Marine Geology- Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam - Printed in The Netherlands

Short Communication
SOME P R O B L E M A T I C S H A L L O W - M A R I N E S T R U C T U R E S

A. A. MANTEN

Utrecht (The Netherlands) 1

(Received April 12, 1966)

SUMMARY

The lowermost Devonian beds in Gotland (Sweden) were deposited in a very

shallow marine environment, close to the coast. In these beds three structures were
observed, whose mode of formation cannot be explained by the author.

INTRODUCTION

Gotland is a Swedish island in the Baltic. The series of strata found in Gotland
forms part of a large Palaeozoic basin, the oldest deposits of which occur in the main-
lands of Sweden and Russia, whereas the younger sediments (Silurian, Devonian)
are found closer to the centre of the basin, including the islands of Gotland and
Saaremaa (Osel). The author is engaged in a study of the reef limestones in the
Middle Palaeozoic succession in Gotland, but has also paid some attention to the
other rocks of the island, particularly as far as they can be of help in understanding
the palaeogeographical and palaeoecological conditions under which the reefs of
Gotland formed.
The Palaeozoic of Gotland is subdivided into several stratigraphic units,
which have an average dip of about 0o.30 , in a southeasterly direction, and thus crop
out in belts that generally have a northeast-southwest orientation. The youngest
rocks are exposed in the south. The Burgsvik Beds, with which this paper is con-
cerned, underlie the Hamra and Sundre limestones, the latter being the youngest
Palaeozoic deposits present in Gotland.

THE UPPER BURGSVIK BEDS

The Burgsvik Beds are exposed in southern Gotland. In the west, they reach
a thickness of about 47 m, eastwards they thin out rather rapidly. This paper deals

1 Postal address: Cortezlaan 9, Utrecht (The Netherlands).

Marine Geol., 4 (1966) 227-232

228 A.A. MANTEN

Fig.1. Upper Burgsvik sandstone with varying thickness of the layers. The thinner layers generally
contain a higher fraction of silt- and clay-sizematerial. Quarry at Valar.

!~iii!iiiiii!ii!iii~iiiiii~iiii~i ~ii! ~ii

Fig.2. Local occurrence of claystone, in the shape of an elongated lense, in between sandstone. Upper
Burgsvik Beds, Valar.

only with the Upper Burgsvik Beds, about 7 m thick, in the west of southern Gotland.
The age of these beds is presumably lowermost Devonian (Downtonian). They are
not tectonically affected.
Lithologically, the Upper Burgsvik Beds consist of oolite, sandstone (Fig.l),
argillaceous shaly sandstone and some claystone. The uppermost oolite layer occurs
throughout most of the area where the Upper Burgsvik Beds are exposed, and con-
stitutes a good index horizon. The other oolite layers are not continuous, as is also
the case with the occurrences of claystone, but to a much stronger degree (Fig.2).
The Upper Burgsvik Beds have characteristics that suggest formation very
close to the shore line on a beach faintly sloping toward an open sea and affected
Marine Geol., 4 (1966) 227-232
SOME PROBLEMATIC SHALLOW-MARINESTRUCTURES 229

Fig.3. Transverse section through Upper Burgsvik sandstone, presumably the upper part of a beach
deposit. Cross-bedding in an alternation of light and dark grey lamellae; the cut of which indicates
that the upper part probably belonged to the filling sediment of a small depression in the beach. At
the top an erosion level. Quarry Hans6n and Co, Valar.

Fig.4. Part of the bottom bedding plane of a layer of Upper Burgsvik sandstone. Quarry Hans6n
and Co., Valar. The surface shows the filling sediment of pothole-like excavations in the surface of
the underlying layer. The excavations may be either circular or irregular in outline, generally 7-30
cm; they are shallow, and filled with thin layers which generally follow the contours of the excavation,
very occasionally the upper bedding plane of such a layer is vaguely rippled. The structures probably
originated on an open beach as a result of interference of water currents.

