Preservation of borings: contrasting examples from the type Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous), southern Limburg,the Netherlands

The taphonomy of trace fossils and their substrates remains an understudied facet of sedimentary geology. Contrary to common prejudice, trace fossils are not invariably preserved in situ, but may be exhumed and reworked following lithification. The trace fossils most commonly found ex situ are borings in mobile shelly substrates. Two notable, but contrasting, examples of post-mortem transport of borings are described from the Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) of southern Limburg, the Netherlands. A long, unusually straight and complete calcareous tube assigned to Teredolites longissimus Kelly and Bromley is an organically secreted internal mould, produced by a teredinid or pholadid bivalve boring in wood and lining their tube. Strictly, this is part of the body fossil of the producing bivalve, but it is also an organically generated internal mould of the boring. A flint steinkern of a right valve of Crassatella bosquetiana d’Orbigny preserves a suite of silicified borings. Caulostrepsis taeniola Clarke is a U-shaped boring with a vane connecting the parallel limbs. Talpina isp. is a slender, simple, branched tunnel. Most unexpected, Spirichnus spiralis Fürsich et al. is a spiral ‘worm’ boring hitherto only known from the Upper Jurassic. This stratigraphic gap is likely an artefact; only mouldic preservation of the bored substrate would expose the distinctive Spirichnus boring. These ichnofossils are united in their occurrence in unusual preservational systems.     

Invertebrate trace fossils from the Alveley Member,Salop Formation (Pennsylvanian,Carboniferous), Shropshire,UK

The late Carboniferous–early Permian was a period of major environmental change, with the rainforests that covered the equatorial zone during the Carboniferous disappearing due to increasing aridification. This environmental transition had significant impacts on the terrestrial biota, including a major extinction event among plant and vertebrate groups. A rich and unique ichnofauna from the Alveley Member (Moscovian: Westphalian D) of the Salop Formation at Alveley in Shropshire (England) has yielded important insights into late Carboniferous terrestrial communities. However, research to date has focused entirely on the vertebrate footprints. Abundant invertebrate ichnofossils also occur at Alveley, typically on the rippled upper surfaces of beds assigned to a floodplain facies that preserve the vertebrate tracks in hyporelief on their base. We provide the first detailed examination of the invertebrate ichnofauna from Alveley, identifying six ichnospecies within five ichnogenera (Diplichnites, Gordia, Paleohelcura, Palmichnium, Protichnites), including a new species of the common arthropod ichnogenus Diplichnites. This moderately diverse invertebrate ichnofauna is dominated by arthropod repichnia. There is no evidence of infaunal bioturbation and the single example of Gordia indicates limited sediment grazing activity. The Alveley ichnofauna is typical of Euramerican continental ichnoassemblages from the very latest Carboniferous, and indicates a moderate diversity of arthropods (crustaceans, arachnids and chelicerates) living alongside the marginal freshwater to terrestrial assemblage of temnospondyl amphibians, and basal synapsid, diadectomorph and captorhinomorph amniotes.     

A new crinoid from the Mississippian (Early Carboniferous) of South Pembrokeshire,Wales

A new species of cladid crinoid, Hylodecrinus cymrus, is described from the Pembroke Limestone Group (Mississippian, Tournaisian, Courceyan) of West Angle Bay in south Pembrokeshire, Wales. It has a medium bowl‐shaped aboral cup, with strong ridges extending across the basals and radials forming pits at the plate corners. It is most similar to the late Tournaisian H. carinatus (Hall, 1861) of North America but differs in having less strongly cuneate brachials that are longer than wide with more subtle carinae on the aboral side. This specimen represents the first report of this genus from Europe, which most probably migrated from North America. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exceptional preservation of Upper Carboniferous (lower Westphalian) fossils from Edlington,Doncaster, South Yorkshire,UK

A new fossil‐bearing, Upper Carboniferous (lower Westphalian) locality in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, UK, is reported and an account of the fossils is presented. The diverse flora and fauna consists of plants, bivalves, arthropods (primarily xiphosurans), tentaculitids (microconchids), fish scales, shark egg capsules and coprolites. Fossils are preserved in siderite nodules and shales, and display excellent preservation and detail. Previous collecting of Carboniferous fossils in the Doncaster area has been minimal. The discovery of this locality addresses this deficit and is of further importance as such localities in the UK are diminishing in number with the cessation of coal‐mining and the reclamation of mine dumps, further demonstrating the importance and recognition of the Edlington site. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

