Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T19:36:09.781Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Invertebrate paleoecology of the Upper Cliff coal interval (Pennsylvanian), Plateau Coal Field, northern Alabama

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2016

Michael A. Gibson  and
Robert A. Gastaldo
Michael A. Gibson
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville 37996
Robert A. Gastaldo
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama 36849
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Upper Cliff coal interval (Early Pennsylvanian) of northern Alabama consists of sandstone, siltstone, shale, and coal deposited within a southwestward prograding deltaic complex as previously defined using paleobotanical and sedimentological evidence. The paleoecology of two invertebrate-bearing lithofacies was studied within this context. A lower shaley-siltstone lithofacies records the inundation of the Upper Cliff #1 peat-accumulating swamp/marsh by fresh-water influenced brackish to restricted marine deposits. The fauna is dominated by the inarticulate Orbiculoidea and the trace fossil Planolites. As inundation continued, an interdistributary bay developed. Diversity and abundance of taxa increased with the establishment of a molluscan dominated Pteronites-Pianolites assemblage. The assemblage consists of a low diversity and low abundance fauna of bivalves and trace fossils that suggest soft substrates with abundant organics.

The overlying sandstone lithofacies consists of a basal shell-bed (Schizophoria zone) composed of rare indigenous Pteronites and Wilkingia and a transported component of open marine epifaunal brachiopods, gastropods, and trilobite fragments. The Schizophoria zone thins to the northeast, suggesting open marine conditions to the southwest. Directly above this bed, the fauna of the sandstone lithofacies is composed entirely of Zoophycos. Higher in the section, rare Pteronites and Wilkingia occur, thus this lithofacies preserves a Wilkingia-Pteronites-Zoophycos assemblage of low abundance and diversity reflecting mobile organic-poor substrates. The sandstone lithofacies is interpreted as a migrating sand body with a basal shell-bed, initially formed probably as a result of storm activity.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 61 , Issue 3 , May 1987 , pp. 439 - 450
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

Ausich, W. I. 1981. Biovolume revisited: a relative diversity index for paleoecological analysis. Ohio Journal of Science, 81:268–274.Google Scholar
Bretsky, P. W. Jr. 1969. Evolution of Paleozoic benthic marine invertebrate communities. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 6:45–59.Google Scholar
Broadhead, T. W. 1976. Depositional systems and marine benthic communities in the Floyd Shale, upper Mississippian, northwest Georgia, p. 265–280. In Scott, R. W. and West, R. R. (eds.), Structure and Classification of Paleocommunities. Dowden, Hutchinson, and Ross Publishers, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
Butts, C. 1926. The Paleozoic rocks, p. 41–230. In Adams, G. I. et al., Geology of Alabama. Alabama Geological Survey Special Report 14:41–230.Google Scholar
Byers, C. W. 1982. Geological significance of marine biogenic sedimentary structures, p. 233–238. In McCall, P. L. and Tevesz, M. J. (eds.), Animal Sediment Relations. Plenum Press, Inc., New York.Google Scholar
Calver, M. A. 1968. Distribution of Westphalian marine faunas in northern England and adjoining areas. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, 37:1–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cherns, L. 1979. The environmental significance of Lingula in the Ludlow series of the Welsh borderland and Wales. Lethaia, 12:35–46.Google Scholar
Degens, E. T., Williams, E. G., and Keith, M. L. 1957. Environmental studies of Carboniferous sediments, Part 1, Geochemical criteria for differentiation of marine from fresh water shales. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 41:2427–2455.Google Scholar
