Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-g4j75 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-13T11:33:31.331Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Paleoecological analysis of molluscan assemblages from the middle Eocene Cowlitz Formation, southwestern Washington

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Elizabeth A. Nesbitt
Elizabeth A. Nesbitt*
Affiliation:
Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum, University of Washington DB-10, Seattle 98195
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Molluscan assemblages from upper middle Eocene deposits of southwestern Washington represent a regional biotic system that provides independent evidence of a range of depositional environments in a delta. Four marine molluscan assemblages reflect a subtropical fauna that inhabited an inner neritic to upper bathyal gradient down the prodelta slope. Comparisons with Recent molluscan taxa indicate changing trophic structures from dominantly infaunal filter feeding in the shallow, coarser-grained substrate to dominantly infaunal deposit feeding in the fine-grained mud. A very high diversity of carnivorous gastropods indicates that the biocenosis included a wide array of predominantly errant, soft-bodied invertebrate prey. The most shallow marine assemblages show evidence of dense Turritella patches within infaunal bivalve-dominated associations, indicating mosaics of distribution across a soft-sediment substrate. Low diversity marginal-marine and freshwater assemblages show faunal links with each other. They indicate interdistributary bay and marsh environments that are commonly part of a river-dominated delta.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 69 , Issue 6 , November 1995 , pp. 1060 - 1073
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allmon, W. D. 1988. Ecology of Recent turritelline gastropods (Prosobranchia, Turritellidae): current knowledge and paleontological implications. Palaios, 3:259–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allmon, W. D., Jones, D. S., and Vaughan, N. 1992. Observations on the biology of Turritella gonostoma Valenciennes (Prosobranchia: Turritellidae) from the Gulf of California. The Veliger, 35:52–63.Google Scholar
Armentrout, J. M. 1981. Correlation and ages of Cenozoic chronostratigraphic units in Oregon and Washington, p. 137–148. In Armentrout, J. M. (ed.), Pacific Northwest Cenozoic Biostratigraphy. Geological Society of America Special Paper, 184.Google Scholar
Armentrout, J. M., McDougall, K., Jefferis, P. T., and Nesbitt, E. A. 1980. Geologic field trip guide for the Cenozoic stratigraphy and late Eocene paleoecology of southwestern Washington. Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries Bulletin, 101:79–119.Google Scholar
Babcock, R. S., Burmester, R. F., Engerbretson, D. C., Warnock, A., and Clark, K. P. 1992. Rifted margin origin for the Crescent Basalts and related rocks in the northern Coast Range Volcanic Province, Washington and British Columbia. Journal of Geophysical Research, 97:6799–6821.Google Scholar
Bandel, K. 1976. Observations on spawn, embryonic development and ecology of Caribbean Lower Mesogastropoda (Mollusca). The Veliger, 18:249–271.Google Scholar
Beck, M. E. Jr. 1943. Eocene foraminifera from the Cowlitz River, Lewis County, Washington. Journal of Paleontology, 17:584–614.Google Scholar
Berggren, W. A., Kent, D. V., Obradovich, J. D., and Swisher, C. C. III. 1992. Towards a revised Paleogene geochronology, p. 29–45. In Prothero, D. R. and Berggren, W. A. (eds.), Eocene–Oligocene Climatic and Biotic Evolution. Princeton University Press, Princeton.Google Scholar
Berggren, W. A., Kent, D. V., Obradovich, J. D., and Prothero, D. R. 1992. Eocene–Oligocene climatic and biotic evolution: an overview, p. 1–28. In Prothero, D. R. and Berggren, W. A. (eds.), Eocene–Oligocene Climatic and Biotic Evolution. Princeton University Press, Princeton.Google Scholar
Buchanan, J. B. 1957. The bottom fauna communities across the continental shelf off Accra, Ghana (Gold Coast). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 130:1–58.Google Scholar
Buckovic, W. A. 1979. The Eocene deltaic system of west-central Washington, p. 147–163. In Armentrout, J. M., Cole, M. R., and TerBest, H. Jr. (eds.), West Coast Cenozoic Paleogeography. Pacific Section, Society of economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists.Google Scholar
Clark, B. L. 1938. Fauna from the Markley Formation (upper Eocene) on Pleasant Creek, California. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 49:851–730.Google Scholar
Corliss, B. H. 1979. Response of deep sea benthonic Foraminifera to development of the psychrosphere near the Eocene/Oligocene boundary. Nature, 282:63–65.Google Scholar
