Tyler W. Beatty

Anomalously diverse Early Triassic ichnofossil assemblages in northwest Pangea: A case for a shallow-marine habitable zone

Early Triassic trace fossil assemblages from the northwest margin of Pangea record a diverse suite of postextinction infauna. These ichnofossil assemblages occurred within well-oxygenated, shallow-marine refuges in a Panthalassa Ocean otherwise characterized by widespread anoxia. We propose an environmentally controlled model for their distribution, in which wave aeration, enhanced by frequent storms, gave rise to an optimal zone for benthic colonization. Within this habitable zone extinction pressures were ameliorated and postextinction recovery duration was minimized.

DIVERSE ICHNOFOSSIL ASSEMBLAGES FOLLOWING THE P-T MASS EXTINCTION, LOWER TRIASSIC, ALBERTA AND BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA: EVIDENCE FOR SHALLOW MARINE REFUGIA ON THE NORTHWESTERN COAST OF PANGAEA

Abstract Diverse and locally abundant Lowermost Triassic (lower Induan, Griesbachian) trace-fossil assemblages are described and their significance for the location and characteristics of western Pangean environmental refugia are assessed. Trace fossils within the Montney Formation in northwestern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia record the activities of a wide variety of marine invertebrates. Many forms represent the dwelling and feeding traces of allochthonous storm-transported colonizers. Anachronistic forms—more typical of Paleozoic than Mesozoic successions—including Cruziana, Diplichnites, Monomorphichnus, and Trichophycus, are common. Notably these Paleozoic holdovers, as well as Rhizocorallium, Thalassinoides, and Spongeliomorpha, were likely constructed by marine arthropods. Trace fossils are rare in both shallow water (upper shoreface and foreshore) and offshore depositional settings, but are abundant in offshore transition to distal lower shoreface depositional settings. Low diversity and low ichnofabric indices characterize autochthonous infauna in Montney offshore transition settings, whereas high diversity, low ichnofabric indices distinguish allochthonous infauna in the same settings. High diversity and high ichnofabric indices typify distal lower shoreface successions. Several lines of evidence, including diminutive trace fossils and low diversity of resident infauna in proximal-offshore settings, support the hypothesis of shallow marine anoxic to dysoxic conditions in the study area during the Griesbachian. This trace-fossil distribution, and the abundance of allochthonous faunas in the study interval, reflect an infauna whose distribution was limited by both wave-stressed proximal settings and oxygen-stressed distal settings, resulting in colonization of a very narrow habitable zone. High diversity of trace-fossil assemblages in the study interval suggests the presence of shallow marine refugia wherein organisms survived the extinction interval and weathered the adverse conditions that dominated the worlds oceans during the lowermost Mesozoic. Mid- to high paleolatitude refugia, such as the Pedigree-Ring-Kahntah area, played a crucial role in both extinction survival as well as post-event recolonization of the worlds oceans.

LINGULIDE BRACHIOPODS AND THE TRACE FOSSIL LINGULICHNUS FROM THE TRIASSIC OF WESTERN CANADA: IMPLICATIONS FOR FAUNAL RECOVERY AFTER THE END-PERMIAN MASS EXTINCTION

