dn
2 Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep
International Workshop on

Pre-meeting field trip isavailable! (10th-12th June)

and Cognate Communities

13th-15th June 2019, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Field Trip: 10th-12th June, 2019, Hokkaido

June 13-15, 2019
Sapporo, Japan
Hokkaido University Museum

Abstract volume

website: http://seep.geobiology.jp
NAKAGAWA ECOMUSEUM CENTER

e-mail: seep2019-office@seep.geobiology.jp
Organized by Organizing committee of the 2nd International
Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities,
Hokkaido University Museum.

2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon
Seep and Cognate Communities

2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep andCognate Communities will be held during June 13-15, 2019 at
the Hokkaido University Museum in Sapporo City, Hokkaido, Japan.
This symposium will be co-organized with the Hokkaido University Museum. The workshop is sponsored by the PaleontologicalSociety of Japan and Nakagawa Town (Hokkaido).

Meetings: June 13th -15th, 2019
Sapporo, Japan
Hokkaido University Museum

Pre-meeting field trip: June 10th – 12th, 2019
Cretaceous and Miocene seep localities in Nakagawa Town,
Obira Town and Ishikari City, Hokkaido

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2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

Scope of the workshop
The discovery of hydrothermal vent ecosystem along the Galápagos Rift in 1977 haschanged our perception of deep water marine life. The vent ecosystem consists of large andnumerous polychaetes, mollusks, arthropods and other animals. Subsequently, similar communities
have been found around hydrocarbon seeps, sunken whale carcasses and sunken driftwood on sea
floor. It turned out that these communities depend largely upon chemosynthetic bacteria, especiallysulfur-oxidizing bacteria, for their food/energy source, and thus the communities have been called“chemosynthetic communities”.
Since the discovery of chemosynthetic communities in modern oceans, numerous
ancient chemosynthetic communities have been discovered/re-interpreted worldwide from rockformations of various ages. Majority of ancient chemosynthetic communities was found associatedwith hydrocarbon seep deposits because of their high fossilization potential related to anaerobic
oxidation of methane, which increases alkalinity and triggers precipitation of carbonate minerals.
The great advantages to study on the ancient chemosynthetic communities and theirassociated seep deposits is that the fossil record allows us to understand the evolution ofchemosynthetic communities and the spatial/temporal trajectories of seep systems are much easier
to observe than in their modern counterparts. To improve and exchange our knowledge on ancientchemosynthetic communities, the 1st International Workshop on the hydrocarbon seep and cognate
communities was held in Warsaw, Poland in 2016. The successful meeting encouraged us to haveregular meetings on the ancient seeps.
This time we meet for the 2nd International Workshop on the hydrocarbon seep and cognate
communities in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. The Japanese archipelago and surrounding waters yield
numerous examples of ancient and modern seeps ranging from the Cretaceous to the Recent times.
Following the last workshop, the aims of the 2nd workshop are to exchange ideas, data and contacts
among the researchers studying chemosynthetic communities around the world. Paleontological,
geochemical and modern biological perspectives are all most welcomed.
We also prepared a 3 days pre-meeting field trip in Hokkaido Island. We will visit Morai(Miocene), Kanajirisawa in Obira Town (Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous) and Nakagawa Town
(Santonian-Campanian, Late Cretaceous). You can enjoy taking samples from those classic
outcrops.
It is noteworthy that the final stage of the upcoming book on Fossil Hydrocarbon Seeps tobe published in the Topics of Paleobiology series of Springer Verlag (editors Andrzej Kaim, Neil H.
Landman, J. Kirk Cochran) will be discussed among participating authors.
We heartily invite all paleontologists, geologists, geochemists and biologists involved in seep, ventand fall research to participate in our workshop!

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2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

Hosting organization
Organizing committee of the 2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep andCognate Communities
Hokkaido University Museum
The Nakagawa Town and the Nakagawa Museum of Natural History

Organizing Committee
Robert G. Jenkins (Kanazawa, Japan), Andrzej Kaim (Warsaw, Poland), Yoshitsugu Kobayashi(Sapporo,Japan), Yasuhiro Iba (Sapporo, Japan), Yoshinori Hikida (Nakagawa, Japan)
Scientific Committee
Robert G. Jenkins (Kanazawa, Japan), Andrzej Kaim (Warsaw, Poland), Steffen Kiel (Stockholm,
Sweden), Jörn Peckmann (Hamburg, Germany), Kazutaka Amano (Joetsu, Japan), Yoshinori Hikida (Nakagawa, Japan), Yoshitsugu Kobayashi (Sapporo,Japan), Yasuhiro Iba (Sapporo, Japan)
Sponsors
The Palaenontological Society of Japan
Nakagawa Town, Hokkaido

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2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

Time Table
June 13, 201910:00 Open for Registration at the Hokkaido University Museum
10:30 Opening address
			Seep system

Keynote10:40-11:30

O-01

Ijiri, A.