b y t i d a l action. These include: (1) c r o s s - b e d d i n g (Fig.3); (2) ripple m a r k s ; (3) some

offshore bars: (4) oolites; (5) occurrence o f r o u n d e d pebbles o f oolite in the s a n d s t o n e
a n d oolite; (6) sorting to size o f p a r t l y r o u n d e d fossils at the t r a n s i t i o n f r o m the
s a n d s t o n e to the u p p e r m o s t oolite layer; (7) a high percentage o f lamellibranchs
Marine Geol., 4 (1966) 227-232
230 A.A. MANTEN

N 0 1 2 3 4 5cm

\"7
J

Fig.5. Part of a dendritic pattern of rill marks in the bottom plane of a layer of Burgsvik sandstone,
south of the second hillock of Hoburgen, about 1 m below the top of the Burgsvik Beds. A.Surface
of bottom plane; B.Cross-section. The marks suggest formation on a beach which periodically fell dry.

with thick shells; (8) rarity of burrows; (9) clay lenses, probably deposited behind
low barriers; (10) erosion channels; (11) pothole-like excavations (Fig.4); (12) mud
cracks; and (13) dendritic patterns of rill marks (Fig.5).
The direction of the coast line, at the time of deposition of the Upper Burgsvik
Beds, was probably about north-south with the open sea at the east side.

PROBLEMATIC STRUCTURES

In the Upper Burgsvik Beds the author observed three structures that he is
unable to explain. They are described in this paper in the hope that workers on recent
shallow-marine phenomena will be able to produce the desired explanations.
First, groups of small and shallow (1-2 mm) grooves may occur en-echelon
Marine Geol., 4 (1966) 227-232
SOME PROBLEMATIC SHALLOW-MARINE STRUCTURES 231

in a belt (Fig.6A), irregularly distributed (Fig.6B), roughly parallel (Fig.6C) or in a

fan-like pattern (Fig.6D). They are in the top plane of sandstone layers, in parts
of one to a few square decimetres large, and are not rare. In cross-section, most
of the grooves are roughly symmetrical. In sandstone layers near these problematic

Fig.6. Groove marks of unknown origin, found in Upper Burgsvik sandstone, south of the second
hillock of Hoburgen, about 1.30 m below the top of the Burgsvik Beds.

NE , ~o~ , SW

Fig.7. Remarkable lumps, found in a layer of Upper Burgsvik sandstone, south of the second hillock
of Hoburgen, about 1.50 m below the top of the Burgsvik Beds. Towards both the northeast and
southwest a normal stratification is present at the level at which the lumps occur. The mode of for-
mation of the lumps is unknown.

Marine Geol., 4 (1966) 227-232

232 A.A. MANTEN

NE ,..~o o,,, , 5W

Fig.8. Lense-like intercalation within shaly sandstone. Upper Burgsvik Beds, south of the second
hillock of Hoburgen, about 1.60m below the top of the BurgsvikBeds.

marks, rill marks were found (Fig.5). These have a somewhat different pattern and
contain a deeper median subgroove (Fig.5B), that was nowhere observed in the
marks of Fig.6. If the latter would also be rill marks it is difficult to understand why
they differ distinctly from the marks of Fig. 5, that occur in their near vicinity.
The second problematic structure was found in a 6 cm-thick sandstone bed,
that overlies shaly sandstone (Fig.7). Over almost its entire exposed length the bed
has a normal, parallel stratification. At one place, however, are remarkable lumps.
The nature of the boundaries of these lumps is similar to the stratification planes
northeast and southwest of them in the same bed. The chemical and mineral compo-
sition of the rock of the lumps is not different from that of the rock in the other parts
of the bed. Can the lumps be explained as pillows caused by sliding ?
The third structure is a lense-like intercalation within thinly parting shaly
sandstone (Fig.8). It was found only a little lower in the stratigraphic column of the
Burgsvik Beds, and rather close to the structure of Fig.7. The lense had a very thin
lamination. It is slightly more clayey than the surrounding shaly sandstone, but the
difference is not great. No indications were found of deposition in a somewhat
sheltered environment.
Whereas the structures of Fig.6 were observed in several localities in the west of
southern Gotland, the structures of Fig.7 and 8 were both found in one place only.
The author offers his apologies that he has nothing important to tell to the
readers of this journal, but on the contrary, hopes to learn something from them. Any
comments which help to understand the nature and origin of these structures will be
much appreciated.

Marine GeoL, 4 (1966) 227-232