Archer City Formation

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Archer City Formation
Early Permian,
Asselian–early Sakmarian
Type
Formation
Unit ofBowie Group
UnderliesNocona Formation
OverliesMarkley Formation
Lithology
Primarymudstone
Othersandstone, siltstone
Location
Region Texas
Country United States
Type section
Named forArcher City, Texas
Named byHentz & Brown, 1987

The Archer City Formation is a

period. It is the earliest component of the Texas red beds, introducing an tropical ecosystem which will persist in the area through the rest of the Early Permian. The Archer City Formation is preceded by the cool Carboniferous swamp sediments of the Markley Formation, and succeeded by the equally fossiliferous red beds of the Nocona Formation. The Archer City Formation was not named as a unique geological unit until the late 1980s. Older studies generally labelled its outcrops as the Moran or Putnam
formations, which are age-equivalent marine units to the southwest.

The sediments of the Archer City Formation reconstruct a coastal

marattialean ferns (Pecopteris, Asterotheca, etc.) and horsetails (Sphenophyllum, Annularia, Calamites
, etc.) were prominent in more humid areas.

The Archer City Formation preserves a diverse fauna of fossil

synapsids include Apsisaurus witteri, Edaphosaurus boanerges, Ophiacodon uniformis, and Dimetrodon milleri. Early reptiles such as Protorothyris archeri and Romeria spp. make up a small component of the terrestrial fauna. Amphibians are common in every niche, with examples such as Phonerpeton pricei, Neldasaurus wrightei, Edops craigi, Eryops megacephalus, and Pantylus cordatus, just to name a few. The rivers were roamed by Orthacanthus texensis (a xenacanth "shark") and Ectosteorhachis nitidus (a megalichthyid
fish).

History and stratigraphy

Fossil bonebeds in the vicinity of Archer City were first investigated in detail by Alfred Romer and Llewellyn Price, starting in the late 1920s.[3][4][5][6] At the time, these bonebeds were assigned to the Pueblo, Moran, or Putnam formations of the Cisco Group. The Archer City Formation was first named in a 1987 geologic map seeking to update the stratigraphy of North Texas.[7] The formation and its stratigraphic placement were formalized in text a year later.[8]

The formation outcrops in an arc from Montague County in the east, through Clay, Archer, and Young counties, as far as Throckmorton County in the west. It is most broadly exposed in Clay and Archer counties, including under its namesake of Archer City.[7][8][9]

The Archer City Formation is a unit of the Bowie Group, lying above the Markley Formation and below the Nocona Formation of the Wichita Group.[7][8][1] Some publications have labelled the Nocona Formation as the "Upper Archer City Formation", thus considering the Archer City Formation to be a unit of the Wichita Group.[10] This proposal is not widely agreed upon.[11][9] The Cisco Group and its constituent formations have been restricted to marine strata further south and west. Of these strata, the Archer City Formation is roughly equivalent in time to the uppermost Pueblo Formation, the Moran Formation, the Sedwick Formation, and the Santa Anna Branch shale (= Putnam Formation), from oldest to youngest.[7][8][2]

Age

Based on correlations with coastal strata further west, the Carboniferous-Permian boundary is positioned near the top of the Markley Formation. This suggests that the Archer City Formation occupies most of the Asselian (299–293 Ma), the first global stage of the Permian Period.

Wolfcampian regional stage.[13]

Paleoenvironment

As with the rest of the Texas red beds, the Archer City Formation was deposited on a coastal plain between an inland marine basin in the west and patches of steadily eroding mountains in the north and east. Some of the mountains are still standing in the present day, such as the Wichita Mountains and Arbuckle Mountains, while others have been fully eroded or buried, such as the Texan portion of the Ouachita Mountains. The marine basin is formally known as the Midland Basin, a major component of the Permian Basin oil field.[8][2] Rising sea levels through the Early Permian allowed the coastline to gradually transgress northward and eastward. The major bonebed sites of the Archer City Formation were probably 40–60 km (25–37 miles) away from the coast.[2]

