Paleoenvironmental model for the occurrence of vertebrate fossils in Carboniferous coal-bearing strata
An interdisciplinary investigation was undertaken to identify the paleoenvironmental factors that governed the accumulation and preservation of a prolific Upper Carboniferous vertebrate assemblage known from a cannel coal underlying the Upper Freeport coal in the Diamond Coal Mine of Linton, Ohio. Stratigraphic data from previous work and field studies within an approximately 15 km radius of the fossil locality show that the channel occupies a 10 km long, north-northwest trending abandoned channel that occurs within a sandstone-dominated, fining-upwards fluvial sequence. Petrographic analysis of samples from eight sites along the course of the abandoned channel establishes that the cannel is composed primarily of spores and very fine-grained micrinitic groundmass. Abundant primary pyrite and the absence of well-reserved humic materials suggest that the fossiliferous cannel originated as a sapropelic peat within a non-acidic anaerobic environment. Skeletal remains of animals are well preserved with little to no mineralogic alteration. Outside the abandoned channel in the Linton area and to the north, Upper Freeport coal averages 1 m in thickness. To the south, the Upper Freeport horizon is represented by interbedded flint clays and freshwater limestones. These sediment distribution patterns reflect the synsedimentary influence of the Transylvania Fault Zone, a previously documented, basement-controlled feature which trends east-west through the study area. Contemporaneous movement along this fault produced a topographic high in the Linton area which was locally entrenched by northward-flowing rivers. Upper Freeport swamps developed on this upthrown surface whereas carbonate lakes formed to the south of the fault zone in topographically lower areas.
- Research Organization:
- Kentucky Univ., Lexington (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 7179044
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
COAL DEPOSITS
FOSSILS
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
OHIO
COAL SEAMS
GEOLOGIC FAULTS
PEAT
PENNSYLVANIAN PERIOD
PETROGRAPHY
STRATIGRAPHY
SWAMPS
THICKNESS
VERTEBRATES
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
DIMENSIONS
ECOSYSTEMS
ENERGY SOURCES
FEDERAL REGION V
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC FRACTURES
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOLOGY
MINERAL RESOURCES
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANIC MATTER
PALEOZOIC ERA
RESOURCES
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
USA
WETLANDS
011000* - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration