Jump to content

New Early Jurassic (ca. 183 Ma) Fossil Lagerstätte from Ya Ha Tinda, Alberta, Canada


Oxytropidoceras

Recommended Posts

Exceptionally preserved Jurassic sea life found in new fossil site

https://news.utexas.edu/2017/01/25/exceptionally-preserved-jurassic-sea-life-found

https://phys.org/news/2017-01-exceptionally-jurassic-sea-life-fossil.html

http://www.heritagedaily.com/2017/01/exceptionally-preserved-jurassic-sea-life-found-in-new-fossil-site/113997

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-01/uota-epj012517.php

 

Martindale, R. C., T. R. Them, B. C. Gill, S. M. Marroquín, and

A. H. Knoll, 2017, A new Early Jurassic (ca. 183 Ma) fossil

Lagerstätte from Ya Ha Tinda, Alberta, Canada. Geology

(2017). DOI: 10.1130/G38808.1   (Open Access paper)

http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/early/2017/01/09/G38808.1.abstract

http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/early/2017/01/09/G38808.1.full.pdf+html

 

Yours,

 

Paul H.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very cool. 

Thanks for the links, Paul. 

Regards,

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That first photo could throw people  off of the locale if they read the caption and not read the article.

 

Ya Ha Tinda is on the eastern slopes of the the  Alberta Rockies. Jurassic outcrops here and there but mostly Carboniferous exposure.  It is a big area...almost unlimited exploring opportunity. I've only been in the region a couple of times as its a bit of a drive to get to.  Some other Alberta members might know the area better.

 

My issue with soft body preservation would be recognizing them in the first place!  Often they 'jump out' only after someone points the shape out on the matrix.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another Lagerstatte in a park? What else is new?

 

Another update for my timescale project.

So there are 3 Early Jur. lagerstatten in Europe: I've got Holzmaden Germany and Osteno Italy.. I wonder what the 3rd one is....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2017-01-28 at 9:30 PM, Wrangellian said:

Another Lagerstatte in a park? What else is new?

 

Another update for my timescale project.

So there are 3 Early Jur. lagerstatten in Europe: I've got Holzmaden Germany and Osteno Italy.. I wonder what the 3rd one is....

 

Ya Ha Tinda is not national park but an area east of Banff Park leased by Park services for horses, etc. Its a recreation area with fishing, hunting, etc.  There is a private ranch and public land is under Alberta public lands management. The article mentions early Jurassic.  I looked up my notes and we also collected Triassic ammonites around the Bighorn Falls area ( Alberta Paleo Society Field Trip).

Trip).  Most of the area is Carboniferous Banff Formation and dozens of Geological Survey of Canada sites. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, Wrangellian said:

Oh that's good. Sounds like an interesting area to collect if you can.

 

Yes, it is. I went back on to explore on  own and nabbed about 40 varieties of Triassic cephalopods.  Most locked in matrix but can be chipped out in the field.  He APS site was different preservation...oily black shales. 

 

As stated, a wild area and about the limits of going out and roaming around with any energy left to collect anything.

 

 

 

IMG_6331.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You are blessed with the variety/abundance of sites to collect in that part of the country, the energy is your only limitation (as it would be mine).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cool ammonoids.

May I ask you what time they are exactly? Norian, Carnian, Ladinian, Anisian?

Triassic ammonoids are my favorite stuff:)

You are blessed with a plenty of wonderfull collecting sites and landscapes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Heres a couple of APS photos of the area.  

 

The potential Mesozoic sites are almost unlimited. However very difficult scrambing around to explore fraction of it.  The ammonites in this area are in those precarious layers calling 'Come and get us, if you dare'.  The mountains in the distance are mostly Lower Carboniferous.

 

Good trout fishing is a bonus and excuse to stay off the cliffs.

 

 

IMG_6341.PNG

IMG_6343.PNG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

 

Gorgeous !

 

Coco

----------------------
OUTIL POUR MESURER VOS FOSSILES : ici

Ma bibliothèque PDF 1 (Poissons et sélaciens récents & fossiles) : ici
Ma bibliothèque PDF 2 (Animaux vivants - sans poissons ni sélaciens) : ici
Mâchoires sélaciennes récentes : ici
Hétérodontiques et sélaciens : ici
Oeufs sélaciens récents : ici
Otolithes de poissons récents ! ici

Un Greg...

Badges-IPFOTH.jpg.f4a8635cda47a3cc506743a8aabce700.jpg Badges-MOTM.jpg.461001e1a9db5dc29ca1c07a041a1a86.jpg

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 29/01/2017 at 4:30 AM, Wrangellian said:

Another Lagerstatte in a park? What else is new?

