Ichnofossils

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Stephen T. Hasiotis - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Relationship of floodplain ichnocoenoses to paleopedology, paleohydrology, and paleoclimate
    2014
    Co-Authors: Jon J. Smith, Stephen T. Hasiotis, Mary J. Kraus, Daniel T. Woody
    Abstract:

    Vertical changes in distribution, abundance, and ichnodiversity of ichnocoenoses in alluvial deposits of the Willwood Formation suggest significantly drier moisture regimes in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), a tran-sient period of global warming. The Willwood Formation at Polecat Bench contains an abundant assemblage of Ichnofossils, including various types of rhizoliths and invertebrate trace fossils, such as Nak-todemasis bowni, Camborygma litonomos, Edaphichnium lumbricatum, cf. Cylindricum isp., cf. Planolites isp., cf. Steinichnus, and cocoon traces. These comprise six distinct ichnocoenoses, which are catego-rized as dominantly terraphilic, hygrophilic, or hydrophilic based on the inferred moisture regimes of their most abundant ichnofossil morphotypes and associated pedogenic features, including other trace fossils and rhizoliths. The interpreted moisture regimes correlate wel

  • relationship of floodplain ichnocoenoses to paleopedology paleohydrology and paleoclimate in the willwood formation wyoming during the paleocene eocene thermal maximum
    PALAIOS, 2008
    Co-Authors: Jon J. Smith, Stephen T. Hasiotis, Mary J. Kraus, Daniel T. Woody
    Abstract:

    Vertical changes in distribution, abundance, and ichnodiversity of ichnocoenoses in alluvial deposits of the Willwood Formation suggest significantly drier moisture regimes in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), a transient period of global warming. The Willwood Formation at Polecat Bench contains an abundant assemblage of Ichnofossils, including various types of rhizoliths and invertebrate trace fossils, such as Naktodemasis bowni, Camborygma litonomos, Edaphichnium lumbricatum, cf. Cylindricum isp., cf. Planolites isp., cf. Steinichnus, and cocoon traces. These comprise six distinct ichnocoenoses, which are categorized as dominantly terraphilic, hygrophilic, or hydrophilic based on the inferred moisture regimes of their most abundant ichnofossil morphotypes and associated pedogenic features, including other trace fossils and rhizoliths. The interpreted moisture regimes correlate well with the paleoenvironments of their host lithofacies, as inferred from sedimentology and paleopedology. Outside the PETM interval at Polecat Bench, abundant avulsion deposits and thin, compound paleosols containing hygrophilic and hydrophilic ichnocoenoses suggest frequent depositional events and predominantly poor to imperfect soil-drainage conditions. Within the PETM interval, thick, cumulative paleosol profiles with abundant terraphilic to hygrophilic ichnocoenoses suggest significantly improved drainage conditions. Lithofacies and ichnocoenoses above the PETM interval are not significantly different from those below the interval, indicating a return to pre-PETM moisture regimes. These conclusions support previous studies that suggest the Bighorn Basin experienced transient drying during this interval. This study demonstrates that ichnocoenoses and their ichnopedologic associations can be used to refine paleohydrologic and paleoclimatic generalizations inferred from paleoclimate models.

  • Biogenic Structures Produced by Sand-Swimming Snakes: A Modern Analog for Interpreting Continental Ichnofossils
    Journal of Sedimentary Research, 2007
    Co-Authors: Daniel I Hembree, Stephen T. Hasiotis
    Abstract:

