Rosefield Marl Beds, Louisiana (Oligocene of the United States)

Where: Catahoula County, Louisiana (31.9° N, 92.0° W: paleocoordinates 32.4° N, 86.6° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Rosefield Marl Member (Mosley Hill Formation), Late/Upper Oligocene (28.4 - 23.0 Ma)

• "The Rosefield Marl Beds are Oligocene in age (approximately 34 million years old) and correspond to the P19 planktonic foraminiferal zonation."

Environment/lithology: offshore shelf; unlithified, shelly/skeletal marl and brown claystone

• "The fauna consists of ...with species found in both inner and middle shelf zones ... clay unit, including rare species of deep middle shelf habitats ... suggests a local transgression of the shoreline which introduced the inner, then middle, self species into the sediments with progressive deepening."
• "The Rosefiled Marl Beds consist of several distinct thin layers of a light-colored, highly fossiliferous coquina with intervening light-brown clay layers with few macroscopic fossils."

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils, microfossils

Preservation: original calcite

Collection methods: bulk, surface (in situ), sieve,

• "Bulk and surface sampling were utilized at the type locailty of the Rosefield Marl Beds for this study. Approximately 40kg of sample was collected from the coquina layer (shell bed of early publications) for vertebrated analysis(primarily for fish otoliths). The bulk sample was wet-screened through a 40-mesh sieve and air drid. Microfaunal samples (approximately 1kg) were taken from the coquina layer and a thin clay layer immediately above the coquina. Samples were dried and wet-screened through a 200 mesh screen, heat-dried in an oven then picked for microfauna, including foraminifera, ostracodes, microinvertebrates, and microvertebrates. Systematic surface collections were also utilized at the type locality (the exposure of the coquinia layer is quite limited). Basically all macroscopic remains that were one-half whole or greater were collected."

Primary reference: G. L. Stringer, S. Q. Breard, and M. Kontrovitz. 2001. Biostratigraphy and Paleoecology of Diagnostic Invertebrates and Vertebrates from the Type Locality of the Oligocene Rosefiled Marl Beds, Louisiana. Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions LI:321-328 [L. Ivany/P. Wall/P. Wall]more details

Purpose of describing collection: biostratigraphic analysis

PaleoDB collection 44521: authorized by Linda Ivany, entered by Patrick Wall on 15.09.2004

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

unclassified
  -
Actinopteri
 Anguilliformes - Congridae
Congridae indet. Kaup 1856 conger eel
originally entered as "Congridae sp."
Ariosoma sp. Swainson 1838 conger eel
Pseudophichthys sp. Roule 1915 conger eel
Family Ophichthidae
Paraconger sp. Kanazawa 1961 conger eel
 Acanthomorphata - Haemulidae
Orthopristis sp. Girard 1858
 Acanthomorphata - Sciaenidae
 Acanthomorphata - Priacanthidae
 Perciformes - Serranidae
Centropristis sp. Cuvier 1829 perch-like fish
 Spariformes - Sparidae
"Sparidarum" sp. Bonaparte 1832
Family Sparidae
 Ophidiiformes - Ophidiidae
"Neobythitinarum" meyeri
Family Ophidiidae
 Pleuronectiformes - Paralichthyidae
Citharichthys sp. Bleeker 1862 flatfish
 Beryciformes - Berycidae
Centroberyx sp. Gill 1862
 Gadiformes - Bregmacerotidae
Bregmaceros sp. Thompson 1840
Gymnolaemata
  -
Gymnolaemata indet. Allman 1856
Scaphopoda
 Dentaliida - Dentaliidae
Dentalium mississippiense Conrad 1848 tusk shell
Gastropoda
 Sorbeoconcha - Naticidae
"Albula sp." = Polinices
"Albula sp." = Polinices Monfort 1810 moon snail
Bivalvia
 Pectinida - Pectinoidae
"Pecten perplanus" = Pecten (Pecten) perplanus
"Pecten perplanus" = Pecten (Pecten) perplanus Morton 1833 scallop
byramensis
Ostracoda
 Podocopida - Hemicytheridae
 Podocopida - Candonidae
Paracypris rosefieldensis Howe and Law 1936 ostracod
 Podocopida - Loxoconchidae
Cytheromorpha rosefieldensis Howe and Law 1936 ostracod
 Podocopida - Cytherideidae
"Pontocythere sp." = Cushmanidea
"Pontocythere sp." = Cushmanidea ostracod
 Podocopida - Trachyleberididae
 Platycopida -
Cytherelloidea chawneri Howe and Law 1936 ostracod
Cytherelloidea byramensis Howe and Law 1936 ostracod
 Platycopida - Cytherellidae
Cytherella sp. Jones 1849 ostracod
Anthozoa
 Scleractinia - Oculinidae
"Archohelia vicksburgensis" = Petrophyllia
"Archohelia vicksburgensis" = Petrophyllia stony coral
 Scleractinia - Dendrophylliidae
Balanophyllia caulifera Conrad 1848 stony coral
Globothalamea
 Rotaliida - Cibicididae
 Rotaliida - Nonionidae
 Rotaliida - Gavelinellidae
 Rotaliida - Discorbidae
Nodosariata
 Nodosariida - Nodosariidae
 Robertinida - Ceratobuliminidae
 Polymorphinida - Polymorphinidae
 Vaginulinida - Vaginulinidae
Foraminifera
 Spirillinina - Spirillinidae
  -
"Marginulina sp." = Cristellaria (Marginulina)
"Marginulina sp." = Cristellaria (Marginulina) d'Orbigny 1826
 Rotaliina - Bolivinidae
 Asterigerinacea - Asterigerinidae
 Rotaliacea - Rotaliidae
 Rotaliina - Siphoninidae
 Orbitoidacea - Lepidocyclinidae
 Buliminacea - Reusselidae
 Buliminacea - Uvigerinidae
 Planorbulinacea - Planorbulinidae
Tubothalamea
 Miliolida - Cornuspiridae
 Miliolida - Miliolidae
Spiroloculina sp. d'Orbigny 1826
 Miliolida - Hauerinidae
Foraminifera
 Rotalioidea - Elphidiidae
"Elphidium poeyanum" = Elphidium latispatium pontium
"Elphidium poeyanum" = Elphidium latispatium pontium d'Orbigny 1948
 Globigerinaceae - Heterohelicidae
  - Spiroplectamminidae
 Globigerinoidea - Globigerinidae
Globigerina sp. d'Orbigny 1826
 Buliminoidea - Buliminidae