Actuopaleoichnology of a modern Bay of Fundy macro-tidal flat: analogy with a Mississippian tidal flat deposit (Hartselle Sandstone) from Alabama

Trace fossil zonation in the Hartselle Sandstone of Mississippian age (Chesterian: Visean-Serpukhovian) exposed on Fielder Ridge, Alabama is compared with modern macro-tidal flat ichnocoenoses on the Bay of Fundy at Lubec, Maine, and demonstrated to be analogous by sedimentologic and ichnotaxonomic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PeerJ (San Francisco, CA) CA), 2019-05, Vol.7, p.e6975-e6975, Article e6975
Main Authors: Zachos, Louis G, Platt, Brian F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bioturbation
Crustaceans
Ecology
Estuaries
Fossils
Grain size
Ichnology
Invertebrates
Littoral deposits
Microenvironments
Paleoecology
Paleontology
Paleozoic Era
Predation
Predation (Biology)
Preservation
Sediments
Spatial distribution
Stone
Studies
Tidal currents
Trace fossils
Zonation
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Summary:Trace fossil zonation in the Hartselle Sandstone of Mississippian age (Chesterian: Visean-Serpukhovian) exposed on Fielder Ridge, Alabama is compared with modern macro-tidal flat ichnocoenoses on the Bay of Fundy at Lubec, Maine, and demonstrated to be analogous by sedimentologic and ichnotaxonomic criteria. The modern flat has minimal influence from either waves or freshwater influx, and can be divided into five distinct ichnocoenoses, characterized by surface traces (epichnia) and four sedimentologic facies defined by gross grain texture or hydrodynamic characteristics, but lacking significant surface traces. Several characteristics of tidal flat deposits in a fetch-limited, marine (i.e., non-estuarine), meso- to macro-tidal regime can be used to recognize similar environments as old as the late Paleozoic. These criteria include (1) limited influence of wind and waves on the depositional environment, (2) lack of significant freshwater influence and therefore any persistent brackish environments, (3) a distinct spatial distribution of microenvironments defined by substrate and exposure period, (4) high diversity of epichnial traces directly associated with microenvironments across the tidal flat, (5) generally low degree of reworking of traces by bioturbation but high degree of reworking by tidal currents, and (6) preservation of traces of predation and scavenging behavior on an exposed surface. These features, together with the regional depositional pattern of the Hartselle Sandstone interpreted as tide-influenced bars and shoals, support a meso- to macro-tidal interpretation of the depositional environment.
ISSN:2167-8359
2167-8359
DOI:10.7717/peerj.6975