Significance of biogeochemical processe in submarine mud volcanoes
11:30 Break		
11:50		

O-02

Jakubowicz, M., Kiel, S., Goedert, J., Dopieralska, J. and Belka, Z.

Reconstructing a fluid expulsion system during early evolution of the Cascadia margin: a message from isotopic composition of mid-Eocene methane seep carbonates (humptulips formation, Washington, USA)
12:20		

O-03

Miyajima, Y., Jakubowicz, M. and Hirata, T.

In situ Sr isotope analysis and U-Pb dating of methane-seep carbonates:
Insight into origin of seeping fluids at   Cretaceous seeps in Hokkaido,Japan
12:50 Lunch Break			Seep fauna
14:20		

O-04

Kiel, S.

An update on Cenozoic seep faunas
14:50		

O-05

Pisera, A., Hryniewicz, K., Bitner, M. A. and Kaim, A.

Extant and fossil sponges associated with hydrothermal vent and cold
seep communities
15:20		

O-06

Kato, M.

Echinoderms in chemosynthetic communities: their foods, habitats, evolution and roles in the ecosystem
15:50 Break
16:10		

O-07

Klompmaker, A. A., Nyborg, T., Brezina, J. and Ando, Y.

Crustaceans from fossil cold seep environments

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2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

16:40 Poster sessionP-01

Hryniewicz, K., Amano, K., Bitner, M.A., Hagström, J., Kiel, S.,
Klompmaker, A.A., Mörs, A., Robins, C.M. And Kaim, A.

A late Paleocene fauna from seep and associated sunken driftwood from
Spitsbergen, Svalbard, and its evolutionary significance
P-02

Bitner, M. A., Hryniewicz, K., Amano, K., Jenkins, R.G. And Kaim, A.

New data on non-dimerelloid brachiopods from chemosynthesis-based
communities
		

P-03

Seki, A. and Jenkins, R.G.

Pleistocene shallow-water whale-fall community from the Omma Formation in central Japan
		

P-04

Suzuki, M., Jenkins, R.G., Ogiso, S. and Suzuki, N.

Taxonomy and diet of the Ophryotrocha (Annelida: Dorvilleidae) fromwhale- falls in the Tsukumo Bay, Japan
P-05

Hikosaka, M., Kimura, K., Watanabe, K. H., Chen, C., Takahashi, Y. andJenkins, R.G.

Minerals in the gill chamber and the digestive tract of hydrothermal ventshrimp17:20		

Welcome party

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2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

June 14, 2019
			

Biotic response to environment

10:30		

Jenkins, R.G.

O-08

Epifaunal bivalves in seeps: rethinking its meaning and reasons
11:00		

O-09

Sato, K., Chen, C., Jenkins, R.G. and Watanabe, H. K.

Shell microstructures of vent and seep pectinodontid limpets: Implications on phenotypic changes and systematics
11:30 Lunch Break		
13:00 Businness Meeting (publishing ‘seep book’ from Springer and other things)

			
			

Wood- and Whale-fall communities, and non-seep community

13:40		

Brezina, J. A., Larson, N. L. and Landman, N. H.

O-10

Fossil wood fall and associated fauna from the Late Cretaceous WesternInterior Seaway in South Dakota
14:00		

O-11

Watanabe, S.

Transportation processes of organic matter from whale bones during formation of whale-fall communities
14:20		

O-12

Hryniewicz, K. Bakayeva, S., Heneralova, L. and Kaim, A.

Chemosymbiotic bivalves from Eocene deep-water deposits of Eastern
Carpathians (Ukraine) and their taphonomy
			
14:50 Coffee Break					Local to Global
15:10		

O-13

Shimazu, N. and Jenkins, R.G.

Early Cretaceous Utagoesawa seep community from Yubari City, Hokkaido, Japan
15:30		

O-14

Kaim, A., Little, C.T.S., Mears, E., Kennedy, W. J. and Anderson, L.

Fossil associations from Turonian, Upper Cretaceous hydrothermal ventdeposits from Cyprus, A glimpse into Mesozoic hydrothermal vent ecosystems
16:00		

O-15

Amano, K., Jenkins, R.G., Miyajima, Y. and Kiel, S.