    Abstract A noichnological experiment using the Kenyan sand boa, Eryx colubrinus, reveals the diversity of biogenic structures produced by sand-swimming vertebrates in unconsolidated sand. Documentation of these biogenic structures will aid in the identification and interpretation of similar Ichnofossils in the geologic record and help improve paleoenvironmental and paleoecological reconstructions. Two sand boas and three sand-filled chambers containing 1–3 cm thick layers of fine- to medium-grained sand were used in this burrowing experiment. The burrowing activities of the snakes were observed over a 14-day period and the chambers were photographed regularly to record sediment disturbance. Eryx colubrinus produced a number of biogenic structures including (1) cone-shaped, downward-tapering features; (2) straight, vertical tubes; (3) elongate, sinuous tunnels; (4) semicircular, concave divots; (5) downward- and upward-deflected laminae; and (6) offset laminae. These different trace morphologies are present together, forming a large compound ichnofossil resulting from locomotion, resting, and dwelling behaviors. Absent from the sand-swimming biogenic structures were active backfill features, open tunnels, and burrow linings. The recognition and interpretation of Ichnofossils in the rock record of sand-swimming vertebrates requires their association with assemblages of known terrestrial body and trace fossils, rhizoliths, and pedogenic fabrics. Given the ecology of extant sand-swimming vertebrates, their biogenic structures characterize loose sediments with low interstitial moisture and environments with arid to semiarid climates. The biogenic structures produced in this experiment represent a new type of previously unrecognized biodiversity—that of sand-swimming vertebrates. In order to understand the evolution of fossorial behavior in continental vertebrates, recognition of the morphology of all types of interactions between vertebrates and the sediment must be considered.

  • paleosols and Ichnofossils of the white river formation of colorado insight into soil ecosystems of the north american midcontinent during the eocene oligocene transition
    PALAIOS, 2007
    Co-Authors: Daniel I Hembree, Stephen T. Hasiotis
    Abstract:

    Abstract Exposures of the upper Eocene to middle Oligocene White River Formation in northeastern Colorado contain ichnofossil-rich paleosols in a meandering alluvial system. The paleoenvironmental, paleoecological, and paleoclimatic significance of these paleosols and Ichnofossils record the effects on soil ecosystems of the initial stages of global cooling in the late Eocene and early Oligocene. Previous studies of Eocene-Oligocene paleosols in Wyoming and South Dakota suggest a transition from woodland to grassland ecosystems in response to global cooling and drying. We describe four paleosol types from the study area. Type I paleosols include compound Entisols characterized by shallow networks of fine rhizoliths and ichnofaunal assemblages of Planolites isp., Pallichnus dakotensis, Macanopsis isp., Celliforma ficoides, and vertebrate coprolites. Type II paleosols are compound Inceptisols characterized by elongate rhizoliths and ichnofaunal assemblages of Planolites isp., Pallichnus dakotensis, Macanops...

  • continental Ichnofossils of the green river and wasatch formations eocene wyoming a preliminary survey proposed relation to lake basin type and application to integrated paleo environmental interpretation
    2007
    Co-Authors: Kevin M Bohacs, Stephen T. Hasiotis, Timothy M Demko
    Abstract:

