CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Rosselia socialis were studied in the Ordovician Áspero Formation, in order to explore their sedimentary and diagenetic fingerprint in the substrate. These trace fossils are found forming crowded Rosselia ichnofabrics, described for the first time in pre-Quaternary strata of Argentina. We identified three microstructures corresponding to the central shaft complex, the burrow lining and the host rock of a trace fossil assigned to a terebellid polychaete. The infill of the central shaft complex represents downwards advection of surficial deposits located close to the burrow opening: fine-grained fecal mounds, and sandy mounds and lag deposits of manipulated, non-ingested material. Abundant phylosillicates in the central shaft complex and burrow lining evidence mechanical selection of particles with high specific surface area by the tracemaker. The fine-grained composition and multilayered organically bound structure of the burrow lining generate an impermeable and reinforced burrow, which combined with crowding grants physical and chemical stability to its inhabitants. This is especially advantageous in the high energy environments with shifting substrates where crowded Rosselia ichnofabrics are typically found. The central shaft complex and burrow lining are enriched in secondary iron minerals with respect to the host rock. Mineralized bacterial structures in the burrow lining evidence biologically induced precipitation of iron oxides and possibly sulphides. This coupled with the distribution of iron minerals in the burrow lining and central shaft complex suggests the occurrence of early diagenetic processes of organic matter decomposition and precipitation of authigenic iron minerals in Rosselia burrows, as observed in modern terebellid polychaetes.