Probable root structures and associated trace fossils from the Lower Pleistocene calcarenites of Favignana Island, southern Italy: dilemmas of interpretation

Abstract

(2012) -Prob a ble root struc tures and as so ci ated trace fos sils from the Lower Pleis to cene calcarenites of the Favignana Is land, south ern It aly: di lem mas of in ter pre ta tion. Geol. Quart., 56 (4): 745-756, doi: 10.7306/gq.1052 Two types of large, branched struc tures from the Lower Pleis to cene (Calabrian) high-en ergy calcarenites of Favignana Is land are described: Faviradixus robustus gen. et sp. nov. and Egadiradixus rectibrachiatus gen. et sp. nov. They may be in ter preted as root structures of large plants, i.e., trees and trees or shrubs, re spec tively. The for mer taxon co-oc curs with the ma rine an i mal trace fos sils Ophiomorpha nodosa, Ophiomorpha isp., Thalassinoides isp. and Beaconites isp. The in ter pre ta tion as root struc tures al though ten ta tive is prob a ble and can be re lated to short emer gence ep i sodes for the for ma tion of E. rectibrachiatus or to lon ger emer gence, re spon si ble for the dis con ti nu ity at the base of the over ly ing Tyrrhenian de pos its, for F. robustus. Cal ci fied root mats of smaller plants as so ci ated with the Tyrrhenian or youn ger emer gence sur faces are com mon. Al fred Uchman and Andrzej Ślączka, In sti tute of Geo log i cal Sci ences, Jagiellonian Uni ver sity,

Spit bar deposits from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian) transgressive sequence in NE Bohemia (Czechia)

“…Deep roots could penetrate deposits up to 3.5 m deep (cf. D' Alessandro et al 1993); similar depths of penetration, ranging from 1 m up to 4-5 m, although most commonly from 1-2 m were postulated by other authors (Plaziat and Mahmoudi 1990;Uchman et al 2012;Esperante et al 2021;Nascimento et al 2023). Mikuláš and Prouza (1999), who first described root traces in the Krákorka Quarry, suggested that they may result from a marginal marine ?mangrove swamp.…”

“…The Thalassinoides suevicus network is morphologically very similar to the rhizoliths. The similarity of the Y-shaped branching pattern produced by rhizoliths and crustaceans can be confusing (see Uchman et al 2012). However, while the plant traces have similar Y-shaped branching patterns to Thalassinoides, they differ in having decreasing diameters.…”

“…Nascimento et al 2019), as in the studied deposits. There are numerous examples of root penetration in weakly lithified or even hard substrates (Uchman et al 2012). Deep roots could penetrate deposits up to 3.5 m deep (cf.…”

Geomorphological features of Favignana Island (SW Italy)

“…In the eastern plain and the northern edge of the western plain the Lower Pleistocene Sintema di Marsala outcrops (D'angelo, 2005). This rests on an unconformity of the bedrock, shaped in Middle-Upper Pliocene marls and shales, and is represented by Lower Pleistocene calcareous sandstones (Tondi et al, 2012;Uchman et al, 2012) with mollusks, echinoids, sponges and calcareous algae. The western tableland, carved in the Triassic dolomites and dolomitic limestones, is partly overlapped by conglomerates, bioclastic sandstones and scattered aeolianites (Sintema Paceco, Sintema Barcarello in D'angelo, 2005;Ventura Bordenca, 2014) dated to the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene, due to the presence of diagnostic faunas (Agnesi et al, 1993).…”