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Anomalous facies and ancient faeces in the latest middle Cambrian of Sweden

Eriksson, Mats LU and Terfelt, Fredrik LU (2007) In Lethaia 40(1). p.69-84
Abstract
The middle Cambrian -Furongian transitional interval was a time of significant biotic and environmental changes. Strata of this age in Scania, southern Sweden, contain two interlayered biofacies, a normal one dominated by trilobites and an anomalous one dominated by phosphatocopines (small bivalved arthropods). In places these biofacies are separated by intervals barren of fossils. In a phosphatocopine facies without trilobites in the upper Agnostus pisiformis Zone at Andrarum we recovered scattered fossil aggregates with a homogeneous composition of tightly packed and stacked phosphatocopines. These aggregates are interpreted as coprolites produced by an undetermined predator, possibly the chaetognath-like protoconodont animal or some... (More)
The middle Cambrian -Furongian transitional interval was a time of significant biotic and environmental changes. Strata of this age in Scania, southern Sweden, contain two interlayered biofacies, a normal one dominated by trilobites and an anomalous one dominated by phosphatocopines (small bivalved arthropods). In places these biofacies are separated by intervals barren of fossils. In a phosphatocopine facies without trilobites in the upper Agnostus pisiformis Zone at Andrarum we recovered scattered fossil aggregates with a homogeneous composition of tightly packed and stacked phosphatocopines. These aggregates are interpreted as coprolites produced by an undetermined predator, possibly the chaetognath-like protoconodont animal or some other softbodied metazoan. The so-called barren intervals of Scania are not necessarily barren of fossils, but only trilobites, brachiopods, and other skeletal elements with a calcium-carbonate composition. The phosphatocopine facies with coprolites in the uppermost part of the A. pisiformis Zone correlates with the trilobite mass extinction at the top of the Marjumiid Biomere in Laurentia and immediately prior to the onset of the Steptoean Positive Carbon Isotope Excursion (SPICE), inferring a global shift in the oceanic chemistry that in Scania favoured phosphatocopines over the more common, trilobite-dominated faunas. (Less)
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author
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organization
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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Sweden, phosphatocopines, coprolites, Agnostus pisiformis Zone, barren intervals, trophic structure, upper middle Cambrian
in
Lethaia
volume
40
issue
1
pages
69 - 84
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • wos:000244059200007
  • scopus:33947181013
ISSN
0024-1164
DOI
10.1111/j.1502-3931.2006.00007.x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
eec43f41-5d00-45ab-9403-41c44cb6a282 (old id 675121)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 15:23:01
date last changed
2022-01-28 05:05:10
@article{eec43f41-5d00-45ab-9403-41c44cb6a282,
  abstract     = {{The middle Cambrian -Furongian transitional interval was a time of significant biotic and environmental changes. Strata of this age in Scania, southern Sweden, contain two interlayered biofacies, a normal one dominated by trilobites and an anomalous one dominated by phosphatocopines (small bivalved arthropods). In places these biofacies are separated by intervals barren of fossils. In a phosphatocopine facies without trilobites in the upper Agnostus pisiformis Zone at Andrarum we recovered scattered fossil aggregates with a homogeneous composition of tightly packed and stacked phosphatocopines. These aggregates are interpreted as coprolites produced by an undetermined predator, possibly the chaetognath-like protoconodont animal or some other softbodied metazoan. The so-called barren intervals of Scania are not necessarily barren of fossils, but only trilobites, brachiopods, and other skeletal elements with a calcium-carbonate composition. The phosphatocopine facies with coprolites in the uppermost part of the A. pisiformis Zone correlates with the trilobite mass extinction at the top of the Marjumiid Biomere in Laurentia and immediately prior to the onset of the Steptoean Positive Carbon Isotope Excursion (SPICE), inferring a global shift in the oceanic chemistry that in Scania favoured phosphatocopines over the more common, trilobite-dominated faunas.}},
  author       = {{Eriksson, Mats and Terfelt, Fredrik}},
  issn         = {{0024-1164}},
  keywords     = {{Sweden; phosphatocopines; coprolites; Agnostus pisiformis Zone; barren intervals; trophic structure; upper middle Cambrian}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{69--84}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{Lethaia}},
  title        = {{Anomalous facies and ancient faeces in the latest middle Cambrian of Sweden}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1502-3931.2006.00007.x}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/j.1502-3931.2006.00007.x}},
  volume       = {{40}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}