Paleoecological Observations of the Wellington Salt (Hutchinson Member)

Tasch, Paul

doi:10.2307/3626918

Cited by 10 publications

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“…Direct microscopic observations of microparticles and possible microorganisms from ancient halite crystals have been made by Reiser and Tasch (1960), Tasch (1960), Dombrowski (1963Dombrowski ( , 1966, Grant et al (1998), Vreeland and Rosenzweig (1999), and Mormile et al (2003). Reiser and Tasch (1960) and Tasch (1960) observed stationary diplococcus-like bodies in crushed salt samples that were interpreted as dead Permian bacteria. Dombrowski (1963, his Fig.…”

Section: Previous Work On Microscopy Of Microorganisms In Fluid Inclumentioning

confidence: 99%

Microscopic Identification of Prokaryotes in Modern and Ancient Halite, Saline Valley and Death Valley, California

2009

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Primary fluid inclusions in halite crystallized in Saline Valley, California, in 1980, 2004-2005, and 2007, contain rod- and coccoid-shaped microparticles the same size and morphology as archaea and bacteria living in modern brines. Primary fluid inclusions from a well-dated (0-100,000 years), 90 m long salt core from Badwater Basin, Death Valley, California, also contain microparticles, here interpreted as halophilic and halotolerant prokaryotes. Prokaryotes are distinguished from crystals on the basis of morphology, optical properties (birefringence), and uniformity of size. Electron micrographs of microparticles from filtered modern brine (Saline Valley), dissolved modern halite crystals (Saline Valley), and dissolved ancient halite crystals (Death Valley) support in situ microscopic observations that prokaryotes are present in fluid inclusions in ancient halite. In the Death Valley salt core, prokaryotes in fluid inclusions occur almost exclusively in halite precipitated in perennial saline lakes 10,000 to 35,000 years ago. This suggests that trapping and preservation of prokaryotes in fluid inclusions is influenced by the surface environment in which the halite originally precipitated. In all cases, prokaryotes in fluid inclusions in halite from the Death Valley salt core are miniaturized (<1 microm diameter cocci, <2.5 microm long, very rare rod shapes), which supports interpretations that the prokaryotes are indigenous to the halite and starvation survival may be the normal response of some prokaryotes to entrapment in fluid inclusions for millennia. These results reinforce the view that fluid inclusions in halite and possibly other evaporites are important repositories of microbial life and should be carefully examined in the search for ancient microorganisms on Earth, Mars, and elsewhere in the Solar System.

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Section: Previous Work On Microscopy Of Microorganisms In Fluid Inclumentioning

confidence: 99%

Microscopic Identification of Prokaryotes in Modern and Ancient Halite, Saline Valley and Death Valley, California

2009

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“…In addition, the tentative recognition of one partial fossil as either a bryozoan or marine coral, is not strong evidence of a marine setting. The wood fragments observed by Tasch () would have originated in a continental or marginal marine setting, but could have been transported into a shallow marine environment. In summary, none of these fossil identifications are diagnostic of depositional environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…This salt has also been used to determine Permian seawater composition (Holser, ; Claypool et al ., ; Horita et al ., ; Lowenstein et al ., ); however, this interpretation is controversial due to remaining questions about its depositional origin. The Hutchinson Salt Member was initially proposed as a marine deposit in the 1960s (Tasch, ; Dellwig, , ; Jones, ). Since these initial studies in the 1960s, evaporite sedimentology has made great strides in scientific understanding through the concept of comparative sedimentology (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to bacteria and wood fragments, the presence of a single ostracod valve and a red‐coloured polygonal‐structured object, which was tentatively described as either a fragment of a brackish water bryozoan or a fragment of a marine coral, were noted. Based on this evidence, Tasch () construed that the shale was from a nearby open sea and that the salt was likely from a saline inland basin surrounded by swamps. However, there are potential problems with the interpretations of this study.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The single ostracod fragment could have been carried by wind into the system. Therefore, Tasch's () observation of a single ostracod fragment provides no diagnostic evidence for depositional environment. In addition, the tentative recognition of one partial fossil as either a bryozoan or marine coral, is not strong evidence of a marine setting.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using sedimentology to address the marine or continental origin of the Permian Hutchinson Salt Member of Kansas

Andeskie

Benison

2019

Sedimentology

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The Permian Hutchinson Salt Member of the Wellington Formation of the Sumner Group of Kansas (USA) has multiple scientific and industrial uses. Although this member is highly utilized, there has not been a sedimentological study on these rocks in over 50 years, and no study has investigated the full thickness of this member. Past publications have inferred a marine origin as the depositional environment. Here, this marine interpretation is challenged. The goals of this study are to fully document sedimentological and stratigraphic characteristics of the Permian Hutchinson Salt Member in the Atomic Energy Commission Test Hole 2 core from Rice County, Kansas. This study documents colour, mineralogy, sedimentary textures, sedimentary structures, diagenetic features and stratigraphic contacts in core slab and thin sections. The Hutchinson Salt Member is composed of five lithologies: bedded halite, siliciclastic mudstone, displacive halite, bedded gypsum/ anhydrite and displacive gypsum/anhydrite. These lithologies formed in shallow surface brines and mudflats that underwent periods of flooding, evapoconcentration and desiccation. Of note are the paucity of carbonates, lack of marine-diagnostic fossils, absence of characteristic marine minerals and lithofacies, and the stratigraphic context of the Hutchinson with associated continental deposits. The Hutchinson Salt Member was most likely deposited in an arid continental setting. This new interpretation offers a refined view of Pangaea during the middle Permian time.

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Geomikrobiologische Untersuchungen VI. Über das Vorkommen konservierter toter und lebender Bakterienzellen in Salzgesteinen

Bien

Schwartz

1965

J of Basic Microbiology

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Paleoecological Observations of the Wellington Salt (Hutchinson Member)

Cited by 10 publications

References 0 publications

Microscopic Identification of Prokaryotes in Modern and Ancient Halite, Saline Valley and Death Valley, California

Microscopic Identification of Prokaryotes in Modern and Ancient Halite, Saline Valley and Death Valley, California

Using sedimentology to address the marine or continental origin of the Permian Hutchinson Salt Member of Kansas

Geomikrobiologische Untersuchungen VI. Über das Vorkommen konservierter toter und lebender Bakterienzellen in Salzgesteinen

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