Wellington Formation Research Articles

The impact of water saturation on the elastic anisotropy dispersion in the Wellington shale at seismic frequencies

The anisotropic behaviour of shales is commonly associated with the properties of a transversely isotropic medium, which are determined by five elastic constants such as five independent components of the compliance or stiffness matrix. In this study, we utilize the laboratory low-frequency technique based on stress-strain relationship to measure the dispersion of five independent stiffness tensor components and Thomsen’s anisotropy parameters of shale samples saturated with water at four different values of humidity in the range from 12% to 97.5% (12, 44, 72 and 97.5%). We have investigated three shale samples from the Wellington formation cored along the horizontal, vertical and 45°-inclination directions with respect to the bedding plane at seismic frequencies between 0.1 Hz and 100 Hz.The obtained experimental data show an increased softening of the samples, which manifests itself in reduction of the transversely isotropic Young’s moduli and Thomsen’s parameters of elastic anisotropy e and y, no noticeable changes in parameter S were found. We also observed large reductions in normal and shear stiffness tensor components with saturation. When the samples were saturated at a relative humidity of 97.5 %, the softening at the higher frequencies was partly compensated by the modulus dispersion.We presume that the weakening of the elastic moduli and components of the stiffness tensor is caused by the significant percentage of water-swellable smectite in the Wellington shale.

A New Genus and Species of Blattogryllidae from Kansas with Notes onStereopterum rotundumCarpenter, 1950 (Euryptilonidae) in Oklahoma (Insecta: Polyneoptera: Eoblattida; Lower Permian)

Order Eoblattida Handlirsch, 1906, sensu Aristov, 2015, comprises 16 extinct families and a single extant one, Grylloblattidae Walker, 1914. Three species of the genus Stereopterum Carpenter, 1950 (Euryptilonidae) from the Elmo, Kansas and Midco, Oklahoma Lower Permian were the only Wellington Formation taxa attributed by Aristov (2015) to the Eoblattida. This assignment was based on work by Carpenter (1950, 1966), for the Kansas records and Beckemeyer and Hall (2007), for the Oklahoma record. In this paper, a new eoblattid genus and species is described based on a specimen collected by Paul Tasch in the 1960′s from the Lower Permian Wellington Formation of Marion County, Kansas and is assigned to family Blattogryllidae Rasnitsyn, 1976.

Detrital zircons from crystalline rocks along the Southern Oklahoma fault system, Wichita and Arbuckle Mountains, USA

Detrital zircons with ages of 535 ± 10 Ma in many North American Midcontinent sandstones are commonly attributed to sources in Cambrian synrift igneous rocks along the Southern Oklahoma fault system. New analyses are designed to test the characteristics of proximal detritus from the Wichita and Arbuckle uplifts. Detrital zircons from a sandstone (Lower Permian Post Oak Conglomerate) directly above an unconformable contact with the Wichita Granite Group in the Wichita Mountains have strongly unimodal U-Pb ages of 540–520 Ma and eHft values of +4.7 to +10.1. In contrast, two sandstone samples (Upper Pennsylvanian Vanoss Conglomerate) in the onlapping succession above an angular unconformity on Paleozoic strata on the flank of the Arbuckle anticline have detrital zircons with U-Pb ages that correspond domi­nantly to the Superior (∼2700 Ma) and secondarily to the Granite-Rhyolite (1480–1320 Ma) and Grenville (1300–970 Ma) provinces of the Laurentian craton. The Vanoss zircons indicate recycling from quartzose sandstones within the Middle Ordovician platform carbonates in the Arbuckle passive-margin cover succession. A stratigraphically higher sandstone (Permian Wellington Formation) above the onlapping conglomerates has a more diverse detrital-­zircon population, indicating that sediment dispersal from external sources overwhelmed the proximal detritus in the immediate cover of the Wichita and Arbuckle uplifts. The distinctive eHft values of the proximal detritus from the Cambrian synrift igneous rocks offer potential discrimination from zircons of the same age from Gondwanan accreted terranes, which are represented in the Wellington sample.

