Fauna and paleoecological setting of the La Meseta Formation (Eocene), Antarctica

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1985 · Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:6876497

Feldmann, R M; Wiedman, L A; Zinsmeister, W J

The La Meseta Formation, an Eocene sandstone from Seymour Island, Palmer Peninsula, Antarctica, has yielded a diverse fossil assemblage of body and trace fossils representative of a cool temperate, littoral to shallow sublittoral habitat. Over 61 taxa of macroinvertebrates, excluding gastropod body fossils, and more than 18 ichnogenera collected from the La Meseta represent the largest, most comprehensive and most diverse assemblage of Paleogene fossils from Antarctica. Included in the body fossil assemblage are species representative of at least 26 taxa of bivales, four taxa of echinoids, two of crinoids, two of ophiuroids, two of asteroids, one inarticulate and four articulate brachiopods, two barnacles, six decapod crustaceans, two cyclostome and two cheilostome bryozoans, a scaphopod and one coral. The traces include several burrow forms characteristic of the Skolithos ichnofacies of Seilacher (1967), several halo and rind burrows, gastropod predation borings, and abundant examples of teredid bivalve borings in lithified wood.Autecological analyses of the preserved organisms and environmental interpretations of the ichnogenera indicate a littoral to very shallow sublittoral environment of deposition, generally above wave base, for the la Meseta Sandstone. Modern congeneric descendants of the body fossils are known to inhabit both deep water and shallow water habitats. Of the 20 extant genera of bivalves reported from the La Meseta, 19 generally occur only in cool temperate habitats. Only one genus is known to occur south of 60/sup 0/. Most of the shallow water forms are known from cool temperate, austral regimes.

• Research Organization: Kent State Univ., OH (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6876497
• Report Number(s): CONF-8510489-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States) Journal Volume: 17
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
580100* -- Geology & Hydrology-- (-1989)
ANIMALS
ANTARCTIC REGIONS
ANTARCTICA
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
ARTHROPODS
CENOZOIC ERA
ECOLOGY
EOCENE EPOCH
FOSSILS
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
INVERTEBRATES
MOLLUSCS
PALEONTOLOGY
POLAR REGIONS
ROCKS
SANDSTONES
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
TERTIARY PERIOD