Cotter, E. 1988. Hierarchy of sea-level cycles in the medial Silurian siliciclastic succession of Pennsylvania. Geology, 16:242–245.Google Scholar
Cox, L. R., al, et. 1969. Systematic descriptions, p. N225–N925. In Moore, R. C. (ed.), Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Pt. N, Mollusca. Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Press, Lawrence.Google Scholar
Cummings, H., Powell, E. N., Stanton, R. J. Jr., and Staff, G. 1986. The rate of taphonomic loss in modern benthic habitats: how much of the potentially preservable community is preserved? Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology, 52:291–320.Google Scholar
Dana, J. D. 1849. Notes on the geology of Washington Territory. United States Exploring Expedition during the years 1838, 1839, 1849, 1841, 1842, under the command of Charles Wilkes, USN, Philadelphia, 10:616–628.Google Scholar
Darragh, T. A. 1969. A revision of the family Columbariidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Proceedings of the Royal Society, Victoria, 27:265–271.Google Scholar
Debiche, M. G., Cox, A., and Engebretson, D. 1987. The motion of allochthonous terranes across the North Pacific Basin. Geological Society of America Special Paper 207, 49 p.Google Scholar
Dickerson, R. E. 1914. Notes on the faunal zones of the Tejon Group. University of California Publications in Geological Sciences, 8:17–25.Google Scholar
Dickerson, R. E. 1915. Faunal of the type Tejon. Its relations to the Cowlitz phase of the Tejon Group of Washington. California Academy of Sciences Proceedings, series 4, 4:33–98.Google Scholar
Durham, J. W. 1942. Eocene and Oligocene coral faunas of Washington. Journal of Paleontology, 16:84–104.Google Scholar
Givens, C. R., and Kennedy, M. P. 1979. Eocene molluscan stages and their correlation, San Diego area, California, p. 91–95. In Abbott, P. L. (ed.), Eocene Deposition Systems. Pacific Section, Society for Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Hanna, G. D., and Hanna, M. H. 1924. Foraminifera from the Eocene of the Cowlitz River, Lewis County, Washington. University of Washington Publication in Geology, 1:57–64.Google Scholar
Heller, P. L., and Ryberg, P. T. 1983. Sedimentary record of subduction to forearc transition in the rotated Eocene basin of western Oregon. Geology, 11:380–383.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heller, P. L., Tabor, R. W., and Suczek, C. A. 1987. Paleogeographic evolution of the United States Pacific Northwest during Paleogene time. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 24:1652–1667.Google Scholar
Henriksen, D. A. 1956. Eocene stratigraphy of the lower Cowlitz River–eastern Willapa Hills area, southwestern Washington. Washington Division of Mines and Geology Bulletin, 43:1–122.Google Scholar
Hickman, C. S. 1974. Characteristics of bathyal mollusk faunas in the Pacific Coast Tertiary. Western Society of Malacologists Annual Report, 7:41–50.Google Scholar
Hickman, C. S. 1984. Composition, structure, ecology, and evolution of six Cenozoic deep-water mollusk communities. Journal of Paleontology, 58:1215–1234.Google Scholar
Hickman, C. S., and Nesbitt, E. A. 1980. Holocene mollusk distribution patterns in the northern Gulf of Alaska, p. 305–312. In Field, M. E., Douglas, R. G., Bouma, A. H., Ingle, J. C., and Colburn, I. P. (eds.), Quaternary Depositional Environments of the Pacific Coast. Pacific Coast Paleogeography Symposium No. 4. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Pacific Section, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Keen, A. M. 1971. Sea shells of Tropical West America. Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1064 p.Google Scholar
Keller, G. 1986. Stepwise extinctions and impact events; late Eocene to early Oligocene. Marine Micropaleontology, 10:267–293.Google Scholar
Keogh, M. J., and Butler, A. J. 1983. Temporal fluctuations in species number in an assemblage of sessile marine invertebrates. Journal of Biogeography, 10:317–330.Google Scholar
Kidwell, S. M. 1986. Models for fossil concentrations: paleobiological implications. Paleobiology, 12:6–24.Google Scholar
Kidwell, S. M., and Jablonski, D. 1983. Taphonomic feedback: ecological consequences of shell accumulation, p. 195–248. In Tevesz, M. J. S. and McCall, P. L. (eds.), Biotic Interactions in Recent and Fossil Benthic Communities. Plenum, New York.Google Scholar
Kidwell, S. M., and Bosence, D. W. J. 1991. Taphonomy and time-averaging of marine and shelly fauna, p. 115–209. In Allison, P. A. and Briggs, D. E. G. (eds.), Taphonomy: Releasing the Data Locked in the Fossil Record. Plenum Press, New York.Google Scholar
Kohn, A. J. 1982. Gastropod paleobiology and the evolution of taxonomic diversity. Third North American Paleontological Convention Proceedings, 2:313–317.Google Scholar
Lawrence, D. R. 1968. Taphonomy and information losses in fossil communities. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 79:1315–1330.Google Scholar
Lopez, G. R., and Levinton, J. S. 1977. The availability of microorganisms attached to sediment particles as food for Hydroboa ventrosa Montagu (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia). Oecologia, 32:263–275.Google Scholar
Marincovich, L. Jr. 1988. Late middle Eocene mollusks of the Tolstoi Formation, Alaska Peninsula, Alaska, and correlations with faunas from California to the Far-eastern U.S.S.R., p. 265–281. In Filewicz, M. V. and Squires, R. L. (eds.), Paleogene Stratigraphy, West Coast of North America. Pacific Section, Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, West Coast Paleogene Symposium, 58:265-281.Google Scholar
Martini, E. 1971. Standard Tertiary and Quaternary calcareous nannoplankton zonation. Second Planktonic Conference Proceedings Rome, Italy, p. 739–785.Google Scholar
McDougall, K. 1980. Paleoecological evaluation of the late Eocene biostratigraphic zonations of the Pacific coast of North America. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Paleontological Monograph, no. 2, 75 p.Google Scholar
McRae, S. G. 1972. Glauconite. Earth Science Review, 8:379–440.Google Scholar
McLean, J. H. 1971. A revised classification of the family Turridae with the proposal of new subfamilies, genera and subgenera from the eastern Pacific. The Veliger, 14:114–130.Google Scholar
Merriam, C. W. 1941. Fossil turritellas from the Pacific coast region of North America. University of California Publications, Department of Geological Sciences, Bulletin, 26:1–214.Google Scholar
Miller, W. III. 1990. Hierarchy, individuality and paleoecosystems, p. 31–47. In Miller, W. III, (ed.), Paleocommunity Temporal Dynamics; the Long-term Development of Multispecies Assemblages. Paleontological Society Special Publication, 5.Google Scholar
Nesbitt, E. A. 1982. Paleoecology and biostratigraphy of Eocene marine assemblages from Western North America. Unpubl. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, 215 p.Google Scholar
Nesbitt, E. A., Campbell, K. A., and Goedert, J. L. 1994. Paleogene cold seeps and macroinvertebrate faunas in a forearc sequence of Oregon and Washington, p. 1D–1-11. In Swanson, D. A. and Haugerud, R. A. (eds.), Guides to Field Trips, 1994 Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Washington.Google Scholar
Norris, R. D. 1986. Taphonomic gradients in shelf fossil assemblages: Pliocene Purisima Formation, California. Palaios, 1:256–270.Google Scholar
Okada, H., and Bukry, D. 1980. Supplementary modification and introduction of Code numbered to the low-latitude coccolith biostratigraphic zonation (Bukry 1973; 1975). Marine Micropaleontology, 5:321–325.Google Scholar
Parker, R. H. 1956. Macro-invertebrate assemblages as indicators of sedimentary environments in East Mississippi Delta region. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 40:295–376.Google Scholar
Petuch, E. J. 1976. An unusual molluscan assemblage from Venezuela. The Veliger, 18:322–325.Google Scholar
Phillips, W. M. 1987a. Geological map of Mount St. Helens quadrangle, Washington. Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources, Open File Report 87-4.Google Scholar
Phillips, W. M. 1987b. Geochemistry and areal extent of the Grays River volcanic rocks, southwestern Washington and adjacent Oregon. EOS, 68:1815.Google Scholar
Phillips, W. M., Korosec, M. A., Schasse, H. W., Anderson, J. L., and Hagen, R. A. 1986. K–Ar ages of volcanic rocks in southwest Washington. Isochron/West, 47:18–24.Google Scholar
Poore, R. Z. 1976. Microfossil correlation of California lower Tertiary section: a comparison. United States Geological Survey Professional Paper, 753-F:1–8.Google Scholar
Prothero, D. R., and Armentrout, J. M. 1985. Magnetostratigraphic correlation of the Lincoln Creek Formation, Washington: implications for the age of the Eocene/Oligocene boundary. Geology, 13:208–211.Google Scholar
Puffer, E. L., and Emerson, W. K. 1953. The molluscan community of the oyster reef biotope on the central Texas coast. Journal of Paleontology, 27:536–544.Google Scholar
Rau, W. W. 1958. Stratigraphy and foraminiferal zonation in some of the Tertiary rocks of southwestern Washington. United States Geological Survey Oil and Gas Investigation Chart OC-57.Google Scholar
Rau, W. W. 1981. Pacific Northwest benthic foraminiferal biostratigraphic framework—an overview, p. 67–84. In Armentrout, J. M. (ed.), Pacific Northwest Cenozoic Biostratigraphy. Geological Society of America Special Paper 184.Google Scholar
