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Journal article
PALEOENVIRONMENTAL AND PALEOBIOGEOGRAPHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF A MIDDLE PLEISTOCENE MOLLUSC ASSEMBLAGE FROM THE MARINE TERRACES OF BAIA DAS PIPAS, SOUTHWEST ANGOLA
Journal of paleontology, v 87(6), pp 1016-1040
01 Nov 2013
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Abstract
Quaternary raised marine terraces containing the remains of diverse, shallow water marine invertebrate faunas are widespread across the coast of Angola. These deposits and faunas have not been studied in the same detail as contemporaneous features in northwest and southernmost Africa. We analyzed the fossil assemblages and sedimentology of two closely spaced middle Pleistocene marine terrace deposits in Baia das Pipas, southwest Angola. This revealed 46 gastropod and 29 bivalve species, along with scleractinian corals, encrusting bryozoans, polychaete tubes, barnacles, and echinoids. The fauna is characteristic of intertidal and nearshore rocky substrates and sandy soft-bottom habitats. Sedimentological analysis is consistent with faunal data and indicates an upper shoreface paleoenvironment along a gravel coast. This diverse fauna stands out as a rare example of a marine Pleistocene assemblage from over 6,000 km of the West African coast. The assemblage is dominated by extant tropical West African molluscs, including species from the "Senegalese fauna" that colonized northern Africa and beyond during Pleistocene interstadials. Additionally, as along the modern coast of the Namibe Desert, the influence of the cool-water Benguela Current is apparent in the paleofauna by the occurrence of a few temperate species. The distribution and thermal tolerances of extant species identified in the Pipas fauna indicate that this region experienced similar climatic and oceanographic conditions as that of the present during this interstadial. Seasonal temperature varied between similar to 20 and 28 degrees C and resulted from upwelling in this tropical setting.
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- Title
- PALEOENVIRONMENTAL AND PALEOBIOGEOGRAPHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF A MIDDLE PLEISTOCENE MOLLUSC ASSEMBLAGE FROM THE MARINE TERRACES OF BAIA DAS PIPAS, SOUTHWEST ANGOLA
- Creators
- Jocelyn A. Sessa - American Museum of Natural HistoryPedro M. Callapez - University of CoimbraPedro A. Dinis - University of CoimbraAustin J. W. Hendy - Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
- Publication Details
- Journal of paleontology, v 87(6), pp 1016-1040
- Publisher
- Cambridge Univ Press
- Number of pages
- 25
- Grant note
- Office of the Undersecretary of Science Fundacao da Ciencia e Tecnologia; Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT) Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (Panama); Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Smithsonian Institution Centro de Geofisica da Universidade de Coimbra Jon A. and Beverly L. Thompson Endowment, Florida Museum of Natural History Instituto do Mar-Centro do Mar e Ambiente, Portugal
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science (BEES)
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000327359000005
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84901023051
- Other Identifier
- 991021013186704721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Paleontology