Fossil Scleractinian Corals from James Ross Basin, Antarctica

106 Pages·4.013 MB·English

Fossil Scleractinian Corals
From James Ross Basin, Antarctica
Physical Sciences MARINE GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL ATLAS
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ANTARCTIC
RESEARCH
SERIES
Fossil Scleractinian Corals
From James Ross Basin, Antarctica
Harry F. Filkom
1919-1994 .Co
(cid:127) AmericGaeno physUincaiol n
Washington,D .C.
1994
ANTARCTIC
Volume 6.5 RESEARCH
SERIES
Published under the aegis of the
Board of Associate Editors, Antarctic Research Series
David H. Elliot, Chairman
John B. Anderson, Robert Bindschadler,
Stephen D. Cairns, Rodney M. Feldmann, Stanley Jacobs,
John Priscu, Charles R. Stearns
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Filkorn, Harry F.
Fossil scleractinian corals from James Ross Basin, Antarctica /
Harry F. Filkorn.
p. cm.- (Antarctic research series; v. 65)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-87590-849-7
1. Scleractinia, Fossil Antarctica(cid:127)Seymour Island.
2. Scleractinia, Fossil---Antarctica--Snow Hill Island.
3. Paleontology--Cretaceous. 4. Paleontology--Paleocene.
5. Animals, Fossil--Antarctica--Seymour Island. 6. Animals, Fossil-
-Antarctica--Snow Hill Island. I. Title. II. Series.
QE778.F52 1994 94-38724
563'.6(cid:127)dc20 CIP
ISBN 0-87590-849-7
ISSN 0066-4634
Copyright 1994 by the American Geophysical Union
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CONTENTS
The Antarctic Research Series: Statement of Objectives
Board of Associate Editors ix
Acknowledgments xi
Abstract Xllolo.
Introduction
Stratigraphy
Terminology
Materials
Methods
Paleoclimatology 10
Commentso n SeymourI sland Scleractiniansa nd the Cretaceous-TertiaryT ransition 23
Skeletal Mineralogy 25
Systematic Paleontology 29
Summary and Conclusion 81
Appendix 83
References 84
The Antarctic Research Series'
STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES
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Board of Associate Editors
Antarctic Research Series
ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Severali ndividualsc ontributetdo the completiono f thiss tudy;t heira ssistancise greatlya ppre-
ciated.S pecialt hankst o RodneyM . FeldmannK, ent StateU niversity,f or his permissionto study
the fossils cleractiniacno ralsw hichh e andM . A. Kooserc ollectedo n Seymoura nd SnowH ill
islandsi n 1986-1987. Alan H. Coogana nd Barry B. Miller, Kent StateU niversity,r eviewedt he
original thesism anuscripat nd offeredm any helpful commentsS. tephenD . Cairns, Smithsonian
Institutionp, rovidedi nvaluablea ssistancwe ith the corallad epositeda t the NationalM useumo f
Natural History, facilitated loans of material from the museum,r eviewed the manuscripta nd
offeredm anyh elpfulc ommentsH. elmutZ ibrowius,C entred 'Oc6anologidee Marseille,r eviewed
the manuscripta nd made numerouss uggestionsw hich improved the final version. Christina
Franz6n-BengtsonN,R SP, facilitatedt he loan of Felix's [1909] type material.M ichael Cole, and
otherm emberso f the staff of the Kent StateU niversityI nterlibraryL oan Office, assistedin obtain-
ing someo f the literaturec ited in this study.C opieso f many of the voluminousp ublications
acquiredt hroughi nterlibraryl oansw ere boundb y BrendaS . Abke. Supportf or Feldmann'sfi eld
work on Seymoura nd Snow Hill islandsw as providedb y National ScienceF oundation( NSF)
grant DPP 8416783 to W. J. ZinsmeisterL. aboratoryw ork was supportedb y NSF grant DPP
8715945 and DPP 8915439 to Feldmann.
xi
Frontispiece(.T op) Examinings pecimensa t the type localityo f Madreporas obral n. sp., locality
3086, in unit 1 of the PaleoceneS obralF ormation,S eymourI sland,A ntarctica.( Bottom)C lose-up
view of the grounds urfaceo f the type localityo f Madreporas obrals howingt he densec oncentra-
tion of fragmentso f this speciesP. hotographbsy R. M. Feldmann.
ABSTRACT
Sixteen scleractinians peciesa re known from the Upper Cretaceousa nd Paleocenes trata of
Seymoura ndS nowH ill islandsA, ntarcticab, asedu pona ll type andn ewlyc ollectedm aterial;n ine
of those 16 speciesa re describeda s new. Seven of thosen ine new speciesa re referredt o the
Turbinoliidae; four genera of Turbinoliidae also are establisheda s new. The 16 scleractinian
speciesa re: Fungiacyathusd eltoidophorus( Felix, 1909); E larseni (Felix, 1909); E antarcticus
(Felix, 1909); Bothrophoriao rnata Felix, 1909; Conocyathufse lixi n. sp.; Tropidocyathusse y-
mourensisn . sp.;T . minimusn . sp.;P alocyathuss eymourensins. gen.,n . sp.;L evicyathusc airnsin .
gen., n. sp.;A lveolocyathunso rdenskjoeldni. gen.,n . sp.;L aminocyathuws ellsi n. gen.,n . sp.;
Madrepora sobral n. sp.; ?Lophelia sp.; ?Flabelluma nderssoni( Felix, 1909); ?Oculina norden-
skjoeldi (Felix, 1909); and ?Cladocoraa ntarctican . sp. The scleractinians peciesl isted above,
with the exceptiono f the latter four, are the earliestb iostratigraphioc ccurrencesk nown for their
respectiveg eneraT. he turbinoliidf aunaf rom theL 6pezd e BertodanoF ormationis the mostg ener-
ically diverset urbinoliida ssemblagken own from Upper Cretaceousro cks;t he fungiacyathids
from the samef ormationr epresentth e first unequivocaMl esozoico ccurrenceosf their family. In
addition,1 2 of the 16 species(t he exceptionsa ret he fungiacyathidasn dt he flabellid)r epresentth e
highest southernl atitude occurrencesk nown for their respectiveg enera. The specimenso f
Madrepora sobral from the SobralF ormation( Paleoceneo) f SeymourI sland are both the earliest
biostratigraphica nd highests outhernla titudeo ccurrencesk nown for that genus.T he abundant
fragmentedb rancheso f M. sobral at the type locality are interpretedt o be deep- or cold-water
azooxanthellatec oral deposits.E xtrapolationo f ecologicald ata from extant specieso f the same
generaa s thoser eportedf rom the Upper Cretaceouso f SeymourI sland indicatesa Maastrichtian
oceanic paleotemperatureo f 14 to 15.5øC and a paleobathymetryo f approximately 120 m.
Mineralogicala nalyseso f selectedc orallai ndicatet hat the materiali s primarilyu nalteredo riginal
skeletal aragonite.
xiii