During the Permian, the area was near the

phyllosilicate minerals in paleosols. These data points suggest soil temperatures of 31–35 °C (88–95 °F), significantly warmer than the cool and wet conditions of the Markley Formation.[11] This fits with climate evidence from rapid sedimentary changes between the formations, as well as an increasingly patchy distribution of high-humidity flora.[2][13][11] The Archer City Formation would have had a hot monsoonal[2] climate, with moist or swampy areas shrinking to the vicinity of riverbanks and ponds during the dry season.[13]

Geology

In terms of their

claystone bonebeds, which correspond to perennial ponds. Most of the pond bonebeds are too small to continuously support an ecosystem of large aquatic vertebrates, suggesting that the carcasses may have been washed in from larger bodies of water.[1]

Sandstone beds

By volume, the most prevalent sandstone beds are

scroll-bar, and coarser channel fill deposits. These are all hallmarks of small meandering rivers, with channels only a few meters wide.[1] Other common sandstone features include subdued, fine-grained crevasse splay deposits. The crevasse splays are often associated with plant fossils which have been remineralized by copper minerals.[1]

Some sandstone beds are isolated straight channel fills, without corresponding riverbank deposits.

megaripples while finer channels develop small climbing ripples towards the top. Straight channels would have formed during high-energy erosion events, but the climate was probably too moist for frequent flash floods.[1]

Paleosols

Four different types of paleosol (labelled types E through H) have been identified in the Archer City Formation.[2][13] Three (F, G, and H) first appear in this formation, while type E paleosols are retained from the underlying Markley Formation. All four continue to persist through the Texas Lower Permian up until an aridification event in the mid-Clear Fork Group. The paleosols are generally dark red or brown, with only intermittent gleying in the type E variety. The Archer City Formation mostly lacks the high-humidity paleosol varieties of the Markley Formation (types A through D).[2][13]

Type E paleosols are silty or fine sandy soils with persistent mottling, hematite nodules, and few distinct horizons. They are a type of entisol, young soils corresponding to isolated, frequently disturbed areas with a high water table, such as riverbanks.[2][13] Type F paleosols are alfisols, patterned with deep root casts and numerous horizons, including intermediate layers with calcareous nodules and smectite clay. They develop in stable forested uplands with a low water table and a semi-arid to subhumid climate (~70 cm of annual precipitation).[2][13] Type G paleosols are similar, with sandy vertical cracks and abundant calcareous nodules. They qualify as vertisols, inundated and dried at a seasonal frequency along the margins of a floodplain.[2][13] Type H paleosols have an even greater proportion of calcareous minerals, forming blocky crusts interspersed among chlorite- and mica-rich clay. They could be termed aridisols or (more broadly) inceptisols, deposited in dry upland areas free from the influence of groundwater.[2][13]

Paleobiota

Color key
Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon
Ootaxon
Morphotaxon
Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.

Synapsids

Synapsids
of the Archer City Formation
Species Material Notes Images
Apsisaurus witteri[14] A partial skeleton A varanopid,[15] originally identified as a diapsid reptile.[14]
Dimetrodon milleri[16] Nearly complete skeleton[16][5][1][17] A small sail-backed sphenacodontid
Edaphosaurus boanerges[5] Isolated neural spines and at least one partial skeleton[1][17] A common medium-sized edaphosaurid, often confused with Edaphosaurus cruciger.[5]
Lupeosaurus kayi[16] Limb and hip bones and vertebrae[16][5][17] A small basal edaphosaurid[18]
Ophiacodon retroversus Rare fragments[5] A large ophiacodontid, also described under the names Theropleura and Diopeus.
Ophiacodon uniformis A partial skeleton with a well-preserved skull[1][5] A medium-sized ophiacodontid, also described under the name Poliosaurus.[5]
Stereophallodon ciscoensis[16] Skull fragments and vertebrae[5][17][10] A large ophiacodontid

Reptiles

Reptiles of the Archer City Formation
Species Material Notes Images
Bolosaurus striatus A jaw[1][17] A bolosaurid parareptile
Protorothyris archeri[19] Five skulls with associated postcranial material[20][17] A protorothyridid eureptile
Romeria prima[20] A skull[20] A captorhinid eureptile
Romeria texana[19] A partial skull and partial skeleton[1][20] A captorhinid eureptile

