Sant Onofre, Baix Ebre Basin, vermetid–coralline algal unit (Pliocene of Spain)

Where: Spain (40.8° N, 0.6° E: paleocoordinates 40.9° N, 0.2° E)

• coordinate estimated from map

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Early/Lower Pliocene (5.3 - 3.6 Ma)

Environment/lithology: reef, buildup or bioherm; bindstone and packstone

• This unit crops out in a very limited area associated to a pre-existing

•palaeohigh made up of Miocene conglomerates. This palaeorelief is constituted by a flat, horizontal platform and a steeply dipping slope. The carbonate unit, consisting of a crust several decimeters in thickness on top of the flat platform, is made up of vermetid–coralline algal bindstones and associated packstones. They are exposed discontinuously on an area of about 150 m2. The bioconstruction is mostly formed by the intergrowth of vermetids and coralline algae, locally accompanied by serpulid worms

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Primary reference: J. Aguirre, Z. Belaústegui, R. Domènechb, J. M. Gibert, and J. Martinell. 2014. Snapshot of a lower Pliocene Dendropoma reef from Sant Onofre (Baix Ebre Basin, Tarragona, NE Spain). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 395:9-20 [W. Kiessling/M. Krause/S. Ávila]more details

Purpose of describing collection: paleoecologic analysis

PaleoDB collection 153720: authorized by Wolfgang Kiessling, entered by Mihaela Krause on 10.01.2014

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Thecostraca
 Balanomorpha - Balanidae
Balanus trigonus Darwin 1854 barnacle
 Balanomorpha - Pyrgomatidae
Pyrgomatidae indet. Gray 1825 coral barnacle
? Savignium sp. Leach 1825 coral barnacle
Gastropoda
 Sorbeoconcha - Vermetidae
Vermetidae indet. Rafinesque 1815 worm shell
Dendropoma sp. Moerch 1861 worm shell
 Neogastropoda - Muricidae
Muricidae indet. Rafinesque 1815 murex snail
 Neogastropoda - Olividae
Olividae indet. Latreille 1825 olive snail
 Neogastropoda - Nassariidae
Nassariidae indet. Iredale 1916 snail
 Neogastropoda - Cancellariidae
Cancellariidae indet. Gray 1853 snail
Bivalvia
  -
Bivalvia indet. Linnaeus 1758 clam
 Mytilida - Mytilidae
Lithophaga sp. Röding 1798 mussel
 Pectinida - Pectinoidae
"Chlamys multistriata" = Talochlamys multistriata, "Mimachlamys varia" = Chlamys (Mimachlamys)
"Chlamys multistriata" = Talochlamys multistriata Poli 1795 scallop
"Mimachlamys varia" = Chlamys (Mimachlamys) scallop
Echinoidea
  -
Echinoidea indet. Leske 1778 sea urchin
 Cidaroidea -
Cidaroidea sp. sea urchin
Anthozoa
 Scleractinia - Merulinidae
? Cladocora sp. Ehrenberg 1834 stony coral
Demospongiae
 Clavulina - Clionaidae
Entobia sp. demosponge
Florideophyceae
 Corallinales - Corallinophycidae
Spongites fruticulosus
85% of the total algal assemblage
Spongites sp. Kützing 1841
Neogoniolithon brassica
Neogoniolithon brassica-florida; 15% of the assemblage
Neogoniolithon sp. Setchell and Mason 1943
Foraminifera
 Planorbulinacea - Planorbulinidae
Planorbulinidae indet. Schwager 1877
 Acervulinacea - Homotrematidae
 Lituolida - Lituolidae
 Ichnofossils -
Gastrochaenolites sp. Leymerie 1842
Gastrochaenolites torpedo Kelly and Bromley 1984