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What Darwin did not see: Pleistocene fossil assemblages on a high-energy coast at Ponta das Bicudas, Santiago, Cape Verde Islands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2012

B. GUDVEIG BAARLI ,
ANA G. SANTOS ,
EDUARDO J. MAYORAL ,
JORGE LEDESMA-VÁZQUEZ ,
MARKES E. JOHNSON ,
CARLOS M. DA SILVA  and
MÁRIO CACHÃO
B. GUDVEIG BAARLI*
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, Williams College, Williamstown, MA 01267USA
ANA G. SANTOS
Affiliation:
Departamento de Geodinámica y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Universidad de Huelva, Campus de El Carmen, Avd. 3 de Marzo, s/n, 21071 Huelva, Spain
EDUARDO J. MAYORAL
Affiliation:
Departamento de Geodinámica y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Universidad de Huelva, Campus de El Carmen, Avd. 3 de Marzo, s/n, 21071 Huelva, Spain
JORGE LEDESMA-VÁZQUEZ
Affiliation:
Facultad de Ciencias Marinas, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Ensenada, BC 22800, México
MARKES E. JOHNSON
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, Williams College, Williamstown, MA 01267USA
CARLOS M. DA SILVA
Affiliation:
Departamento de Geologia e Centro de Geologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
MÁRIO CACHÃO
Affiliation:
Departamento de Geologia e Centro de Geologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
*
†Author for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

Two distinct Pleistocene assemblages from SE Santiago Island are comparable to modern analogues elsewhere in the Cape Verde Islands. A low-diversity Siderastrea radians assemblage lived atop basalt knobs surrounded by sand on a slope below a cliff. A Millepora alcicornis–Megabalanus azoricus assemblage occupied the cliff. The latter was a typical rocky-shore assemblage from a high-energy setting below the tidal zone. Bioerosion structures in basalt produced by Circolites kotoncensis and Gastrochaenolites isp. also occur there. Despite extensive studies on local limestone deposits in 1832 and 1836, lack of exposure prevented Darwin from seeing these fossils.

Keywords

Darwinrocky-shore faunasbasaltfossil assemblagesCircolites kotoncensisGastrochaenolites ispp
Type
Rapid Communication
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 150 , Issue 1 , January 2013 , pp. 183 - 189
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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