Abstract The environmental distribution of lingulide brachiopods in western Canadian Triassic marine successions, their relationship with other infaunal organisms occupying the same ecospace, and their role in the aftermath of the Permian-Triassic extinction event is summarized. Western Canada is an ideal location to assess lingulide distribution patterns as upper Paleozoic and lower Mesozoic strata are extensively exposed, and lingulides (cf. Lingularia Biernat and Emig) and the trace fossil Lingulichnus Hakes are both common. A distribution comparison of in situ lingulides and Lingulichnus Hakes with concordantly emplaced lingulide shells and shell beds shows clearly that the latter is a poor indicator of true environmental distribution of these infaunal suspension feeders. Lingulides are rare in uppermost Paleozoic strata in the study area. Most occurrences consist of isolated valves or abraded material in erosional lags. Lingulides remain minor components of infaunal communities during the earliest Triassic (Griesbachian). Although lingulide valves and valve fragments are the dominant body fossil observed, trace fossil analysis indicates that lingulides were minor components of earliest Triassic infaunal communities. Lingulides increase in abundance and importance during the Dienerian and Smithian. Shallow and marginal marine trace-fossil assemblages of this age are dominated commonly by Lingulichnus. Lingulide fossils are less abundant but are found in many shallow and marginal marine lithofacies. Lingulides comprise only a minor component of late Smithian through Anisian infaunal communities. Canadian lingulide abundance reached an acme during the latest Middle Triassic (Ladinian). Fossil material is common in many environments, however, in situ lingulides and the trace fossil Lingulichnus occur primarily in tempestites in proximal offshore through lower shoreface settings and in intertidal flat settings. Although quantitatively more abundant in the Middle Triassic, lingulides were proportionally more abundant in Lower Triassic successions. Regardless of relative changes in abundance, the environmental distribution of lingulides did not differ between Early and Middle Triassic successions. Lingulides comprise only a minor component of Upper Triassic infaunal communities. Early Triassic lingulides did not occupy any environmental settings from which they were excluded prior to the Permian-Triassic extinction or after the postextinction recovery interval. Thus, lingulides were not postextinction disaster taxa but rather were ecological opportunists that dominated some Early Triassic shallow and marginal marine successions.

Triassic conodonts from Svalbard and their Boreal correlations

Conodont faunas are described from Triassic sections of Svalbard, and their occurrences are locally correlated with established ammonoid zones. With a synthesis of previous conodont-based publications, the current work presents a taxonomically up-to-date compilation of conodont data for the Triassic of Svalbard that is used to construct a conodont-based biochronology, indexed to the current lithostratigraphic nomenclature. Twenty-eight taxa spanning the earliest Griesbachian to the earliest Carnian are presented in a range chart. The examined conodont faunas are correlated with well-established conodont zonations of the Canadian Arctic, and in turn also form the basis for regional correlations.

Lower Triassic bryozoan beds from Ellesmere Island, High Arctic, Canada

In the Sverdrup Basin (Canadian Arctic), the Lower Triassic Blind Fiord Formation, comprising siltstone and shale, overlies various Middle to Late Permian (post-Wordian) sedimentary units. This formation is subdivided into three members: the Confederation Point, Smith Creek and Svartfjeld members of, respectively, Griesbachian–Dienerian, Smithian–Spathian and Spathian ages. Lower Triassic bryozoan beds are known from many sections of Ellesmere Island, but have never been studied in detail. During the Early Triassic biotic recovery interval, immediately following the Permian/Triassic extinction event, only one new bryozoan genus evolved in the Boreal region: Arcticopora. The first lower Triassic bryozoan bed appears in the upper part of the Confederation Point Member, and is dated as late Dienerian. Succeeding bryozoan levels occur in the upper Smith Creek Member, and are late Smithian–early Spathian in age. Bryozoan beds occupy a similar stratigraphic position in Spitsbergen. There, they occur scattered in silt to coarse sandstone beds, but also in bryozoan-dominated packstone beds resembling the packstone units in the uppermost part of the Confederation Point Member of Ellesmere Island. Previously, bryozoan-rich beds of Triassic age have not been reported, and the present work fills an important time gap in the bryozoan carbonate database.

Mixed Siliciclastic/Carbonate Systems

Abstract The ichnology of mixed siliciclastic/carbonate successions, in which sediment admixture has had a clear effect on infaunal populations, is discussed. Fundamental influences that allow for the development of unique ichnological signatures in mixed systems include grain size, grain shape, and early diagenetic alteration. Shell debris within dominantly siliciclastic successions introduces complexities into the infaunal habitat that are clearly reflected in trace-fossil assemblages. Some differences are preservational, with trace fossils inherently more difficult to recognize in coarser bioclastic intervals than in fine-grained siliciclastic intervals. Faunal level differences include those where some taxa are excluded by admixed bioclastic detritus or by reduced ecospace availability. Diagenetic processes in mixed systems also operate at different scales and temporal intervals, leading to fundamental differences in preservation and in substrate consistency. In mixed systems, quintessential carbonate ichnotextures co-occur with prototypical siliciclastic ichnotextures, such as successions with interstratified or coplanar firmground and hardground assemblages.