Marine invertebrates from late Cainozoic deposits in the McMurdo Sound region, Antarctica

Abstract

Abstract Macrofaunal remains from the late Cainozoic are described from the McMurdo Region, Antarctica. Three formations are discussed, the Scallop Hill, Bull Pass (nov.) and Taylor. Some new localities for these are given along with an extension of the macrofaunal record, amongst which the pycnogonid Colossendeis and the barnacle Litoscalpellum are recorded, both as fossil and together for the first time. The Bull Pass Formation is envisaged as having formed in a shallow fjord-like environment during the middle Pliocene. The palaeoecology of the Scallop Hill Formation is re-evaluated, and for at least part of its depositional history, an environmental depth of about 200 metres is proposed. Two distinct facies are recognised within the Taylor Formation, representing both a deep and a shallow marine environment, and the disposition and formation of these is discussed.