Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T20:21:24.507Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Trace fossils from marginal marine facies of the Kanawha Formation (Middle Pennsylvanian), West Virginia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2016

Ronald L. Martino
Ronald L. Martino*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia 25701
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Seven sedimentary facies have been identified in a 40-m-thick portion of the Kanawha Formation near Chelyan in southern West Virginia. Lithology, sedimentary and biogenic structures, body fossils, paleocurrent patterns, and facies geometry have been used to identify the following paleoenvironments: Facies 1, fluviodeltaic channels represented by thick, cross-stratified channel sandstone; Facies 2, crevasse splays and tidal creeks represented by thin, cross-stratified wedge and channel sandstone; Facies 3, coastal swamps and lakes represented by coal seat and carbonaceous shale; Facies 4, restricted bay and upper tidal flats represented by dark-gray shale, mudstone; Facies 5, interdistributary bays represented by olive-gray siltstone and shale with brachiopods; Facies 6, bay or tidal flat scour fills represented by sandy limestone with brachiopods and pelmatozoans; and Facies 7, low to mid tidal flats and distributary mouth bars represented by thinly interbedded, rippled sandstone and siltstone.

Trace fossils representing 17 ichnogenera are present with most being restricted to certain sedimentary facies. Three ichnoassemblages are recognized. 1) An annulated vertical burrow assemblage, consisting of arthropod(?) dwellings, occurs in an abandoned fluvial channel facies. 2) A Phycodes–Zoophycos assemblage is associated with dark-gray shales and mudstones of a restricted bay and/or upper tidal flat environment. Additional ichnogenera include Planolites and ?Conostichus. 3) An Olivellites assemblage with a high abundance and a high diversity of trace fossils occurs within a rippled sandstone/siltstone facies; trace fossils include (in order of abundance) Olivellites, Teichichnus, Planolites, Aulichnites, transversely ridged surface trails, Rosselia, Scolicia, Curvolithus, Helminthopsis, Tasmanadia, Petalichnus, Ancorichnus, and ?Asterosoma. The associated depositional environments are interpreted as low to mid tidal flats and possibly distributary mouth bars.

The occurrence of salinity-sensitive trace fossils such as the assemblages described herein within otherwise faunally barren intervals facilitates the recognition of marine-influenced coastal facies in which stenohaline or brackish body fossils are lacking.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 63 , Issue 4 , July 1989 , pp. 389 - 403
Copyright
Copyright © The 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

Allen, J. R. L. 1970. Studies in fluviatile sedimentation: a comparison of fining-upwards cyclothems with special reference to coarse-member composition and interpretation. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 40:298–323.Google Scholar
Archer, A. W., and Maples, C. G. 1984. Trace-fossil distribution across a marine-to-nonmarine gradient in the Pennsylvanian of southwestern Indiana. Journal of Paleontology, 58:448–466.Google Scholar
Arndt, H. H. 1979. Middle Pennsylvanian Series in the proposed Pennsylvanian System stratotype, p. 73–80. In Englund, K. J., Arndt, H. H., and Henry, T. W. (eds.), Proposed Pennsylvanian System Stratotype Virginia and West Virginia. American Geologic Institute Selected Guidebook Series No. 1.Google Scholar
Barlow, J. A. 1974. Coal and Coal Mining in West Virginia. West Virginia Geologic and Economic Survey. Coal Geology Bulletin 2, 63 p.Google Scholar
Basan, P. B., Mason, C. E., and Chaplin, J. R. 1979. Deltaic trace fossil associations in the lower tongue of Breathitt Formation (Pennsylvanian) near Morehead, Kentucky. 9th International Congress of Carboniferous Stratigraphy and Geology, Abstracts of Papers, University of Illinois, Urbana, p. 11–12.Google Scholar
Branson, C. C. 1962. Conostichus, a scyphomedusan index fossil. Oklahoma Geological Notes, 22:251–253.Google Scholar
Bromley, R., and Asgaard, U. 1979. Triassic freshwater ichnocoenoses from Carlsberg Fjord, East Greenland. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 28:39–80.Google Scholar
Busch, R. M., and Brezinski, D. K. 1984. Stratigraphic Analysis of Carboniferous Rocks in Southwestern Pennsylvania Using a Hierarchy of Transgressive–Regressive Units—A Guidebook. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Eastern Section Meeting, Pittsburgh, 104 p.Google Scholar