Evolution and geographic distribution of chemosynthetic bivalves in Japan
16:30 Closing talk			
18:30 Meet at the Gate of Hokkaido University for Banquet
19:00 Banquet

June 15, 2019
One-day field and museum tour (Misaka City Museum and Eocene seep locality in Mikasa City)

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2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

ABSTRACT7

2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

Oral 01

KeynoteSIGNIFICANCE OF BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES IN SUBMARINE MUD VOLCANOES
Akira Ijiri1
1

Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology,
Nankoku, Japanemail: ijiri@jamstec.go.jp

Abstract
Submarine mud volcanoes are formed by the upward intrusion of deformable lower-density materials from several kilometers below the seabed. This process transports deep-sourced fluids, elements, and hydrocarbons to the seafloor, supporting chemosynthetic benthic life including microbial communities that mediate the anaerobic oxidation of methane with sulfate reduction. However,the biogeochemical and microbiological characteristics of deep submarine mud volcanoes haveremained largely unknown. During research cruises by the deep-sea drilling vessel D/V Chikyu in2009 and 2012, scientists drilled 200 m into the summit of a highly active submarine mud volcano
in the Kumano forearc basin and obtained core samples. Our analyses of deep biosphere and carbon
cycling in this setting, using geochemical and geophysical data with microbiological methods, estimated that methane hydrate could exist as deep as 590 m below the summit (112–160 m above theseafloor). The amount of methane was estimated as 3.2 billion m3, ten times larger than expected ina single mud volcano. In addition, more than 90% of the methane appears to be microbial in origin
and was produced in sediments 400–700 m below the seafloor, the mud volcano’s source layer. In
this environment, low-salinity water derived from clay mineral dehydration is supplied from an
old accretionary prism through a mega-splay fault; this fluid seems to promote microbial activities
such as hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis. These results indicate that the production and migration of fluid in an oceanic plate subduction zone is strongly related to the production of natural gas
by microorganisms living in the deep subseafloor. These findings are highly important for a better
understanding of biogenic gas generation under the seafloor as well as the relationship between
earth dynamics and the deep biosphere. On the other hand, the activity of submarine mud volcanoes
may also affect the water column ecology. In the submarine mud volcanoes off Tanegashima island
southern part of Japan, sedimentary Atribacteria was found in methane plumes in the overlying water column. This observation suggests microbial dispersal from the deep sedimentary biosphere to
the overlying hydrosphere through submarine mud-volcano activity.

Keywords: Mud volcano, methanogenesis, deep biosphere82nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

Oral 02
RECONSTRUCTING A FLUID EXPULSION SYSTEM DURING EARLY EVOLUTION OF THE CASCADIAMARGIN: A MESSAGE FROM ISOTOPIC COMPOSITION OF MID-EOCENE METHANE SEEPCARBONATES (HUMPTULIPS FORMATION, WASHINGTON, USA)MICHAŁ JAKUBOWICZ1, STEFFEN KIEL2, JAMES GOEDERT3, JOLANTA DOPIERALSKA4, ZDZISLAWBELKA1Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland, 2Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm,
Sweden, 3Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Seattle, USA, 4Adam Mickiewicz
University Foundation, Poznań, Poland

1email: mjakub@amu.edu.pl

Abstract
Recent studies have addressed the potential applicability of the Nd isotope system to investigationsof subseafloor circulation of fluids feeding deep marine methane seeps (Jakubowicz et al., 2015,2019). The method has been shown to provide a sensitive tool of detecting former interactions between the seeping fluids and volcanogenic, mafic crustal materials. Nevertheless, the prospects ofthe system to address broader geological questions, such as those regarding structural architecture
and tectonic evolution of seep-hosting sedimentary basins, remained largely unexplored. In thisstudy, we have combined Nd, Sr, C and O isotope analyses of mid-Eocene (42.5-40.5 Ma) methane
seep carbonates of the Humptulips Formation (Washington, USA) to investigate an early hydrogeological regime of the Cascadia subduction zone in the north-eastern Pacific. The oldest among asuite of fossil seep deposits of the Pacific Northwest, these seeps provide a record of fluid expulsion
during a period of dramatic margin reconfiguration, following docking of a large igneous terrane ofSiletzia at 50-45 Ma. Both the high εNd(t) values and low 87Sr/86Sr isotope signatures of the studied
seep deposits consistently point to former interactions between the seeping fluids and mafic, volcanic-derived basement components present in the plumbing system. The observed δ13C values suggest thermogenic origin of methane at three out of four studies seeps, with biotic hydrocarbons likely involved at a single, landward-most site. When combined with structural data, the geochemicalsignals point to expulsions of fluids originating mostly from deep portions of the young subduction
wedge, and their ascent through the Siletzia terrane before emerging on the forearc seafloor. The
study attests the presence of a fluid expulsion system typical of convergent accretionary margins
prior to maturation of arc magmatism in the Cascades, lending support to the models placing theonset of the Cascadian subduction before development of the typical Cascade volcanic arc.
Keywords: cold seeps, seep and vent carbonates, isotope tracers, fluid-rock interactions
References:
Jakubowicz, M, Dopieralska, J, Belka, Z (2015) Tracing the composition and origin of fluids at an ancienthydrocarbon seep (Hollard Mound, Middle Devonian, Morocco): A Nd, REE and stable isotope study.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 156: 50-74.
Jakubowicz, M, Dopieralska, J, Kaim, A, Skupien, P, Kiel, S, Belka, Z (2019) Nd isotope composition of seep
carbonates: Towards a new approach for constraining subseafloor fluid circulation at hydrocarbon seeps.
Chemical Geology 503: 40-51.

