Glacier National Park Geology & Paleontology: Part 3 - Appekunny and Grinnell

*Please remember that all collecting of rocks, minerals, plants, fossils or cultural objects (i.e. arrowheads) from National Park Service land is illegal and punishable by a fine*

THE APPEKUNNY AND GRINNELL FORMATIONS

The Appekunny Formation is a 1.375 to 1.4 Ga mudstone, and is often referred to as the Appekunny argillite. This formation is the approximate temporal counterpart of the Grayson Shale in the Big Belt Mountains (Fedonkin and Yochelson, 2002) and can appear green in color, due to the large amount of chlorite minerals.

Mudcracks and ripple marks in the Appekunny Formation

Stromatolites were reported from the upper Appekunny Formation (Earhart et al., 1989), although no other reports have been made of stromatolites from the Appekunny argillite (Horodyski, 1985b). Authentic microfossils and pseudomicrofossils are also known from this formation, first reported by Horodyski (1981, 1993b) from dark gray to black fine-grained muddy sandstone, sandy mudstone and mudstones. The pseudomicrofossils appear to be organic envelopes and spiral impressions, while the authentic microfossils appear to be poorly preserved sphaeromorphs (Horodyski, 1993b). These sphaeromorphs are too poorly developed for general assignment, but are within the size range of prokaryotes (Fedonkin and Yochelson, 2002). Fedonkin et al. (1994) describe several types of sphaeromorphs, dubiofossils and pseudofossils from the Appekunny Formation. They conclude that some pseudofossils found in this formation could be the result of sedimentary processes that are unknown today. However, they note that several of the surfaces were
once “alive” and merit further study.

In 1972, Horodyski discovered a fossil he referred to as “problematic bedding-plane markings, each resembling a string of flat beads” near Apikuni Mountain (formerly Appekunny Mountain; Horodyski, 1982a, 1983a, 1985a, 1993a,b). The validity and taxonomy of these markings were questioned for years by Horodyski and others. Often referred to as dubiofossils, in 1991 they were interpreted for the first time, as fossils of a megascopic organism. Yochelson et al. (1993) interpreted the remains to be “metaphyte or metazoan body fossils and/or trace fossils, although evidence of their organic origin is still not conclusive.” After the death of Horodyski, Fedonkin and Yochelson (2002) continued to work on the “string-of-bead” fossils. Together they concluded that the remains belonged to a new type of eucaryote, which they named Horodyskia moniliformis (above, right; Fedonkin and Yochelson, 2002), in honor of the contributions of Horodyski to Precambrian paleontology. Similar fossils have also been recognized from rocks of comparable age in western Australia. Growth stages have been recognized for Horodyskia and its presence in an argillite signifies that it would have possessed a highly specialized mode of life. These fossil organisms are considerably older than other accepted multicellular organisms, making this a significant discovery.

Mudcracks in the Grinnell Formation (above)

The Precambrian Grinnell Formation is composed of an argillite, similar to the Appekunny Formation. The Grinnell argillite is rich in hematite, with occasional green banding due to the presence of chlorite (above). Fossils from this formation are rare, with only three areas documented thus far. One occurrence of mound-shaped stromatolites was discovered in the summer of 1953 along Going-to-the-Sun Road in the St. Mary Valley (left). These stromatolites were identified as Collenia symmetrica, Cryptozoon occidentale and Collenia undosa (Rezak, 1957). Mound-shaped stromatolites are also found in two locations on Mt. Henkel (Horodyski, 1983a, 1989). The scarcity of these fossils is most likely due to the high rate of deposition of terrigenous sediment that would have clouded the waters where these fossils attempted to survive. The algal components of stromatolites require clear waters in order to utilize photosynthesis. A high content of silt in the water would likely have halted this process.

Ripple marks in the Grinnell
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Earhart, R.L., Raup, O.B., Whipple, J.W., Isom, A.L. and Davis, G.A., 1989, Geologic maps, cross section, and photographs of the central part of Glacier National Park, Montana: U.S. Geological Survey, Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map I-1508-B, scale 1:69500.

Fedonkin, M.A., Yochelson, E.L. and Horodyski, R.J., 1994, Ancient Metazoa: National Geographic Research and Exploration, v. 10, p. 200-223.

Fedonkin, M.A. and Yochelson, E.L., 2002, Middle Proterozoic (1.5 Ga) Horodyskia moniliformis Yochelson and Fedonkin, the Oldest Known Tissue-Grade Colonial Eucaryote: Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology 94, 29 p.

Horodyski, R.J., 1981, Pseudomicrofossils and altered microfossils from a Middle Proterozoic Shale, Belt Supergroup, Montana: Precambrian Research, v. 16, p. 143-154.

