracrusta, Rothpletzella y Girvanella son comunes. Pequeños foraminíferos, briozoarios, corales y algas son todos ellos presente dentro de los montículos, pero son más comunes dentro de los carbonatos fuera del montículos. Conclusiones La formación de los montículos estaba controlada por una relación dinámica entre las algas donezellaceanas, y incrustaciones microscópicas, un mecanismo biológico no observado en montículos de lodo en otras partes. Medio ambiente fluctuante condiciones conducen a la dominación alternada entre los dos grupos, resultando en la creaci...

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Late permian reefs of southern Tunisia: Facies patterns and comparison with the capital reef, southwestern United States

Cited by 29 publications

References 18 publications

Construction versus accumulation in phylloid algal mounds: an example of a small constructed mound in the Pennsylvanian of Kansas, USA

Construction versus accumulation in phylloid algal mounds: an example of a small constructed mound in the Pennsylvanian of Kansas, USA

Paleoecology of Pennsylvanian phylloid algal buildups in south Guizhou, China

A novel population of composite mounds: their initiation, growth and demise. San Emiliano Formation, Cantabrian Mountains, Spain

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