Temnospondyls

Temnospondyls of the Archer City Formation
Species Material Notes Images
Acheloma cumminsi Partial skull and postcrania[21][1] A trematopid
Aspidosaurus sp. Neural spine armor fragments[22][23] A dissorophid
Broiliellus brevis[22] Two skulls, one with a partial skeleton[22] A dissorophid
Brevidorsum profundum[22] Partial skull and postcrania[22][17][23] A dissorophid
Diploseira angusta[24] A partial skeleton[22] A dissorophid, formerly considered a species of Dissorophus.[22]
Edops craigi Several skulls and postcrania[25][17][10] An edopoid
Eryops megacephalus Jaws and other fragments[1][17][10][26] A common eryopid
Neldasaurus wrightae[27] Four partial skulls and postcania[27][17][10][28] A trimerorhachid dvinosaur
"Parioxys" bolli[29] A partial skeleton[29][17] A temnospondyl of uncertain affinities. Parioxys ferricolus, the more complete type species of Parioxys, has variably been interpreted as an eryopoid or a dissorophid."Parioxys" bolli is based on more fragmentary fossils and may belong to an unrelated genus, perhaps a trematopid related to Ecolsonia cutlerensis.[30]
Pasawioops cf. mayi A skull[31] A micropholid amphibamiform
Phonerpeton pricei[32] At least seven skulls with associated postcranial fragments[32] A trematopid, formerly considered a species of Acheloma.[21]
Reiszerpeton renascentis A skull[31] A dissorophid
Tersomius texensis A skull[17][31] A micropholid amphibamiform
Trimerorhachis sp. A trimerorhachid dvinosaur. Reports from the Archer City Formation[17][10] are unsubstantiated, though it is known from time-equivalent strata in New Mexico.[33]
Zatrachys serratus Skull fragments[1][17][10] A zatracheid

Other amphibians

Non-temnospondyl amphibians of the Archer City Formation
Species Material Notes Images
Archeria crassidisca Jaws and vertebrae[34][17][1] An
archeriid embolomere, often conflated with the more fragmentary genus Cricotus.[34]
Diadectes sideropelicus Jaws and vertebrae[3][4][17][1] A diadectomorph
Diplocaulus sp. Vertebrae[4][17] A diplocaulid nectridean
Pantylus cordatus Multiple skeletons in varying states of completeness[35][17][1] A pantylid microsaur
Sauropleura bairdi Partial skeleton[36] A urocordylid nectridean
Seymouria baylorensis Vertebrae[1] A seymouriamorph

Fish

Scales of indeterminate

palaeoniscoids, spines of Xenacanthus, Hybodus, Ctenacanthus, and "Anodontacanthus americanus" (= Platyacanthus),[37] and teeth of Barbclabornia luederensis, Helodus, Gnathorhiza, petalodonts, and cladodonts have also been reported from bonebeds of the Archer City Formation.[38][1][39]

Fish of the Archer City Formation
Species Material Notes Images
Ectosteorhachis nitidus Scales, jaws, and a skull[40][1][39] A megalichthyid tetrapodomorph
Orthacanthus compressus Teeth[39] A xenacanth "shark"
Orthacanthus texensis Teeth, fin spines, cartilage fragments, and a skull[1][39] A xenacanth "shark"
Sagenodus sp. Tooth plates[1] A lungfish

Plants

Plant fossils in the Archer City Formation are concentrated at two sites in Clay County: Kola Switch and Sanzenbacher Ranch.[9][41] Both sites were discovered in 1940–1941 by Adolph H. Witte, a local geologist working for the WPA. Though Witte's original collections have been lost, he sampled the sites further in 1961, along with USGS geologists Sergius H. Mamay and Arthur D. Watt. On behalf of the USNM, Mamay led another expedition in 1990–1991.[9][41]

The floral diversity of the Archer City Formation strongly overlaps with other Asselian-Sakmarian formations in the southwestern United States. These include the

Appalachian Basin. This is most likely a consequence of local environmental factors rather than a turnover of plant diversity at the Permo-Carboniferous boundary.[41][9]

