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Enigmatic eight-meter trace fossils in the Lower Pennsylvanian Lee Sandstone, central Appalachian Basin, Tennessee

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Christopher Wnuk  and
John O. Maberry
Christopher Wnuk
Affiliation:
United States Geological Survey, 956 National Center, Reston, Virginia 22090
John O. Maberry
Affiliation:
United States Geological Survey, 956 National Center, Reston, Virginia 22090
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Abstract

Enigmatic tubular trace fossils up to eight meters long occur in the Lower Pennsylvanian Middlesboro Member of the Lee Formation. Two morphotypes occur: type 1 trace fossils are plain, smooth, vertical, nonbranching, parallel-walled, tubular structures; type 2 trace fossils branch, have walls with faint vertical striations, regularly or irregularly spaced nodes, and funnel-shaped terminations. Sandstone casts filling type 2 structures have helical spiral morphology, and, in rare individuals, faint meniscate fills have been observed. Both trace-fossil morphotypes have poorly cemented wall linings containing framboidal pyrite, amorphous carbon, quartz sand, and poorly preserved fecal material.

The trace fossils occur in a massive, structureless, channel-form sandstone, originating at the contact between a channel lag and the overlying massive fill. The stratigraphic sequence is interpreted to represent a barrier island transgressing an estuarine facies. A tidal inlet within the barrier facies scoured into the underlying estuarine sediments. Subsequent rapid filling of the inlet led to the deposition of the massive sandstone.

Origin of these structures is uncertain. The preponderance of evidence favors the hypothesis that the structures are escape burrows of animals that had colonized, or were concentrated in, the lag and were suddenly buried by the deposition of the massive sand. However, no likely burrower has been identified, and several characteristics of the structures and the enclosing sediments indicate that they may be completely inorganic in origin.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 64 , Issue 3 , May 1990 , pp. 440 - 450
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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