First Occurrence of the Diplocaulid GenusDiploceraspisfrom the Wellington Formation (Lower Permian) of Northern Oklahoma

Additional field and laboratory investigation of the Midco Member of the middle Wellington Formation, Lower Permian in Noble County, Northern Oklahoma has produced an abundance of vertebrate fossils from a 5 cm thick black silty clay. To date the most notable discovery is bones of the long-horned diplocaulid Diploceraspis which were previously only known from the upper Pennsylvanian and lower Permian of southwest Pennsylvania, southeast Ohio, and northwest West Virginia and the upper Pennsylvanian of southeastern Nebraska. This represents the first reported Permian occurrence of the amphibian Diploceraspis west of the of the Ohio River drainage area of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia and therefore greatly increases the geographical range of the genus. Prior to this discovery, Diplocaulus magnicornis was the only long-horned diplocaulid known from the lower Permian of Oklahoma. The identifiable Diploceraspis material recovered consist of 5 partial tabular bones and one dorsal vertebra.

New Middle Permian insects from Salagou Formation of the Lodève Basin in southern France (Insecta: Pterygota)

SummaryNew insects are described from the Middle Permian (Guadalupian) of Salagou Formation in the Lodève Basin (Languedoc region, France). Palaeopterans are represented by new odonatopterans viz. Huangiopterum lodevense n. gen., n. sp. and Huangiopterum species B, attributed to clade Panodonata (Huangiopteridae n. fam.), already recorded through the family Saxonagrionidae in the same formation, and a diaphanopterodean Martynovia cf. halli Beckemeyer 2004 (Martynoviidae) known from the Lower Permian of Oklahoma. Archaeorthopterans are supplemented by Bethouxia ariegensis n. gen., n. sp., Paralongzhua elongata n. gen., n. sp., Lodevolongzhua incompleta n. gen., n. sp., the caloneurodean Jarmiloptera mouralensis n. gen., n. sp., and a cnemidolestodean cf. Tococladus sp. (Tococladidae). Permophyllum rotundatum n. sp. (?Tettigoniidae) demonstrates the first presence of Orthoptera with wings probably mimicking Peltaspermales reproductive organs in Late Palaeozoic possibly analogous to the known crypsis of roachoid tegmina with pteridosperm pinnules. Frequent occurrence of hardly identifiable grylloblattid wing fragments support their significant role in term of abundance and diversity of the Permian faunas. New taxa based on wing venation pattern as Genera and species undetermined A, B (Liomopteridae), Permobaharellus salagousensis n. gen., n. sp. (family uncertain), Lodevophlebia reticulata n. gen., n. sp. (Sylvaphlebiidae), Oborella lodevensis n. sp. (Euryptilonidae), and Genus and species undetermined C, were described. Paoliida is represented by a paoliid gen. et sp. indet. and three anthracoptilids Strephocladus gandi n. sp., Strephocladus mouralensis n. sp., Lodevocladus subtilis n. gen., n. sp. The first record of miomopteran Palaeomantis sp. (Paleomanteidae) from Salagou Formation is presented. Acercarian insects are represented by the first record of Thripida and diverse new hemipterans, namely Euroscytina lutevanorum n. gen., n. sp. (Cicadomorpha: Scytinopteridae), Prosbole dio n. sp., Prosbole garrici n. sp., Pervestigia cf. veteris Becker-Migdisova 1961 (Prosbolidae), Archescytina species A (Paleorrhyncha: Archescytinidae) and Permopsyllidium lesclansis n. sp. (Sternorrhyncha: Psylloidea: Protopsyllidiidae). Entomofauna from the Salagou Formation demonstrate highly diverse insect communities with some taxa linked to early and late Permian ones known from assemblages in Euramerica and Russia, such as Obora (Czech Republic), Wellington Formation (Kansas and Oklahoma, USA), and Tshekarda (Ural, Russia).

Revision of the enigmatic insect family Anthracoptilidae enlightens the evolution of Palaeozoic stem-dictyopterans