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2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

Oral 03
IN SITU SR ISOTOPE ANALYSIS AND U–PB DATING OF METHANE-SEEP CARBONATES:
INSIGHT INTO ORIGIN OF SEEPING FLUIDS AT CRETACEOUS SEEPS IN HOKKAIDO, JAPAN
Yusuke Miyajima1,2, Michał Jakubowicz3,4, Takafumi Hirata1
1

Geochemical Research Center, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan,
2
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Tokyo, Japan,
3
Institute of Geoecology and Geoinformation, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland,
4
Isotope Laboratory, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
email: yusukemiya@eqchem.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Abstract

Understanding the origin of fluids discharged at ancient methane seeps provides insights into subseafloor fluid–rock interactions and fluid-flow pathways in ancient sedimentary basins. Carbonate
rocks formed at methane seeps are valuable archives of elemental and isotopic signals of seeping
fluids that are the key to decode the fluid origin. We have attempted to reveal the origin of fluids
at Cretaceous seeps in Hokkaido, northern Japan, by in situ strontium (Sr) isotope analysis of seep
carbonates. Strontium isotope ratio (87Sr/86Sr) of seep carbonates is a useful recorder of the fluid
origin, but interpretational value of bulk analytical data may be compromised by mixing with signals of the coeval seawater and detrital sediments, and by effects of diagenetic alteration. Here, wehave applied a high spatial-resolution laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry(LA-ICP-MS) to measure the 87Sr/86Sr ratios in cement phases of seep carbonates that are devoid of
detrital materials. We measured the 87Sr/86Sr ratios in radial calcite cements of two Campanian seep
carbonates collected at Gakkonosawa and Omagari in the Nakagawa area, hosted by sediments of
the Yezo forearc. The 87Sr/86Sr ratio in the Gakkonosawa cement was lower than the seawater signal through the Campanian, indicating input from a less radiogenic, deep-sourced fluid. The deepsourced fluid presumably originated from the Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous mafic basement rocks
underlying the forearc sediments, which we could verify through further isotope analysis of thebasement rocks. Our result also implies the presence of deep-rooted fluid conduits and compaction-induced dewatering from the deep subsurface at the Cretaceous subduction zone.
Although the Sr isotope ratio can be used to date fossil seep carbonates, this is not feasible when
the isotope signal in a seep carbonate is originally distinct from that of the coeval seawater. As the
Gakkonosawa carbonate is a boulder rock and its age is uncertain, we tested direct uranium–lead(U–Pb) dating technique by LA-ICP-MS to determine the age of the carbonate and to constrain theseawater Sr isotopic compositions. Using the international calcite reference material and applying
a common-Pb correction, we obtained a lower to middle Campanian age for the Gakkonosawa cement.
In situ Sr isotope analysis and U–Pb dating of seep carbonates is useful not only to determine theage of the fluid discharge and chemosynthetic animal fossils, but also to reveal triggers of the fluid
discharge such as tectonic activity. Revealing factors controlling the discharge of fluids that containthe nutritional source for the chemosynthesis-based communities, i.e., methane and sulfide, can thenprovide insights into drivers of the evolution of these unique ecosystems.