    Abstract Alluvial and littoral portions of the Eocene Green River and Wasatch Formations in Wyoming contain a wide variety of trace fossils that record primarily the activity of air-breathing insects and vertebrates that respond to changes in lake level and groundwater table. Each member of the Eocene Green River and Wasatch Formations studied has a characteristic association of Ichnofossils— the type, abundance, and diversity of Ichnofossils vary in systematic ways that appear to be associated with lake-basin type. The Luman and Niland Tongues and associated Wasatch Formation represent an overfilled lake basin, containing mostly epifaunal insect and tetrapod tracks and trails and few infaunal insect burrows in shoreline or lake-plain strata. Traces found here include Haplotichnus, Steinichnus, Fuersichnus, and adhesive meniscate burrows. These observations suggest persistently high water-table levels that accords with the co-occurrence of histosols, coals, and freshwater flora and fauna. The lower LaClede Bed, Green River Formation and coeval Wasatch Formation represent a balanced-fill lake basin, containing abundant traces attributable to insect activity in shoreline, floodplain, and meandering-fluvial strata. Ichnofossils found here include traces attributed to termite, ant, bee, caddisfly, and beetle nests and burrows, as well as others. Some meandering channel units up to 2.5-m thick contain extensive “ant nests”, indicating complete withdrawal of surface and groundwater beyond the penetration of the “ant nests”. Vertisols developed on floodplain strata contain traces attributed to bee nests and beetle burrows as well as tetrapod tracks, which also record fluctuations of the groundwater table. The Wilkins Peak Member, Green River Formation and Cathedral Bluffs Tongue, Wasatch Formation represent an underfilled lake basin containing abundant traces in sheet-flood deposits up to 3 m thick. Traces include those attributed to termite and beetles nests and burrows, as well as Maconopsis and Eatonichnus, indicating substantial drawdown of groundwater after deposition of the sheet-flood deposits. Bird and mammal tracks on multiple bedding planes demonstrate that multiple events deposited 30–70 cm thick bedsets with intervening water-level falls. Ichnofossil assemblages suggest soil moisture of 10–30% and minimum annual temperatures of > 4° C. Shoreline strata contain only such epifaunal trails as Scolicia and Cochlichnus, with other indices of saline to alkaline waters. Continental trace fossils provide valuable insights into details of depositional conditions of lake-margin, lake plain, fluvial, and floodplain paleoenvironments that commonly challenge conventional analyses. Ichnofossil analysis is powerful especially when combined with broader scale observations of stratal geometries, geochemistry, and lithologies in a lake-basin-type framework to provide more integrated paleoenvironmental reconstructions that include groundwater and lake hydrology.

Darin A Croft - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • paleosol and ichnofossil evidence for significant neotropical habitat variation during the late middle miocene serravallian
    Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 2017
    Co-Authors: Angeline M Catena, Daniel I Hembree, Beverly Z Saylor, Federico Anaya, Darin A Croft
    Abstract:

    We use paleopedology and ichnology to elucidate the habitat of the late middle Miocene fossil site of Quebrada Honda, southern Bolivia. The paleosols represent three pedotypes, Type 1 and Type 2 paleosols are interpreted as Inceptisols (Eutrudepts) and Entisols (Udifluvents), respectively, which formed on proximal and distal floodplains in a seasonal, sub-humid to humid wooded grassland-like vegetative community. Type 3 paleosols are interpreted as Inceptisols (Calciustepts) that formed in more densely vegetated wooded grassland-like vegetative communities on distal floodplains in a strongly seasonal sub-humid to semi-arid environment. The ichnofossil assemblage of Quebrada Honda includes Celliforma, Coprinisphaera, Taenidium, Fictovichnus, Planolites, Skolithos, Katarrhedrites, and root traces and represents heterogeneous communities dominated by soil arthropods and plants. The physical and geochemical properties of the paleosols, including low maturity, poor development of horizons, and the overall moderate estimates of mean annual precipitation, indicate changes in soil moisture due to seasonal precipitation and flooding and low but varying degrees of temporal stability. The diverse ichnofossil assemblage of Quebrada Honda reflects environments with greater primary productivity and temporal stability than those of nearby Cerdas, Bolivia, which are several million years older. Quebrada Honda's inferred paleoenvironments differ markedly from those of La Venta, Colombia, indicating that dissimilar habitats may partly or principally account for the vastly different faunas of these two well-sampled and contemporaneous fossil localities.

  • paleoenvironmental analysis of the neotropical fossil mammal site of cerdas bolivia middle miocene based on Ichnofossils and paleopedology
    Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 2016
    Co-Authors: Angeline M Catena, Daniel I Hembree, Beverly Z Saylor, Federico Anaya, Darin A Croft
    Abstract:

