Distinguishing Autochthony, Parautochthony and Allochthony Using Taphofacies Analysis: Can Cold Seep Assemblages Be Discriminated from Assemblages of the Nearshore and Continental Shelf?

Identifying ancient cold seep faunas is intertwined with the problem of distinguishing autochthony from parautochthony. Cold seep faunas are autochthonous assemblages. Taphofacies from an allochthonous microtidal inlet, a parautochthonous inner shelf and an autochthonous upper slope (representing cold seep faunas) were compared to identify their distinguishing characteristics and to facilitate cold seep recognition. The taphonomic signature of the allochthonous inlet assemblage is dominated by abrasion and edge alteration. Bivalves are completely disarticulated

[1]  E. Powell,et al.  Preservation of Mollusca in Copano Bay, Texas. The long-term record , 1992 .

[2]  E. Powell,et al.  Taphonomic Signature of Petroleum Seep Assemblages on the Louisiana Upper Continental Slope: Recognition of Autochthonous Shell Beds in the Fossil Record , 1992 .

[3]  E. Powell.  A model for death assemblage formation: Can sediment shelliness be explained? , 1992 .

[4]  E. Powell,et al.  When Is an "Old" Shell Really Old? , 1990, The Journal of Geology.

[5]  E. Powell,et al.  Local variability of taphonomic attributes in a parautochthonous assemblage: can taphonomic signature distinguish a heterogeneous environment? , 1990, Journal of Paleontology.

[6]  J. F. Reilly,et al.  Chemosynthetic Mussels at a Brine-Filled Pockmark in the Northern Gulf of Mexico , 1990, Science.

[7]  D. Nummedal,et al.  Coherence of surf zone and shelf current flow on the Texas (U.S.A.) coastal margin : implications for interpretation of paleo-current measurements in ancient coastal sequences , 1990 .

[8]  M. Aberhan,et al.  Significance of time‐averaging for palaeocommunity analysis , 1990 .

[9]  W. Callender,et al.  Description of a quantitative approach to taphonomy and taphofacies analysis; all dead things are not created equal , 1990 .

[10]  R. Aronson.  Onshore-offshore patterns of human fishing activity , 1990 .

[11]  I. MacDonald,et al.  Gulf of Mexico hydrocarbon seep communities. V. Biofacies and shell orientation of autochthonous shell beds below storm wave base , 1990 .

[12]  K. Flessa,et al.  Taphonomic pathways and comparative biofacies and taphofacies in a Recent intertidal/shallow shelf environment , 1990 .

[13]  Y. Matsushima,et al.  Abyssal molluscan colony of Calyptogena in the Pliocene strata of the Miura Peninsula, Central Japan , 1989 .

[14]  R. Bidigare,et al.  An upper slope “cold” seep community: Northern California. , 1989 .

[15]  B. Beauchamp,et al.  Cretaceous Cold-Seep Communities and Methane-Derived Carbonates in the Canadian Arctic , 1989, Science.

[16]  E. Powell,et al.  Taphonomic signature as a function of environmental process: Shells and shell beds in a hurricane-influenced inlet on the Texas coast , 1989 .

[17]  L. Mayer,et al.  Dense biological communities at 3850 m on the Laurentian Fan and their relationship to the deposits of the 1929 Grand Banks earthquake , 1988 .

[18]  C. Brett,et al.  Taphofacies models for epeiric sea environments: Middle Paleozoic examples , 1988 .

[19]  E. W. Behrens.  Geology of a Continental Slope Oil Seep, Northern Gulf of Mexico , 1988 .

[20]  C. Paull,et al.  Continental margin brine seeps: Their geological consequences , 1987 .

[21]  Alan M. Israel,et al.  A Sedimentologic Description of a Microtidal, Flood-Tidal Delta, San Luis Pass, Texas , 1987 .

[22]  S. Juniper,et al.  Cold seep benthic communities in the Japan subduction zones: spatial organization, trophic strategies and evidence for temporal evolution , 1987 .

[23]  T. Aigner,et al.  Conceptual framework for the analysis and classification of fossil concentrations , 1986 .

[24]  C. Brett,et al.  Comparative taphonomy; a key to paleoenvironmental interpretation based on fossil preservation , 1986 .

[25]  C. Brett,et al.  Trilobite taphonomy and middle Devonian taphofacies , 1986 .

[26]  E. Powell,et al.  Time-averaging, taphonomy, and their impact on paleocommunity reconstruction: Death assemblages in Texas bays , 1986 .

[27]  G. Massoth,et al.  Oregon Subduction Zone: Venting, Fauna, and Carbonates , 1986, Science.

[28]  R. Bidigare,et al.  Vent-type taxa in a hydrocarbon seep region on the Louisiana slope , 1985, Nature.

[29]  C. Paull,et al.  Biological Communities at the Florida Escarpment Resemble Hydrothermal Vent Taxa , 1984, Science.

[30]  J. A. Fagerstrom.  Fossil Communities in Paleoecology: Their Recognition and Significance , 1964 .

[31]  Ralph G. Johnson.  MODELS AND METHODS FOR ANALYSIS OF THE MODE OF FORMATION OF FOSSIL ASSEMBLAGES , 1960 .

[32]  T. H. Andel,et al.  Recent Sediments, Northwest Gulf of Mexico , 1960 .

[33]  J. Curray.  Sediments and History of Holocene Transgression, Continental Shelf, Northwest Gulf of Mexico , 1960 .

[34]  R. H. Parker.  Ecology and Distributional Patterns of Marine Macro-Invertebrates, Northern Gulf of Mexico , 1960 .