Horodyski, R.J., 1982a, Problematic bedding-plane markings from the Middle Proterozoic Appekunny Argillite, Belt Supergroup, Northwestern Montana: Journal of Paleontology, v. 56, p. 882-889.

Horodyski, R.J., 1983a, Sedimentary geology and stromatolites of the Middle Proterozoic Belt Supergroup, Glacier National Park, Montana: Precambrian Research, v. 20, p. 391-425.

Horodyski, R.J., 1985a, Stromatolites and Paleontology of the Middle Proterozoic Belt Supergroup, Glacier National Park, Montana, in Whipple, J.W., O.B. Raup, Kelty, T., Davis, G., and Horodyski, R., eds., A field guidebook to the geology of Glacier National Park, Montana and vicinity: Society for Sedimentary Geologist (SEPM) midyear meeting field guide, 19 p.

Horodyski, R.J., 1985b, Stromatolites of the Middle Proterozoic Belt Supergroup, Glacier National Park, Montana: Summary and a comment on the Relationships between their Morphology and Paleoenvironment, in Toomey, D.F., and Nitecki, M.H., eds., Paleoalgology: Contemporary Research and Applications: Berlin-Heildelberg, p. 34-39.

Horodyski, R.J., 1989, Stromatolites of the Belt Supergroup, Glacier National Park, Montana, in Winston, D., Horodyski, R.J., and Whipple, J.W., eds., Middle Proterozoic Belt Supergroup, Western Montana: 28th International Geological Congress, Field Trip Guidebook T334, p. 27-
42.

Horodyski, R.J., 1993a, Paleontology of Proterozoic shales and mudstones: Examples from the Belt Supergroup, Chuar Group, and Pahrump Group, western U.S.A: Precambrian Research v. 61, no. 3-4, p. 241-278.

Horodyski, R.J., 1993b, Precambrian paleontology of the western conterminous United States and northwestern New Mexico, in Reed, J.C., ed., Precambrian of the Conterminous United States: Boulder, Geological Society of America, Geology of North America, v. C-2, p. 558-565
(microfiche appendix of 77 pages).

Rezak, R., 1957, Stromatolites of the Belt Series in Glacier National Park and vicinity, Montana: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 294-D, p. 127-154.

Yochelson, E.L., Fedonkin, M.A. and Horodyski, R.A., 1993, Evidence of life in the Appekunny Formation (1.2-1.4 BY), Glacier National Park, Montana. Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 25, p. 268A.

Glacier National Park Geology & Paleontology: Part 1 - background

Since I have just returned from my honeymoon to Glacier National Park, I thought it would be fun to talk about some of the geology and paleontology from that part of the world. A little background on why I am talking about this first. I am not calling myself an authority by any stretch of the mind, don't get me wrong! I worked in Glacier during the summer of 2005 as the park paleontologist and Geoscientists-in-the-Park sponsored by the Geological Society of America GeoCorps internship, in association with the National Park Service Geological Resources Division. I was hired to write the paleontological resource report for the park and spent 5 months living in the park, which was awesome. During that time I learned quite a bit about the geology and paleontology of the park and published one paper giving an overview of the park paleontology (where the info for this series is coming from if you would like to read ahead). Another interesting side affect of the project was learning about all of the interesting people who have worked in the park. So I thought I would start this series off with a post about the people who did most of the paleontological work that is known for the park. I hope this series is interesting and useful to some.

*Please remember that all collecting of rocks, minerals, plants, fossils or cultural objects (i.e. arrowheads) from National Park Service land is illegal and punishable by a fine*

PALEONTOLOGISTS IN THE PARK: AN HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Since before Glacier National Parks establishment in 1910 as the tenth national park in the United States, there have been seven paleontologists who devoted research time to the paleontology of the park. The first major paleontological research was conducted during the summer of 1908 by Charles Doolittle Walcott (right; 1906, 1908), who had been appointed the new Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in 1907 (Yochelson, 2001). His panoramic photographs of the region from these excursions assisted George Bird Grinnell, who was a major player in the establishment of the park, to persuade congress to preserve the area. Walcott returned to the area in 1914, after his discovery of Cambrian fossils in the Burgess Shale of British Columbia, with his findings being published later that year (Walcott, 1914).

Two paleontologists, Carroll and Mildred Fenton (left), continued the work during the 1930s, publishing four papers on the area from 1931 to 1939 (Fenton and Fenton 1931, 1933, 1937; Fenton, 1939). In the 1950s, Richard Rezak (1953, 1954, 1957) conducted his dissertation research within the park and worked with Clyde P. Ross on a publication of the geology and paleontology of the park for the U.S. Geological Survey (Ross and Rezak, 1959). Rezak also wrote the first summary of stromatolites known from the Belt Series of GLAC.