Dennis, A. M., and Lawrence, D. R. 1979. Paleoecology in the Magoffin marine zone, Pennsylvanian Breathitt Formation, near Hazard, Kentucky, p. 256–258. In Ferm, J. C. and Horne, J. C. (eds.), Carboniferous Depositional Environments of the Appalachian Region. University of South Carolina, Department of Geology, Columbia.Google Scholar
Ekdale, A. A., Bromley, R. G., and Pemberton, S. G. 1984. Ichnology: the uses of trace fossils in sedimentology and stratigraphy. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Short Course 15, 317 p.Google Scholar
Emig, C. C. 1981. Implications de donnés récentes sur les Lingules actuelles dans les interpretations paléoécologiques. Lethaia, 14:151–156.Google Scholar
Ferguson, R. G. 1962. Paleoecology of a lower Carboniferous marine transgression. Journal of Paleontology, 36:1090–1107.Google Scholar
Ferm, J. C., and Williams, E. G. 1965. Characteristics of a Carboniferous marine invasion in western Pennsylvania. Journal of Paleontology, 35:319–330.Google Scholar
Gastaldo, R. A. 1982. A preliminary assessment of early Pennsylvanian megafloral paleoecology in northeastern Alabama, p. 187–192. In Mamet, B. and Copeland, M. J. (eds.), Third North American Paleontological Convention Proceedings, 1.Google Scholar
Gastaldo, R. A. 1986. Standing lycopod forests in northern Alabama. Palaeoclimatology, Palaeogeography, Palaeoecology, 53:191–212.Google Scholar
Gibson, M. A. 1983. The paleontology and paleoecology of the invertebrate megafauna associated with the Upper Cliff coals, Plateau Coal field, northern Alabama. Unpubl. M.S. thesis, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, 181 p.Google Scholar
Gibson, M. A. 1984a. The application of trace fossils as indicators of water depth changes in the Upper Cliff coal interval. Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science, 55:79–90.Google Scholar
Gibson, M. A. 1984b. In situ and transported invertebrate assemblages from the Upper Cliff coal interval, Plateau coal field, northern Alabama. Southeastern Geology, 25:71–78.Google Scholar
Gibson, M. A., and Gastaldo, R. A. 1984. Biofacies-lithofacies relationships of invertebrate assemblages associated with the Upper Cliff coals (Pennsylvanian), northern Alabama. Geological Society of America North-Central and Southeastern Combined Annual Meeting Abstracts with Programs, p. 140.Google Scholar
Gray, T. D. 1981. Depositional systems of the Upper Cliff coals in a portion of the Plateau Coal field, northern Alabama. Unpubl. M.S. thesis, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, 119 p.Google Scholar
Gray, T. D., and Gastaldo, R. A. 1981. Coal petrology and depositional systems of the Lower Pennsylvanian Upper Cliff coals in a portion of the Plateau Coal field, Alabama. Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science, 52:123.Google Scholar
Hantzschel, W. 1975. Trace fossils and problematica. In Moore, R. C. (ed.), Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part W, Miscellanea, Supplement 1. Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Press, Lawrence.Google Scholar
Harper, J. A., and Rollins, H. B. 1985. Infaunal or semi-infaunal bellerophont gastropods: analysis of Euphemites and functionally related taxa. Lethaia, 18:21–37.Google Scholar
Henry, T. W., et al. 1981. Stratigraphic significance of plant and invertebrate fossils from the Parkwood Formation, northern Alabama. Geological Society of America Programs with Abstracts, 13:471.Google Scholar
Hoare, R. D., and Sturgeon, M. T. 1972. Pteronites americana (Meek) from the Brush Creek (Conemaugh), southeastern Ohio. Compass, 49:61–64.Google Scholar
Hoare, R. D., and Sturgeon, M. T. and Kindt, E. A. 1979. Pennsylvanian marine Bivalvia and Rostroconchia of Ohio. Ohio Division Geological Survey Bulletin 67, 77 p.Google Scholar
Hobday, D. K. 1974. Beach- and barrier-island facies in the Upper Carboniferous of northern Alabama. Geological Society of America Special Paper, 148:209–223.Google Scholar
