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53rd Annual Meeting of the AASP-The Palynological Society Virtual Event 9-13th August

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  • Conference Title – 53rd Annual Meeting of the AASP-The Palynological Society Virtual Event
  • Topics – palynology, biostratigraphy
  • Organiser – AASP – The Palynological Society
  • Dates – 9-13th August 2021
  • Location – Virtual Event
53rd Annual Meeting of the AASP The Palynological Society Virtual Event Logo

The annual joint AASP (American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologist) – The Palynological Society is always a fantastic conference for palynologists to attend. This year, the 53rd Annual Meeting, will be the first time the conference has been run virtually.

This virtual event will enable palynologists to meet up safely and to exchange knowledge, hopefully as a temporary measure until in-person conferences can resume. The Natural History Museum will virtually host the event, serving conference talks via the GOTO Webinar platform. The committee has decided on shorter session lengths to combat “online fatigue”, as well as recording most of the sessions. This will enable people to dip in and out and review the videos at a later date, whenever is convenient.

Technical Sessions

There are two themed technical sessions this year, in additional to a memorial session. Additionally, posters are accepted for any topic associated with palynology.

1 – Beyond Miscellaneous: The Life and Legacy of Vaughn M. Bryant
Chair: Tim Riley

Keynote speaker: Kristin D. Sobolik, Office of the Chancellor, University of Missouri-St. Louis, USA “Vaughn M. Bryant: Words of Wisdom, Lessons Learned, and a Life Well Lived”.

2 – In situ spores and pollen
Chair: Evelyn Kustatscher; Co-chair: Hendrik Nowak

Keynote speaker: Jiří Bek, Department of Palaeobiology and Palaeoecology v.v.i., Institute of Geology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic “Some aspects of Paleozoic in situ spores”.

3 – Precambrian Palynology  
Chair: Evelyn A. M. Sanchez; Co-chair: Thomas Rich Fairchild

Keynote speaker: Dr. Kathleen Grey, Geological Survey of Western Australia “Review of Australian Precambrian palynology”.

PetroStrat’s Thomas Demchuk is presenting!

Thomas Demchuck from our Houston Office will present a talk titled “Marine deposition in the up-dip Wilcox of eastern Texas: age control and paleoenvironmental implications”. This talk summarises a joint project undertaken with Astra Stratigraphics and University of Texas at Austin.

  • Talk Title – Marine deposition in the up-dip Wilcox of eastern Texas: age control and paleoenvironmental implications
  • Speaker – Thomas Demchuk
  • Date– 11th August 2021
  • Time – 12:40 CDT (18:40 UK BST)

Abstract – “Marine deposition in the up-dip Wilcox of eastern Texas: age control and paleoenvironmental implications”

Demchuk, T. D. (PetroStrat, TX), Denison, C. N. (Astra Stratigraphics, TX), Flaig, P. P. (University of Texas at Austin, TX), Ambrose, W. A (University of Texas at Austin). and Campion, N. (PetroStrat, UK)

In Texas, recognition of tidally-dominated deposits at outcrop and in the subsurface in the Wilcox (Paleocene) interval, is displacing long-held views that fluvial depositional processes were pervasive. New palynological and sedimentological data from 1730 ft (~530 m) of slabbed core from Leon County, eastern Texas, provide further evidence for tidal influences. In this core, repetitive coarsening-upward parasequences that resemble shoreface profiles, but have tidal sedimentary structures throughout, are the products of progradation along a linear, tidally-dominated coastline. When combined with previous accounts of tidal sedimentary structures and marine palynomorphs in outcrops and core from the Sabine Uplift in East Texas and northwestern Louisiana, it is clear that marine deposition was prevalent throughout much of the Wilcox succession in this area.

In the deepest part of the core, siltstone-dominated lithologies from 2350-2140 ft (205 ft), attributable to the Midway Group, have produced rare specimens of Apectodinium, suggesting a Selandian age at the oldest, rather than the Danian age typically assigned to the Midway. The lower part of the Wilcox Group, 2145-1883.3 ft (261.7 ft) consists of shelf shales and coarsening upwards tidally-dominated parasequences. Rather sparse dinocyst assemblages include rare Apectodinium, again indicating a Selandian age.

Interval 1883.3-1490.7 ft (392.6 ft) is dominated by a series of thick paleosols, including lignites, with intervening tidally-dominated units. This is postulated to be equivalent to the lignite-bearing Naborton-Dolet Hills-Cow Bayou formations which are open-pit mined in the Sabine Uplift and northwestern Louisiana.

A tidally-dominated interval, 1490.7-954.1 ft (536.6 ft), is a complex succession of shelf siltstones, tidal point-bars, tidal parasequences, and thin paleosols. Apectodinium continues to be sparse and sporadic. A thick, multi-story channel sandstone, 954.1-840.5 ft (113.6 ft), interpreted as a tidal channel complex, transitions upwards into shelf siltstone. A further tidal channel complex, 807.6-740.6 ft (67 ft) transitions upwards to a succession of tidal flats and tidal point bars with rare thin paleosols that continues to the top of continuous core at 628 ft.

Pollen assemblages, particularly taxa of the Momipites-Caryapollenites lineage illustrate that there are paleolatitudinal differences in species presence and ranges in comparison to the original biozonation defined in Wyoming. Along with species appearances and extinctions, quantitative events associated with certain species, likely related to paleoclimatic changes along the Gulf Coast, have significant chronostratigraphic value.

This core represents a dynamic paleoenvironmental setting that fluctuated from shallow shelf to a tidally-dominated coastline to lower coastal plain, in a predominantly marine rather than fluvial paleoenvironmental setting. With a coastline either in the vicinity of the core location or mostly to the north or northeast, paleogeographic concepts of extensive coastal plains far to the south during Wilcox deposition need to be revised

Registration

Member – US$5.00
Non-Member – US$10.00

There are also bursaries to enable students from lower-middle, upper-middle Economies. To apply for the free registration.

53rd Annual Meeting of the AASP The Palynological Society Virtual Event Logo Featured Image
53rd Annual Meeting of the AASP The Palynological Society Virtual Event Logo Featured Image
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