Geological Society of America

51 Undergraduate Research Poster Session II (Posters)

Tuesday, 16 April 2024
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Grand Ballroom

PRELIMINARY TERRESTRIAL PALYNOLOGICAL RE-INVESTIGATION OF THE TYPE COON CREEK LAGERSTÄTTE, TENNESSEE, USA

Paper number: 51-14
Program: Theme Sessions
Time: 1:30 PM – 5:30 PM

Authors

Ethan Lung Presenting Author
Morehead State University, Morehead, KY
Masayuki Utsunomiya
Tsukuba, N/A
Kristina Gardner
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Reston, VA
Jean Self-Trail
Florence Bascom Geoscience Ceter, Reston, VA
Jennifer O'Keefe
Morehead State University, Morehead, KY
Keira Patton
Morehead State University, Morehead, KY
Michael Gibson
University of Tennessee at Martin, Martin, TN
Jack Garrett
Univ. of Tennessee - Martin Dept. of Agriculture, Geoscience, Nat. Res, Martin, TN
Joshua Ratliff
University of Tennessee at Martin, Martin, TN
Alan Youngerman
University of Tennessee at Martin, Martin, TN
Mark Puckett
The University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS
Alyson Brink
University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS
Tom Byl
US Geological Survey, Nashville, TN

Abstract

The type locality for the Campanian Coon Creek Formation, in McNairy County, Tennessee, is a well-known lagerstätte, a sedimentary deposit with abundant fossils. Exceptionally preserved marine invertebrate and vertebrate remains, including mollusks, crabs, and mosasaurs are found in these shallow shelf sediments. At the time of deposition, the type locality was an embayment proximal to the eastern margin of the Appalachia province and experienced alternately cool- and warm-water conditions, likely due to currents from both the Western Interior Seaway and Tethys. While marine in their entirety, the sediments contain significant quantities of terrestrial palynomorphs – especially near the top of the section – and thus provide a snapshot of adjacent upper Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystems that are not otherwise preserved in this region. A recently completed biostratigraphic study of widely spaced samples through the section suggested that more detailed examination of the terrestrial palynomorphs preserved in the section was warranted to refine first and last taxonomic occurrences in the section and explore variations in terrestrial ecosystems that contributed to the assemblages. In July 2022, the team of co-authors collected 27 additional samples from the type locality. In this study we present the preliminary results and interpretations of new biostratigraphic and paleoecological investigations of terrestrial palynomorphs recovered from the site.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 56, No. 2

doi: 10.1130/abs/2024SE-398383

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