Johnson, R. G. 1962. Interspecific associations in Pennsylvanian fossil assemblages. Journal of Geology, 79:32–55.Google Scholar
Kindt, E. A. 1979. Bivalvia of the Allegheny Group (Pennsylvanian) in Ohio. Unpubl. M.S. thesis, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, 266 p.Google Scholar
Lee, C. S. 1971. Pottsville gastropods of Ohio. Unpubl. M.S. thesis, Ohio University, Athens, 129 p.Google Scholar
McKee, J. W. 1975. Pennsylvanian sediment-fossil relationships in part of the Black Warrior Basin of Alabama. Geological Survey of Alabama Circular 95, 43 p.Google Scholar
McKerrow, W. S. 1978. The Ecology of Fossils. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 384 p.Google Scholar
Metzger, W. J. 1965. Pennsylvanian stratigraphy of the Warrior Basin, Alabama. Alabama Geological Survey Circular 30, 80 p.Google Scholar
Miller, M. F. 1984. Distribution of biogenic structures in Paleozoic nonmarine and marine margin sequences: an actualistic model. Journal of Paleontology, 58:550–570.Google Scholar
Newell, N. D. 1940. Invertebrate fauna of the Late Permian Whitehorse Sandstone. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 51:261–335.Google Scholar
Pemberton, S. G., and Frey, R. W. 1982. Trace fossil nomenclature and the Planolites-Palaeophycos dilemma. Journal of Paleontology, 56:843–881.Google Scholar
Roberts, H. H. 1966. A paleoecological study of a lower Allegheny shale in eastern Ohio. Unpubl. M.S. thesis, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, 48 p.Google Scholar
Scott, A. C. 1977. A review of the ecology of upper Carboniferous plant assemblages, with new data from Strathclyde. Palaeontology, 20:447–473.Google Scholar
Seilacher, A. 1967. Bathymetry of trace fossils. Marine Geology, 5:413–428.Google Scholar
Stanley, S. M. 1968. Post-Paleozoic adaptive radiation of infaunal bivalve molluscs—a consequence of mantle fusion and siphon formation. Journal of Paleontology, 42:214–229.Google Scholar
Stanley, S. M. 1970. Shell form and life habits of the Bivalvia (Mollusca). Geological Society of America Memoir 125, 295 p.Google Scholar
Stanley, S. M. 1972. Functional morphology and evolution of byssally attached molluscs. Journal of Paleontology, 46:165–212.Google Scholar
Taylor, J. D. 1976. A solution for Pottsville correlation in Alabama. Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science, 47:148–149.Google Scholar
Tucker, J. K. 1976. Paleoecological notes on the fauna of the Shumway Limestone (Matoon Formation, Upper Pennsylvanian) of Illinois. Transactions of the Illinois State Academy of Science, 69:327–335.Google Scholar
Walker, K. R. 1972. Trophic analysis: a method for studying the function of ancient communities. Journal of Paleontology, 46:82–93.Google Scholar
Weber, J. N., Williams, E. G., and Keith, M. L. 1979. Paleoenvironmental significance of carbon isotope composition of siderite nodules in some shales of Pennsylvanian age, p. 110–120. In Ferm, J. C. and Horne, J. C. (eds.), Carboniferous Depositional Environments in the Appalachian Region. Department of Geology, University of South Carolina.Google Scholar
Weller, J. M. 1957. Paleoecology of the Pennsylvanian Period in Illinois and adjacent states, p. 325–364. In Ladd, H. S. (ed.), Treatise on Marine Ecology and Paleoecology, 2. Geological Society of America Memoir 67.Google Scholar
Whisonant, R. C. 1970. Paleoecology and depositional environments of the Parkwood Formation, central Alabama. Southeastern Geology, 12:135–149.Google Scholar
Williams, E. G. 1960. Marine and freshwater fossiliferous beds in the Pottsville and Allegheny groups of western Pennsylvania. Journal of Paleontology, 34:908–922.Google Scholar
Woodland, B. G., and Stenstrom, R. C. 1979. The occurrence and origin of siderite concretions in the Francis Creek shale (Pennsylvanian) of northeastern Illinois, p. 69–103. In Nitecki, M. H. (ed.), Mazon Creek Fossils. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar