Palaeoecology of the Bright Angel Shale in the eastern Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA, incorporating sedimentological, ichnological and palynological data

The Middle Cambrian Bright Angel Shale in the eastern Grand Canyon contains a depauperate normal marine fauna, but trace fossils and palynomorphs are abundant throughout the formation. Conventional interpretations place the depositional setting of this shale below wavebase as the distal component of a shelfal transgression, but the palynological signature in the mudstones of the Bright Angel Shale indicates a freshwater source to these muds. Examination of several sections in the vicinity of Proterozoic monadnocks and the integration of sedimentological, ichnological and palynological observations yield a more robust model for the palaeoecology of the Bright Angel Shale. Initial correspondence between organic matter content in mudstones and feeding type and intensity (as indicated by traces) is consistent with an estuarine setting for this deposit. The level of organic activity preserved in these sediments indicates that the carbon flux into shallow marine settings due to terrestrial runoff was substantial by middle Cambrian (Glossopleura biozone) time.