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Redalyc.Cambrian Sponge Spicules and Chancelloriid Sclerites from The Geologica Acta: an international earth science journal ISSN: 1695-6133 [email protected] Universitat de Barcelona España Beresi, M.S. Cambrian sponge spicules and Chancelloriid sclerites from the Argentine Precordillera: A review Geologica Acta: an international earth science journal, vol. 1, núm. 1, 2003, pp. 73-84 Universitat de Barcelona Barcelona, España Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=50510107 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative Geologica Acta, Vol.1, Nº1, 2003, 73-84 Available online at www.geologica-acta.com Cambrian sponge spicules and Chancelloriid sclerites from the Argentine Precordillera: A review M.S. BERESI IANIGLA, CRICYT Avda. Ruíz Leal s/n, Parque Gral. San Martín (5500) Mendoza, Argentina. E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT Spicules of sponges and sclerites of chancelloriids have been collected from in situ Cambrian sections of the La Laja Formation (San Juan Precordillera). They have also been collected from carbonate olistoliths, which were emplaced from the Cambrian units in the Early Ordovician Los Sombreros Formation (San Juan Precordi- llera) and Empozada Formation (Mendoza Precordillera). The Cambrian La Laja Formation sequences were deposited in a shallow carbonate platform in the eastern part of the Precordillera. The Cambrian carbonate rocks, which make up the olistoliths in the Los Sombreros and Empozada Formations, record deposition in the slope environments which developed in the western Precordillera. Cambrian Porifera and sponge-like chancelloriid assemblages are known mainly from fragments of skeletal nets, dissociated spicules and sclerites, which enable us to define two assemblages. The first assemblage of spicules was defined from the upper Lower to Middle Cambrian sequences of the La Laja Formation. This assemblage consists of a variety of stauractines and scleri- tes of Chancelloria WALCOTT. The family Protospongiidae is represented by triradiate prodianes, pentactines and hexactines, all belonging to Kiwetinokia WALCOTT. The second assemblage, which consists of isolated hexacti- nes, pentactines, monaxons and skeletal nets, was defined in the Cambrian derived olistholiths of the Los Som- breros and Empozada Formations. Early hexactinellid Protospongiidae with body preservation (Diagoniella ? and Kiwetinokia) also occur. Demosponges have a very limited record in the Cambrian of the Precordillera. Ant- haspidellid sponges had been reported from the La Laja Formation and now from the San Martín olistolith (Empozada Formation). The occurrences of these two assemblages of spicules and sclerites in both the Cambrian platform and slope facies of the Precordillera contribute additional data for a better understanding of the rela- tionships between the eastern and the western facies assemblages, which developed in the Precordillera during the Cambrian. Therefore, they are useful for paleoenvironmental and paleogeographical interpretations of the Cambrian depositional framework. KEYWORDS Sponge spicules. Chancelloriids. Cambrian. Precordillera. San Juan. Mendoza. Argentina. INTRODUCTION archaeocyatha and stromatoporids, were primary reef builders even in the Early Cambrian (Wood, 1991). Sponges are the most primitively organized among multicellular animals. In most sponges, specialized cells The knowledge of the fossil record of siliceous secrete a mineral skeleton, generally in the form of sponges is based on complete, relatively rigid skeletons or spicules. Sponges have been a highly successful group on isolated spicules, which are studied in thin sections or throughout the Phanerozoic, colonizing most marine and recovered as insoluble residues from sedimentary rocks. some fresh water environments. Siliceous sponges, However, most of the evidence of fossil sponges consists © UB-IJA 73 M.S. BERESI Cambrian Sponges and Chancelloriids from the Argentine Precordillera FIGURE 1 Outcrop zones and fossil localities with Cambrian sponge spicules and chancelloriid sclerites in the Argentine Pre- cordillera. a. Location of the provinces of San Juan and Mendoza within Argentina. b. Fossil sponge localities within the Pre- cordillera region: Precordillera Occidental of San Juan: Outcrop zones 1 (Los Ratones Gulch) and 2 (Tres Saltos Gulch), both in the Tontal Range. Precordillera Oriental of San Juan: Outcrop zone 3, Las Lajas Gulch in the Chica de Zonda. Precordille- ra of Mendoza, outcrop zone 4 including Empozada Gulch, Agua de La Cruz Gulch and San Isidro Gulch, San Isidro region. Geologica Acta, Vol.1, Nº1, 2003, 73-84 74 M.S. BERESI Cambrian Sponges and Chancelloriids from the