Cape Melville Fm - Hard Ground section, King George Island (Miocene of Antarctica)

Where: Antarctica (62.0° S, 57.5° W: paleocoordinates 61.7° S, 56.7° W)

• coordinate estimated from map

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Cape Melville Formation (Moby Dick Group), Early/Lower Miocene (23.0 - 16.0 Ma)

• STRATIGRAPHIC RELATIONS: From Cape Melville Fm, which conformably overlies with a sharp contact the Destruction Bay Fm, both of the Moby Dick Group. THICKNESS: From one bed within section of 10 m with formation that reaches 150 m in thickness. AGE: Early Miocene, based on consideration of radiometrics data (Troedson and Riding, 2002) and biostratigraphy (invertebrates and palynology). STRATIGRAPHIC POSITION: From single bed at base of section.

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: offshore; poorly lithified, fine-grained, silty, sandy mudstone

• ENVIRONMENT: Stated as marine shelf setting. Suggested by Troedson and Riding (2002) to be middle-outer continental shelf.
• SPECIFIC LITHOLOGY: Specificially from sandy mudstone with dropstones and calcite layers, based on Fig. 2. In general, formation comprises interbedded silty-sandy mudstone and fine-medium sandstone and fine-medium sandstone, with subsidiary silty-sandy diamictite and thin carbonate and tuff layers. LITHIFICATION: Poorly-lithified, based on figured specimens.

Size class: macrofossils

Preservation: original aragonite

Collection methods: surface (in situ),

• COLLECTORS: Multiple collectors, not specified. REPOSITORY: Colecao Cientifica, Depatamento de Geologica Sedimentar e Ambiental, Instituto de Geosciencias, Universidade de Sao Paulo.

Primary reference: L. E. Anelli, A. C. Rocha-Campos, P. R. Santos, J. A. J. Perinotto, and F. Quaglio. 2006. Early Miocene bivalves from the Cape Melville Formation, King George Island, West Antarctic. Alcheringa 30(1):111-132 [A. Hendy/A. Hendy]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 75591: authorized by Austin Hendy, entered by Austin Hendy on 18.10.2007

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• COVERAGE: Partial list of bivalvia, other taxa and further bivalves will be reported in subsequent publications. NOMENCLATURE: Authoritative publication, using modern nomenclature, subgenera, and species definitions.
Bivalvia
 Arcida - Limopsidae
Limopsis psimolis n. sp. Anelli et al. 2006 clam
 Thraciida - Periplomatidae
Periploma acuta n. sp. Anelli et al. 2006 clam
 Nuculida - Nuculidae
Ennucula frigida n. sp. Anelli et al. 2006 nut clam