Dactyloidites ottoi (Geinitz, 1849) in Bahamian Pleistocene carbonates: a shallowest-marine indicator
| DOI | 10.1144/SP522-2021-69 |
|---|---|
| Year | 2023 |
| Book | The ichnology of shallow-marine and transitional environments |
| Editor(s) | Cónsole-Gonella, C,. de Valais, S., Díaz-Martínez, I., Citton, P., Verde, M., McIlroy, D. |
| Journal | Geological Society, London, Special Publications |
| Volume | 522 |
| Number | 1 |
| Pages | 25-35 |
| Type | article in journal |
| Language | English |
| Id | 44705 |
Abstract
The rosetted trace fossil Dactyloidites ottoi (Geinitz, 1849) is reported and described for the first time from late Pleistocene (MIS 5e) carbonates of the Bahama Archipelago in shallowing-upward, shelly calcarenites from Great Inagua and Great and Little Exuma islands. The distinctive, fan-shaped D. ottoi specimens from the Bahamas, while not preserved in fine detail and not revealing a shaft, compare favourably in shape and size with specimens from other localities around the world, including the oldest well-documented specimens from the Jurassic of Argentina. D. ottoi is interpreted as a fodinichnion formed by the activity of a deposit-feeding worm, probably a polychaete, consuming marine-plant remains within host sediment. The late Pleistocene palaeodepositional environment of these carbonate sediments is interpreted as within the lower foreshore-upper shoreface zone in full marine, tropical waters. This discovery of D. ottoi marks an addition to the Bahamian shallow-marine ichnocoenose within the Skolithos ichnofacies.