The position of the Palaeozoic Anthracoptilidae has been a major problem of insect systematics for over a century. The previous hypotheses suggested affinities of Anthracoptilidae with the Palaeodictyopteroida, Protorthoptera, Hypoperlida, stem-Mantodea, Paraneoptera, Holometabola, or Eoblattida. Herein we put forward a new hypothesis based mainly on a comprehensive re-evaluation of the wing venation characters and re-examination of the type material of Anthracoptilus perrieri and Mesoptilus dolloi. The Anthracoptilidae are considered as belonging to the paoliid lineage, sister group of the Dictyoptera. In particular this result refutes the presence of Mantodea in the Paleozoic fossil record. The two families Strephocladidae and Strephoneuridae, are considered as junior synonyms of the Anthracoptilidae, while the previous synonymy of the Anthracoptilidae with the Ischnoneuridae is rejected. We consider the Permarrhaphidae, previously considered as synonym of the Anthracoptilidae, (and Permarrhaphus) as Insecta incertae sedis. The following new taxa are proposed: Mesoptilus carpenteri sp. nov. from the early Permian of Wellington Formation in Oklahoma (USA) which extends the range and distribution of the genus; Pseudomesoptilus gen. nov. is designated to include Mesoptilus sellardsi; Strephocladus permianus sp. nov. from the middle Permian of South of France; Westphaloptilus gallicus gen. et sp. nov. from the Bashkirian of the North of France.

New archaeorthopteran insects from the Late Carboniferous of the Nord and Pas-de-Calais basins in northern France (Insecta: Cnemidolestodea, Panorthoptera)

New polyneopteran insects are described from Pennsylvanian (Bashkirian, Moscovian) compressed fossils from the North of France (Insecta: Archaeorthoptera). Discovery of wing apex with distinct venation, e.g., apical fusion of RA with RP, numerous parallel posterior branches of RP with transversal crossveins, can be assigned to cf. Tococladus sp. (Cnemidolestodea: Tococladidae). It represents the second record of Cnemidolestodea from the Avion locality apart from Aviocladus pectinatus Prokop et al., 2014. Bruaylogus magnificus gen. et sp. nov., based on forewing venation, is attributed to Panorthoptera nec Orthoptera having some distinct characters for the placement either close to Oedischiidae or a more basal position possibly with affinities to genus Heterologus. Aviologus duquesnei gen. et sp. nov., based on forewing venation, differs from Oedischiidae by the presence of basal fork of M far from point of separation between M and Cu and fusion of MA with first posterior branch of RP. Aviologus share a long stem of M and simple CuPaβ with Heterologus duyiwuer and H. langfordorum, but both differ in well separated median and radial veins. These new fossils demonstrate that the archaeorthopterid insect fauna from the North of France was rather diverse with links to late Carboniferous and early Permian assemblages in Euramerica such as the Mazon Creek, Carbondale Formation or Elmo, Wellington Formation (Illinois, Kansas, USA) entomofaunas.

Dimetropus osageorum n. isp. from the Early Permian of Oklahoma (USA): A Trace and its Trackmaker

A new ichnospecies is named as Dimetropus osageorum n. isp. within the ichnogenus Dimetropus Romer and Price, 1940. The new ichnotaxon comes from the Lower Permian Midco Member of the Wellington Formation, cropping out near Perry, Noble Co. (Oklahoma, USA), and differs from congeneric ichnospecies in the apparent heteropody and in the proportionally shorter digits. The characters of the new ichnotaxon, together with comparative analysis of footprints and of known skeletal remains, suggest referral of the trackmaker to the Caseidae, although edaphosaurid affinities cannot be excluded. Tracks referred to Dimetropus exhibit wide variation, and their respective trackmakers may be ascribed to an accordingly wide range of different zoological taxa among non-therapsid Synapsida and not only to Sphenacodontidae as has been generally believed. At the same time, the process of attributing ichnotaxa, on the basis of well preserved tracks and by comparison with known skeletal remains, is validated.

Lakes, Loess, and Paleosols In the Permian Wellington Formation of Oklahoma, U.S.A.: Implications For Paleoclimate and Paleogeography of the Midcontinent

Abstract Lower to mid-Permian deposits of the Midcontinent (U.S.A.) record a significant and long recognized aridification because they archive the shift from more humid facies (e.g., coal, organic shale) of the Pennsylvanian to widespread redbeds, semiarid to seasonal paleosols (Calcisols, Vertisols), and evaporites by the mid-Permian. The provenance, transport and depositional processes of the voluminous Permian redbeds of the Midcontinent, however, remain largely undefined. The Artinskian Wellington Formation in Oklahoma exhibits high-frequency cycles comprising organic-rich laminated mudstone with thinly laminated (inferred primary) dolomite, variegated laminated mudstone with gypsum, massive, red to gray-green mudstone with pedogenic overprinting, and pale red siltstone. The gypsum exhibits a distinct 87/86Sr isotopic ratio (0.709199) that is inconsistent with Permian seawater. We suggest that these facies record deposition in ephemeral to perennial lakes during a time of increasing aridity and seasonality, the latter indicated by abundant mudcracks, vertic-type paleosols, conchostracans, and lungfish burrows. The fine and uniform grain size and the geochemistry of the siliciclastic component suggest far-travelled and likely eolian transport that ultimately accumulated in both subaqueous and subaerial environments. Provenance analysis indicates the siliciclastic component was sourced chiefly from the southeastern Ouachita–Appalachian orogen and the Ancestral Rocky Mountains (ARM) or its derivative sediment.

