Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-g7rbq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-26T19:57:04.268Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Paleoenvironmental Patterns of Biogenic Sedimentary Structures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 July 2017

David J. Bottjer  and
Mary L. Droser
David J. Bottjer
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0740
Mary L. Droser
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In the mid-twentieth century much of the impetus for paleoecological research was from the need for the fossil record to provide paleoenvironmental information. At that time earth scientists trying to understand the environmental context in which sedimentary rocks were deposited began extensive utilization of fossil components and sedimentary structures to make their interpretations. Towards this end, paleontologists and biologists catalogued the environmental preferences and depth distributions of modern organisms, and these modern distributions have been utilized in paleoenvironmental reconstructions by means of taxonomic uniformitarianism. Physical sedimentary structures have also been studied extensively in modern environments and laboratory simulations so that their occurrence in rocks can provide detailed information on ancient environments.

Type
Research Article
Information
Short Courses in Paleontology , Volume 5: Trace Fossils , 1992 , pp. 130 - 144
Copyright
Copyright © 1992 Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ausich, W.I., and Bottjer, D.J. 1982. Tiering in suspension feeding communities on soft substrata throughout the Phanerozoic. Science, 216:173–174.Google Scholar
Bjerstadt, T.W. 1987. Latest Devonian-earliest Mississippian nearshore trace fossil assemblages from West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Journal of Paleontology, 61:865–889.Google Scholar
Bottjer, D.J., and Ausich, W.I. 1986. Phanerozoic development of tiering in soft substrata suspension-feeding communities. Paleobiology, 12:400–420.Google Scholar
Bottjer, D.J., and Jablonski, D. 1988. Paleoenvironmental patterns in the evolution of post-Paleozoic benthic marine invertebrates. Palaios, 3:540–560.Google Scholar
Bottjer, D.J., and Droser, M.L. 1991. Ichnofabric and basin analysis. Palaios, 6:199–205.Google Scholar
Bottjer, D.J., Droser, M.L., and Jablonski, D. 1988. Palaeoenvironmental trends in the history of trace fossils. Nature, 333:252–255.Google Scholar
Bromley, R.G. 1990. Trace Fossils: Biology and Taphonomy. Unwin Hyman, London, 280 p.Google Scholar
Bromley, R.G., and Ekdale, A.A. 1986. Composite ichnofabrics and tiering of burrows. Geological Magazine, 123:59–65.Google Scholar
Chamberlain, C.K., and Baer, J. 1973. Ophiomorpha and a new thalassinid burrow from the Permian of Utah. Brigham Young University, Geology Studies, 20:79–84.Google Scholar
Crimes, T.P., and Anderson, M.M. 1985. Trace fossils from Late Precambrian-Early Cambrian strata of southeastern Newfoundland (Canada): Temporal and environmental implications. Journal of Paleontology, 59:310–343.Google Scholar
Crimes, T.P., and Droser, M.L. 1992. Trace fossils and bioturbation: the other fossil record. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 23: In press.Google Scholar
Crimes, T.P., Hidalgo, J.F. Garcia, and Poire, D.G. 1992. Trace fossils from Arenig flysch sediments of Eire and their bearing on the early colonisation of the deepsea. Ichnos, 2:1–17.Google Scholar
Droser, M.L 1987. Trends in extent and depth of bioturbation in Great Basin Precambrian-Ordovician strata, California, Nevada and Utah. Unpubl. Ph.D. thesis, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 365 p.Google Scholar
Droser, M.L 1991. Ichnofabric of the Paleozoic Skolithos ichnofacies and the nature and distribution of Skolithos piperock. Palaios, 6:316–325.Google Scholar
Droser, M.L, and Bottjer, D.J. 1986. A semiquantitative field classification of ichnofabric. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 56:558–559.Google Scholar
Droser, M.L, and Bottjer, D.J. 1988a. Trends in depth and extent of bioturbation in Cambrian carbonate marine environments, western United States. Geology, 16:233–236.Google Scholar
Droser, M.L, and Bottjer, D.J. 1988b. Bioturbation trends in nearshore high-energy sandstones through the Phanerozoic. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 20: A256.Google Scholar
Droser, M.L, and Bottjer, D.J. 1989a. Ichnofabric of sandstones deposited in high-energy nearshore environments: Measurement and utilization. Palaios, 4:598–604.Google Scholar
Droser, M.L, and Bottjer, D.J. 1989b. Ordovician increase in extent and depth of bioturbation: Implications for understanding early Paleozoic ecospace utilization. Geology, 17:850–852.Google Scholar
Droser, M.L, and Bottjer, D.J. 1990. Trace fossils and ichnofabric in Ocean Drilling Program Leg 119 cores, p. 635–641. In Barron, J., Larson, B., et al. (eds.), Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results Volume 119.Google Scholar
Ekdale, A.A., and Bromley, R.G. 1983. Trace fossils and ichnofabric in the Kjolby Gaard Marl, Upper Cretaceous, Denmark. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark, 31:107–119.Google Scholar
Ekdale, A.A., and Pemberton, S.G. 1984. Ichnology: Trace Fossils in Sedimentology and Stratigraphy. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Short Course No. 15. Tulsa, Oklahoma, 317 p.Google Scholar
Fedonkin, M.A. 1980. Early stages of evolution of Metazoa on the basis of palaeoichnological data. Izvestiya Akademii Nauka SSSR series geologie, 2:226–33.Google Scholar
Frey, R.W., and Seilacher, A. 1980. Uniformity in marine invertebrate ichnology. Lethaia, 13:183–207.Google Scholar
Frey, R.W., and Pemberton, S.G. 1984. Trace fossil facies models, p. 189–207. In Walker, R.G. (ed.), Facies Models. Geoscience Canada, Reprint Series, no. 1.Google Scholar
Frey, R.W., and Pemberton, S.G. 1985. Biogenic structures in outcrops and cores, I. Approaches to ichnology. Bulletin Canadian Petroleum Geologists, 33:72–115.Google Scholar
Goldring, R., Pollard, J.E., and Taylor, A.M. 1991. Anconichnus horizontalis: A pervasive ichnofabric-forming trace fossil in post-Paleozoic offshore siliciclastic facies. Palaios, 6:250–263.Google Scholar
Hantzschel, W. 1975. Trace Fossils and Problematica, Second Edition. In Teichert, C. (ed.), Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part W, Miscellanea, Supplement 1. Geological Society of America and University of Kansas, Lawrence, 269 p.Google Scholar
Hoffman, H.J., and Patel, I.M., 1989. Trace fossils from the type ‘Etcheminian Series’ (Lower Cambrian Ratcliff Brook Formation), Saint John area, New Brunswick, Canada. Geological Magazine 126: 139–157.Google Scholar
Howard, J.D., and Frey, R.W. 1975. Estuaries of the Georgia coast, U.S.A.: Sedimentology and biology, II. Regional animal-sediment characteristics of Georgia estuaries. Senckenbergiana Maritima, 7:33–103.Google Scholar
Jablonski, D., and Bottjer, D.J. 1983. Soft-bottom epifaunal suspension-feeding assemblages in the Late Cretaceous: Implications for the evolution of benthic paleocommunities, p. 747–812. In Tevesz, M.J.S. and McCall, P.L. (eds.), Biotic Interactions in Recent and Fossil Benthic Communities. Plenum Press, New York.Google Scholar
Jablonski, D., and Bottjer, D.J. 1991. Environmental patterns in the origins of higher taxa: The post-Paleozoic fossil record. Science, 252: 1831–1833.Google Scholar
Kern, J.P., and Warme, J.E. 1974. Trace fossils and bathymetry of the Upper Cretaceous Point Loma Formation, San Diego, California. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 85:893–900.Google Scholar
Leszczynski, S. 1981. Oxygen-related controls on predepositional ichnofacies in turbidites, Guipuzcoan Flysch (Albian-Lower Eocene), northern Spain. Palaios, 6:271–280.Google Scholar
McCarthy, B. 1979. Trace fossils from a Permian shoreface-foreshore environment, eastern Australia. Journal of Paleontology, 53:345–366.Google Scholar
Moore, D.G., and Scrutton, P.C. 1957. Minor internal structures of some unconsolidated sediments. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Bulletin 41:2723–2751.Google Scholar
Osgood, R.G., and Szmuc, E.J. 1972. The trace fossil Zoophycos as an indicator of water depth. Bulletin of American Paleontology, 62:1–22.Google Scholar
Paczesna, J. 1986. Upper Vendian and Lower Cambrian ichnocoenoses of Lublin region. Biuletyn Instytuta geologicznego 355: 32–47.Google Scholar
Reineck, H.-E. 1967. Parameter von Schichtung und bioturbation. Geologischen Rundschau, 56:420–438.Google Scholar
Savrda, C.E., and Bottjer, D.J. 1986. Trace-fossil model for reconstruction of paleo-oxygenation in bottom waters. Geology, 14:3–6.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Savrda, C.E., and Bottjer, D.J. 1989. Trace-fossil model for reconstructing oxygenation histories of ancient marine bottom waters: Application to Upper Cretaceous Niobrara Formation, Colorado. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 74:49–74.Google Scholar
Seilacher, A. 1964. Biogenic sedimentary structures, p. 296–316. In Imbrie, J. and Newell, N.D. (eds.), Approaches to Paleoecology, Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Seilacher, A. 1967. Bathymetry of trace fossils. Marine Geology, 5:413–428.Google Scholar
Seilacher, A. 1978. Use of trace fossil assemblages for recognizing depositional environments, p. 167–180. In Basan, P.B. (ed.), Trace Fossil Concepts, Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Short Course No. 5, Tulsa, OK.Google Scholar
Seilacher, A. 1986. Evolution of behavior as expressed in marine trace fossils, p. 62–87. In Nitecki, Mathew H. and Kitchell, J.A. (eds.), Evolution of Animal Behavior. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Sepkoski, J.J. Jr., and Sheehan, P.M. 1983. Diversification, faunal change, and community replacement during the Ordovician radiation, p. 673–718. In Tevesz, M.J.S. and McCall, P.L. (eds.), Biotic Interactions in Recent and Fossil Benthic Communities. Plenum Press, New York.Google Scholar
Sepkoski, J.J. Jr., and Miller, A.I. 1985. Evolutionary faunas and the distribution of Paleozoic benthic communities in space and time, p. 153–190. In Valentine, J.W. (ed.), Phanerozoic Diversity Patterns. Princeton University Press, Princeton.Google Scholar
Sokolov, B.S. and Iwanowski, A.B., 1990. The Vendian System, Volume 1. Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow, 221p.Google Scholar
Watkins, R. 1991. Guild structure and tiering in a high-diversity Silurian community, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Palaios, 6:465–478.Google Scholar
Wetzel, A., and Aigner, T. 1986. Stratigraphic completeness: Tiered trace fossils provide a measuring stick. Geology, 14:234–237.Google Scholar