Busch, R. M., and Rollins, H. B. 1984. Correlation of Carboniferous strata using a hierarchy of transgressive–regressive units. Geology, 12:471–474.Google Scholar
Casagrande, D. J. 1987. Sulfur in peat and coal, p. 87–106. In Scott, A. C. (ed.), Coal and Coal-bearing Strata: Recent Advances. Geological Society Spatial Publication B2, Blackwell Scientific Publications, London.Google Scholar
Chamberlain, C. K. 1971. Morphology and ethology of trace fossils from the Ouachita Mountains, southeastern Oklahoma. Journal of Paleontology. 45:212–246.Google Scholar
Chamberlain, C. K. 1978a. A Guidebook to the Trace Fossils and Paleoecology of the Ouachita Geosyncline. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 68 p.Google Scholar
Chamberlain, C. K. 1978b. Recognition of trace fossils in cores, p. 133–184. In Basan, P. B. (ed.), Trace Fossil Concepts. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Short Course No. 5.Google Scholar
Chapman, F. 1929. On some remarkable annelid remains from Arthur River, N. W. Tasmania. Royal Society of Tasmania, Papers and Proceedings for 1928, 1–5.Google Scholar
Clarkson, E. N. K. 1986. Invertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. Allen and Unwin, London, 382 p.Google Scholar
Crimes, T. P. 1975. The stratigraphic significance of trace fossils, p. 109–130. In Frey, R. W. (ed.), The Study of Trace Fossils. Springer-Verlag, New York.Google Scholar
Crimes, T. P., Legg, I., Marcos, A., and Arboleya, M. 1977. ?Late Precambrian-low Lower Cambrian trace fossils from Spain, p. 91–138. In Crimes, T. P. and Harper, J. C. (eds.), Trace Fossils 2. Geological Journal, Special Issue 9, Seel House Press, Liverpool.Google Scholar
Dahmer, G. 1937. Lebensspuren aus dem Taunusquarzit und den Siegener Schichten (Unterdevon). Preussische Geologische Landesanstalt, Jahrbuch, Berlin, 57:523–529.Google Scholar
De Quatrefages, M. A. 1849. Note sur Scolicia prisca (de Quatrefages), annélide fossile de la craie. Annals Science Naturel, Sér. 3, Zoologie, 12:265–266.Google Scholar
Donaldson, A., and Schumaker, R. C. 1979. Late Paleozoic molasse of central Appalachians, p. 1–42. In Donaldson, A., Presley, M. W., and Renton, J. J. (eds.), Carboniferous Coal Guidebook. West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, Bulletin B-37–3.Google Scholar
Eagar, R. M. C., Baines, J. G., Collinson, J. D., Hardy, P. G., Okolo, S. A., and Pollard, J. E. 1985. Trace fossils and their occurrence in Silesian (Mid-Carboniferous) deltaic sediments of the central Pennine Basin, p. 99–149. In Curran, H. A. (ed.), Biogenic Structures: Their Use in Interpreting Depositional Environments. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Special Publication 35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ekdale, A. A. 1985. Paleoecology of the marine endobenthos. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 50:63–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Englund, K. J., and Randall, A. H. III. 1981. Stratigraphy of the Upper Mississippian and Lower Pennsylvanian Series in the east-central Appalachians, p. 154–158. In Roberts, T. G. (ed.), Geological Society of America, Cincinnati Field Trip Guidebooks, Volume I: Stratigraphy, Sedimentology.Google Scholar
Fenton, C. L., and Fenton, M. A. 1937a. Burrows and trails from Pennsylvanian rocks of Texas. American Midland Naturalist, 18:1079–1084.Google Scholar
Fenton, C. L., and Fenton, M. A. 1937b. Olivellites, a Pennsylvanian snail burrow. American Midland Naturalist, 18:452–453.Google Scholar
Ferm, J. C. 1957. Petrology of the Kittanning Formation near Brookville, Pennsylvania. Unpubl. Ph.D. dissertation, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 381 p.Google Scholar
Flores, R. M., and Arndt, H. H. 1979. Depositional environments of the Middle Pennsylvanian Series in proposed Pennsylvanian stratotype, p. 115–122. In Englund, K. J., Arndt, H. H., and Henry, T. H. (eds.), Proposed Pennsylvanian System Stratotype Virginia and West Virginia. American Geologic Institute, Selected Guidebook Series 1.Google Scholar
Frey, R. W., and Howard, J. D. 1981. Conichnus and Schaubcylindrichnus: redefined trace fossils from the Upper Cretaceous of the Western Interior. Journal of Paleontology, 55:800–804.Google Scholar
Frey, R. W., and Howard, J. D. 1985. Trace fossils from the Panther Member, Star Point Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Coal Creek Canyon, Utah. Journal of Paleontology, 59:370–404.Google Scholar