First Report of Coelacanth and Hybodont Remains from the Lower Permian Wellington Formation of Oklahoma

This is the first and only positive indication to date of the presence of the coelacanth, Spermatodus pustulosus, and the hybodont shark, Polyacrodus zideki, from the Wellington Formation of Oklahoma. This record documents the occurrence of both the coelacanth and hybodont in the Wellington Formation of North-central Oklahoma and it increases the stratigraphic distribution of both. The specimens were collected from a channel-fill conglomerate exposed in a south facing road cut. The site SNOMNH (Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History) vertebrate site V 1627 is located in southern Noble County, north-central Oklahoma. The site has yielded numerous three-dimensional remains of fish, amphibians, and reptiles.

Nobloedischia rasnitsyni, a new genus and species of Oedischiidae (Orthoptera) from the Lower Permian Wellington Formation of Oklahoma, USA

Nobloedischia rasnitsyni gen. et sp. n. (Oedischiidae) is described from the Lower Permian Wellington Formation of Noble County, Oklahoma. The genus is similar to both Petrelcana (Oedischiidae: Mezenoedischiinae) and Oedischia (Oedischiidae: Oedischiinae) and is left unplaced at the subfamily level. The new species is the twelfth Orthoptera species and the fourth species of Oedischiidae from these deposits.

A New Genus and Species of Orthoptera from the Lower Permian Wellington Formation of Noble County, Oklahoma, USA

Loxoedischia drewi new genus and new species from Oklahoma, is described as the latest addition to the Orthoptera fauna of the Lower Permian Wellington Formation, bringing the total to eleven species, eight of which are known from Kansas, and three from Oklahoma. Family assignment is uncertain, but the taxon is closely related to the Oedischiidae.

Intraindividual variability in Sinonamuropteridae forewing venation (Grylloblattida; Late Carboniferous): taxonomic and nomenclatural implications

The family Sinonamuropteridae has been erected for nine fossil insect species from the Late Carboniferous Tupo Formation (Ningxia, China), each represented by a single isolated forewing. The family has been assigned to the order Diaphanopterodea (extinct palaeopteran order). We investigated the forewing venation pattern and its variability in this family based on an abundant collection from the same locality. Based on new data on Chelopterum peregrinumCarpenter, 1950 (Grylloblattida; Lower Permian; Wellington Formation, U.S.A.) and the new material, we demonstrate that the nine sinonamuropteridaean species form a single one: Sinonamuropteris ningxiaensisPeng et al., 2005. The following genera are considered as synonyms of Sinonamuropteris: SeparatonervaPeng et al., 2005syn.n., CombonervaPeng et al., 2005syn.n. and TectonervaPeng et al., 2005syn.n. The following species (all with Peng et al., 2005, as their authority) are considered as synonyms of S. ningxiaensis: Separatonerva longasyn.n., Separatonerva qilianshanensissyn.n., Combonerva granulatasyn.n., Combonerva huangheensissyn.n., Tectonerva longovatasyn.n., Sinonamuropsis zhongweiensissyn.n., Sinonamuropsis rugoverrucosasyn.n., Sinonamuropsis xiaheyanensissyn.n. The family must be assigned to the neopteran order Grylloblattida.

A New Species of Liomopterella Sharov, 1961 (Polyneoptera: Liomopteridae) from the Early Permian Wellington Formation of Noble County, Oklahoma

Liomopterella pediaecetae, new species from the Oklahoma Wellington Formation, is described as the first North American representative of the genus Liomopterella Sharov, 1961. The previously described species of Liomopterella have been from Russian Permian localities, so the new species significantly extends the biogeographical range of the genus; it also becomes the third species of Liomopteridae known from Oklahoma, the seventh species from the Wellington Formation, and the tenth from North America.

