Ichnotaxonomic assessment of Mazon Creek area trace fossils, Illinois, USA

The Francis Creek Shale Member (FCSM) of the Mid-Pennsylvanian Carbondale Formation along Mazon Creek in northern Illinois is known for soft-bodied organisms preserved within siderite concretions. Trace fossils, though less well known, also occur in concretions. Several hundred trace-fossil-bearing concretions were examined from collections at The Field Museum, Chicago, and The University of Kansas Natural History Museum, Lawrence. Identification was based on accepted diagnostic criteria and comparison with like specimens. Described were 24 ichnogenera and 28 ichnospecies, including a new ichnospecies of Pennatulites and a new ichnogenera of coprolite--Funiculichnus spiralis, unnamed trace fossils including a bivalve-locomotion trail, spiral and amorphous coprolites, and two possible galls, and several deformation structures and body fossils misidentified as trace fossils. Trace-fossil assemblages indicate a Skolithos-Cruziana ichnofacies transition from shallow, high-energy to deeper, lower-energy nearshore marine environments, which is consistent with previous interpretations that the FCSM was deposited in a nearshore, deltaic environment.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Kansas

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• LoBue, David J.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Hasiotis, Stephen T.

• Paleontology
• Carboniferous
• Ichnology
• Ichnotaxonomy
• Mazon creek
• Trace fossils

Statement dc:rights

• This item is protected by copyright and unless otherwise specified the copyright of this thesis/dissertation is held by the author.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

http://dissertations.umi.com/ku:11065

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:kuscholarworks.ku.edu:1808/10406