Keywords: carbonate, Cretaceous, Hokkaido, hydrocarbon seep, strontium isotope, uranium–lead
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2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

Oral 04
AN UPDATE ON CENOZOIC SEEP FAUNAS
Steffen Kiel
Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden
email: steffen.kiel@nrm.se

Abstract
I will provide an overview of, and an update on, Cenozoic seep faunas around the world. The update is based on several field trips to new and previously underexplored seep deposits in northern
Peru, northern Italy, Cuba, Taiwan, and the Philippines. It will include mainly new data on taxonomy and stratigraphy. The overall aim of my current research on Cenozoic seeps is biogeography
and I’ll present some preliminary results.

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2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

Oral 05
EXTANT AND FOSSIL SPONGES ASSOCIATED WITH HYDROTHERMAL VENT AND COLD SEEPCOMMUNITIESAndrzej Pisera, Krzysztof Hryniewicz, Maria Aleksandra Bitner, Andrzej Kaim
Institute of Paleobiology PAS, Warsaw, Poland
email: apis@twarda.pan.pl

Abstract
In the present-day chemosynthesis−based communities Demospongiae dominate, Hexactinellida
are rare, while Calcarea are only exceptionally reported. All extant sponges known from such environments belong to groups with loose (not fused or articulated) spicules that fall apart after sponge
death, thus their fossilization potential is low.
Most of these sponges are considered as ‘background’ fauna because they do not depend directly
on chemosynthesis and can occur in other environments as well. Notable exception is Cladorhiza
methanophila from Barbados and probably Pseudosuberites thurberi from New Zealand (both belonging to Demospongiae).
The oldest fossil record of sponges associated with hydrothermally influenced deposits comes fromthe Lower Cambrian of China that are identified as putative hexactinellids and ?astrophorid demosponges. The first Mesozoic seep associated sponges (both hexactinellids and demosponges) are
reported from the Late Jurassic of France and Jurassic/Cretaceous boundary beds in Svalbard (hexactinellids and probably demosponges). The most known Oligocene fauna of sponges, composed
exclusively of hexactinellids with fused skeleton (Hexactinosa), was described from the Lincoln
Creek Fm of north-western United States.
The presence of sponges in the seep deposits of Cretaceous age (Campanian) of Japanese localities
Gakkonosawa and Yasukawa is reported here for the first time. This fauna consists of hexactinelids
with fused skeleton (Hexactinosa), but loose spicules of astrophorid demosponges have been also
found. New fauna of hexactinellids with fused skeleton, that are accompanied by astrophorid demosponge spicules, is reported here also from the Eocene Crescent Fm of Washington State, USA. No
calcareous sponges have been reported so far from the ancient vent and seep communities.
Hexactinosa are the most common sponges occurring at ancient seeps and vents, but they are yet
not recorded from their modern counterparts. Those in turn are inhabited by Demosponges withskeleton composed of loose spicules. Such sponges are very rarely reported from the ancient communities what we interpret as taphonomic effect: lack of preservation of complete sponges. The
dominance of hexactinellids with fused skeleton in the fossil communities over demosponges cannot be, however, exclusively an artefact (taphonomic effect due to their higher preservation potential) because they were not noted so far from the present day communities.

Keywords: hydrocarbon seep, Japan, USA, Cretaceous, Eocene, Porifera.

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2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

Oral 06
ECHINODERMS IN CHEMOSYNTHETIC COMMUNITIES: THEIR FOODS, HABITATS, EVOLUTION ANDROLES IN THE ECOSYSTEM
Moe Kato1
1

Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japanemail: katomoe@stuff.kanazawa-u.ac.jp

Abstract
Echinoderms are among the major components of marine invertebrates from the Cambrian to thepresent. Although they inhabit at all depths and latitudes of the world oceans at the present, therecords of them are rare in chemosynthetic communities. However, in the last few decade years,
modern echinoderms were discovered from hydrothermal vents (Stӧhr and Segonzac. 2005) andmethane seeps (Pawson and Vance. 2004), and some fossil echinoderms were found around methane seep deposits (Gaillard et al. 2011; Hunter et al. 2016). The fossil echinoderms (crinoid) fromthe Upper Cretaceous methane seep deposits (the Western Interior Seaway of the U.S. and Hokkaido in Japan) are characterized by their skeleton with low δ13C value (lower than 20‰). It is thoughtthat the fossil crinoids occurred from methane seep deposits ate organic matter related with methane having low δ13C value because they build their high-magnesian calcite skeleton by using both
dissolved inorganic carbon in ambient water and carbon derived from their foods. Thus, there were
echinoderms depending on chemosynthetic ecosystems in the Upper Cretaceous. Some modern
echinoderms species occur both in hydrothermal vents or methane seeps and normal deep-sea bottom. Therefore, some echinoderms might transport rich organic matter produced by chemosynthetic
communities from a chemosynthetic ecosystem to surrounding deep-sea ecosystems by their feeding and moving.