U‐series dating of the Late Pleistocene mammalian fauna from Wood Quarry (Steetley), Nottinghamshire,UK

We present the U‐series dating of bones from Wood Quarry (‘Steetley Quarry Cave’) using the diffusion–adsorption model to account for uranium uptake. The results give a weighted mean date of 66.8 ± 3.0 kyr, placing this assemblage within or just before Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 4. The fauna is thought to correlate with the Banwell Bone Cave mammal assemblage‐zone of the Early Devensian in Britain. Our results support the idea that this assemblage‐zone immediately precedes the assemblage represented nearby at Pin Hole in Creswell Crags which is contemporary with the Mid‐Devensian and correlates with MIS 3. Our dates, and dates for the Banwell Bone Cave mammal assemblage‐zone from Stump Cross Cavern and evidence from other sites may indicate a longevity for this fauna. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Echinoids as hard substrates: varied examples from the Oligocene of Antigua,Lesser Antilles

A collection of unremarkably preserved fossil irregular echinoids from the Upper Oligocene (Chattian) Antigua Formation of Antigua, Lesser Antilles, nonetheless provides evidence of a range of palaeoecological interactions. A dead test of the heart urchin Eupatagus sp. formed a hard substrate for the attachment of gregarious Thecidellina? sp., a thecidoid brachiopod. Although obligate encrusters, these brachiopods more commonly occur as disarticulated valves free of the substrate in the Antillean fossil record. Elongate pits in test fragments were formed, variously, before and after the death of the host echinoids. These depressions on the external surface were formed either by invertebrates excavating domiciles or by claws or teeth; the echinoid later reclaimed the pits and grew new tubercles in the base. Post-mortem pits lack such new tuberculation. A test of Eupatagus sp. bears the boring Oichnus isp., formed either by a predator (gastropod?) or after the death of the echinoid (domicile), and a serpulid worm tube which grew on the test subsequent to the echinoid’s death. The echinoid fauna of the Antigua Formation has been easy to collect and specimens are to be found in many museums; they now await re-examination to reveal palaeosynecological data analogous to that determined from the fragments discussed herein.     

Taphonomy of a Baurusuchus (Crocodyliformes,Baurusuchidae) from the Adamantina Formation (Upper Cretaceous,Bauru Basin), Brazil: Implications for preservational modes,time resolution and paleoecology

Upper Cretaceous vertebrate accumulations from the Adamantina Formation are known due to their high taxonomic diversity. On the other hand, taphonomic analyses still are rare, limiting the understanding of processes related to the biostratinomic and fossildiagenetic histories of this lithostratigraphic unit. In 2005, fossils were collected from an outcrop located at Jales municipality, state of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. From this outcrop, a well-preserved Baurusuchus was recovered, which displays a peculiar set of taphonomic signatures. This paper identifies and interprets taphonomic features of a specimen of Baurusuchus (Crocodyliformes, Baurusuchidae; UFRJ DG 418-R) from the Adamantina Formation (Upper Cretaceous of the Bauru Basin), in Jales municipality, state of São Paulo. Brief taphonomic comparisons with other specimens previously studied (crocodiles and dinosaurs) and a lithofaciological analysis of the outcrop were undertaken in order to enhance the knowledge of the stratigraphy and paleoenvironment and improve the time resolution for the Adamantina Formation in the region of Jales. Furthermore, paleoecological data were interpreted based on the taphonomic analysis.The fossil is composed of an articulated segment of vertebral column, ribs, part of the pelvic girdle and gastralia. There is no hydraulic equivalence between both the specimen of Baurusuchus and the size of quartz grain predominant in the fossiliferous layer, suggesting death in situ or short transport as a “water carcass”. Teeth marks identified on the pubes were assigned to a small/juvenile baurusuchid crocodyliform or a theropod dinosaur. The repositioning of some elements (ribs and dorsal osteoderms) is suggestive of mummification. Desiccation marks were observed and attributed to the stage 1 of weathering. These features suggest subaerial exposure of the carcass prior to burial, however, probably after the mummification. On the other hand, the subaerial exposure was short, because the individual was not fully disarticulated. Furthermore, the degrees of articulation and preservation of the specimen nullify the hypothesis of reworking.Lithofaciological and taphonomic analyses suggest a well-drained floodplain as the burial environment and an arid or semi-arid climate in the region of Jales outcrop. In addition, the taphonomic signatures seem to indicate a time resolution about 10⁰–10⁴ years for the layer where the crocodyliforms were collected, but it seems to have, within this time limit, temporal-mixing among terrestrial crocodiles and dinosaurs collected from the same layer, suggesting time-averaging in this outcrop.     

