Mount King, Locality A (Carboniferous to of Antarctica)

Also known as Locality A, Mount King, Alexander Island, Antarctica

Where: Antarctica (69.9° S, 69.3° W: paleocoordinates 64.3° S, 127.2° W)

• coordinate stated in text

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Mount King Formation (LeMay Group), Serpukhovian to Serpukhovian (330.9 - 315.2 Ma)

• The position of the mount King beds within a higher lithostratigraphic framework is uncertain at present. The may be assigned to the LeMay Group (Burn 1984) of Alexander Island or to the Trinity Peninsula Group (Aide 1957) of the Antarctic Peninsula, or perhaps represent a completely new lithostratigraphical unit. However, there are problems with each of these alternatives.

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: marine; lithified, bioturbated mudstone and lithified, medium-grained sandstone

• The lower part of the section exposed on the summit is mainly mudstone, overlain by medium-grained sandstones and conglomerates (KG 4599.3), which are locally brecciated (KG 4599.4). Large cobble-sized clasts of sandstone, up to 250mm diameter, in the conglomerates contain fractures with void infilling by matrix, indicating a cataclastic deformation before lithification. Rare calcite veins are micrifaulted in an extensional sense, and larger extensional faults also occur. There are no clearly defined penetrative structural fabrics. The mudstones are dark and contain calcareous concretions, the latter brecciated and with calcareous veins. Bedding is locally visible in the mudstones, but is generally obscured by the uniformity of the lithology and by trace fossil homogenization. Macrofossils occur in a single bed, traceable laterally for about 20 m.

Size class: macrofossils

Collection methods: All specimens collected in this study are housed at the British Antarctic Survey palaeontological collections in Cambridge

Primary reference: S. R. A. Kelly, P. A. Doubleday, C. H. C. Brunton, J. M. Dickins, G. D. Sevastopulo and P. D. Taylor. 2001. First Carboniferous and ?Permian marine macrofaunas from Antarctica and their tectonic implications. Journal of the Geological Society of London 158(2):219-232 [J. Alroy/C. Simpson/C. Simpson]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 41799: authorized by John Alroy, entered by Carl Simpson on 20.07.2004

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

unclassified
  -
Cephalopoda
 Nautiloidea -
Nautiloidea indet. Agassiz 1847 nautiloid
Orthocone, smooth
Sueroceras sp. Riccardi and Sabattini 1975 nautiloid
Tergomya
 Archinacellida - Metoptomatidae
? Metoptoma sp. Phillips 1836
Gastropoda
 Murchisoniina - Gosseletinidae
"Ptychomphalina cf. kuttungensis" = Montospira kuttungensis, Mourlonia sp.
"Ptychomphalina cf. kuttungensis" = Montospira kuttungensis Campbell 1961 snail
Mourlonia sp. de Koninck 1883 snail
Bivalvia
 Modiomorphida - Cypricardiniidae
? Cypricardinia sp. Hall 1860 clam
 Cardiidia - Grammysiidae
cf. Cardiomorpha sp. de Koninck 1844 clam
Possibly Astartella or Astartila
 Nuculanida - Polidevciidae
? Phestia sp. Chernyshev 1951 clam
Possibly a parallelodontid
 Nuculanida - Malletiidae
Anthraconeilo sp. Girty 1912 clam
Strophomenata
 Orthotetida - Schuchertellidae
Rhynchonellata
 Spiriferida -
Spiriferida indet. Waagen 1883
 Spiriferida - Ambocoeliidae
cf. Crurithyris sp. George 1931
 Spiriferida -
Bryozoa
 Fenestellida -
Stenolaemata
 Cryptostomata - Acanthocladiidae
 Cryptostomata - Fenestellidae
 Cryptostomata -
Rhabdomesina indet. Astrova and Morozova 1956
 Trepostomata - Heterotrypidae
? Leioclema sp. Ulrich 1882
 Trepostomida - Stenoporidae
Stenoporidae indet. Waagen and Wentzel 1886
 Cystoporida - Hexagonellidae
unclassified
  -
Annelida indet. Lamarck 1809
Crinoidea
  -
Crinoidea indet. Miller 1821 Sea lily
cf. Cyclocaudex sp. Moore and Jeffords 1968 Sea lily
 Monobathrida - Platycrinitidae
Platycrinitidae indet. Bassler 1938 Sea lily
  -