Trace fossils Zoophycos and Chondrites from the tertiary of New Zealand

Abstract

Two new trace-fossil occurrences are described from the New Zealand Tertiary succession. They consist of a large variety of Zoophycos from the Oligocene near Murchison, and the association of a large and small variety of Chondrites from the Lower - Middle Paleocene of the Wairarapa. Also, fucoidal markings in the Upper Paleocene - Lower Eocene of the Wairarapa are identified as sections across the Zoophycos septa. The Zoophycos structures are interpreted as the product of systematic mining activity by a worm-like animal in the sediment. Similar Chondrites associations occur in flysch sediments of Austria. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.