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Vegetation-induced sedimentary structures (VISS) are primary structures formed by the interaction of detrital sediment with in situ plants. VISS provide physical evidence of vegetation's fundamental role in mediating sediment accumulation and erosion in clastic depositional systems. Despite the abundance of modern VISS, descriptions from the ancient record are surprisingly rare. Analysis of fossil forests in floodplain strata of the Pennsylvanian Joggins Formation has identified seven types of VISS. Five hydrodynamic types comprise simple forms developed around a single plant (centroclinal cross-strata, scratch circles, upturned beds) and complex forms where structures have amalgamated between several plants (coalesced scour fills, scour-and-mound beds). Two types (mudstone-filled hollows, downturned beds) form by the decay of an entombed plant and represent infilling of an empty hollow and/or soft-sediment deformation. Hydrodynamic types are present in both dryland and wetland settings, whereas decay-related types occur only in dryland settings where the water table was perennially or periodically low. VISS represent significant accumulations of sediment and are present in a high proportion of Joggins Formation strata. The paucity of descriptions from the ancient record suggests that these structures have been overlooked or misinterpreted as strictly hydrodynamic. Recognition of VISS in early to middle Palaeozoic strata may provide an important insight into the distribution of early land plants in oxidizing environments where organic material was not preserved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rich fossil assemblage discovered from the classic Pennsylvanian locality of Joggins, Nova Scotia, is here described for the first time. The 2 m-thick Hebert sandstone, within the lower Joggins Formation of early Langsettian age, is the most productive stratum at Joggins of terrestrial tetrapods and the pulmonate gastropod Dendropupa vetusta exclusive of the historic fossil forest locality of Dawson and Lyell, and the most productive Pennsylvanian locality in the world of the large unionoid bivalve genus Archanodon. Although the land snail–archanodontid bivalve–tetrapod assemblage of the Hebert Sandstone comprises a unique late Paleozoic terrestrial dryland biota, individual taxa were not endemic to drylands alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Early Mississippian (known as 'Romer's Gap') marks the beginning of a critical point in tetrapod history as they transitioned from dominantly aquatic to more terrestrial ecosystems. This paleoecological expansion set the stage for the radiation of all terrestrial tetrapod crown groups. The exact timing for the transition into freshwater continental environments is poorly understood. However, new discoveries in Scotland, England, and Nova Scotia, represent rare exceptions; offering a glimpse into coastal terrestrial ecologies during 'Romer's Gap'. These sites have evidence for a marine-water connection suggesting a coastal paleogeographic position. In contrast, Early Mississippian sedimentary deposits of the Moncton Subbasin in southern New Brunswick (NB) are interpreted as freshwater intra-continental conditions (lacustrine, wetland, fluvial, alluvial settings). A single stratigraphic horizon in the Albert Formation (Hiram Brook Member), exposed near Norton, NB, has yielded abundant tetrapod footprints. Preliminary assessments suggest at least four trackway ichnogenera: cf. Characichnos, cf.Matthewichnus, cf.Hylopus, and cf.Batrachichnus and a fifth trackway that may represent a new ichnogenus. Footprints range in size from 1 to 3 cm, suggesting that tetrapods were smaller than those documented from near time-equivalent sites in Nova Scotia, but are comparable in size to skeletal fossils described from younger strata in Scotland. These footprints are interpreted to be preserved in interfluvial crevasse splays associated with wetland forests dominated by Lepidodendropsis lycopods and Aneimites ferns preserved in their ecological context. The relatively large sample size of footprints suggests that a community of tetrapods were present and part of a diverse ecosystem, adapted to terrestrial and semi-aquatic continental environments in the earliest Mississippian. Additional trackways from slightly younger redbed playa lake deposits in the Sussex Group suggest tetrapods were also venturing into semi-arid continental environments. The ichnofossil assemblage from NB demonstrates considerable variation in ichnotaxa morphology and paleoenvironmental context from sites of approximately equivalent age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Carboniferous Joggins Fossil Cliffs UNESCO World Heritage Site, located in Nova Scotia, has long been known for its extensive paleobiodiversity. The ichnofossil record at Joggins is less known