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Trace fossils and depositional sequences in a clastic shelf setting, Upper Cretaceous of Utah

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Robert W. Frey  and
James D. Howard
Robert W. Frey
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Georgia, Athens 30602 and Yacht Denali, at Sea
James D. Howard
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Georgia, Athens 30602 and Yacht Denali, at Sea
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Abstract

In Coal Creek Canyon, Utah, the Spring Canyon Member of the Blackhawk Formation is divisible into four regressive hemicycles of deposition, each representing the downdip part of a nearshore-to-offshore sequence. The first and fourth hemicycles are best developed. Individual bedding units span middle-shoreface to lower-offshore lithofacies, the latter corresponding to a thin intertongue of Mancos Shale.

Trace fossil assemblages include ~22 ichnospecies and 17 ichnogenera: Ancorichnus, Aulichnites, Chondrites, Cylindrichnus, Ophiomorpha, Palaeophycus, Phoebichnus, Planolites, Rosselia, Schaubcylindrichnus, Scolicia, Skolithos, Taenidium, Teichichnus, Terebellina, Thalassinoides, and Uchirites. Diversity and abundance of ichnospecies are greater in nearshore than in offshore lithofacies. Distal deposits are typified by obscure bioturbate textures: Cylindrichnus concentricus, Palaeophycus heberti, and Rosselia socialis are prevalent through the remainder of the lithofacies suite. Ophiomorpha irregulaire and Schaubcylindrichnus coronus are most common in middle-shoreface beds and Chondrites ichnosp. in upper-offshore beds; Ophiomorpha nodosa and O. annulata also are common in this part of the sequence.

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Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 64 , Issue 5 , September 1990 , pp. 803 - 820
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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