Rhoads, D. C., and Young, D. K. 1970. The influence of deposit feeding organisms on sediment stability and community trophic structure. Journal of Marine Research, 28:150–178.Google Scholar
Richardson, J. R. 1981. Brachiopods in mud: resolution of a dilemma. Science, 211:1161–1163.Google Scholar
Rollins, H. B., West, R. R., and Busch, R. M. 1990. Hierarchical genetic stratigraphy and marine paleoecology, p. 273–308. In Miller, W. III (ed.), Paleocommunity Temporal Dynamics; the Long-term Development of Multispecies Assemblages. Paleontological Society Special Publication, 5.Google Scholar
Saul, L. R. 1983. Turritella zonation across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, California. University of California Publication in Geological Sciences, 125, 164 p.Google Scholar
Snavely, P. D. Jr., and Wells, R. E. 1991. Cenozoic evolution of the continental margin of Oregon and Washington. United States Geologic Survey Open File Report 91-411-B, 34 p.Google Scholar
Squires, R. L. 1984. Megapaleontology of the Eocene Llajas Formation, Simi Valley, California. Los Angeles County Natural History Museum, Contributions in Science No. 350, 76 p.Google Scholar
Squires, R. L. 1987. Eocene molluscan paleontology of the Whitaker Peak area, Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. Los Angeles County Natural History Museum, Contributions in Science No. 388, 93 p.Google Scholar
Squires, R. L. 1989. A new pseudolivine gastropod genus from the lower Tertiary of North America. Journal of Paleontology, 63:38–47.Google Scholar
Squires, R. L. 1991. A new middle Eocene potamidid gastropod from brackish-marine deposits, southern California. The Veliger, 34:354–359.Google Scholar
Staff, G., Powell, E. N., Stanton, R. J., and Cummins, H. 1985. Biomass: is it a useful tool in paleocommunity reconstruction? Lethaia, 18:209–232.Google Scholar
Stanley, S. M. 1970. Relation of shell form to life habit of the Bivalvia (Mollusca). Geological Society of America Memoir 125, 296 p.Google Scholar
Stanley, S. M. 1972. Functional morphology and evolution of byssally attached bivalve mollusks. Journal of Paleontology, 46:165–212.Google Scholar
Taylor, J. D., Norris, N. J., and Taylor, C. N. 1980. Food specialization and the evolution of predatory gastropods. Paleontology, 23:375–409.Google Scholar
Thayer, C. W. 1983. Sediment-mediated biological disturbance and the evolution of benthos, p. 479–625. In Tevesz, M. J. S. and McCall, P. L. (eds.), Biotic Interactions in Recent and Fossil Benthic Communities. Plenum Press, New York.Google Scholar
Thorson, G. 1957. Bottom communities. Geological Society of America Memoir, 76:461–534.Google Scholar
Turner, F. E. 1938. Stratigraphy and Mollusca of the Eocene of western Oregon. Geological Society of America Special Paper 10, 130 p.Google Scholar
Valentine, J. W. 1973. Evolutionary Paleoecology of the Marine Biosphere. Prentice-Hall, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Walker, S. E. 1992. Criteria for recognizing marine hermit crabs in the fossil record using gastropod shells. Journal of Paleontology, 66:535–558.Google Scholar
Walsh, T. J., Korosec, M. A., Phillips, W. M., Logan, R. L., and Schasse, H. W. 1987. Geological map of Washington southwest quadrangle. Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources Geological Map GM-34.Google Scholar
Warren, W. C., Norbisrath, H., and Grivetti, R. M. 1945. Geology of northwestern Oregon west of the Willamette River and north of latitude 45°15'N. United States Geological Survey Oil and Gas Investigations Preliminary Map 42, 6 sheets.Google Scholar
Weaver, C. E. 1937. Tertiary Stratigraphy of Western Washington and Northwestern Oregon. University of Washington Publications in Geology 4, 266 p.Google Scholar
Weaver, C. E. 1943. Paleontology of the marine Tertiary formations of Oregon and Washington. University of Washington Publications in Geology 5, 789 p.Google Scholar
Weaver, C. E. 1944. Cowlitz River Basin, p. 593–594. In Weaver, C. E. et al., Correlation of the Cenozoic formations of western North America. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, 55:569–598.Google Scholar
Wells, R. E. 1981. Geological map of eastern Willapa Hills, Cowlitz, Lewis and Wahkiakum Counties, Washington. United States Geological Survey Open-File Report, 81-674, 1 sheet.Google Scholar
Wells, R. E., and Coe, R. S. 1985. Paleomagnetism and geology of Eocene volcanic rocks of southwest Washington, implications for mechanism of tectonic rotation. Journal of Geophysical Research, 90:1925–1947.Google Scholar
Whittaker, R. H., and Levin, S. A. 1977. The role of mosaic phenomena in natural communities. Theoretical Population Biology, 12:117–140.Google Scholar