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Favosamaceria cooperi new group and form: A widely dispersed, time-restricted thrombolite

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

Russell S. Shapiro  and
Stanley M. Awramik
Russell S. Shapiro
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Gustavus Adolphus College, 800 W. College, St. Peter, Minnesota 56082,
Stanley M. Awramik
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, Preston Cloud Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara 93016,
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Abstract

The distinctive, branched thrombolite, Favosamaceria cooperi new group and form, is found widely in the Great Basin, USA, where it is restricted to the Late Cambrian Saukia trilobite Zone. This thrombolite is distinguished by a hedgerow, mazelike organization of ridges similar to garden walls (maceriae) in plan view, branching of ridges into daughter ridges and columns, the polymorphic nature of dark, 1–4 mm mesoclots, and the relative consistency of maceria width (approximately 1 cm). As a group, Favosamaceria is found elsewhere in Upper Cambrian strata of the Argentine Precordillera, Appalachians, and Upper Mississippi Valley, as well as in Lower Ordovician deposits of the Canadian Arctic and Newfoundland. The distribution of the group around Laurentia illustrates the use of microbialites in biogeographic studies.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 80 , Issue 3 , May 2006 , pp. 411 - 422
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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