    Abstract The early middle Miocene (Langhian age) site of Cerdas in the southern Bolivian Altiplano has produced a diverse fauna of extinct mammals (15 species in seven orders and 11 families). In this study, we use paleosols and Ichnofossils to reconstruct its paleoenvironment and the conditions in which its fossils were preserved. The described paleosols represent three pedotypes and three distinct landscape surfaces in an alluvial system. Type 1 paleosols are interpreted as Haplusteps (Inceptisols) that formed on a proximal floodplain in a subhumid to humid, patchy shrubland with seasonal variation in precipitation and associated changes in soil moisture conditions (Landscape 1). Type 2 paleosols are interpreted as Dystrudepts that formed on a well-vegetated, distal floodplain in a seasonal, humid climate with ground covering shrubland vegetation (Landscape 2). Type 3 paleosols are interpreted as Calciustolls (Mollisols) that formed in a shifting alluvial environment in a seasonal, sub-humid to semi-arid open environment (Landscape 3). Ichnofossil assemblages of Cerdas include Skolithos, Planolites, Macanopsis, Parowanichnus, rhizohaloes, and rhizotubules. These were produced by detritivorous, herbivorous, and faunivorous soil arthropods as well as plant roots and represent soil communities not normally preserved as body fossils that were living within a heterogeneous alluvial environment. The physical and geochemical properties of the paleosols and associated ichnofossil assemblages indicate that the paleolandscapes were composed of shrublands and open environments that experienced changes in moisture regimes due to seasonal precipitation and flooding events and had varying degrees of temporal stability. Our analysis is the first detailed study of pre-Pleistocene Cenozoic paleosols and trace fossils from the southern tropics (mid-latitudes) of South America and one of the few focused on important fossil-mammal bearing sediments.

Angeline M Catena - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • paleosol and ichnofossil evidence for significant neotropical habitat variation during the late middle miocene serravallian
    Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 2017
    Co-Authors: Angeline M Catena, Daniel I Hembree, Beverly Z Saylor, Federico Anaya, Darin A Croft
    Abstract:

    We use paleopedology and ichnology to elucidate the habitat of the late middle Miocene fossil site of Quebrada Honda, southern Bolivia. The paleosols represent three pedotypes, Type 1 and Type 2 paleosols are interpreted as Inceptisols (Eutrudepts) and Entisols (Udifluvents), respectively, which formed on proximal and distal floodplains in a seasonal, sub-humid to humid wooded grassland-like vegetative community. Type 3 paleosols are interpreted as Inceptisols (Calciustepts) that formed in more densely vegetated wooded grassland-like vegetative communities on distal floodplains in a strongly seasonal sub-humid to semi-arid environment. The ichnofossil assemblage of Quebrada Honda includes Celliforma, Coprinisphaera, Taenidium, Fictovichnus, Planolites, Skolithos, Katarrhedrites, and root traces and represents heterogeneous communities dominated by soil arthropods and plants. The physical and geochemical properties of the paleosols, including low maturity, poor development of horizons, and the overall moderate estimates of mean annual precipitation, indicate changes in soil moisture due to seasonal precipitation and flooding and low but varying degrees of temporal stability. The diverse ichnofossil assemblage of Quebrada Honda reflects environments with greater primary productivity and temporal stability than those of nearby Cerdas, Bolivia, which are several million years older. Quebrada Honda's inferred paleoenvironments differ markedly from those of La Venta, Colombia, indicating that dissimilar habitats may partly or principally account for the vastly different faunas of these two well-sampled and contemporaneous fossil localities.

  • paleoenvironmental analysis of the neotropical fossil mammal site of cerdas bolivia middle miocene based on Ichnofossils and paleopedology
    Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 2016
    Co-Authors: Angeline M Catena, Daniel I Hembree, Beverly Z Saylor, Federico Anaya, Darin A Croft
    Abstract:

