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Stratigraphic range: Pliensbachian-Toarcian ~185–181 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ | |
File:Oreochima WilliamStout.pngFreshwater environment of the Mawson Formation, with hydrothermal influences and the fish Oreochima | |
Type | Geological formation |
Unit of | Ferrar Large Igneous Province |
Sub-units | Carapace Sandstone Member |
Lithology | |
Primary | Volcaniclastic mudstone |
Other | Volcaniclastic gray & blue mudstone |
Location | |
Coordinates | 76°54′S 159°24′E / 76.9°S 159.4°E / -76.9; 159.4 |
Approximate paleocoordinates | 60°06′S 46°30′E / 60.1°S 46.5°E / -60.1; 46.5 |
Region | Storm Peak |
Country | Antarctica |
Type section | |
Named for | Mawson Peak |
Mawson Formation (Antarctica) |
The Mawson Formation is a geological formation in Antarctica, dating to roughly between 185-181 million years ago and covering the Pliensbachian-Toarcian stages of the Jurassic Period in the Mesozoic Era. Vertebrate remains are known from the formation.
Description
The formation was deposited in an ancient lake, with hydrothermal influences, thanks to the relationships with the Kirckpatrick Basalt. Sedimentary interbeds deposited over lava flows of the Kirkpatrick Basalt during the Early Jurassic splitting of Gondwana represent unusual freshwater paleoenvironments, with hotter conditions that allow to the diversification of the Microbes (Archea)
Fossil content
There abundant Fossils of microorganisms, as members of the group Archea and other who take advantage of the hydrothermal activity
Spinicaudata
Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Carapacestheria | C. disgregaris | Carapace Nunatak | Carapaces | Related to the modern Cyzicus mexicanus |
Fish
Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oreochima | O. ellioti | Carapace Nunatak | Various specimens | An archaeomaenid pachycormiform fish |
Insects
Fossil insect wings not described to the genus level are known from the formation.
Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Caraphlebia | C. antartica | Carapace Nunatak | wings | A dragonfly | |
Uralonympha | U. sehopfi | Carapace Nunatak | A nearly complete specimen | A stonefly nymph | |
Coleoptera | Indeterminate | Carapace Nunatak | Wing | Unnamed and non compared |
Ostracoda
Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Darwinula | Darwinula sp. | Carapace Nunatak | Valves | Common Early Jurassic ostracod |
Fungi
Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wood-decay fungus | Indeterminate | Carapace Nunatak | Wood affected by pathogenic fungi | Infestation traces and fungal parasitic interaction on several plants |
Plants
One of the best preserved fossil flora of the Antarctic.
Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nothodacrium | N. warreni | Carapace Nunatak | Specimens | A member of the family Podocarpaceae | |
Masculostrobus | M. warrenii | Carapace Nunatak | Specimens | A member of the family Podocarpaceae | |
Brachyphyllum | Indeterminate | Carapace Nunatak | Specimens | A member of the Coniferales | |
Classostrobus | C. elliotii | Carapace Nunatak | Specimens | A member of the Cheirolepidiaceae | |
Chimaerostrobus | C. minutus | Carapace Nunatak | Specimens | An indeterminate conifer pollen cone | |
Polyphacelus | P. stormensis | Carapace Nunatak | Specimens | Fern Petioles | |
Zamites | Indeterminate | Carapace Nunatak | Specimens | Spermatophyta incertae sedis |
See also
- List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Antarctica
- Shafer Peak Formation
- Hanson Formation
- Shackleton Formation
- South Polar region of the Cretaceous
References
- Ballance et al., 1971
- Burgess et al., 2015
- Elliot, 2013
- Bradshaw, 1987
- ^ Babcock et al., 2006
- ^ Stigall et al., 2008
- Norris, 1965
- Schaeffer, 1972
- Bomfleur et al., 2011
- ^ Carpenter, 1969
- Tasch, 1973