Argentine Precordillera TABLE 1 Distribution of the sponge spicules and Chancelloria in the two fossil spicule assemblages of the Precordillera. Spicule assemblages Spicule assemblages in allochthonous units in autochthonous sequences San Juan Precordillera Mendoza Precordillera La Laja Los Sombreros Empozada Formation Formation Formation Diagoniella ? La Late Kiwetinokia sp. hexactines Cruz Cam- Protospongia sp. stauractines Olisto- brian root tuft lith San hexactines Martín Stauractines of stauractines Olisto- protospongiid-like structure Protospongia sp. prodiaenes lith Stauractines of hexactines pentactines Middle diagoniellid-like structure stauractines Cam- prodianes brian San Kiwetinokia sp. pentactines Kiwetinokia uthaensis ? Isidro Chancelloria eros Chancelloria eros Olisto- lith Anthaspidellidae hexactines monactines ? prodiaenes Early pentactines Cam- brian of isolated spicules. Most Cambrian siliceous sponges have dealt with spicule assemblages collected from the were composed of relatively simple spicules such as mon- Cambrian rocks of Argentina and in particular from Cam- axons, stauractines, hexactines or pentactines. brian successions of the Precordillera. The fossil record of Porifera in the Cambrian The presence of Protospongia was cited by Pernas (1964) sequences of the Precordillera (western Argentina) con- and then by Devizia (1973), from the San Isidro area in the sists mainly of disassociated spicules in carbonate rocks, Precordillera of Mendoza. Bordonaro and Martos (1985) whereas complete skeletons are very scarce. The aim of described sclerites of Chancelloria WALCOTT, from this paper is a taxonomic review of the sponge-spicule autochthonous succesions of the La Laja Formation, Pre- assemblages and sclerites of chancelloriids from the Mid- cordillera of San Juan. Also, Heredia et al. (1987) described dle and Upper Cambrian sequences in the Precordillera of hexactinellid spicules from the Upper Cambrian of the La San Juan and Mendoza Provinces. These data should be Cruz olistolith (Empozada Formation) in the Precordillera of useful for the palaeoenvironmental and palaeogeographic Mendoza. Farthermore, Beresi and Rigby (1994) described interpretation of the Cambrian record in the study area. assemblages tentatively identified as Kiwetinokia utahensis WALCOTT, 1920, from latest Early Cambrian, and also spicules and chancelloriid sclerites from upper Lower and PREVIOUS WORKS Middle Cambrian localities of the Precordillera of San Juan and Mendoza. Beresi and Heredia (1995) also described stau- Since the first report of Chancelloria and Protospon- ractines, hexactines and pentactines from the San Martín olis- gia from a Middle Cambrian olistolith of the Empozada tolith (Empozada Formation) in the Precordillera of Men- Formation by Rusconi (1955), only a few publications doza. Finally, Mehl and Lehnert (1997) described silicified Geologica Acta, Vol.1, Nº1, 2003, 73-84 75 M.S. BERESI Cambrian Sponges and Chancelloriids from the Argentine Precordillera sponge spicule assemblages, which were recognised in the stones and conglomerates (Banchig et al., 1990). These residues resulting from the search for conodonts in the Cam- slope deposits crop out mainly in the Tontal Range (Fig. 1, brian olistoliths of the Los Sombreros Formation. localities 1 and 2) in the Precordillera Occidental, to the west of San Juan city. The siliciclastic and carbonate sequence of the Los Sombreros Formation records several GEOLOGICAL SETTING olistostromic events. The ancient Cambrian shelf margin collapsed during the Ordovician and the resulting calcare- The Cambrian rocks containing spicules are located in ous blocks were gravitationally emplaced in association the Precordillera of San Juan and Mendoza provinces, with muddy gravity flows. As a consequence, this Ordovi- western Argentina (Fig. 1 and Table 1). The depositional cian succession includes carbonate olistoliths derived record of the Cambrian system in the eastern Precordillera from the Cambrian shallow, outer carbonate platforms and consists of carbonate platform successions. These eastern talus-slope sequences. The trilobite faunas indicate a Mid- successions graded laterally westward into facies assem- dle Cambrian (Bathyuriscus-Elrathina Zone) to Late blages which record the development of a continental Cambrian age (Glyptagnostus reticulatus; Bordonaro and slope (Bordonaro, 1985 and 1993, in this issue; Baldis and Banchig, 1996) for these olistoliths. Bordonaro, 1982). Thus, major carbonate deposition on a carbonate platform-slope system took place in the Pre- The carbonate olistoliths have yielded a variety of cordillera, during the Cambrian. Thick siliciclastic-domi- Cambrian fossils,
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