A Middle Devensian woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) from Whitemoor Haye Quarry,Staffordshire (UK): palaeoenvironmental context and significance

This paper reports the discovery of a rare partial skeleton of a woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis Blumenbach, 1799) and associated fauna from a low Pleistocene terrace of the River Tame at Whitemoor Haye, Staffordshire, UK. A study of the sedimentary deposits around the rhino skeleton and associated organic‐rich clasts containing pollen, plant and arthropod remains suggests that the animal was rapidly buried on a braided river floodplain surrounded by a predominantly treeless, herb‐rich grassland. Highlights of the study include the oldest British chironomid record published to date and novel analysis of the palaeoflow regime using caddisfly remains. For the first time, comparative calculations of coleopteran and chironomid palaeotemperatures have been made on the same samples, suggesting a mean July temperature of 8–11 °C and a mean December temperature of between ?22 and ?16 °C. Radiocarbon age estimates on skeletal material, supported by optically stimulated luminescence ages from surrounding sediments, indicate that the rhino lived around 41–43 k cal a BP. The combined geochronological, stratigraphic and palaeoenvironmental evidence places the assemblage firmly within the Middle Devensian (Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 3). This would agree with other regional evidence for the timing of aggradation for the lowest terrace of the Trent and its tributary systems. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

西藏冈底斯带石炭纪陆缘裂陷作用：火山岩和地层学证据

冈底斯作为重要的中、新生代岛弧岩浆岩带,历来是青藏高原最热门的地质研究领域,但是对晚古生代火山岩的性质及其形成的构造背景仍缺乏研究。本文在区域地质调查资料的基础上,对冈底斯带石炭纪火山-沉积岩系进行了系统的地层学和岩石地球化学研究,测量了重点剖面,对火山岩进行了常量、微量元素和Sr、Nd、Pb同位素地球化学测试。研究表明,石炭系与下伏泥盆系或前寒武系之间普遍存在不整合或岩性、沉积相的突变面,代表重要的构造转换面。石炭纪的沉积环境大致有两次滨海-深海或深水斜坡-滨海沉积演化旋回,深海-深水斜坡沉积或冰海相含砾板岩与两次火山活动伴生。石炭纪火山岩主要为安山玄武岩和英安岩、流纹岩类,略具双峰式火山岩特点。安山玄武岩类的成分与典型MORB和岛弧玄武岩相比,具有MgO含量低,TiO2、Al2O3、P2O5含量高等特点,稀土和微量元素为LREE和LILE富集型分配模式,与大陆拉斑玄武岩相似。石炭纪酸性火山岩的稀土和微量元素地球化学特征与陆内流纹岩相似。岩石地球化学示踪和地层学研究表明,冈底斯带石炭纪为伸展背景下的冈瓦纳陆缘裂陷环境。火山岩的源区地幔具有典型的Dupal异常,发生过复杂的混合作用,涉及到原始地幔、富集地幔EMII和地壳成分等,说明发生过冈瓦纳古陆壳俯冲、再循环进入古老地幔等过程。玄武岩类成分的某些特殊性,可能与源区混合作用有关。     

Deep-sea trace fossils from the mixed carbonate-siliciclastic flysch of the Monte Antola Formation (Late Campanian-Maastrichtian), North Apennines, Italy

Twenty one ichnogenera and 30 ichnospecies are recognized in the Late Campanian – Maastrichtian Monte Antola Formation of Italy, most of them for the first time. They belong to a specific mixture of the Nereites and Ophiomorpha rudis ichnosubfacies of the Nereites ichnofacies. Composition and abundance of trace fossils vary from outcrop to outcrop. Chondrites intricatus, Ch. targionii, Nereites irregularis, Cladichnus fischeri and Trichichnus linearis are most common. Chondrites patulus, Ophiomorpha recta and “Spirophycus” bicornis trace fossils are less common in outcrops, and the other trace fossils are rare or very rare. Generally, ichnogeneric diversity in Cretaceous–Cainozoic calcareous and mixed siliciclastic-calcareous flysch deposits is distinctly lower than in siliciclastic flysch. Significantly, the foremost pre-depositional forms are distinctly rare, probably due to preservational and depositional factors.     

Sedimentation in an actively tilting half-graben: sedimentology and stratigraphy of Late Tournaisian–Viséan (Mississippian, Lower Carboniferous) carbonate rocks in south County Wexford, Ireland

The Wexford Basin (south-eastern Ireland) is a NE–SW-trending sedimentary basin containing carbonates and evaporites deposited during the Late Tournaisian and Viséan. Two separate depositional areas are defined on the basis of facies and facies associations. Sediments were deposited in inner ramp, lagoonal and peritidal environments near Rosslare, and in a more open-marine, shallow- to moderately deep-water, mid to outer ramp environment in the western area around Duncormick. Thick breccia deposits that occur in the Wexford Basin formed as a result of (i) fault movement that produced syn-sedimentary debris flows in the Late? Chadian (Breccia type I); (ii) dissolution of anhydrite/gypsum and subsequent collapse of sedimentary strata (Breccia type II); and (iii) fracturing and brecciation of porous rock caused by the movement of high temperature, late diagenetic fluids along fault planes (Breccia type III). The NE–SW facies polarity displayed by both sedimentary successions was the result of NW–SE extension and the reactivation of the NE–SW-trending Wexford Boundary Fault during the Chadian. Extension at the SE margin of the basin with downthrow to the NNW gave the basin a half-graben character. Thickening of the debris flow deposits to the SW suggests that while the half-graben was being tilted it also underwent a NE–SW block rotation due to an axial component of that normal fault.     

The terrestrial fauna of the Late Triassic Pant-y-ffynnon Quarry fissures,South Wales,UK and a new species of Clevosaurus (Lepidosauria: Rhynchocephalia)

Pant-y-ffynnon Quarry in South Wales yielded a rich cache of fossils in the early 1950s, including articulated specimens of new species (the small sauropodomorph dinosaur Pantydraco caducus and the crocodylomorph Terrestrisuchus gracilis), but no substantial study of the wider fauna of the Pant-y-ffynnon fissure systems has been published. Here, our overview of existing specimens, a few described but mostly undescribed, as well as freshly processed material, provides a comprehensive picture of the Pant-y-ffynnon palaeo-island of the Late Triassic. This was an island with a relatively impoverished fauna dominated by small clevosaurs (rhynchocephalians), including a new species, Clevosaurus cambrica, described here from a partially articulated specimen and isolated bones. The new species has a dental morphology that is intermediate between the Late Triassic Clevosaurus hudsoni, from Cromhall Quarry to the east, and the younger C. convallis from Pant Quarry to the west, suggesting adaptive radiation of clevosaurs in the palaeo-archipelago. The larger reptiles on the palaeo-island do not exceed 1.5?m in length, including a small carnivorous crocodylomorph, Terrestrisuchus, and a possible example of insular dwarfism in the basal dinosaur Pantydraco.     

Utility of crinoid columnals in palaeontology illustrated by a new species: Clare Shale Formation (Carboniferous), Doolin,County Clare,western Ireland

Well-preserved specimens, such as complete individuals, crowns and cups, are the common focus for crinoid systematic research. Yet the majority of specimens are disarticulated ossicles which are essentially ignored. The incompleteness of the fossil record is even more so when we ignore potential sources of data. A new species of crinoid comes from a monospecific assemblage from the Pennsylvanian (Upper Carboniferous) of western Ireland. All specimens are from a float block of the Clare Shale Formation (Bashkirian stage) at Fisherstreet Bay, Doolin, County Clare, western Ireland. Heloambocolumnus (col.) harperi gen. et sp. nov. has a pentagonocyclic, heteromorphic column; the small, central lumen is in a shallow, circular claustrum; the articulation is radial symplectial; the crenulae are slightly swollen and peg-like close to the circumference; nodals have rounded, unsculptured epifacets; nodal articular facets are sunken and in which narrow internodals are situated; and circlets of tubercles on epifacet surround priminternodals. These columnals are associated with robust, uniserial brachial ossicles. This crinoid is most likely a cladid.     