compared to body fossils. The late citizen scientist Donald Reid (known as "The Keeper of the Cliffs") contributed significantly to our understanding of the fossil record at Joggins. In his extensive ichnological collections is a morphologically unique "shrimp shaped" cubichnia (resting trace). The trace fossil is associated with faint invertebrate trackways that lead up to the resting trace and verifies the identification of this specimen as an invertebrate resting trace. The trace fossil was recovered from the upper Joggins Formation (876 m above the base) and was found in fine-grained rippled sandstones that are interpreted to be from an Open-Water to Poorly-Drained Lithofacies Assemblage transition. Horseshoe crab walking traces (Kouphichnium) are well known from this trace fossil horizon. The trace fossil specimen also has examples of invertebrate resting traces Selenichnites and Rusophycus preserved in convex hyporelief, that are commonly ascribed to horseshoe crabs and crustaceans, respectively, when found in freshwater paleoenvironments. This stratigraphic interval has previously yielded body fossils of Pygocephalus shrimp preserved in organic rich limestones and sideritic ironstone nodules. The Joggins Cliffs have yielded an abundance of trace fossils ascribed to horseshoe crabs, yet only two of their body fossils. Pygocephalus shrimp body fossils are common at Joggins, yet no trace fossils have yet been assigned to this invertebrate and perhaps have gone unrecognized. We interpret the trace fossil to have been produced by a Pygocephalus shrimp based on its morphological similarities to known body fossils from the Joggins Formation that are found in proximity to the trace fossil horizon. This new trace fossil morphology likely warrants a new ichnotaxon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Markov Chain analysis was applied to the description of the megascopic lithologic transitions in Pennsylvanian-age eastern Kentucky coals. Coal lithology modeling can be problematic as individual lithotypes can represent near-instantaneous events (vitrain), prolonged degradation (durain), or fire-induced loss of previously deposited lithologies (fusain). Each of the latter lithotypes, potentially representing vastly different amounts of time, could be of the same thickness. Therefore, equal thickness does not necessarily imply equal time. Probability transform matrices that employ uniform lithotype thicknesses were used, allowing transitions between like lithotypes; embedded Markov Chains, thereby only considering transitions between different lithotypes; and continuous-time Markov Chains were employed in the assessment of a section of the No. 5 Block coal (Pennsylvanian Breathitt Group, Martin County, Kentucky). Embedded Markov Chains could successfully simulate the lithologic transitions. A Monte Carlo random process was programmed to simulate thickness variations of lithotypes between the transitions. The proposed hybrid model of Monte Carlo–Markov Chain was able to predict the random pattern that underlies lithotypes transitions and thickness. The hybrid Monte Carlo–Markov Chain technique proved to be effective in the case study in simulating both the lithologic thickness variations and transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1125-m-thick type section of the Pennsylvanian Boss Point Formation is well exposed along the shore of the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia. We provide the first comprehensive account of the entirety of this formation, which comprises nearly one-third of the stratigraphic thickness of the Joggins Fossil Cliffs UNESCO World Heritage Site. The basal Chignecto Bay Member (0-91.5 m) is composed of redbeds, single-storey channel bodies with northerly paleoflow, and thin palustrine limestones. The middle Ward Point Member (91.5-951.7 m) contains up to 16 megacycles composed of alternations between thick packages of braided fluvial sandstone and fine-grained deposits. Although regional studies of the Boss Point Formation suggest that the fine-grained deposits are largely composed of lacustrine sediments, these intervals consist largely of poorly drained and well-drained floodplain deposits in the type section. The facies variations and southeast-directed paleoflow in the Ward Point Member record modest uplift associated with the growth of the salt-cored Minudie Anticline. The North Reef Member (951.7-1125 m) is composed of redbeds and two distinctive multistorey channel bodies. This uppermost member records a shift to more arid, oxidizing conditions, was the precursor to a major phase of salt withdrawal, and represents a transition to the overlying Little River Formation. The sedimentological framework, revised stratigraphy, and detailed measured section and map will provide a foundation for future study of this remarkable Pennsylvanian exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]