The 1970s-1980s seem to be the peak of paleontological research within Glacier. During the 1970s to early 1980s, Brian White worked extensively on the columnar stromatolites found in the upper Altyn Formation. White published six reports (White, 1970, 1974a,b, 1979, 1984; White and Pedone, 1975) about these stromatolites, along with reports of microfossils from the Altyn Formation.

The 1970s also brought with it the man who would complete the bulk of the research done on the parks paleontological resources, to date. Robert J. Horodyski completed his dissertation on the stromatolites and paleoecology of the park in 1973 (Horodyski, 1973). From 1975 to 1994, he went on to publish and co-author over 15 reports on many aspects of the paleontology of the park. In the mid-1990s, Horodyski began to work on pseudofossils from the Appekunny Formation with Mikhail A. Fedonkin of the Russian Academy of Science and Ellis L. Yochelson of the U.S. Geological Survey and Smithsonian Institution (right). Horodyski’s untimely death in 1995 brought an abrupt end to his extensive research within the park. After Horodyski’s death, Fedonkin and Yochelson continued to work in the Appekunny Formation within the park. They have since published their findings on Horodyskia moniliformis (below; Yochelson and Fedonkin, 2000; Fedonkin and Yochelson, 2002), possibly one of the oldest known eucaryotes.

Fedonkin, M.A. and Yochelson, E.L., 2002, Middle Proterozoic (1.5 Ga) Horodyskia moniliformis Yochelson and Fedonkin, the Oldest Known Tissue-Grade Colonial Eucaryote: Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology 94, 29 p.

Fenton, C.L. and Fenton, M.A., 1931, Algae and algal beds in the Belt Series of Glacier National Park: Journal of Geology, v. 39, p. 670-686.

Fenton, C.L. and Fenton, M.A., 1933, Algal reefs or bioherms in the Belt series of Montana: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 44, p.1135-1142.

Fenton, C.L. and Fenton, M.A., 1937, Belt Series of the north: Stratigraphy, sedimentation, paleontology: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 48, p. 1873-1969.

Fenton, C.L., 1939, Sea floors of Glacier National Park: Scientific Monthly, v. 49, p. 215-226.

Horodyski, R.J., 1973, Stromatolites and paleoecology of parts of the Middle Proterozoic Belt Supergroup, Glacier National Park, Montana [Ph.D. dissertation]: Los Angeles, University of California, 264 p.

Rezak, R., 1953, Algal Zones in the Belt Series in the Glacier National Park region, Montana: Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, v. 64, p. 1553.

Rezak, R., 1954, Stromatolite classification in the Belt Series: Science, v. 119, no. 3097, p. 659.

Rezak, R., 1957, Stromatolites of the Belt Series in Glacier National Park and vicinity, Montana: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 294-D, p. 127-154.

Ross, C.P., and Rezak, R., 1959, The rocks and fossils of Glacier National Park: The story of their origin and history: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 294-K, p. 401-439.

Walcott, C.D., 1906, Algonkian formations of northwestern Montana: Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, v. 17, p. 1-28.

Walcott, C.D., 1908, Cambrian sections of the Cordilleran area: Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, v. 53, no. 5, p. 167-230.

Walcott, C.D., 1914, Cambrian Geology and Paleontology. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, v. 64, no. 2, p. 77-156.

White, B., 1970, Algal stromatolites, depositional environments and age of the Altyn Formation of Montana: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 2, p. 719-720.

White, B., 1974a, Microfossils from the Late Precambrian Altyn Formation of Glacier National Park, Montana: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 6, p. 85.

White, B., 1974b, Microfossils from the Late Precambrian Altyn Formation of Montana: Nature, v. 247, p. 452-453.

White, B., 1979, Stratigraphy and microfossils of the Precambrian Altyn Formation of Glacier National Park, Montana, in Linn, R.M., ed., Proceedings of the First Conference of Scientific Research in the National Parks, v. 2, p. 727-735.

White, B., 1984, Stromatolites and associated facies in shallowing-upward cycles from the Middle Proterozoic Altyn Formation of Glacier National Park, Montana: Precambrian Research, v. 24, no. 1, p. 1-26.

White, B. and Pedone, V.A., 1975, A new microfossil locality in the Precambrian Altyn Formation of Montana: American Association of Petroleum Geologist- Society for Sedimentary Geologist (AAPG-SEPM), Abstracts with Programs, v. 2, p. 80-81.

Yochelson, E.L. and Fedonkin, M.A., 2000, A new tissue-grade organism 1.5 billion years old from Montana: Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, v. 113, no. 3, p. 843-847.

Yochelson, E. L., 2001, Smithsonian Institution Secretary, Charles Doolittle Walcott: Kent, Kent State University Press, 589 p.