Keywords: cold seep, hydrothermal vent, deep-sea ecosystem, Echinoderm

References:
Gaillard, C., Didier, N. and Jacques, T. (2011) Tithonia oxfordiana, a new irregular echinoid associated withJurassic seep deposits in south-east France. Palaeontology 54: 735–752.
Hunter, A.W., Larson, N.L., Landman, N.H. and Oji, T. (2016) Lakotacrinus brezinai n. gen. n. sp., a new stalked
crinoid from cold methane seeps in the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Pierre Shale, South Dakota, UnitedStates. Journal of Paleontology 90: 506–524.
Pawson, S.D.L. and Vance, D.J. (2004) Chiridota heheva, new species, from Western Atlantic deep-sea cold seeps
and anthropogenic habitats (Echionodermata, Holothuroidea, Apodida). Zootaxa 535: 1–13.
Stӧhr, S. and Segonzac, M. (2005) Deep-sea ophiuroids (Echinodermata) from reducing and non-reducing
environments in the North Atlantic Ocean. Journal of the Marine Biology Association UK 85: 383–402.

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2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

Oral 07
CRUSTACEANS FROM FOSSIL COLD SEEP ENVIRONMENTS

Klompmaker, A.A1, Nyborg, T.2, Brezina, J.3, Ando, Y.4

1

Department of Integrative Biology & Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley,1005 Valley Life Sciences Building #3140, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA, 2Department of Earth andBiological Sciences, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA 92350, USA, 3South Dakota School ofMines and Technology, Rapid City, SD 57701, USA, 4Mizunami Fossil Museum, 1-47, Yamanouchi,
Akeyo-cho, Mizunami, Gifu, 509-6132, JAPAN
emai: adielklompmaker@gmail.com

Abstract
Crustaceans including decapods, copepods, amphipods, cumaceans, tanaidaceans, ostracods, andisopods are major components of modern marine methane seeps, where they play a key role in thesehotspots of diversity. It is likely that they were common too in ancient seeps, but relatively few
studies have focused on crustaceans from ancient seeps thus far. We hypothesized that crustaceans
can be commonly found in Meso-Cenozoic seeps when many of the aforementioned groups were
present and/or radiated. To this end, we reviewed the global fossil record of crustaceans in seeps forthe first time using the primary literature and newly collected specimens from the Late Cretaceousof South Dakota, USA. We find that seep crustaceans are much more common than previously
known, are found on each continent, and occur more frequently starting in the Jurassic. Decapod
crustaceans are represented by body fossils and traces (coprolites, repair scars in mollusks, and burrows), whereas only body fossils of ostracods and barnacles are known. Other groups are lacking.
While modern seep decapods are dominated by galatheoid squat lobsters, alvinocaridid shrimps,
king crabs, and true crabs, the fossil record is consisting primarily of callianassid ghost shrimps andtrue crabs thus far. Preservation and recognition are likely to have influenced this discrepancy. The
relatively unexplored fossil record of seep crustaceans provides many opportunities for systematicand paleoecological research.

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2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

Oral 08
EPIFAUNAL BIVALVES IN SEEPS: RETHINKING ITS MEANING AND REASONS

Robert G. Jenkins1
1

Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japanemail: robertgj@staff.kanazawa-u.ac.jp

Abstract
One of very interesting phenomena in the fossil record of seep fauna is repeating appearance anddemise of seep-restricted epifaunal/semi-infaunal bivalves since their first appearance at ca. 390
Ma (Kiel 2015; Hryniewicz et al. 2017; Jenkins et al. 2018). Its Paleozoic record is still scares,
however, much more common Mesozoic to Cenozoic record of those bivalve shows decreasingof semi-infaunal bivalve, Caspiconcha (Kalenteridae), in the Late Cretaceous until appearanceof bathymodiolin and vesicomyid bivalves in Eocene. There are several hypotheses, e.g. “sulfate
hypothesis” (Kiel, 2015) and agronomic revolution by infaunal bivalve (Hryniewicz et al. 2017),
proposed to explain the pattern of epifaunal/semi-infaunal bivalve occurrence in Mesozoic and Cenozoic seep environment. In addition to those hypothesis, fluctuation of organic flux (marine snow),
produced by photosynthetic primary producers from sea surface to sea floor through age, could
control the pattern of epifaunal/semi-infaunal bivalve occurrence. This scenario is evidenced by oil
resources in sedimentary rocks through ages. The oil production is largely related to input of organic matter into sediments, and the methane production rate is ultimately related to the amount of organic matter in sediment. The organic matter on the seafloor also control sulfate/methane interface.
Thus, increasing organic matter on the seafloor evoke increasing methane production and rising up
of sulfate/methane interface. Both higher methane production and raised sulfate/methane interface
provide favorable condition for epifaunal/semi-infaunal bivalves.

