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Paleoenvironmental distribution of microfossils and stromatolites in the Upper Proterozoic Backlundtoppen Formation, Spitsbergen

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Andrew H. Knoll ,
Keene Swett  and
Elizabeth Burkhardt
Andrew H. Knoll
Affiliation:
1Botanical Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
Keene Swett
Affiliation:
2Department of Geology, University of Iowa, Iowa City 52242
Elizabeth Burkhardt
Affiliation:
1Botanical Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
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Abstract

The Upper Proterozoic (ca. 700–800 Ma old) Backlundtoppen Formation, northeastern Spitsbergen, preserves an abundant and varied record of ancient microbial life. Five distinctive microfossil assemblages occur in five equally distinct sedimentary settings; differences among the assemblages appear to reflect original ecological heterogeneity, although taphonomic circumstance may contribute to some distinctions. Microfossil assemblages occur in: oncolites, oolites, and pisolites; stratiform stromatolites and associated intraclastic rudites; partially silicified micrites; and siltites interbedded with quartz arenites. Individual assemblages contain one to eight differentiable taxa; a minimum of 17 distinct populations is present in the formation as a whole. Additional microbial community diversity can be inferred from the presence of domal, columnar, pseudocolumnar, and coniform stromatolites, none of which contains microfossils. On the basis of macrostructure, four stromatolite types appear to be present, but only three distinct mat-building communities can be inferred from microstructural features. Eohyella elongata n. sp., a euendolithic cyanobacterium found in silicified pisolites, is described as new.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 63 , Issue 2 , March 1989 , pp. 129 - 145
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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