Thalassinoides in the Middle Miocene succession at Siwa Oasis,northwestern Egypt

At Siwa Oasis, the carbonate-rich Middle Miocene Marmarica Formation includes several firmground discontinuity surfaces, characterized by extensive burrow systems. These surfaces are confined to the boundary between the Oasis and Siwa Escarpment members in addition to several intraformational marine firmground discontinuities at several horizons within these two members. The marine trace fossils from all these discontinuities are represented mainly by the ichnogenus Thalassinoides. In all occurrences, Thalassinoides are characterized by a sharp erosional lower contact and grades upward into fossiliferous argillaceous limestone facies. Three Thalassinoides ichnospecies have been reported, including: Th. horizontalis Myrow, 1995, Th. suevicus (Rieth, 1932) and Th. paradoxicus (Woodward, 1830). They are mostly recorded as hypichnial/endichnial forms at the sole of fossiliferous argillaceous limestone facies. Rare exichnial occurrences are also recorded. Thalassinoides ichnospecies displayed considerable variations in their stratigraphic distribution, in addition to remarkable variations in their complexity and dimension. These variations are mostly reflecting environmental conditions prevailed during the trace-maker life. Paleoenvironmental interpretation of these burrows confirmed a well-oxygenated shallow marine environment with extremely slow or nearly nil rate of sedimentation.     

Paleoecological significance of the trace fossils of Dhosa Oolite Member (Jumara Formation), Jhura dome,Mainland Kachchh,Western India

Dhosa Oolite Member of the Jumara Formation comprises alternating bands of oolitic limestones and shales, exposed in Jhura dome of Mainland Kachchh, Western India. This sequence is highly bioturbated and exhibits a moderate diversity and behaviourally complex assemblage of ichnospecies. The rhythmically bedded sequence shows three different levels of preservation of traces. Epichnial tiering consists of moderately bioturbated oolitic limestone exhibiting horizontal or low-angle protrusive/retrusive biogenic laminae, commonly dominated by feeding structures like Rhizocorallium jenense, R. irregulare, Zoophycos brianteus and Zoophycos isp. The endichnial structures within the oolitic limestone can be separated into two different preservational trace fossil suites. The endichnial shallow suites consist chiefly of deposit feeders like Chondrites intricatus, C. targionii, Planolites beverleyensis, Taenidium cameronensis, Thalassinoides isp., Z. brianteus, Z. cf circinnatus and Zoophycos isp. and few suspension feeder forms like Palaeophycus tubularis; while endichnial deep suites consist of Chondrites intricatus, Skolithos linearis and Zoophycos isp. Hypichnial structures consists abundant, cylindrical, branched, horizontal, large-sized three dimensional feeding burrows of Thalassinoides isp. and somewhat irregular, obtuse angle ramification burrows of Phycodes isp., which are attached to the lower surface of the casting medium. The trace fossil association indicates Cruziana ichnofacies and abundance of Zoophycus species below the fair weather wave base level is largely a preservational artifact. The preservational processes of the trace fossils indicate soft substrate and diversity and their abundance reflects the other palaeoecological parameters of the open shallow marine environments.     

Thalassinoides burrows (decapoda dwelling structures) in lower cretaceous sections of southwestern and central Crimea

Burrows of Thalassinoides, which are attributed to the group of dwelling structures, occur in all the marine and coastal facies. The Lower Cretaceous sections of southwestern and central Crimea yielded the representative collection of Thalassinoides burrows belonging to the ichnospecies Th. suevicus (Rieth, 1932), which served as an object for this investigation. The burrows are confined to coarse-grained terrigenous, carbonate, and mixed sediments and contain assemblages of ichnofossils indicating coastal and shallow-water marine Skolithos and Cruziana ichnofacies. In the Mesozoic-Cenozoic, the producers of the Thalassinoides burrows were decapods, confirmed by finds of crayfish Hoploparia in them.     

Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of quaternary sedimentation in eastern Sri Lanka: An ichnological study

Quaternary sediment deposits are well exposed along the eastern coastal margin of Sri Lanka. Systematic trace fossil studies along with sediment characteristics have been carried out for the first time to interpret the paleoenvironment that prevailed during Quaternary sedimentation in eastern Sri Lanka. The trace fossils Thalassinoides, Skolithos and Polykladichnus have been recognized about 5m above the present mean sea level. Features of the major trace fossil, Thalassinoides, indicate that it was formed by Thalassinidean shrimp Calianassa. Isolated, vertical to steeply inclined, cylindrical to sub cylindrical tubes with thin internal wall lining and inner wall striations of Skolithos and Polykladichnus show that they were formed by polychaetes. The typical characteristic of Polykladichnus isY-shaped branching with slight enlargement at junctions. Morphology and association of burrows as well as mineralogy, grain size and roundness of sediments indicate that the environment prevailed was marine soft grounds of the intertidal zone. Presence of preserved fine-scale features of burrows indicate that the bioturbated sandy tidal flat was suddenly exposed to the tropical environment due to sea level regression in Quaternary periods. Due to the microbial activities of wall linings, burrows were preserved and it was supported by other microbial activities that produced secondary iron bearing minerals that suffered subsequent oxidation. The bio-origination of red sediments of eastern coastal area of the present study can be used to interpret the debatable origin of the red beds found in northwestern and southeastern coastal areas of the island.     

东濮凹陷沙三段正常三角洲沉积中遗迹化石及意义

通过对钻井岩心的观察和遗迹化石的鉴定,在东濮凹陷古近纪沙河街组沙三段发现遗迹化石10属15种,包括:Skolithos vertivalis,Skolithos linearis,Skolithos isp.,Palaeophycus tubularis,Palaeophycus isp.,Planolites montanus,Planolites beverlegensis,Planolites isp.,Mermoides isp.,Taenidium isp.,Teichichnus isp.,Helminthoidichnites tenuis,Helminthopsis isp.,Beaconites isp.和Thalassinoides isp.。根据岩性特征、沉积构造和遗迹化石的组成、分布特征,研究区沙三段主要发育正常三角洲前缘亚相、前三角洲亚相,并划分了反映不同沉积环境和水体深度的2种遗迹组合,分别为Palaeophycus-Planolites遗迹组合和Planolites-Helminthoidichnites遗迹组合。     

Tidal signature recorded in burrow fill

The arrangement of sediment couplets preserved in Thalassinoides shafts suggests that tides regulated the passive filling of these trace fossils and, thus, represent tubular tidalites. The thickness variation in individual layers and couplets implies a mixed diurnal, semi‐diurnal tidal signature where packages of either thick‐layered or thin‐layered couplets alternate. Calcarenitic sediment accumulated when tidal current velocity was too high to allow deposition of mud, whereas a marly mud layer is interpreted to have formed during more tranquil times of a tidal cycle (in particular, low‐tide slack water). The tidal record within the burrows covers a few weeks and the corresponding spring–neap cycles. The fill of the Thalassinoides shafts is the only known record to decipher the tidal signature from otherwise totally bioturbated sediments. These deposits accumulated in a lower‐shoreface to upper‐offshore setting during the late Miocene on a shallow shelf extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the west into northern Patagonia. The fill of all investigated burrows started around spring tide and, thus, the behaviour of the burrow producers – probably crustaceans – is speculated to have been affected by tides or the high water level because all studied burrows became abandoned around the same period of a tidal cycle.     

黔中广顺一带梁山组遗迹化石的首次发现及遗迹相探讨

在1:50000广顺幅区调过程中,首次发现广顺地区下二叠统粱山组有大量丰富的遗迹化石存在。本文特作以报道,并为该区早二叠世古环境分析提供了新的地质资料。一、广顺地区梁山组简介梁山组为早二叠世栖霞早期的沉积地层。它与下伏地层上石炭统马平组(主要由亮晶生物屑灰岩、团粒灰岩组成)呈不整合接触;与上覆下二叠统栖霞组(由泥—细晶生物屑灰岩夹钙质页岩、泥灰岩、燧石灰岩组成)呈整合接触。梁山组主要由石英砂岩、页岩和粘土岩组成,也见有生物屑硅质岩。有较多的腕足类和     

Exceptionally favourable life conditions for macrobenthos during the Late Cenomanian OAE-2 event: Ichnological record from the Bonarelli Level in the Grajcarek Unit,Polish Carpathians

Pelagic and hemipelagic sediments of the Bonarelli Level (uppermost Cenomanian) in the Sztolnia section (Grajcarek Unit, Polish Carpathians) contain trace fossils of the Zoophycos ichnofacies, including (in descending order of abundance): Chondrites (smaller and larger forms), Planolites, Thalassinoides, Palaeophycus, Taenidium, Teichichnus, and Zoophycos. They occur in thick bioturbated layers, which are interbedded with rare, thin layers of unbioturbated black shales. The black shale layers mark the Bonarelli Level and are interpreted as a record of anoxia or dysoxia. Coeval sections in the Western Tethys contain similar trace fossils but they are less abundant and these sections are characterized by thicker unbioturbated black shale layers and thinner bioturbated layers. This confirms the exceptionally favourable life conditions in sediments of the Sztolnia section, which do not record strong global anoxia during the OAE-2 event. Such favourable conditions were probably caused by effective oxygenation of pore waters and deep burial of organic matter, which are a consequence of high rates of accumulation and the palaeogeographical location of the section on a flank of a submarine high, under strong circulation.     

Trace fossils and their palaeoenvironmental significance in the Lameta Formation of Salbardi and Belkher area, district Amravati, Maharashtra, India

Trace fossils namely, Planolites, Planolites montanus, Thalassinoides and stuff burrows belonging to the Lameta Formation of Central India are reported for the first time from two new localities, i.e., Salbardi and Belkher area. Both the exposures are well represented by the typical marker lithounits as of Jabalpur, Nand-Dongargaon area of central India, i.e., greenish yellow sandstone, clays of various shades, chertified and brecciated limestones, etc. These successions are devoid of megaforal remains, therefore, these biogenic structures play a significant role in the interpretation of palaeoenvironment and palaeoecology during the deposition of the Lameta sediments. The trace fossils assemblage shows that the benthonic community was mainly polychaetes and crustaceans.     

The Marine Cretaceous in the Western Part of the Tarim Basin of Xinjiang and Its Depositional Environments

The western part of the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang is one of the main areas in China where the marineCretaceous is well developed. The Upper Cretaceous Yingjisha Group represented mainly by sediments of lit-toral, near-shore neritic and estuarine facies is divided in ascending order into the Kukebai Formation, theOytak Formation, the Ygezya Formation and the Tuylouk Formation. For about thirty years, the basal beds of the Kukebai Formation had been considered to be the lowermostmarine horizon of the Cretaceous in the western part of the Tarim Basin, which represents the earliest trans-gression of the Cretaceous Sea into this region. Recently. marine trace fossils, Ophiomorpha nodosa, O.tuberosa and Thalassinoides? spp. were found in abundance and fine preservation from the upper subcycle andupper part of the lower subcycle of the Kezlesu Group underlying the Kukebai Formation. The fact indicatesthat the marine transgression there took place earlier than the Kukebaian. Process of transgression and regression and change of environment in the West Tarim Basin during the pe-riod from the late Early Cretaceous to the end of the Cretaceous is also discussed in this paper.     

Upper Cretaceous bottom current deposits,north-east Greenland

Reported ancient bottom current deposits in deep marine settings are scarce and most of them remain contentious. This study describes sedimentological, ichnological and petrographical characteristics of a drill core that covers ca 10 Myr of Upper Cretaceous stratigraphy at Hold with Hope, north-east Greenland. The core is divided into four facies associations, which are interpreted to reflect deposition from bottom currents, turbidity flows and hemipelagic settling in slope and/or near slope environments. The evidence for bottom current influence is three-fold. Firstly, pervasive indications of winnowing such as marine bioclast-rich lags and outsized clasts on ‘mud on mud’ contacts are suggestive of low-sediment concentration flows capable of transporting up to pebble-sized clasts. Common Mn–Fe–Mg rich carbonate matrix cements and various types of hiatal chemogenic lag deposits showing glauconite, apatite and carbonate clasts also point to condensation, prolonged exposure at the sediment–water interface and recurrent phases of sea-floor erosion. Secondly, such deposits can show indicators for tidal processes such as double mud-drapes, tangential bottom sets in dune-scale cross-bedding and cyclic rhythmites. Thirdly, inverse to normal grading at various scales is common in fully marine, commonly seafloor-derived sediments. Ichnological data indicate considerable taxonomic variability in the bottom current deposits, but recurrent fabrics are characteristically dominated by morphologically simple burrows such as Thalassinoides and Planolites, with secondary Phycosiphon, Nereites, Zoophycos and/or Chondrites. In general, opportunistic taxa are common whereas mature composite ichnofabrics are rare. The omission surfaces are locally burrowed with stiffground to firmground trace fossil suites. The results contribute to establishing sedimentological, ichnological and mineralogical criteria for recognition of bottom current deposits as well as to the understanding of the Late Cretaceous palaeoenvironmental evolution of the Arctic region.     

Ichnofauna from the Harbans Bed of the Badhaura Formation (Sterlitmakian), Rajasthan,India

In the first ever systematic study of trace fossils from the Badhaura Formation, the authors described a nesting burrow, which they ascribed to a stomatopod. The purpose of this paper is two-fold: primarily, to document ichnofauna from (post-glacial marine late Palaeozoic rocks of peninsular India) the Badhaura Formation (Sterlitmakian) representing marine rocks deposited following the Late Palaeozoic glaciation and secondly to contribute to the data on post-glacial ichnofauna from constituent continents of the Gondwanaland. Trace fossils described here are from the Harbans Bed, the topmost lithounit of the Badhaura Formation. The ichnofauna includes Arenicolites tenuis, Beaconites isp., Curvolithus isp., Cylindrichnus concentricus, Didymaulichnus lyelli, Ophiomorpha isp., Palaeophycus tubularis, Planolites beverleyensis, P. montanus, Rosselia chonoides, R. socialis, Skolithos linearis, Taenidium cameronensis, Thalassinoides paradoxicus, Thalassinoides isp. and a flask-shaped brood chamber assigned to a stomatopod crustacean. This mixed assemblage is assigned to distal Skolithos ichnofacies and is suggestive of a period of relatively quiet, shallow water conditions of deposition. The ichnofauna, when viewed in context of peri-gondwanic ichnofaunas, mainly consisting of simple tracks and trails, from late Palaeozoic post-glacial deposits of other Gondwanan continents, is interesting due to dominance of domichnia. Profusion of brood chambers along with Thalassinoides in the Badhaura Formation validates the concept of pre-Mesozoic Thalassinoides being non-decapod in origin and suggestive of adaptive convergence.     

Trace fossils from Talchir carbonate concretions,Giridih basin,Jharkhand

The carbonate concretions occurring at the bottom of Talchir fissile shale facies preserved signatures of various trace fossils along with a cast of doubtful organisms and cyanobacterial mat structures. The host shale deposited under glacial melt water fed lacustrine condition. The concretions, formed in poorly oxygenated conditions, are either of syndepositional origin and/or deposited a little below the sediment water interface and were later exhumed to the depositional surface due to erosion of soft mud overlying them. The trace fossils are both megascopic and microscopic in nature. The megascopic trace fossils are identified on the basis of their morphology as Monocraterion and Rhizocorallium. Some of the megascopic structures described remain problematic at present. The microscopic trace fossils are formed due to the activity of marine meiofauna (possibly by nematodes), which, although produced morphologically show similar traces of known larger ichnogeneras but much smaller than them. The discovery of these trace fossils apparently indicate the influx of saline water into a lacustrine domain during the Talchir sedimentation at Giridih basin. Moreover, presence of the above two megascopic trace fossils in the marine lacustrine carbonate concretions may lead researchers to consider their much wider environmental significance than hitherto believed.     

海相遗迹化石对显生宙生物大辐射事件的响应*

通过系统梳理前寒武纪和显生宙海相遗迹化石记录及笔者自己的研究,发现在寒武纪生命大爆发、奥陶纪生物大辐射、中生代海洋革命共3次里程碑式的生物大辐射过程中,海相遗迹化石的属级多样性变化和歧异度增减均与生物多样性呈正相关,生物扰动强度和深度明显增加,造迹生物的觅食策略和行为习性多样化明显增多。寒武纪生命大爆发时期,最有代表性的生物行为变化是出现了具有垂向分量的潜穴; 奥陶纪生物大辐射期间,海相遗迹化石的分布逐渐从滨、浅海扩展至半深海和深海,表现为造迹生物群落栖息地的扩张; 中生代海洋革命时期,海相和陆相遗迹化石同步增加,生物对生态空间利用的深度、广度和集约性同步增强,遗迹化石面貌表现为深海雕画迹的多样性和歧异度大幅增加、形态类型多样、多种觅食策略共存。地史时期的海相遗迹化石面貌受环境外因和生物内因控制,表现出形态由简到繁、分布范围由小到大的变化趋势,对生态空间的利用表现为由沉积物表层至浅层再到深层、由二维到三维、由局域(浅水)到广域(浅水和深水以及陆地)的发展,印证了生物获取生态机会的过程。     

Integrated correlation of the Vendian to Cambrian Arroyo del Soldado and Corumbá Groups (Uruguay and Brazil): palaeogeographic, palaeoclimatic and palaeobiologic implications