Frey, R. W., and Howard, J. D. 1986. Mesotidal estuarine sequences: a perspective from the Georgia Bight. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 56:911–924.Google Scholar
Frey, R. W., and Pemberton, S. G. 1984. Trace fossil facies models, p. 189–207. In Walker, R. G. (ed.), Facies Models. Second Edition, Geological Association of Canada.Google Scholar
Frey, R. W., Pemberton, S. G., and Fagerstrom, J. A. 1984. Morphological, ethological, and environmental significance of the ichnogenera Scoyenia and Ancorichnus. Journal of Paleontology, 58:511–528.Google Scholar
Fritsch, A. 1908. Problematica Silurica. Prague, 28 p.Google Scholar
Gillespie, W. H., and Pfefferkorn, H. W. 1979. Distribution of commonly occurring plant megafossils in the proposed Pennsylvanian stratotype Virginia and West Virginia, p. 87–96. In Englund, K. J., Arndt, H. H., and Henry, T. H. (eds.), Proposed Pennsylvanian System Stratotype Virginia and West Virginia. American Geologic Institute Selected Guidebook Series 1.Google Scholar
Hakes, W. G. 1977. Trace fossils in Late Pennsylvanian cyclothems, Kansas, p. 209–226. In Crimes, T. P. and Harper, J. C. (eds.), Trace Fossils 2. Geological Journal, Special Issue 9, Seel House Press, Liverpool, England.Google Scholar
Hakes, W. G. 1985. Trace fossils from brackish-marine shales, Upper Pennsylvanian of Kansas, U.S.A., p. 21–35. In Curran, H. A. (ed.), Biogenic Structures: Their Use in Interpreting Depositional Environments. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Special Publication 35.Google Scholar
Häntzschel, W. 1975. Trace fossils and problematica, 269 p. In Teichert, C. (ed.), Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Pt. W, Miscellanea, Supplement 1. Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Press, Lawrence.Google Scholar
Heer, O. 1877. Flora Fossils Helvetiae. Die vorweltliche Flora der Schweiz. J. Würster and Company, 182 p.Google Scholar
Heinberg, C. 1973. The internal structure of the trace fossils Gyrochorte and Curvolithus. Lethaia, 6:227–238.Google Scholar
Heinberg, C. 1974. A dynamic model for a meniscus filled tunnel (Ancorichnus n. ichnogen.) from the Jurassic Pecten Sandstone of Milne Land, East Greenland. Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse, Rapport 62, 20 p.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heinberg, C., and Birklund, T. 1984. Trace fossil assemblages and basin evolution of the Vardekløft Formation (Middle Jurassic), central East Greenland. Journal of Paleontology, 58:362–397.Google Scholar
Hennen, R. V., and Teets, D. D. 1919. Fayette County. West Virginia Geological Survey County Report, 1,002 p.Google Scholar
Henry, T. W., and Gordon, M. Jr. 1979. Late Devonian through Early Permian(?) invertebrate faunas in proposed Pennsylvanian System stratotype area, p. 97–104. In Englund, K. J., Arndt, H. H., and Henry, T. H. (eds.), Proposed Pennsylvanian System Stratotype Virginia and West Virginia. American Geologic Institute Selected Guidebook Series 1.Google Scholar
Hobday, D. K., and Horne, J. C. 1977. Tidally influenced barrier island and estuarine sedimentation in the Upper Carboniferous of southern West Virginia. Sedimentary Geology, 18:97–122.Google Scholar
Horne, J. C., and Ferm, J. C. 1978. Carboniferous Depositional Environments: Eastern Kentucky and Southern West Virginia. Field Guide, University of South Carolina, 151 p.Google Scholar
Horne, J. C., Ferm, J. C.Caruccio, F. T., and Baganz, B. P. 1978. Depositional models in coal exploration and mine planning in Appalachian region. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 62:2379–2411.Google Scholar
Howard, J. D. 1972. Trace fossils as criteria for recognizing shorelines in stratigraphic record, p. 215–225. In Rigby, J. K. and Frey, R. W. (eds.), Recognition of Ancient Sedimentary Environments. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Special Publication 16.Google Scholar
Howard, J. D., and Frey, R. W. 1984. Characteristic trace fossils in nearshore to offshore sequences, Upper Cretaceous of east-central Utah. Canadian Journal of Earth Science, 21:200–219.Google Scholar
Klein, G. deV. 1977. Clastic Tidal Fades. Continuing Education Publication Company, Champaign, Illinois, 147 p.Google Scholar
Knox, L. W., and Miller, M. F. 1985. Environmental control of trace fossil morphology, p. 167–176. In Curran, H. A. (ed.), Biogenic Structures: Their Use in Interpreting Depositional Environments. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Special Publication 35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lesquereux, L. 1876. Species of fossil marine plants from the Carboniferous measures. Indiana Geological Survey Annual Report, 7:134–145.Google Scholar
