Paleobiology and Paleoenvironments of Eocene Rocks: McMurdo Sound, East Antarctica

372 Pages·2000·13.89 MB·English

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Mount Discovery,M cMurdo Sound,m orained epositsw hich containt he most important
record,p reservedin glaciale rratics,o f Paleogeneli fe and paleoenvironmenotsf this inter-
val from East Antarctica. The rich suite of fossiliferous erratics and various lithofacies
recoveredp rovidest he groundworkfo r reconstructinEgo ceneh igh-latituden earshoree nvi-
ronmentsa nd planktic/benthicc ommunitiesp reservedin the erratics.T he implicationsf or
EastA ntarcticp aleoclimatea ndp aleoceanographpyri ort o the onseto f significangt laciation
in Antarctica,a re far reachinga nd are of major interestt o the global scientificc ommunity.
Photographta kenb y Dr. JeffreyD . Stilwell,J anuary3 , 1993.
ANTARCTIC
l/olume 76 RESEARCH
SERIES
Paleobiologya nd Paleoenvironmentosf EoceneR ocks,
McMurdo Sound, East Antarctica
JeffreyD . Stilwell and RodneyM . Feldmann
Editors
c(cid:127) AmericGane ophysUicnaiol n
WashingtonD, .C.
2000
PALEOBIOLOGY AND PALEOENVIRONMENTS OF EOCENE ROCKS, MCMURDO SOUND, EAST ANTARCTICA
JeffreyD . Stilwell and RodneyM . Feldmann,E ditors
Publishedu ndert he aegiso f the Board of AssociateD irectors,A ntarcticR esearchS eries
Library of CongressC ataloging-in-Publication Data
Paleobiologya nd paleoenvironmentosf Eocener ocks,M cMurdo Sound,E astA ntarctica
/ JeffreyD . Stilwell and RodneyM . Feldmann,e ditors
p.cm -- (Antarcticr esearchs eries; v. 76)
Includesb ibliographicarle ferences.
ISBN 0-87590-947-7
1. Paleontology--Eocene2.. Fossils--Antarctica--McMurdoS oundR egion. 3.
Boulders--Antarctica--McMurdSoo undR egion.4 . Geology,S tratigraphic--Eocen5e..
Geology--Antarctica--McMurdSo oundR egion. I. Stilwell, JeffreyD . II. Feldmann,
RodneyM . III. Series
QE737.P35 2000
560'. 1784--dc21 00-20726
CIP
ISBN 0-87590-947-7
ISSN 0066-4634
Cover
Coastalg lacialm orained epositsa t Mount DiscoveryM, cMurdo Sound,w herea wealtho f fossiliferouse rraticso f predomi-
nantlyE ocenea geh aveb eenr ecovered.M any importantr ock and fossils pecimenws ere discoveredin the depositss hown
here.N ote Ice Pinnaclesa ndB lack Islandi n backgroundP. hotographta kenb y JeffreyD . Stilwell,N ovember1 1, 1995.
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CONTENTS
Preface
JeffreyD . Stilwell and RodneyM . Feldmann xi
The McMurdo Erratics: Introduction and Overview
David M. Harwood and RichardH . Levy
Glacial Geologya nd Origin of Fossiliferous-Erratic-BearinMgo raines,S outhernM cMurdo Sound,A ntarctica:
An AlternativeI ce SheetH ypothesis
Gary S. Wilson 19
SedimentaryL ithofacieso f the McMurdo SoundE rratics
RichardH . Levy and David M. Harwood 39
Clay Mineral Compositiono f Glacial Erratics,M cMurdo Sound
Mary AnneH olmes 63
Marine DiatomA ssemblagefsr om Eocenea ndY oungerE rratics,M cMurdo Sound,A ntarctica
David M. Harwood and StevenM . Bohaty 73
Ebridiana nd SilicoflagellateB iostratigraphyfr om EoceneM cMurdo Erraticsa nd the SouthernO cean
StevenM . Bohaty and David M. Harwood 99
Sporesa nd Pollen from the McMurdo SoundE rratics,A ntarctica
RosemaryA . Askin 161
TertiaryM arine Palynomorphsfr om the McMurdo SoundE rratics,A ntarctica
RichardH . Levy and David M. Harwood 183
Eocene Plant Macrofossils from Erratics, McMurdo Sound,A ntarctica
Mike Pole, Bob Hill and David M. Harwood 243
FossilW ood from EoceneH igh LatitudeF orestsM cMurdo Sound,A ntarctica
Jane E. Francis 253
EoceneM ollusca( Bivalvia, Gastropodaa nd Scaphopodaf)r om McMurdo Sound:S ystematicasn d
PaleoecologicS ignificance
JeffreyD . Stilwell 261
BryozoanF ragmentsf rom EoceneG lacial Erraticso f McMurdo Sound,E astA ntarctica
Urszula Hara 321
RhynchonellideB rachiopodsfr om Eocenet o EarliestO ligoceneE rraticsi n the McMurdo
SoundR egion,A ntarctica
DaphneE . Lee and JeffreyD . St#well 325
A New Specieso f Austrobalanus(C irripedia,T horacicia)f rom EoceneE rratics,M ount Discovery,M cMurdo
Sound,E ast Antarctica
JohnS t. J. S. Buckeridge 329
Callichirus?s ymmetricu(sD ecapoda:T halassinoideaa)n dA ssociatedB urrows,E ocene,A ntarctica
Carrie E. Schweitzera nd RodneyM . Feldmann 335
Fish Remainsf rom the Eoceneo f Mount Discovery,E astA ntarctica
DouglasH . Long and JeffreyD . Stilwell 349