- Harper et al., 2012
- Bomfleur et al., 2007
- Gair et al., 1965
- ^ Townrow, 1967
- Hieger et al., 2015
- Atkinson et al., 2018
- Yao et al., 1991
Bibliography
- Atkinson, B. A., Serbet, R., Hieger, T. J., & Taylor, E. L. (2018). Additional evidence for the Mesozoic diversification of conifers: Pollen cone of Chimaerostrobus minutus gen. et sp. nov.(Coniferales), from the Lower Jurassic of Antarctica. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 257, 77-84
- S.D. Burgess, S.A. Bowring, T.H. Fleming, D.H. Elliot High-precision geochronology links the Ferrar large igneous province with early Jurassic ocean anoxia and biotic crisis Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 415 (2015), pp. 90-99
- Hieger, T. J., Serbet, R., Harper, C. J., Taylor, T. N., Taylor, E. L., & Gulbranson, E. L. (2015). Cheirolepidiaceous diversity: An anatomically preserved pollen cone from the Lower Jurassic of southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. Review of palaeobotany and palynology, 220, 78-87
- D.H. Elliot The geological and tectonic evolution of the Transantarctic Mountains: a review Geol. Soc. Lond. Spec. Publ., 381 (2013), pp. 7-35
- Harper, C. J., Bomfleur, B., Decombeix, A. L., Taylor, E. L., Taylor, T. N., & Krings, M. (2012). Tylosis formation and fungal interactions in an Early Jurassic conifer from northern Victoria Land, Antarctica. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 175, 25-31
- Bomfleur, B., Schneider, J. W., Schöner, R., Viereck-Götte, L., & Kerp, H. (2011). Fossil sites in the continental Victoria and Ferrar groups (Triassic-Jurassic) of north Victoria Land, Antarctica. Polarforschung, 80(2), 88-99
- Stigall, A. L., Babcock, L. E., Briggs, D. E. G., & Leslie, S. A. (2008). Taphonomy of Lacustrine Interbeds in the Kirkpatrick Basalt (Jurassic), Antarctica. PALAIOS, 23(6), 344–355. doi:10.2110/palo.2007.p07-029r
- Bomfleur, B., Schneider, J., Schöner, R., Viereck-Götte, L., Kerp, H., Cooper, A. K., & Raymond, C. R. (2007, August). Exceptionally well-preserved Triassic and Early Jurassic floras from North Victoria Land, Antarctica. In Antarctica: a keystone in a changing world. Proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences, US Geol. Surv., OF-2007-1047, extend. abstr (Vol. 34)
- Babcock LE, Leslie SA, Elliot DH, Stigall AL, et al. 2006. The “Preservation Paradox”: microbes as a key to exceptional fossil preservation in the Kirkpatrick Basalt (Jurassic), Antarctica. The Sedimentary Record 4: 4–8
- Yao, X., Taylor, T. N., & Taylor, E. L. (1991). Silicified dipterid ferns from the Jurassic of Antarctica. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 67(3-4), 353-362
- P. Tasch. 1973. Jurassic beetle from southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. 47:590-592
- M.A. Bradshaw Additional field interpretation of the Jurassic sequence at Carapace Nunatak and Coombs Hills, south Victoria Land Antarctica N. Z. J. Geol. Geophys., 30 (1987), pp. 37-49
- Schaeffer, Bobb. "A Jurassic Fish from Antarctica". American Museum of Natural History, 1972
- P.F. Ballance, W.A. Watters The Mawson Diamictite and the Carapace Sandstone, formations of the Ferrar Group at Allan Hills and Carapace Nunatak, Victoria Land, Antarctica N. Z. J. Geol. Geophys., 14 (1971), pp. 512-527
- F. M. Carpenter. 1969. Fossil insects from Antarctica 76: 418–425
- J. A. Townrow. 1967. Fossil plants from Allan and Carapace Nunataks, and from the Upper Mill and Shackleton Glaciers, Antarctica. 10(2):456-473 ISBN 0-520-24209-2
- Gair, H. S., Norris, G., & Ricker, J. (1965). Early mesozoic microfloras from Antarctica. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 8(2), 231-235
- Norris, G. (1965). Triassic and Jurassic miospores and acritarchs from the Beacon and Ferrar groups, Victoria Land, Antarctica. New Zealand journal of geology and geophysics, 8(2), 236-277