    Abstract The early middle Miocene (Langhian age) site of Cerdas in the southern Bolivian Altiplano has produced a diverse fauna of extinct mammals (15 species in seven orders and 11 families). In this study, we use paleosols and Ichnofossils to reconstruct its paleoenvironment and the conditions in which its fossils were preserved. The described paleosols represent three pedotypes and three distinct landscape surfaces in an alluvial system. Type 1 paleosols are interpreted as Haplusteps (Inceptisols) that formed on a proximal floodplain in a subhumid to humid, patchy shrubland with seasonal variation in precipitation and associated changes in soil moisture conditions (Landscape 1). Type 2 paleosols are interpreted as Dystrudepts that formed on a well-vegetated, distal floodplain in a seasonal, humid climate with ground covering shrubland vegetation (Landscape 2). Type 3 paleosols are interpreted as Calciustolls (Mollisols) that formed in a shifting alluvial environment in a seasonal, sub-humid to semi-arid open environment (Landscape 3). Ichnofossil assemblages of Cerdas include Skolithos, Planolites, Macanopsis, Parowanichnus, rhizohaloes, and rhizotubules. These were produced by detritivorous, herbivorous, and faunivorous soil arthropods as well as plant roots and represent soil communities not normally preserved as body fossils that were living within a heterogeneous alluvial environment. The physical and geochemical properties of the paleosols and associated ichnofossil assemblages indicate that the paleolandscapes were composed of shrublands and open environments that experienced changes in moisture regimes due to seasonal precipitation and flooding events and had varying degrees of temporal stability. Our analysis is the first detailed study of pre-Pleistocene Cenozoic paleosols and trace fossils from the southern tropics (mid-latitudes) of South America and one of the few focused on important fossil-mammal bearing sediments.

S K Parcha - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Ichnofossils and their significance in the cambrian successions of the parahio valley in the spiti basin tethys himalaya india
    Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 2011
    Co-Authors: S K Parcha, Shivani Pandey
    Abstract:

    Abstract The Spiti Basin exposes well preserved Cambrian successions in the Tethys Himalaya. The present ichnofossil assemblage is reported from the Debsakhad Member of the Kunzum La Formation. The Ichnofossils includes the ichnogenera Bergaueria , Chondrites , Cruziana , Didymaulichnus , Dimorphichnus , Diplichnites , Helminthorhaphe , Merostomichnites , ?Monocraterion , Monomorphichnus , Nereites , Palaeopascichnus , Palaeophycus , Phycodes , Planolites , Rusophycus , Skolithos , Scolicia , Treptichnus , etc. along with annelid worm, burrow and scratch marks. These ichnogenera can be assigned to cubichnial, repichnial, pascichnial to fodinichnial behaviors. The Ichnofossils reported from this section provide evidence regarding the developmental patterns during the early phase of life. In absence of trilobites, the present assemblage of Ichnofossils is very significant in assigning the age of the Debsakhad Member. The abundance of Ichnofossils in sandstone, siltstone and in shale beds indicate that the ichnocenosis is dominated by a high behavioral diversity ranging from the suspension to deposit feeders. Three lithofacies were observed in this section, they show a vertical disposition, which further reflects general upward coarsening trend. Ichnofossils are mostly produced by arthropods along with crustacean, polychaetes and polyphyletic vermiforms. Due to the paucity of body fossil, as well as microbiota in the lowermost beds of the Debsakhad Member, the Precambrian–Cambrian boundary could not be demarcated. However, the presence of Treptichnus and Phycodes can be considered as a horizon marker for the beginning of Lower Cambrian in this section.

  • devonian Ichnofossils from the farakah muth section of the pin valley spiti himalaya
    Journal of The Geological Society of India, 2011
    Co-Authors: S K Parcha, Shivani Pandey
    Abstract:

    The Muth Formation is one of the most characteristic marker horizon traced throughout the northwestern Himalaya. The present studies were carried out in the Farakah Muth (Pin Valley) section of Spiti Basin. The formation uniformly consists of quartzarenite with a high textural and compositional maturity. The development of carbonate beds in the upper part of the Muth Formation separates it conformably from the overlying Lipak Formation. A variety of traces were observed throughout the succession, includes: Metaichna, Planolites, Skolithos, vertical and horizontal burrows. The presence of Ichnofossils in the Muth Formation of the Farakah section indicates subtidal settings having soft sandy substrate, whereas, the gradual maturity of the quartz grains from base to top indicates deposition under high energy condition.