 

Another update for my timescale project.

So there are 3 Early Jur. lagerstatten in Europe: I've got Holzmaden Germany and Osteno Italy.. I wonder what the 3rd one is....

 

Hi

 

I'm not 100% sure what would classify as a European Lagerstatten but there's Lyme Regis in the UK.

 

Nick

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Welsh Wizard said:

 

Hi

 

I'm not 100% sure what would classify as a European Lagerstatten but there's Lyme Regis in the UK.

 

Nick

 

Lagerstatten is a subjective concept. As inclusive or exclusive as one wants to use it. In the last half century its a term more used generically in biostratigraphy. The term before that was useful when early paleontologists were trying to get a fundamental grasp on extinct ecosystems and time scales.  

 

Today we look more at microfossils, study the rocks, etc to determine a past ecosystem. The macro fossils are still important but scientifically a well preserved fish might provide less info than a distinct conodont or ostracod.

.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To me a Lagerstatte (Konservat-) should have exceptional preservation, with more things than the usual hard parts like shells (or bones for that matter). I don't know enough about Lyme Regis to say whether it should be included....

BTW Canadawest, Andreas asked what stage your Triassic ammos were from, do you know?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Wrangellian said:

BTW Canadawest, Andreas asked what stage your Triassic ammos were from, do you know?

 

Missed that request.

 

These ones are Ladinian and there is a Rhaetian locale.  There's Early Jurassic in the area. I'd guess there is a fairly complete stratigraphy waiting to be discovered  in the area. 

 

One of the odd features of the broader area is  the Latest Devonian shales and the much  younger Mesozoic rocks can be difficult as to distinguish.  There is a great Hike   east of Calgary called 'Jura Creek' that winds through a canyon of the Rockies. It was named after what were mistakenly thought to be Jurassic rocks...but later shown to be Devonian (Exshaw formation) in age.  Photo not mine) of the mistaken rocks.

 

googling 'Jura Creek' will give some images.

 

 

IMG_6361.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 08/02/2017 at 1:15 PM, Welsh Wizard said:

 

Hi

 

I'm not 100% sure what would classify as a European Lagerstatten but there's Lyme Regis in the UK.

 

Nick

The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage site.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2017-02-09 at 0:06 AM, Wrangellian said:

Interesting.. Are they fossiliferous? (other than micro)

 

Yes, lots. You can google various papers. Some enigmaic fauna.

 

 The Devonian formations run for a few hundred kms throughout the Eastern slopes. The Exshaw and Palliser Formations are well known in the petroleum industry so most of the focus is on microfossils. The macro fossils are more a dabbling.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Exshaw Formation is the surface equivalent of the lower and middle members of the Bakken Formation. The Bakken Formation is the most widespread siliciclastic unit in the subsurface of the Williston Basin in North Dakota, Montana, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. Currently, it is also one of the most active shale oil plays in North America. Go see;

 

Richards, B.C. 1989. Upper Kaskaskia sequence – uppermost Devonian and Lower Carboniferous.

In: Ricketts, B.D., (ed.), Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, a Case history, Canadian Society of

Petroleum Geologists, p. 165-201. 

 

Smith, M.G and Bustin, R.M. 2000. Late Devonian and early Mississippian Bakken and Exshaw

black shale source rocks, Western Canada Sedimentary Basin: a sequence stratigraphic

interpretation. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, vol. 84, p.940-960. 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277764368_Late_Devonian_and_Early_Mississippian_Bakken_and_Exshaw_Black_Shale_Source_Rocks_Western_Canada_Sedimentary_Basin_A_Sequence_Stratigraphic_Interpretation

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

We stopped along the Hwy in Exshaw one time years ago when I was a newbie (kid) to check out some outcrops. There were eroding horn corals and a colonial coral which I should have left alone but managed to chisel out a chunk of, and on top of the exposure a loose chunk of limestone falling apart, packed with brachiopods. I wonder if this was the Exshaw Fm or something else...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re Exshaw

 

It was likely Banff Formation (Tournasian). The colonial corals in the broad sense identified as Syringopora (small spaghetti corallites) and larger corallites being Lithostrotionella.  The solitary corals not having been studied. About 90 species of named brachiopods.

 

Right next to Exshaw is an abandoned town called 'Seebe'. There is a big exposure of the Upper Cretaceous  Cardium formation with great Scaphites ammonites...hockey puck size and the same colour. They are really well preserved and you could use them as a puck without them breaking.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...