Abstract
The Permian glaciomarine rocks of Tasmania contain unusually large trepostome bryozoan colonies that encrust soft sediments. These colonies have initially attached to hard substrates such as dropstones or brachiopod shells and have subsequently grown outwards across the sediment paleosurface. Specimen diameter is generally 150–350 mm, with one incomplete specimen with a radius of 400 mm. At least two species form this sediment encrusting morphology: Stenopora crinita Lonsdale 1845 and S. ovata Lonsdale 1844. Both of these species more commonly exhibit branching growth forms and the sediment encrusting forms are developed in offshore environments where slow sediment accumulation rates have allowed these low-profile colonies to flourish. This paper details the features of one well preserved 350 mm S. crinita specimen, along with a discussion of other material, and the significance of these forms with respect to depositional environment.
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Acknowledgements
Field activities were supported by a University of Canterbury Geological Sciences Internal Research Grant, and field work was carried out under a DPIWE Earth Materials collection permit (ES08091). Thin sections were prepared by Rob Spiers, Geological Sciences, UC.
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Reid, C.M. (2013). Large Sediment Encrusting Trepostome Bryozoans from the Permian of Tasmania, Australia. In: Ernst, A., Schäfer, P., Scholz, J. (eds) Bryozoan Studies 2010. Lecture Notes in Earth System Sciences, vol 143. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16411-8_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16411-8_16
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