Enigmatic trace fossils from the Silurian Chaleurs Group of the southeastern Gaspé Peninsula, Quebec

1977 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 2729-2736 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. K. Pickerill ◽  
B. V. Roulston
Keyword(s):  
Trace Fossils ◽  
Trace Fossil ◽  
Vertical Shaft ◽  
Fecal Material ◽  
Branching Patterns ◽  
Gaspe Peninsula ◽  
Gaspé Peninsula

A series of enigmatic trace fossils from the Silurian Chaleurs Group (Gascons Formation) of the southeastern Gaspé Peninsula, Quebec, is described in detail. Two types of trace fossil are present and are herein referred to as Form A and Form B. Form A burrows are essentially horizontal branching tunnel networks, typically showing Y-shaped branching patterns and 'turn arounds'. It is suggested that the burrows are feeding and dwelling burrows of some unknown arthropod group, possibly primitive crustaceans. Form B burrows are vertical bulbous structures consisting of an enlarged spherical or subspherical bulbous base which extends upward into an upward tapering vertical shaft. It is suggested that these structures may represent brood structures of the same arthropod group, tubules on the bulb representing juvenile migration exits and tubercles possibly representing poorly preserved and incomplete migration exits or alternatively repositories for fecal material.

Trace fossils from the Silurian Chaleurs Group of southeastern Gaspé Peninsula, Québec

1977 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. K. Pickerill ◽  
B. V. Roulston ◽  
J. P. A. Noble
Keyword(s):  
Trace Fossils ◽  
Low Energy ◽  
Energy Conditions ◽  
Extreme Caution ◽  
Shallow Subtidal ◽  
Gaspe Peninsula ◽  
Variable Water ◽  
Water Depths ◽  
Gaspé Peninsula ◽  
Paleoenvironmental Indicators

A suite of previously undescribed trace fossils from the three main sections of the Silurian (Chaleurs Group) of the southeastern Gaspé Peninsula are examined in detail. The ichnofauna includes a diverse assemblage of forms produced essentially by vermiform and other problematica (Chondrites,Cosmorhaphe; Diplocraterion parallelum Torell, Gyrophyllites, Monocraterion, Planolites annularius Walcott, Planolites cf. beverleyensis (Billings), Rhizocorallium cf. irregulare (Mayer), Scalarituba missouriensis Weller, Skolithos, Zoophycos, pholadid-like bur-rows and grazing trails). The trace fossils occur in four distinctive and recurring associations. Three of these associations, the Scalarituba – Cosmorhaphe, Chondrites, and Diplocraterion associations are useful paleobathymetric and paleoenvironmental indicators, as they all occur in lagoonal, intertidal, or shallow subtidal regimes. The Scalarituba – Cosmorhaphe and Chondrites associations are characterized by shallow burrows and developed in moderately low energy conditions. The monospecific Diplocraterion association developed on an unstable substrate subject to higher rates of sedimentation. The fourth, Zoophycos association, is found in rocks deposited in variable water depths and is a much less useful paleobathymetric and paleoen-vironmental indicator so that conclusions regarding its distribution must be made with extreme caution.

scholarly journals Pleistocene golden mole and sand-swimming trace fossils from the Cape coast of South Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Martin G. Lockley ◽  
Charles W. Helm ◽  
Hayley C. Cawthra ◽  
Jan C. De Vynck ◽  
Michael R. Perrin
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Trace Fossils ◽  
Trace Fossil ◽  
South Coast ◽  
Environmental Reconstruction ◽  
Cape Coast ◽  
Southeast Coast ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Golden Mole ◽  
Body Fossil

Abstract More than 250 Pleistocene vertebrate trace fossil sites have been identified on the Cape south coast of South Africa in aeolianites and cemented foreshore deposits. These discoveries, representing the epifaunal tracks of animals that moved over these sand substrates, complement traditional body fossil studies, and contribute to palaeo-environmental reconstruction. Not described in detail until now, but also important faunal components, are the infaunal traces of animals that moved within these sandy substrates. Six golden mole burrow trace sites (Family Chrysochloridae) have been identified on the Cape south coast. In addition, three sites, including one on the Cape southeast coast, have been identified that show evidence of sand-swimming, probably by a golden mole with a means of locomotion similar to that of the extant Eremitalpa genus. Such traces have not been described in detail in the global ichnology record, and merit the erection of a new ichnogenus Natatorichnus, with two ichnospecies, N. subarenosa ichnosp. nov and N. sulcatus ichnosp. nov. Care is required in the identification of such traces, and the orientation of the trace fossil surface needs to be determined, to avoid confusion with hatchling turtle tracks. Substantial regional Pleistocene dune environments are inferred from these sand-swimming traces.

Weather and Outbreaks of the Spruce Budworm in the Province of Quebec from 1939 to 1956

1961 ◽  
Vol 93 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. G. Pilon ◽  
J. R. Blais
Keyword(s):  
Choristoneura Fumiferana ◽  
Abies Balsamea ◽  
Spruce Budworm ◽  
Balsam Fir ◽  
The Past ◽  
Forest Regions ◽  
Tree Component ◽  
Gaspe Peninsula ◽  
Gaspé Peninsula

Nearly all forest regions in the Province of Quebec where balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) is an important tree component have been subjected to severe defoliation by the spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.), during the past 20 years. These outbreaks have followed an easterly direction beginning near the Ontario-Quebec border in 1939 and ending in the Gaspé Peninsula in 1958.

scholarly journals Lower Cambrian trace fossils from northern Greenland

1988 ◽  
Vol 137 ◽  
pp. 43-53
Author(s):  
J Bergström ◽  
J.S Peel
Keyword(s):  
Lower Cambrian ◽  
Trace Fossils ◽  
Trace Fossil ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
North West ◽  
North Greenland

Rusophyciform and cruzianaeform trace fossils are described from Lower Cambrian siliciciastic shelf deposits in North-West and North Greenland. Cruziana cf. C. dispar Linnarsson, 1869 is reported from the Dallas Bugt Formation of Inglefield Land while a new ichnospecies, Rusophycus marginatus, occurs in the Buen Formation of Peary Land and in the equivalent Humboldt Formation of Daugaard-Jensen Land. These species show no similarity to the Cruziana sp. previously described from East Greenland. The occurrence of C. cf. C. dispar could indicate some similarity in Cambrian trace fossil 'ichnofaunas' between Greenland and Europe but available material is insufficient to ciarify this relationship.

scholarly journals CHONDRITES-CLADICHNUS ICHNOCOENOSIS FROM THE DEEP-SEA DEPOSITS OF PIERFRANCESCO (CRETACEOUS; ITALY): OXYGEN- OR NUTRIENT-LIMITED?

2022 ◽  
Vol 128 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDREA BAUCON ◽  
GIROLAMO LO RUSSO ◽  
CARLOS NETO DE CARVALHO ◽  
FABRIZIO FELLETTI
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Trace Fossils ◽  
Northern Apennines ◽  
Trace Fossil ◽  
Ecological Succession ◽  
Rhythmic Pattern ◽  
Low Oxygen ◽  
Fossil Assemblage

The Italian Northern Apennines are acknowledged as the place where ichnology was born, but there is comparatively little work about their ichnological record. This study bridges this gap by describing two new ichnosites from the locality of Pierfrancesco, which preserve an abundant, low-disparity trace-fossil assemblage within the Late Cretaceous beds of the M. Cassio Flysch. Results show that lithofacies and ichnotaxa are rhythmically organized. The base of each cycle consists of Megagrapton-bearing calciclastic turbidites, which are overlain by marlstone beds with an abundant, low-disparity assemblage of trace fossils. This includes Chondrites intricatus, C. patulus, C. targionii, C. recurvus and Cladichnus fischeri. The cycle top consists of mudstones with no distinct burrows. The rhythmic pattern of Pierfrancesco reflects a deep-sea ecological succession, in which species and behaviour changed as turbidite-related disturbances altered the seafloor. This study opens the question of whether the Chondrites-Cladichnus ichnocoenosis represents low-oxygen or nutrient-poor settings.

The trace fossil Dactyloidites ottoi (Geinitz, 1849) from the Neogene August Town Formation of south-central Jamaica

1993 ◽  
Vol 67 (6) ◽  
pp. 1070-1074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron K. Pickerill ◽  
Stephen K. Donovan ◽  
Harold L. Dixon
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Trace Fossils ◽  
Trace Fossil ◽  
Marine Environments ◽  
Biogenic Origin ◽  
South Central ◽  
Rock Record ◽  
Distinctive Morphology ◽  
Detailed Interpretation ◽  
Deposit Feeding

Rosette-shaped problematica are relatively common structures in the Phanerozoic rock record. Historically, they have been accorded a variety of names and documented from various shallow to deep marine environments. Unfortunately, the detailed interpretation of many such structures as biogenic (trace fossils, medusoids, or other body fossils; see, for example, Häntzschel, 1970, 1975) or nonbiogenic (for example, Pickerill and Harris, 1979) in origin still remains to be resolved. However, a detailed analysis of one such structure by Fürsich and Bromley (1985), namely Dactyloidites Hall, 1886, convincingly demonstrated its biogenic origin. The distinctive morphology of Dactyloidites and its synonyms was interpreted by Fürsich and Bromley (1985) to result from successive probings of an essentially stationary deposit-feeding, worm-like organism, possibly possessing a proboscis, to produce a rosetted, vertical spreiten with a centrally located, vertical or subvertical shaft.

Gaspe Peninsula

1924 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 325
Author(s):  
F. J. Alcock ◽  
J. M. Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Gaspe Peninsula ◽  
Gaspé Peninsula

Martian stick-like structures are not trace fossils: a new protocol for testing ichnogenicity synthesized from paleosol ichnology

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Jorge F. Genise
Keyword(s):  
Surface Morphology ◽  
Trace Fossils ◽  
Trace Fossil ◽  
The Future ◽  
Study Case ◽  
First Time

Abstract There are different criteria that are usually analysed independently before identifying a new trace fossil, such as morphological regularity, completeness, dispersion, recurrence and complexity, surface morphology, and context. The synthesis of these criteria, as utilized in paleosol ichnology, composes a protocol that is presented herein for the first time and can be used for testing the ichnogenicity of trace-like structures in any paleoenvironment of Earth or Mars. As a study case, the Martian ‘stick-like structures’ do not fulfil any of the requirements posed by this protocol to be postulated as trace fossils. The ichnogenicity test, focussed exclusively on morphology and context, is simpler but equally useful as the biogenicity ones. It may be applied in the future with other potential cases before carrying on more complex analyses or to evaluate the astrobiological interest of trace-like structures.

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