The Corumbá Group of SW Brazil and the Arroyo del Soldado Group (ASG) of Uruguay are correlated on the basis of litho-, bio- and chemostratigraphy. Both units represent marine sedimentation with alternating siliciclastics and carbonates developed on a stable continental shelf. In the Corumbá basin, sedimentation began in the Varangerian, represented by the glaciomarine Puga Formation. A series of sea-level fluctuations coupled with climatic changes are recorded up section. While uppermost deposits of the ASG are of lowermost Cambrian age, sedimentation ceased in the latest Vendian in the Corumbá basin. An assemblage of six species of organic-walled microfossils dominated by Bavlinella faveolata and Soldadophycus bossii, three species of vendotaenids and two species of skeletal fossils (Cloudina and Titanotheca) is described from the Corumbá Group. The vendotaenid Eoholynia corumbensis sp. nov is described from siltstones of the Guaicurus Formation. An important diversity of skeletal fossils in the Corumbá, Arroyo del Soldado and Nama groups points to favourable Vendian palaeoclimatic conditions in SW-Gondwana. Preliminary carbon isotopic data show a series of alternating positive and negative excursions, corroborating the upper Vendian age indicated by fossils for both units. Previously reported strontium isotopic data are also consistent with this age. It is postulated that the Corumbá and ASGs were deposited onto the same shelf, which opened to the east. The Rio de la Plata Superterrane (Craton) extends farther to the north than previously expected, or it was already amalgamated with the Amazonian Craton by Vendian times. Collision of the platform with the Paraná Block caused closure of the basin during the Cambrian-Early Ordovician. Finally, models of Neoproterozoic glaciations based on enhanced bioproductivity driven by high nutrient availability are discussed.     

Two bioerosion ichnofacies produced by early and late burial associated with sea-level change

In bioerosion, as in trace fossils as a whole, deeply emplaced structures have greater survival value than shallow structures. That is to say, tiering (the relative depth to which rasping, etching and boring organisms penetrate their substrate) is of paramount importance for the preservation potential of individual trace fossils. An Entobia ichnofacies is established for trace fossil assemblages dominated by deep tier borings and arising from long-term bioerosion, such as occurs on sediment-free submarine cliffs or hardgrounds. A Gnathichnus ichnofacies comprises assemblages containing all tiers, including superficial sculptures produced by radulation that have very little preservation potential. Such assemblages occur in short-term bioerosion situations as on shell surfaces and hardgrounds buried early by sedimentation. Correspondence to: R. G. Bromley     

Trace fossil assemblages in mixed siliciclastic-carbonate sediments of the Kaladongar Formation (Middle Jurassic), Patcham Island,Kachchh, Western India

The Middle Jurassic rocks of the Kaladongar Formation well exposed in the Kaladongar Hill range of the Patcham Island and Kuar Bet of the Northern Kachchh comprises of ∼450 m thick sequence of mixed siliciclasticcarbonate sediments intercalated with shales. These Mixed siliciclastic-carbonate sediments show wide variation in textural and mineralogical composition and represent genetically related six rock types: micritic sandstone, allochemic sandstone, sandy allochemic limestone, micrtic mudrock, sandy micrite and muddy micrite; which are highly bioturbated and show behaviourally diverse groups of trace fossils. Total 34 ichnogenera are identified, which includes, Arenicolites, Asterosoma, Beaconites, Bergaueria, Chondrites, Cochlichnus, Dactylophycus, Daedalus, Didymaulichnus, Diplocraterion, Gordia, Gyrochorte, Gyrolithes, Ichnocumulus, Laevicyclus, Lockeia, Margaritichnus, Monocraterion, Nereites, Ophiomorpha, Palaeophycus, Phoebichnus, Phycodes, Pilichnus, Planolites, Plug Shaped Form, Protovirgularia, Rhizocorallium, Scolicia, Skolithos, Taenidium, Teichichnus, Thalassinoides and Walcottia. These trace fossils are classified into six morphological groups namely, circular and elliptical structures; simple structures; branched structures; rosette structures; spreiten structures; and winding and meandering structures. These trace fossils are further group into eight assemblages which occurred together into mixed siliciclastic-carbonate sediments, include, Asterosoma assemblage, Gyrochorte assemblage, Rhizocorallium assemblage, Thalassinoides assemblage, Planolites-Palaeophycus assemblage, Phycodes assemblage, Ophiomorpha assemblage and Skolithos assemblage. The recurring pattern of these assemblages through the sequence displays the development of Skolithos and Cruziana ichnofacies and at places the mixed Skolithos-Cruziana ichnofacies which suggest a low wave and current energy conditions with intervening period of high wave and current energy conditions and an intermediate period of stressful environments, respectively. Sedimentological and ichnological data suggest that the deposition of the mixed siliciclastic-carbonate sediments of the Kaladongar Formation took place in the foreshore to offshore environment under fluctuating wave and current energy condition.     