Kola Switch

The Kola Switch site is divided into three different layers in a 1.4 meter (4.6 feet) thick interval, each with a different set of fossils. The lower bed is pale upwards-fining siltstone, the middle bed is dark shale with carbonaceous impressions, and the upper bed is greenish claystone.[9]

The

sphenophytes (horsetails) are very rare, despite the evidence for deposition in a slow stream channel. The most common palynomorphs are Columinisporites ovalis (sphenophyll spores), Potonieisporites spp. (conifer pollen), Colatisporites decorus (indeterminate pollen), and Vesicaspora (seed fern pollen).[9]

Conversely, the middle bed is almost entirely marattialean ferns. These include Pecopteris cf. jongmansii, Aphlebia erdmannii, Asterotheca sp, and several more unnamed species. Sphenophytes such as Sphenophyllum are also present.[9] Vesicaspora and Potonieisporites continue to make up a significant portion of the palynomorphs, though Knoxisporites cf. ruhlandii (indeterminate spores), Cyclogranisporites spp. (marattialean spores), and Punctatisporites spp. (marattialean spores) are even more dominant. The middle bed represents foliage washed into a nearby stagnant pond.[9]

The upper bed has the greatest portion of sphenophytes, not just sphenophylls (Sphenophyllum cf. thonii) but also

calamitaleans (Annularia carinata, Calamites). Otherwise, the floral diversity of the upper bed encompasses the same species as the other Kola Switch beds.[9] The upper bed palynoflora is mostly Columinisporites ovalis, Colatisporites decorus, Vesicaspora, Potonieisporites, and the bisaccate pollen Platysaccus cf. saarensis. The combination of fossils from the lower and middle bed is peculiar considering their strongly different depositional environments.[9]

Sanzenbacher Ranch

The Sanzenbacher flora occupies a narrow layer of greyish claystone coarsening upwards to buff-colored siltstone.[41] The most abundant plants are dry-soil species of seed ferns and conifers. Seed fern species include Autunia conferta, Sphenopteris germanica, Neurodontopteris auriculata, Odontopteris subcrenulata, and Rhachiphyllum schenkii, among others. Walchia is the most common conifer, followed by Cordaites.[41] Riparian plants are less common but far from rare, giving Sanzenbacher a 'mixed' ecosystem character similar to, but drier than, the upper bed of Kola Switch.[9] Marattialean ferns such as Pecopteris and Asterotheca are occasionally prevalent. Sphenophytes include Calamites, Annularia spicata, and to a lesser extent species of Sphenophyllum. The most common palynomorphs are seed fern pollen (Vesicaspora, Wilsonites, Anguisporites), while conifer pollen (Potonieisporites) and spores are rarer.[41] Still, the palynomorph diversity of Sanzenbacher is much greater than at Kola Switch.[9]

See also

References

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  7. ^ a b c d Hentz, Tucker F.; Brown, L.F. Jr (1987), "Wichita Falls-Lawton sheet", Geologic atlas of Texas, Austin: The University of Texas and Bureau of Economic Geology
  8. ^ a b c d e Hentz, Tucker F. (1988). "Lithostratigraphy and Paleoenvironments of Upper Paleozoic Continental Red Beds, North-central Texas: Bowie (new) and Wichita (revised) Groups". The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, Report of Investigations. 170.
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  12. ^ Wardlaw, Bruce R. (2005). "Age assignment of the Pennsylvanian-Early Permian succession of North Central Texas" (PDF). Permophiles. 46: 21–22.
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  16. ^ a b c d e Romer, A.S. (1937). "New genera and species of pelycosaurian reptiles" (PDF). Proceedings of the New England Zoological Club. 16: 89–97.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Hook, Robert W. (1989). "Stratigraphic distribution of tetrapods in the Bowie and Wichita Groups, Permo-Carboniferous of north-central Texas". Permo-Carboniferous Vertebrate Paleontology, Lithostratigraphy, and Depositional Environments of North-Central Texas. Field Trip Guidebook No. 2, 49th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. Austin. pp. 47–53.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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  19. ^ a b Llewellyn Ivor Price (1937). "Two new cotylosaurs from the Permian of Texas". Proceedings of the New England Zoölogical Club. 11: 97–102.
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