References
Hryniewicz, K., Jakubowicz, M., Belka, Z., Dopieralska, J. and Kaim, A. (2017) New bivalves from a Middle
Devonian methane seep in Morocco: the oldest record of repetitive shell morphologies among some seepbivalve molluscs. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 15: 19–41.
Jenkins, R.G., Kaim, A., Hikida, Y. and Kiel, S. (2018) Four new species of the Jurassic to Cretaceous seep-restricted bivalve Caspiconcha and implications for the history of chemosynthetic communities. Journal of
Paleontology 92: 596-610.
Kiel, S. (2015) Did shifting seawater sulfate concentrations drive the evolution of deep-sea methane-seep ecosystems? Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 282: 1804.

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2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

Oral 09
SHELL MICROSTRUCTURES OF VENT AND SEEP PECTINODONTID LIMPETS: IMPLICATIONS ON
PHENOTYPIC CHANGES AND SYSTEMATICSES AND SYSTEMATICS

Kei Sato1, Chong Chen2, Robert G. Jenkins3 and Hiromi K. Watanabe2
Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan, 2Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology,
Kanagawa, Japan, 3Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan1email: keisato@aoni.waseda.jp

Abstract
Gastropods often show intraspecific variation in phenotypes among different habitats. Recently, theauthors carried out molecular phylogenetic analyses of pectinodontid limpets in two genera, Bathyacmaea and Serradonta, commonly associated with vent and seep environments in the west Pacific(Nakano & Sasaki, 2011). Instead of revealing distinct lineages corresponding to morphological
identification, the analyses showed that all individuals from both genera were mixed in a single
nested monophyletic clade, except for one undescribed species from the South Chamorro Seamount. This result strongly implies that most previously recognized ‘species’ in fact belong to one
species that is highly morphologically plastic in shell form. We therefore investigated their shell
microstructures, which can be a strong tool to estimate phyletic relationships and physiology, including extinct taxa. We were able to estimate specimens to genus level classification based on theirshell microstructural compositions. Furthermore, the proportion of shell microstructures with two
different mineral compositions (aragonite or calcite) clearly corresponds to differences in chemosynthetic habitat. We also revealed that systematics and estimations of habitat based on shell microstructures are useful even for extinct taxa according to our observations on the shell microstructuresfrom Cretaceous seep pectinodontids.

Keywords: shell microstructure, Pectinodontidae, limpet, seep, vent, aragonite, calcite.
References:
Nakano, T. & Sasaki, T. (2011) Recent advances in molecular phylogeny, systematics and evolution of Patellogastropod limpets. Journal of Molluscan Studies 77: 203–217

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Oral 10FOSSIL WOOD FALL AND ASSOCIATED FAUNA FROM THE LATE CRETACEOUS WESTERN INTERIORSEAWAY IN SOUTH DAKOTA

Jamie A. Brezina1, Neal L. Larson2, Neil H. Landman3
1

South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, Rapid City, SD 57701, USA, 2 Larson Paleontology Unlimited, Keystone, SD 57745 USA, 3 Division of Paleontology (Invertebrates), American Museum of
Natural History< New York, New York 10024, USAemail:landman@amnh.org

Abstract
Ancient and modern wood falls can create diverse biotic communities on the ocean floor generating
a food source for bivalves and bacteria alike. In July 2018 a wood fall was discovered in Custer
County, South Dakota, during a research expedition of the American Museum of Natural History,
University of New Mexico, Brooklyn College, and Stony Brook University. The wood fall was
deposited in the Upper Cretaceous (upper Campanian) Pierre Shale near the base of the Baculites
compressus Zone and the top of the Didymoceras cheyennense Zone. The fossil log is preservedin a concretion imbedded in dark grey shale (Pierre Shale). The log measures 2.8 m long while theconcretion is 3.4 m long. Fauna in and around the log include boring and non-boring bivalves, baculitid, and scaphitid ammonoids along with heavy concentrations of bivalves in specific regions of
the log.
The shoreline during the Baculites compressus Zone appears to have been from central Colorado
through Wyoming and into west, central Montana (Cobban et al., 1994). The water depth during theLate Cretaceous Seaway in South Dakota is reported to have been 100 m or less (Landman et al.,2010). The log is oriented east/west, which may indicate sea floor bottom currents; alternatively,
the log could have come to rest in a depression on the sea floor. The log is located in a hydrocarbon
seep field where several seeps have been mapped and documented, but it is not directly associatedwith a seep. The surface of the log is covered with teredinid boring and lucinid bivalves. Althoughfossil wood is common in certain regions of the Western Interior Seaway, much of it consists ofsmall fragments and not associated with a wood fall fauna. This unusually large log sunk to the bottom of the Seaway, attracting fauna that were able to take advantage of this energy source to generate a community until the fine muddy sediments slowly buried the log. Subsequently, a concretion
grew around the log, with the log acting as a nucleus for concretion formation.