Geochemistry of Carboniferous Sandstones (Sardar Formation), East‐Central Iran: Implication for Provenance and Tectonic Setting

Geochemical analysis of sandstones from the Sardar Formation (from two stratigraphic successions) in east-central Iran were used for identification of geochemical characterization of sandstones, provenance and tectonic setting. Sandstones in the two lithostratigraphic successions have similar chemical compositions suggesting a common provenance. Bulk-rock geochemistry analysis of Carboniferous sandstones from Sardar Formation indicates that they are mainly quartz dominated and are classified as quartzarenites, sublitharenites and subarkoses, derived from acid igneous to intermediate igneous rocks. Discrimination function analysis indicates that the sandstones of Sardar Formation were derived from quartzose sedimentary provenance in a recycled orogenic setting. Also, major and trace elements in sandstones of Sardar Formation (e.g., K2O/Na2O vs. SiO2) indicate deposition in a stable passive continental margin (PM). Chemical index of alteration (CIA) for these rocks (> 65%) suggests a moderate to relatively high degree of weathering in the source area.     

Revision of the Carboniferous cystoporate bryozoan Fistulipora incrustans (Phillips, 1836), with remarks on the type species of Fistulipora M'Coy, 1849

The type species of the Palaeozoic cystoporate bryozoan genus Fistulipora M'Coy, 1849 is redescribed. Fistulipora minor M'Coy, 1849 is the type species, and was the first species described under the genus Fistulipora. Quantitative assessment of type and figured specimens of Calamopora incrustans Phillips, 1836 and F. minor has shown them to fall within the range of morphological variation exhibited by abundant comparative material collected at several horizons and they are referable to one morphologically variable taxon. F. minor is the junior subjective synonym of C. incrustans and the form can be quoted as F. minor M'Coy, 1849 = C. incrustans Phillips, 1836 with a valid name of F. incrustans (Phillips, 1836). However, this does not alter the name of the type species, which is F. minor M'Coy, 1849. The type specimen of Berenicea megastoma M'Coy, 1844 has also been examined, and this form is also conspecific with F. minor M'Coy, 1849 = C. incrustans Phillips, 1836. Examination of the type specimen of F. major M'Coy (1849) has shown it to be referable to the tabulate coral genus Chaetetes. A lectotype and paralectotypes are designated for F. minor and the status of the type specimens of F. incrustans is clarified.     

Shell ornament,systematic position and hatching size of Epicymatoceras vaelsense (Nautilida): New insights based on specimens in mould preservation from the Upper Cretaceous of Poland

The fossil record of Nautilida in carbonate facies is skewed towards moulds (steinkerns) in various states of preservation, which complicates assessment of the original shell ornament of many taxa. As a remarkable exception, moulds of Epicymatoceras vaelsense from upper Campanian and lower Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) siliceous limestones (opoka) in Poland retain details of the original shell ornament, allowing conclusions on the original structure of the shell wall, systematic position and hatching size of this nautilid to be drawn. Both external and internal moulds are present in the material studied, which are referred to as taphomorph 1 and 2, respectively. Based on morphology and inferred taphonomy, it is proposed that the external ribbing of E. vaelsense was originally composed of overlapping, tile-shaped lamellae of the outer prismatic layer, a character recently suggested to be a synapomorphy for the cymatoceratid clade. The diameter of the embryonic conch of E. vaelsense is estimated to have been around 30 mm, which is near the maximum range of hatching size recorded for Cretaceous and younger nautilids. On the basis of the inferred shell structure of E. vaelsense, it is speculated that living individuals of this nautilid were covered by a dense periostracal cover similar to that of Recent Allonautilus scrobiculatus. This study demonstrates that nautilid moulds may provide a better source of palaeontological data than conventionally accepted.