Shell beds from the Low Head Member (Polonez Cove Formation, early Oligocene) at King George Island, west Antarctica: new insights on facies analysis, taphonomy and environmental significance
Abstract Shell bed levels in the Low Head Member of the early Oligocene Polonez Cove Formation at King George Island, West Antarctica, are re-interpreted based on sedimentological and taphonomic data. The highly fossiliferous Polonez Cove Formation is characterized by basal coastal marine sandstones...
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102013000783 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102013000783 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0954102013000783 2024-03-03T08:39:18+00:00 Shell beds from the Low Head Member (Polonez Cove Formation, early Oligocene) at King George Island, west Antarctica: new insights on facies analysis, taphonomy and environmental significance Quaglio, Fernanda Warren, Lucas Veríssimo Anelli, Luiz Eduardo Dos Santos, Paulo Roberto Rocha-Campos, Antonio Carlos Gaździcki, Andrzej Strikis, Pedro Carlos Ghilardi, Renato Pirani Tiossi, Andressa Barraviera Simões, Marcello Guimarães 2014 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102013000783 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102013000783 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Antarctic Science volume 26, issue 4, page 400-412 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography journal-article 2014 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102013000783 2024-02-08T08:24:59Z Abstract Shell bed levels in the Low Head Member of the early Oligocene Polonez Cove Formation at King George Island, West Antarctica, are re-interpreted based on sedimentological and taphonomic data. The highly fossiliferous Polonez Cove Formation is characterized by basal coastal marine sandstones, overlain by conglomerates and breccias deposited in fan-delta systems. The shell beds are mainly composed of pectinid bivalve shells of Leoclunipecten gazdzickii and occur in the basal portion of the Low Head Member. Three main episodes of bioclastic deposition are recorded. Although these shell beds were previously interpreted as shelly tempestites, we present an alternative explanation: the low fragmentation rates and low size sorting of the bioclasts resulted from winnowing due to tidal currents (background or diurnal condition) in the original bivalve habitat. The final deposition (episodic condition) was associated with subaqueous gravity driven flows. This new interpretation fits with the scenario of a prograding fan-delta front, which transported shell accumulations for short distances near the depositional site, possibly between fair-weather and storm wave bases. This work raises the notion that not every shell bed with similar sedimentological and taphonomic features (such as geometry, basal contact, degree of packing and shell orientation in the matrix) is made in the same way. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Science Antarctica King George Island West Antarctica Cambridge University Press King George Island West Antarctica Low Head ENVELOPE(-58.133,-58.133,-62.150,-62.150) Polonez Cove ENVELOPE(-58.131,-58.131,-62.153,-62.153) Antarctic Science 26 4 400 412 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography Quaglio, Fernanda Warren, Lucas Veríssimo Anelli, Luiz Eduardo Dos Santos, Paulo Roberto Rocha-Campos, Antonio Carlos Gaździcki, Andrzej Strikis, Pedro Carlos Ghilardi, Renato Pirani Tiossi, Andressa Barraviera Simões, Marcello Guimarães Shell beds from the Low Head Member (Polonez Cove Formation, early Oligocene) at King George Island, west Antarctica: new insights on facies analysis, taphonomy and environmental significance |
topic_facet |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
description |
Abstract Shell bed levels in the Low Head Member of the early Oligocene Polonez Cove Formation at King George Island, West Antarctica, are re-interpreted based on sedimentological and taphonomic data. The highly fossiliferous Polonez Cove Formation is characterized by basal coastal marine sandstones, overlain by conglomerates and breccias deposited in fan-delta systems. The shell beds are mainly composed of pectinid bivalve shells of Leoclunipecten gazdzickii and occur in the basal portion of the Low Head Member. Three main episodes of bioclastic deposition are recorded. Although these shell beds were previously interpreted as shelly tempestites, we present an alternative explanation: the low fragmentation rates and low size sorting of the bioclasts resulted from winnowing due to tidal currents (background or diurnal condition) in the original bivalve habitat. The final deposition (episodic condition) was associated with subaqueous gravity driven flows. This new interpretation fits with the scenario of a prograding fan-delta front, which transported shell accumulations for short distances near the depositional site, possibly between fair-weather and storm wave bases. This work raises the notion that not every shell bed with similar sedimentological and taphonomic features (such as geometry, basal contact, degree of packing and shell orientation in the matrix) is made in the same way. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Quaglio, Fernanda Warren, Lucas Veríssimo Anelli, Luiz Eduardo Dos Santos, Paulo Roberto Rocha-Campos, Antonio Carlos Gaździcki, Andrzej Strikis, Pedro Carlos Ghilardi, Renato Pirani Tiossi, Andressa Barraviera Simões, Marcello Guimarães |
author_facet |
Quaglio, Fernanda Warren, Lucas Veríssimo Anelli, Luiz Eduardo Dos Santos, Paulo Roberto Rocha-Campos, Antonio Carlos Gaździcki, Andrzej Strikis, Pedro Carlos Ghilardi, Renato Pirani Tiossi, Andressa Barraviera Simões, Marcello Guimarães |
author_sort |
Quaglio, Fernanda |
title |
Shell beds from the Low Head Member (Polonez Cove Formation, early Oligocene) at King George Island, west Antarctica: new insights on facies analysis, taphonomy and environmental significance |
title_short |
Shell beds from the Low Head Member (Polonez Cove Formation, early Oligocene) at King George Island, west Antarctica: new insights on facies analysis, taphonomy and environmental significance |
title_full |
Shell beds from the Low Head Member (Polonez Cove Formation, early Oligocene) at King George Island, west Antarctica: new insights on facies analysis, taphonomy and environmental significance |
title_fullStr |
Shell beds from the Low Head Member (Polonez Cove Formation, early Oligocene) at King George Island, west Antarctica: new insights on facies analysis, taphonomy and environmental significance |
title_full_unstemmed |
Shell beds from the Low Head Member (Polonez Cove Formation, early Oligocene) at King George Island, west Antarctica: new insights on facies analysis, taphonomy and environmental significance |
title_sort |
shell beds from the low head member (polonez cove formation, early oligocene) at king george island, west antarctica: new insights on facies analysis, taphonomy and environmental significance |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102013000783 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102013000783 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-58.133,-58.133,-62.150,-62.150) ENVELOPE(-58.131,-58.131,-62.153,-62.153) |
geographic |
King George Island West Antarctica Low Head Polonez Cove |
geographic_facet |
King George Island West Antarctica Low Head Polonez Cove |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Science Antarctica King George Island West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Science Antarctica King George Island West Antarctica |
op_source |
Antarctic Science volume 26, issue 4, page 400-412 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102013000783 |
container_title |
Antarctic Science |
container_volume |
26 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
400 |
op_container_end_page |
412 |
_version_ |
1792494766551728128 |