Lockley, M. G., Rindsberg, A. K., and Zeiler, R. M. 1987. The paleoenvironmental significance of the nearshore Curvolithus ichnofacies. Palaios, 2:255–262.Google Scholar
Martino, R. L. 1988. The Campbells Creek Marine Zone: its extent, component facies, and relation to coals of the Kanawha Formation in southern Kanawha County, West Virginia. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 72:967.Google Scholar
Martino, R. L., and Curran, H. A. 1982. Sedimentology, ichnology and paleoenvironments of a shallow subtidal, regressive sequence: Upper Cretaceous of New Jersey. International Association of Sedimentologists, Eleventh International Congress on Sedimentology, Abstracts of Papers, p. 30.Google Scholar
Massalongo, A. 1855. Zoophycos novum genus plantorum fossilium. Antonelli, Verona, 52 p.Google Scholar
Miller, M. F., and Johnson, K. G. 1981. Spirophyton in alluvialtidal facies of the Catskill deltaic complex: possible biologic control of ichnofaunal distribution. Journal of Paleontology, 55:1016–1027.Google Scholar
Miller, M. F., and Knox, L. W. 1985. Biogenic structures and depositional environments of a Lower Pennsylvanian coal-bearing sequence, northern Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee, U.S.A., p. 67–97. In Curran, H. A. (ed.), Biogenic Structures: Their Use in Interpreting Depositional Environments. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Special Publication 35.Google Scholar
Miller, S. A. 1880. Silurian ichnolites, with definitions of new genera and species. Note on the habit of some fossil annelids. Cincinnati Society of Natural History Journal, 2:217–229.Google Scholar
Narbonne, G. M. 1984. Trace fossils in upper Silurian tidal flat to basin slope carbonates of Arctic Canada. Journal of Paleontology, 58:398–415.Google Scholar
Nicholson, H. A. 1873. Contributions to the study of the errant annelides of the older Paleozoic rocks. Royal Society of London Proceedings, 21:288–290.Google Scholar
Osgood, R. G. Jr. 1970. Trace fossils of the Cincinnati area. Paleontographica Americana, 41:281–444.Google Scholar
Osgood, R. G. Jr. 1975. The paleontologic significance of trace fossils, p. 87–108. In Frey, R. W. (ed.), The Study of Trace Fossils. Springer-Verlag, New York.Google Scholar
Otto, E. Von. 1854. Additamente zur Flora des Quadergebirges in Sachsen. Leipzig, 53 p.Google Scholar
Pemberton, S. G., and Frey, R. W. 1982. Trace fossil nomenclature and the Planolites–Palaeophycus dilemma. Journal of Paleontology, 56:843–881.Google Scholar
Pollard, J. E. 1988. Trace fossils in coal-bearing sequences. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 45:339–350.Google Scholar
Richter, R. 1850. Aus der thüringischen Grauwacke. Deutsche Geologische Gesellschaft, Zeitschrift, Berlin, 2:198–206.Google Scholar
Seilacher, A. 1955. Spuren und Fazies im Unterkambrium, p. 11–143. In Schindewolf, O. H. and Seilacher, A. (eds.), Beiträge zur Kenntnis des Kambriums in der Salt Range (Pakistan). Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur zu Mainz, mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Klasse, Abhandlungen, Wiesbaden, No. 10.Google Scholar
Seilacher, A. 1967. Bathymetry of trace fossils. Marine Geology, 5:413–429.Google Scholar
Tankard, A. J. 1986. Depositional response to foreland deformation in the Carboniferous of eastern Kentucky. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 70:853–868.Google Scholar
Tankard, A. J., and Barwis, J. H. 1982. Wave-dominated deltaic sedimentation in the Devonian Bokkeveld Basin of South Africa. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 52:959–974.Google Scholar
Walker, R. G., and Cant, D. J. 1984. Sandy fluvial systems, p. 71–89. In Walker, R. G. (ed.), Facies Models. Geoscience Canada Reprint Series 1.Google Scholar
Williams, E. G., and Keith, M. L. 1963. Relationship between sulfur in coals and the occurrence of marine roof beds. Economic Geology, 58:720–729.Google Scholar
Woodland, B. G., and Stenstrom, R. C. 1979. The occurrence and origin of siderite concretions in the Francis Creek Shale (Pennsylvanian) of northern Illinois, p. 69–103. In Nitecki, M. H. (ed.), Mazon Creek Fossils. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Yochelson, E. L., and Schindel, D. E. 1978. A reexamination of the Pennsylvanian trace fossil Olivellites. Journal of Research U.S. Geological Survey, 6:789–796.Google Scholar