Profile I; Layer 11 - Gazdzicki and Halina (1984) (Pliocene of Antarctica)

Also known as Profile I; Layer 11

Where: Antarctica (62.3° S, 59.0° W: paleocoordinates 62.1° S, 58.4° W)

• coordinate estimated from map

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Low Head Member (Polonez Cove Formation), Pliocene (5.3 - 2.6 Ma)

• Best exposure of the Low Head Mbr; sequence rests of basalts of the Mazurek Point Fm; represented by basal conglomerates over 15 m thick. Glaciomarine strata of the Polonez Cover Formation rest on basalts of the Mazurek Point Formattion, and are overlain by porphyritic lavas alternating with tuffs and agglomerates of the Boy Point Fortmation. The Polonez Cover Formation comprises four lithostratigraphic members, of which the lowest, the Karakowiak Glacier Mbr, consists of non-marine tillites, while the succeeding three members, the Low Head Mbr, the Siklawa Mbr, and the Oberek Cliff Mbr, are glaciomarine strata. The Low Head Mbr is the richest fossil-bearing unit of the Polonez Cove Formation and is represented by up to 15 m of ungraded conglomerates, consisting mainly of angular and subrounded basalt fragments, with ice-rafted dropstones, with common Chlamys coquina. The Pliocene age is suggested on the basis of macrofaunal similarity with Antarctic mainland assemblages, and from microfossils

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: coastal; shelly/skeletal conglomerate

• Glacio-marine strata, including ice-rafted dropstones.
• The Polonez Cove Formation is represented by up to 15 m of ungraded conglomerates, consisting mainly of angular and subrounded basalt fragments, with ice-rafted dropstones, with common Chlamys coquina.

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils, microfossils

Preservation: original aragonite, original calcite

Collection methods: quarrying,

• Collected by Gazdzicki and others in 1978-1979, 1980-1981

Primary reference: A. Gazdzicki and H. Pugaczewska. 1984. Biota of the "Pecten Conglomerate" (Polenez Cove Formation, Pliocene) of King George Island (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica). Studia Geologica Polonica 79:59-120 [A. Miller/A. Hendy/M. Uhen]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 41581: authorized by Austin Hendy, entered by Austin Hendy on 16.07.2004

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• Includes all taxa mentioned in paper (coccoliths, diatoms, chrysomonads, foraminifers, worms, bryozoans, brachiopods, bivalves, gastropods, ostracods, crinoids, ophiuroids, echinoids)
Gastropoda
 Sorbeoconcha - Struthiolariidae
 Neogastropoda - Buccinidae
Cyrtochetus cf. bucciniformis Wilckens 1911 true whelk
 Sorbeoconcha - Vermetidae
Petaloconchus cf. intortus Lamarck 1818 worm shell
Bivalvia
 Pectinida - Pectinoidae
"Chlamys (Anatipopecten) cf. anatipes" = Anatipopecten anatipes, "Chlamys (Chlamys) anderssoni" = Austrochlamys anderssoni
"Chlamys (Anatipopecten) cf. anatipes" = Anatipopecten anatipes Morton 1833 scallop
"Chlamys (Chlamys) anderssoni" = Austrochlamys anderssoni Hennig 1911 scallop
 Cardiida - Veneridae
"Venus (Ventricoloidea) newtoni" = Eurhomalea newtoni
"Venus (Ventricoloidea) newtoni" = Eurhomalea newtoni Wilckens 1911 venus clam
 Cardiida - Mactridae
Mactra irizari Wilckens 1912 clam
 Hiatellida - Hiatellidae
"Panopea cf. regularis" = Panopea (Panopea) regularis Ortmann 1900 clam
Panopea cf. undatoides Ortmann 1902 clam
 Carditida - Crassatellidae
"Eucrassatella (Spissatella) sp." = Spissatella
"Eucrassatella (Spissatella) sp." = Spissatella Finlay 1926 clam
Gymnolaemata
 Cheilostomata - Romancheinidae
"Mucronella praestans" = Escharella, Exochella cf. longirostris
"Mucronella praestans" = Escharella
 Cheilostomata - Membraniporidae
Discoporella sp. d'Orbigny 1852
 Cheilostomata - Electridae
 Cheilostomata - Hippothoidae
Hippothoa cf. hyalina Linnaeus 1767
 Cheilostomata - Cyclicoporidae
 Cheilostomata - Cellariidae
Cellaria cf. rigida MacGillivray 1885
 Cheilostomata - Microporellidae
 Cheilostomata - Schizoporellidae
Stenolaemata
 Cyclostomata - Multisparsidae
Idmonea sp. Lamouroux 1821
 Cyclostomata - Tubuliporidae