Paleocene methane seep and wood-fall marine environments from Spitsbergen, Svalbard

摘要: Abstract Here we describe a Paleocene-aged methane seep locality and an associated layer of sunken wood, from Fossildalen on Spitsbergen, Svalbard, hosted in offshore to prodelta siltstones the Basilika Formation, Van Mijenfjorden Group. The fossiliferous carbonates were first identified museum collections expeditions 1920s 1970s, subsequently sampled as ex-situ blocks field 2015. isotopically light composition (δ13C values approaching − 50‰ V-PDB), characteristic petrographic textures combined with archaeal lipids are consistent their formation at fossil hydrocarbon environment. invertebrate fauna within is moderate diversity (17 species) has shallow water affinity. Wood specimens contain borings shells wood-boring bivalves. dominated by species thyasirid genus Conchocele, common other seeps similar age. data shed new onto history seepage evolution ecology wood-fall faunas during latest Cretaceous–earliest Paleogene time interval.