New data on Homocladus grandis, a Permian stem-mantodean (Polyneoptera: Dictyoptera)

Representatives of the family Strephocladidae have been considered as fossil relatives (i.e., stem-group) of Mantodea (mantises) based on characters of the forewing morphology. Here we describe new specimens from the Wellington Formation that we assign to the strephocladid species Homocladus grandis Carpenter, 1966. The range of morphological variation exhibited by the new material, in addition to wing morphology variability documented in extant mantises and roaches, suggest that H. ornatus Carpenter, 1966 and Paracladus retardatus Carpenter, 1966, reported from the same formation, are new junior subjective synonyms of H. grandis. We describe the first hind wing for this species based on a well-preserved specimen. It exhibits a combination of character states unique to dictyopteran insects.

New data on Homocladus grandis, a Permian stem-mantodean (Polyneoptera: Dictyoptera)

Representatives of the family Strephocladidae have been considered as fossil relatives (i.e., stem-group) of Mantodea (mantises) based on characters of the forewing morphology. Here we describe new specimens from the Wellington Formation that we assign to the strephocladid species Homocladus grandis Carpenter, 1966. The range of morphological variation exhibited by the new material, in addition to wing morphology variability documented in extant mantises and roaches, suggest that H. ornatus Carpenter, 1966 and Paracladus retardatus Carpenter, 1966, reported from the same formation, are new junior subjective synonyms of H. grandis. We describe the first hind wing for this species based on a well-preserved specimen. It exhibits a combination of character states unique to dictyopteran insects.

ERRATUM: “An Enigmatic New Genus of Biarmohymenid from the Early Permian Wellington Formation of Noble County, Oklahoma (Palaeodictyopterida: Diaphanopterodea), by Roy J. Beckemeyer and Michael S. Engel. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 112(1/2): 103–108.

ERRATUM: “An Enigmatic New Genus of Biarmohymenid from the Early Permian Wellington Formation of Noble County, Oklahoma (Palaeodictyopterida: Diaphanopterodea), by Roy J. Beckemeyer and Michael S. Engel. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 112(1/2): 103–108.

Ligogramma wichita, A New Species of Caloneurodea (Polyneoptera: Orthopterida) from the Lower Permian Wellington Formation of Noble County, Oklahoma

The extinct polyneopterous order Caloneurodea Handlirsch, which includes more than 20 species, has been found in Eurasia and North America, and ranges from the Upper Carboniferous to the Upper Permian. North American records are most numerous from the Lower Permian Wellington Formation of Kansas and Oklahoma. The genus Ligogramma, provisionally assigned by Béthoux et al., 2004, to either Caloneurodea or Orthoptera, is herein redescribed and placed in the Caloneurodea, based on the discovery of a new species, Ligogramma wichita, described from a specimen collected from Noble County, Oklahoma. This brings the total number of Caloneurodea currently known from the Wellington Formation to eight species.

Artinska ovata (Sellards) 1909 and Paraprisca fragilis (Sellards) 1909 (Insecta: Polyneoptera: Lemmatophoridae) Newly Reported from the Lower Permian of Noble County, Oklahoma, with Notes on Wellington Formation Lemmatophoridae

The extinct polyneopterous family Lemmatophoridae Sellards, 1909 includes eight species found in the Wellington Formation of Kansas. Tasch and Zimmerman (1962) had previously reported the presence of Lemmatophora typa Sellards, 1909, Artinska clara Sellards, 1909, and Lisca minuta Sellards, 1909, from the Oklahoma Wellington Formation. One specimen each of the species Artinska ovata (Sellards, 1909) and Paraprisca fragilis (Sellards, 1909) have been found in the Wellington Formation deposits of Noble County Oklahoma, bringing to five the number of known species of lemmatophorids common to the Oklahoma and Kansas Permian deposits.

A New Lower Permian Bristletail from the Wellington Formation in Kansas (Archaeognatha: Dasyleptidae)

A second species of dasyleptid bristletail (Archaeognatha: Dasyleptidae) is described and figured from the Lower Permian Wellington Formation of Kansas. Dasyleptus artinskianus Engel, new species, is distinguished from other dasyleptids and a key to the species of the genus is provided.