A ProbableP iscivorousC rocodilef rom EoceneD epositso f McMurdo Sound,E astA ntarctica
Paul M.A. Willis and JeffreyD . Stilwell 355
The First Record of a Fossil Bird from East Antarctica
Craig M. Jones 359
PaleobiogeographiScy nthesiso f the EoceneM acrofaunaf rom McMurdo Sound,A ntarctica
JeffreyD . Stilwella nd WilliamJ . Zinsmeister 365
PREFACE
Michael K. Brett-Surman, George Washington sions drawn about the climate of the continent from
University,o bservedth at, "beinga paleontologisits like researchc onductedo n SeymourI sland. As a result, the
beinga coronere xcepta ll the witnessesa re deada nd all studyo f thesee rraticsh as strengthenedo ur understand-
the evidence has been left out in the rain for 65 million ing of the conditionsth at prevailedi n the high southern
years." In the study of paleontologyi n Antarcticai t latitudesju st prior to final separationo f Antarcticaf rom
could also be added that, if not left out in the rain, most the Australian continent and establishment of the isola-
of the evidence remains buried beneath several thousand tion of the southernmost continent.
feet of ice. Elucidating the geologic history of the Becauseo f the wide range of fossilsk nown from the
Antarctic continentw ill always be plagued with this erratics,n umerouss pecialistsw ere recruitedt o studyt he
problem. Nonetheless,n umerousc lever means have specimensT. he resulti s a collectiono f highly authorita-
beenu sedt o extracta s muchi nformationa s is possible, tive articlesp rovidinga benchmarkf or further work in
and as presentedin this volume. the area.A s with many suchs tudies,t his work may be
In this light, one of the most intriguingt ime intervals regardeda s preliminary,w ith a next step undoubtedly
in Antarctic history is the Eocene Epoch. During this requiringt he serendipitoudsi scoveryo f a new site.
time, the climatic conditionsd eterioratedr apidly from We thank all the contributors to the volume for their
the so-called "Greenhouse" conditions that dominated effortsi n bringingt he work to completionI.n additiont o
Earth'sc onditionsfr om mid-Mesozoict ime throught he the authors,a largec adreo f reviewersr ead the contribu-
early Cenozoic to the "Icehouse"c onditionst hat have tionsa nd providedv aluables uggestionsT.h e contento f
dominatedt he climate sincet hat time. Unfortunately,t he thep apersi s the responsibilitoy f the authorsa nde ditors;
recordo f Eocener ockso n the continenits sparseO. n the the quality of the final productw as much enhancedb y
AntarcticP eninsula,s pecificallyo n SeymourI sland, a the reviewers and we thank them. Those who chose to be
robustr ecordo f Eocener ocks and fossilsh asp rovided identified are acknowledgedin the individual articles.
virtually all the informationw e possessa boutt his time Finally, the transformationf rom our idea of "camera-
interval.T hus the discoverya nd descriptiono f Eocene ready" copy to the finishedp roduct was the task of
erratic bouldersi n morainal depositsi n the McMurdo Karen Smith, Department of Geology, Kent State
Soundr egionp rovideso nly the seconds iteo n the entire University,w ho did a magnificenjto b. Financials upport
continentw here we can studyt he paleontologyo f this for the work was largely throught he National Science
time interval.I n all likelihood,t he descriptiono f erratics FoundationA. s with all projectso f this type, the volume
containingf ossils from any other place in the world of work necessaryto completet he taski s alwaysu nder-
would warrant little study and would attract even less estimated.W e beg your indulgence.H owever, as with
attention. However, when most of the vast area of fine wine,....
Antarctica lies beneath ice and when clues to the nature
of the crusto f that part of the continentc anb e extracted JeffreyD . Stilwell
only from studyo f erratics,t he discoveryc arriesw ith it JamesC ook University
some excitement. Townsville,Q ueenslandA, ustralia
The studyo f fossiliferouse rraticsg rowsm ore signifi-
cant when they are found to containa diversea rray of RodneyM . Feldmann
vertebratei,n vertebratea, ndp lantm aterial,w hichm akes Kent StateU niversity
it possiblet o interprett he Eocene climatic and paleo- Kent, Ohio
ceanographics ettingo f the McMurdo Soundr egion in
some detail. Furthermore, the work reinforces conclu- Editors