Microbial Mats and Ichnofauna of a Fluvial-Tidal Channel in the Lower Pennsylvanian Joggins Formation, Canada

A meandering fluvial channel at Coal Mine Point, Joggins Fossil Cliffs, Nova Scotia, preserves an exceptional fossil assemblage that includes microbial mats and diverse ichnofauna. The wrinkled surface of the microbial mats was traversed by large arthropleurid trackways (Diplichnites cuithensis), alongside smaller Diplichnites gouldi trackways, tetrapod tracks (Pseudobradypus?, Dromillopus, Hylopus), and invertebrate traces (Cochlichnus, Gordia). These features collectively represent the Scoyenia ichnofacies. The mats likely stabilized the sediment surface, facilitating excellent trackway preservation, and may have served as a food source, though no feeding traces were identified. Overlying strata exhibit Protichnites followed by paired mud drapes and an impoverished Skolithos ichnofacies, suggesting brackish influence.

PRESCOTT, Z. M., STIMSON, M. R., DAFOE, L. T., GIBLING, M. R., MACRAE, R. A., CALDER, J. H., & HEBERT, B. L. (2014). MICROBIAL MATS AND ICHNOFAUNA OF A FLUVIAL-TIDAL CHANNEL IN THE LOWER PENNSYLVANIAN JOGGINS FORMATION, CANADA. Palaios, 29(12), 624–645. https://doi.org/10.2110/palo.2013.073