POTENTIAL ICE CRYSTAL MARKS FROM PENNSYLVANIAN–PERMIAN EQUATORIAL RED-BEDS OF NORTHWEST COLORADO, U.S.A.

ABSTRACT The Pennsylvanian–Permian Maroon Formation of northwest Colorado is an up to 4,600 m thick succession of mainly siliciclastic continental red-beds deposited in equatorial intermontane basins of the Ancestral Rocky Mountains. Sedimentary surfaces of fluvio-lacustrine to eolian siltstones and fine-grained sandstones from various stratigraphic levels within the Maroon Formation preserve cm-sized straight to gently curved sediment-filled acicular structures referred to five morphological groups: single, branched, stellate, rosette, and bunched. Depositional environment, shape, and size of the structures are most similar to ice crystal marks that result from freezing of water-saturated fine-grained substrate at the sediment-air interface. They differ from other syngenetically produced crystals and crystal pseudomorphs in sedimentary rocks mainly by crystal shape and environmental conditions. The potential ice crystal marks of the Maroon Formation are notable for the fidelity and morphological diversity of the crystal casts and could be a key for the understanding of similar but hitherto often only called enigmatic structures of the sedimentary rock record. The ice crystal mark occurrences in the Maroon Formation suggest that night frost affected lower elevation equatorial areas during the climax of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age and may stimulate research on evolutionary adaptations of early terrestrial biota to overcome significant air temperature fluctuations.

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Late Paleozoic Ice-Age rhythmites in the southernmost Paraná Basin: A sedimentological and paleoenvironmental analysis

Journal of Sedimentary Research ◽

10.2110/jsr.2020.54 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 90 (8) ◽

pp. 969-979 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Julia Tedesco ◽

Joice Cagliari ◽

Carolina Danielski Aquino

Keyword(s):

Ice Age ◽

Late Paleozoic ◽

Interglacial Period ◽

Fine Grained ◽

Geochemical Proxies ◽

Late Paleozoic Ice Age ◽

Paraná Basin ◽

Parana Basin

ABSTRACT Fine-grained rhythmites are a recurrent sedimentary facies in glacially influenced marine and lacustrine sequences throughout geological time. Paleoenvironmental interpretation of these ancient deposits has been a challenge, because similar rhythmites may have formed in different depositional contexts. In the Paraná Basin, the Itararé Group contains numerous successions of fine-grained rhythmites, deposited in the Carboniferous during the Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA). The described rhythmites are characterized by the intercalation of fine-grained sandstones and siltstones with clay and clayey siltstones. We have identified two distinct types of rhythmites based on the contact between couplets, couplets thickness, sedimentary structures, and geochemical proxies. Type 1 rhythmites are characterized by intercalation of very fine-grained sandstone–siltstone (60–90%) with claystone (40–10%) and normal grading. Type 2 rhythmites are characterized by couplets of siltstone (50%) and claystone (50%), with a sharp contact within couplets. Type 1 rhythmites are interpreted as turbidity-current deposits, and Type 2 as distal deposits of hypopycnal flow. Geochemical proxies suggest deposition of the rhythmites under marine conditions, in a period of rising temperature and humidity, and with intensified chemical weathering. These paleoenvironmental characteristics are in agreement with the interglacial period. The preservation of thick rhythmite successions of the Itararé Group in the southern part of the basin was controlled by the constant creation of accommodation space inside paleovalleys.

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Life in the Late Paleozoic ice age: trace fossils from glacially influenced deposits in a Late Carboniferous fjord of western Argentina

Journal of Paleontology ◽

10.1666/10-046.1 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 85 (3) ◽

pp. 502-518 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Elizabeth R. Schatz ◽

María Gabriela Mángano ◽

Luis A. Buatois ◽

Carlos Oscar Limarino

Keyword(s):

Trace Fossils ◽

Late Carboniferous ◽

Ice Age ◽

Lower Section ◽

Fine Grained ◽

Storm Waves ◽

Late Paleozoic Ice Age ◽

Marine Influence ◽

Ice Rafting ◽

Early Late

The early Late Carboniferous rocks of the Guandacol Formation in western Argentina preserve the glacial to postglacial transition. In the study area, this unit has been divided in three intervals: 1) a lower diamictitic interval; 2) a middle interval chiefly composed of mudstone, and 3) an upper sandstone-dominated interval. The lower interval records infill of a fjord incised into the underlying Ordovician limestone. The middle and upper intervals reflect postglacial sedimentation. Four ichnotaxa, occurring as both discrete and compound trace fossils, are documented from the lower and middle intervals of the Guandacol Formation. Diplopodichnus biformis and Cruziana diplopoda n. isp. occur in the thinly bedded stratified diamictite in the upper section of the lower interval. These deposits record sedimentation from debris flows with dropstones reflecting overprinting of ice-rafting and rain-out processes. Cruziana cf. problematica and Rusophycus carbonarius are present in very-fine to fine-grained sandstone layers interbedded with dropstone-bearing mudstone in the lower section of the middle interval. These deposits record the interplay of suspension fall-out sedimentation, ice-rafting, rain-out processes, and storm waves. The presence of linguliformean brachiopods in coeval beds nearby strongly suggests marine influence and that brackish-water conditions prevailed during the early phase of the transgression. Harsh paleoenvironmental conditions may explain the small size of the trace fossils and the low ichnodiversity in comparison to that expected in fully marine environments. The morphology of the trace fossils as bilobate ridges and furrows ornamented with scratch marks indicates that the structures were produced by arthropods, most likely trilobites and/or notostracans. Although the possibility that different ichnotaxa have resulted from changes in burrowing behaviors can not be completely disregarded, the fact that distinct Cruziana ichnospecies display non-overlapping facies distribution may suggest their production by different arthropods.

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