Cambrian oncolites from San José de Gracia, Sonora, Mexico

Hugo Bruno Beraldi-Campesi, Francisco Javier Cuen-Romero, Blanca Estela Buitrón-Sánchez

Resumen


Recently discovered oncolites from a Lower Cambrian locality in San José de Gracia (SJG), Sonora (Mexico), illustrate the wide geographic distribution that they had in this part of Laurentia some 515–510 Ma ago. They are exceptionally large (~44 mm) in comparison to other marine forms of the North American Cambrian Carbonate Bank, but similar in their overall morphology and depositional environment. Their association with abundant biomorphs, especially indigenous filamentous structures with the curvature and spatial arrangement that fit the minimum criteria for biogenicity, supports their biological origin. Key morphological features include laminated growth in at least a portion of the oncolite, subspherical shape with internal porosity, and a nucleated habit on skeletal debris (mollusk shells) and mud concretions. The similarity of SJG oncolites with others from Cambrian outcrops separated today by hundreds of kilometers, suggests that massive microbially-driven, shallow marine ecosystems existed in western Laurentia during this time. This speaks of the impact that microbes had in shaping marine sediments, and the global primary productivity and carbon cycle during early stages of the Phanerozoic.

Palabras clave


oncolites; Paleoecology; Geobiology; microbialites; sedimentary biostructures

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Referencias


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Paleontología Mexicana, Vol. 13, núm. 1, 15 de enero de 2024, es una publicación semestral  (enero y julio) editada por la Unidad Editorial del Instituto de Geología de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Delegación Coyoacán, C.P. 04510, México, CDMX. El editor en jefe es el Dr. Josep Anton Moreno Bedmar, CE josepamb@geologia.unam.mx y la editora técnica es la Mtra. Sandra Ramos, sandraram@geologia.unam.mx. Reserva de derechos al uso exclusivo No. 04-2022-072810185500-102, ISSN (revista impresa): 0185-478X, e-ISSN (versión electrónica): 2007-5189, ISSN-L: 0543-7652. http://www.ojs-igl.unam.mx/index.php/Paleontologia/index. https://twitter.com/paleontologiam Fecha de la última modificación, 15 de junio de 2023.

 

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