Gastrochaenolites ornatus Kelly and Bromley and other trace fossils on a Middle Miocene omission surface from the Aures Massif,Algeria

Trace fossils provide detailed palaeoenvironmental and palaeoecological information of both ancient and modern sedimentary systems. During middle Miocene times the Aures Massif located in the northeastern part of Algeria, was affected by, at least, one marine transgression. The latter led to the installation of a carbonate platform, which is placed, for the first time, in a Mediterranean context. In the Rhassira basin, the Middle Miocene marine succession is characterised by carbonate platform deposits dominated by rhodolith beds, typical of those known throughout the Mediterranean area. This succession can be divided into many units separated by discontinuities interpreted here as omission surfaces. The Djebel Arhane section shows two omission surfaces characterised by a pre-omission suite (firmground) represented by Balanoglossites burrows for the first surface and Gastrochaenolites ornatus burrows/borings for the second one, and an omission suite (hardground) as evidenced by the bioerosive structures Trypanites and Caulostrepsis, in both surfaces, respectively. Gastrochaenolites ornatus traces were formed and preserved in firm, compact, semi-lithified and fine-grained substrates (firm- to hardground), indicating the Glossifungites ichnofacies. They show bioglyphs which have been formed during contraction of the posterior adductor muscles. These suggest that their tracemakers were represented by suspension-feeding bivalves, most probably Pholadidae or Mytilidae, which rotated during penetration. The fill of these traces is composed of marine deposits related to a transgressive lag. The omission suite is divided into two ichnocoenoses: (i) pre-lithification burrows/borings, and (ii) post-lithification borings. This is the first report of the ichnotaxon G. ornatus from Algeria.     

The former presence of organic matter caused its later absence: Burn‐down of organic matter in oceanic red beds enhanced by bioturbation (Eocene Variegated Shale,Carpathians)

Eocene oceanic red beds that formed in a well‐oxygenated setting at low sedimentation rates below the calcite compensation depth are effectively barren of organic carbon in the present state. Recurrent distal low‐erosive turbidites preserve the bioturbated zone underneath that documents seasonal and long‐term fluctuating accumulation of considerable amounts of organic matter on the sea floor as evidenced by Scolicia ; the producers of this trace fossil exploited nutritious organic matter conserved in turbidite‐buried sea floor deposits. Over the long‐term, slow average sedimentation of (hemi)pelagic oxic (red) mud led to long oxygen exposure times and low burial of organic matter. Consequently, trace fossils representing persistent sediment‐feeding modes are of small size. Although the food‐limited setting appears appropriate for producers of graphoglyptids, such ‘stationary’ burrows have not been encountered because seasonal deposition of organic matter fostered at least temporary surface layer feeding organisms, for instance producers of Nereites irregularis that intensively reworked the sediment and, hence, hindered graphoglyptid production. These findings confirm palaeoceanographic modelling results that suggest upwelling in the study area during the Eocene.     

Trace fossils from the late cretaceous Lameta Formation,Jabalpur area,Madhya Pradesh: Paleoenvironmental implications

In Jabalpur area about 18 m to 45 m thick Lameta Formation is stratigraphically divisible into five lithounits namely, Green Sandstone, Lower Limestone, Mottled Nodular Beds, Upper Limestone and Upper Sandstone. Having differentiated lithofacies constitution and here grouped as facies associations, these units are intensively burrowed and sparingly fossiliferous. Ichnogenera including Arenicolites, Calycraterion, Fucusopsis, Laevicyclus, Macanopsis, Ophiomorpha, Paleomeandron, Rhizocorallium, Stipsellus, Thalassinoides and Zoophycos are recovered from the Lower Limestone, Mottled Nodular Beds and Upper Limestone associations of the Lameta Formation of Jabalpur area.Among these, Arenicolites, Calycraterion, Laevicyclus, Ophiomorpha, Rhizocorallium, Stipsellus and Thalassinoides belong to mixed Skolithos and Cruziana ichnofacies and indicate sandy backshore to sublittoral condition of deposition. Additionally rhyzocretes, some times chertified, are also present in different parts of the Lameta Formation. Ichnofacies assemblage supported by sedimentological information suggests that the Lameta Formation of Jabalpur area was deposited in coastal marine settings where sediments were subaerially exposed intermittently.