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Use of fine-scale stratigraphy and chemostratigraphy to evaluate conditions of deposition and preservation of a Triassic Lagerstätte, south-central Virginia

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Abstract

The rich, fossiliferous Triassic sediments exposed in the Virginia Solite Quarry include a 34-mm-thick “insect layer” that is notable for detailed preservation of soft-bodied invertebrate and vertebrate remains. We describe this unique Konservat-Lagerstätte and use sedimentologic and geochemical analyses to interpret the environmental conditions necessary to preserve such delicate fossils. This work is among the first attempts to apply detailed geochemical/stratigraphic analysis to the study of Lagerstätten and we report on a 332-mm-thick section that includes the insect layer and the rocks immediately below and above it. Our analysis successfully constrains various aspects of the depositional and diagenetic history of the Lagerstätte and permits a detailed analysis of changing conditions prior to, during, and after deposition. Geochemical and sedimentologic analyses of the insect layer and surrounding lithologies reveal a change from siliciclastic-dominated layers (Unit 1) to dolomite-siliciclastic laminites above (Unit 2 and the insect layer), separated by a boundary dolostone layer that is traceable for over 200 m. We interpret this sedimentary shift as the initial stages in the transgression of a shallow, saline, alkaline rift-basin lake over lake margin deposits. The absence of bioturbation by plants and benthic organisms, as well as a lack of predation on the insects, is not explained by significant water depth, but is instead more reasonably considered a result of the chemistry of the water at the lake margin, affected by groundwater seeps, which provided F-, Mg-, and Ca-rich fluids. Although the initial conditions of preservation are remarkable, it is equally impressive that the fossils survived extensive diagenesis, e.g. dissolution of quartz and coarsening of dolomite.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to Paul Olsen, Hans Sues, Dave Grimaldi, Brian Axsmith, and Dennis Kent for many fruitful discussions on Newark Supergroup paleontology and stratigraphy. We thank Paul Olsen, Dennis Kent, Brian Axsmith, Dave Grimaldi, Vladimir Blagoderov, Bruce Cornet, Michael Engels, Tam Nguyen, Christa Hampton and Julian McCarthy for their assistance in the field. Additional thanks go to Elizabeth Gierlowski-Kordesch, Bob Demicco, Richard Abbott, Sarah Carmichael, Carol de Wet, Dan Deocampo, Fred Webb, Jr., Katelyn McGinnis, and the group from PaleoLunch for their insight into the carbonate geochemistry and thin-section analysis. Special thanks to the editorial staff of the Journal of Paleolimnology and several anonymous reviewers for helpful reviews of an earlier version of this manuscript. Research into the paleontology and sedimentology of the Solite Quarry has been supported by National Science Foundation grant EAR 0106309 to Nicholas Fraser and David Grimaldi. The fieldwork was supported by a National Geographic Society grant to NCF and by the Virginia Museum of Natural History.

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  1. Department of Geology, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, 28607, USA

    C. M. Liutkus

  2. Virginia Museum of Natural History, Martinsville, VA, 24112, USA

    J. S. Beard, N. C. Fraser & P. C. Ragland

  3. National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF, UK

    N. C. Fraser

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  1. C. M. Liutkus
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  2. J. S. Beard
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  3. N. C. Fraser
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Correspondence to C. M. Liutkus.

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P. C. Ragland—deceased.

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Liutkus, C.M., Beard, J.S., Fraser, N.C. et al. Use of fine-scale stratigraphy and chemostratigraphy to evaluate conditions of deposition and preservation of a Triassic Lagerstätte, south-central Virginia. J Paleolimnol 44, 645–666 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-010-9445-1

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