Renews Head Formation

Renews Head Formation
Stratigraphic range:
TypeFormation
Unit ofSt John's Group[1]
Underlies
OverliesFermeuse Formation
Lithology
PrimaryDark-gray Sandstone[3]
OtherMinor Shale[3]
Location
RegionNewfoundland
CountryCanada

Outcrop occurrence

The Renews Head Formation is a geologic formation in Newfoundland and Labrador. It preserves fossils dating back to the Ediacaran period.

Geology

The Renews Head Formation is primarily composed of laminated dark-gray silty sandstones which weathers to a rusty-brown, alongside thin to medium-bedded sandstones containing minor black shales throughout.[3][4] There are also thick, cross-bedded laminated gray sandstones, which are structureless in nature, and are inter-bedded with more black shales and thin sandstones.[4] With this, it has been suggested that these layers were deposited in a delta-front environment.[4]

It is overlain by the Cappahayden Formation near the town of Ferryland, and the Gibbett Hill Formation near the city of St. John's.[2] Meanwhile the formation is gradationally and conformably underlain by the Fermeuse Formation.[2][4][5]

Paleobiota

The Renews Head Formation is home to a small range of discoidal forms, like Aspidella, which have been noted to bear faint radial markings similar to Hiemalora.[4][6] There are also unnamed Sphaeromorph Acritarchs known from this formation.[7]

incertae sedis

Genus Species Notes Images
Aspidella[4]
  • A. terranovica
Enigmatic discoidal fossil. Specimens from this formation have faint Hiemalora-like radial markings.

Microorganisms

Genus Species Notes Images
Sphaeromorph Acritarchs[7]
  • ???
Acritarchs.

See also

Bibliography

  • Various Contributors to the Paleobiology Database. "Fossilworks: Gateway to the Paleobiology Database". Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2021.

References

  1. ^ A.G. Liu; D. McIlroy (September 2014). "Horizontal Surface Traces from the Fermeuse Formation, Ferryland (Newfoundland, Canada), and their Place within the Late Ediacaran Ichnological Revolution" (PDF). Geological Association of Canada - Special Paper (9).
  2. ^ a b c d "Geoscience Atlas". Geological Survey Division of the Department of Natural Resources, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
  3. ^ a b c "GEOLOGY OF THE AVALON PENINSULA, NEWFOUNDLAND" (PDF).
  4. ^ a b c d e f Hofmann, H. J.; O'Brien, S. J.; King, A. F. (January 2008). "Ediacaran biota on Bonavista Peninsula, Newfoundland, Canada". Journal of Paleontology. 82 (1): 1–36. doi:10.1666/06-087.1.
  5. ^ Gehling, James G.; Narbonne, Guy M.; Anderson, Michael M. (September 2000). "The first named Ediacaran body fossil, Aspidella Terranovica". Palaeontology. 43 (3): 427–456. Bibcode:2000Palgy..43..427G. doi:10.1111/j.0031-0239.2000.00134.x.
  6. ^ Gehling, James G.; Narbonne, Guy M.; Anderson, Michael M. (September 2000). "The first named Ediacaran body fossil, Aspidella Terranovica". Palaeontology. 43 (3): 427–456. doi:10.1111/j.0031-0239.2000.00134.x.
  7. ^ a b O’Brien, S.J.; King, A.F. "EDIACARAN FOSSILS FROM THE BONAVISTA PENINSULA (AVALON ZONE), NEWFOUNDLAND: PRELIMINARY DESCRIPTIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR REGIONAL CORRELATION" (PDF). Newfoundland Department of Mines and Energy. Geological Survey.