  • palaeoecological significance of Ichnofossils from the early cambrian succession of the spiti valley tethys himalaya india
    Current Science, 2005
    Co-Authors: S K Parcha, B P Singh, Birendra P Singh
    Abstract:

    The diverse assemblage of Ichnofossils recorded from the Early Cambrian succession of the Kunzum La Formation in Spiti basin ranges in age from the Chiung-chussuian stage of the Lower Cambrian to the Maochuangian stage ofthe Middle Cambrian. The trace fossil assemblage is dominated by Cruziana, Skolithos and partially by the Nerites ichnofacies, showing behavioural diversity from suspension to deposit feeders. Distribution of the observed ichnofacies variation is attributed to the availability of oxygen and nutrient influx. Ichnofossil studies of this area further indicate that the benthic palaeocommunity was dominated by annelids or similar worm-like animals living predominantly within the sediments, while the trilobites were trailing on the sea floor. The inferred palaeoecological distribution of ichnofossil assemblage is based on modern analogue of ocean slope and shelf zones. The litho and ichnofacies association indicates anaerobic to dysaerobic trends of the ichnofauna from Nereites to Skolithos ichnofacies. Three distinctive lithofacies association have been recognized and the stratigraphic disposition reflects a general upward coarsening of the sediments.

Shivani Pandey - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Ichnofossils and their significance in the cambrian successions of the parahio valley in the spiti basin tethys himalaya india
    Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 2011
    Co-Authors: S K Parcha, Shivani Pandey
    Abstract:

    Abstract The Spiti Basin exposes well preserved Cambrian successions in the Tethys Himalaya. The present ichnofossil assemblage is reported from the Debsakhad Member of the Kunzum La Formation. The Ichnofossils includes the ichnogenera Bergaueria , Chondrites , Cruziana , Didymaulichnus , Dimorphichnus , Diplichnites , Helminthorhaphe , Merostomichnites , ?Monocraterion , Monomorphichnus , Nereites , Palaeopascichnus , Palaeophycus , Phycodes , Planolites , Rusophycus , Skolithos , Scolicia , Treptichnus , etc. along with annelid worm, burrow and scratch marks. These ichnogenera can be assigned to cubichnial, repichnial, pascichnial to fodinichnial behaviors. The Ichnofossils reported from this section provide evidence regarding the developmental patterns during the early phase of life. In absence of trilobites, the present assemblage of Ichnofossils is very significant in assigning the age of the Debsakhad Member. The abundance of Ichnofossils in sandstone, siltstone and in shale beds indicate that the ichnocenosis is dominated by a high behavioral diversity ranging from the suspension to deposit feeders. Three lithofacies were observed in this section, they show a vertical disposition, which further reflects general upward coarsening trend. Ichnofossils are mostly produced by arthropods along with crustacean, polychaetes and polyphyletic vermiforms. Due to the paucity of body fossil, as well as microbiota in the lowermost beds of the Debsakhad Member, the Precambrian–Cambrian boundary could not be demarcated. However, the presence of Treptichnus and Phycodes can be considered as a horizon marker for the beginning of Lower Cambrian in this section.

  • devonian Ichnofossils from the farakah muth section of the pin valley spiti himalaya
    Journal of The Geological Society of India, 2011
    Co-Authors: S K Parcha, Shivani Pandey
    Abstract:

    The Muth Formation is one of the most characteristic marker horizon traced throughout the northwestern Himalaya. The present studies were carried out in the Farakah Muth (Pin Valley) section of Spiti Basin. The formation uniformly consists of quartzarenite with a high textural and compositional maturity. The development of carbonate beds in the upper part of the Muth Formation separates it conformably from the overlying Lipak Formation. A variety of traces were observed throughout the succession, includes: Metaichna, Planolites, Skolithos, vertical and horizontal burrows. The presence of Ichnofossils in the Muth Formation of the Farakah section indicates subtidal settings having soft sandy substrate, whereas, the gradual maturity of the quartz grains from base to top indicates deposition under high energy condition.