Keywords: wood fall, seep, cognate, bivalve, Pierre Shale, South Dakota, concretion, ammonoids.
References:
COBBAN, W.A., E.A. MEREWETHER, T.D. FOUCH and J.D. OBRADOVICH, 1994, Some Cretaceous
shorelines in the Western Interior of the United States, In M.V. CAPUTO, J.A. PETERSON, J. A., and K.J.
FRANCZYK, eds., Mesozoic systems of the Rocky Mountain Region, U.S.A.: Rocky Mountain Section ofSociety for Sedimentary Geology, p. 393-413.

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2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

Oral 11
TRANSPORTATION PROCESSES OF ORGANIC MATTER FROM WHALE BONES DURING FORMATION
OF WHALE-FALL COMMUNITIESSo Watanabe1
1Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan

Abstract
The whale-fall community is one of the chemosynthetic community like seep or vent, formed on
decaying whale carcass on the sea floor. Several studies on whale-fall communities have revealed
the communities were sustained more than several years even after removal of soft tissue from thebones. After removal of the soft tissues, organic matter within the bones are main energy source forthe communities. It is well known that the hydrogen sulfide, released from decaying organic matter within the bones, is the energy source for chemosynthetic microbes and animals harboring the
microbes. Recently, it has been revealed that many polychaetes, but restricted species, lives abundantly inside the whale bone (ref). Excrements of them from whale bones would be useful for otheranimals which lives around the carcass. However, detailed observation of those feces and excretion
processes haven’t been done yet. Thus, we examined the transportation processes of organic matterfrom whale bones by observing the whale-fall communities in the aquarium. We deployed two setsof whale bone in shallow sea floor (11 m in depth) in Tsukumo Bay, Noto Peninsula, Japan. After
2 and 3 months, each set of the whale bone was recovered by scuba; one bone was analyzed forspecies composition at time of recovered and the other bone was put into aquarium (40L) with sea
water and sediments from the Tsukumo Bay.
Characteristic species for the shallow water whale-fall communities such as Xenoskenea sp., dorvilleid polychaeates, white microbial mat (Beggiatoa spp., indicator of sulphophilic stage) and ciliate
Zoothamnium sp. (indicator of sulphophilic stage) can be observed at time of recovery and duringaquarium experiments (most time). As a result of observations of aquariums, accumulations of several types of fecal excretions around the whale bones were observed. Four types of the excretionstyle of feces were observed, and transport distance of feces from the bones are depending on thestyles. Total organic carbon content (TOC) analysis showed higher contents at shorter distancesfrom the bones.
Occurrences of Zoothamnium sp. (host of eposymbiotic chemosynthethic bacteria), giant sulphur-oxidizing bacteria and Xenoskenea sp., dorvilleid polychaeates in/on the bones suggest that
our aquarium experiments could form shallow water whale-fall communities. From the results of
TOC analysis, it was suggested that organic matter inside the whale bone is transported to the outside of the bone due to excretion of feces. In this study, we observed not only the transportation
process that organic matter is eaten and excreted as feces, but also processes related to giant Sulphur-oxidizing bacteria. Detailed observation by further aquarium experiments will make it possible
to clarify the whole movement of organic matter around the whale bones.

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2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

Oral 12CHEMOSYMBIOTIC BIVALVES FROM EOCENE DEEP-WATER DEPOSITS OF EASTERN CARPATHIANS(UKRAINE) AND THEIR TAPHONOMY

Krzysztof Hryniewicz1, Sofia Bakayeva2, Larisa Heneralova3 and Andrzej Kaim1

1

Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland,2State Museum of Natural History, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Teatralna St. 18, Lviv
79008, Ukraine, 3 Faculty of Geology, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Hrushevskogo St. 4,
Lviv 79005, Ukraine
email: krzyszth@twarda.pan.pl

Abstract
Chemosymbiotic solemyid and lucinid bivalves discussed here come from the lower to middle
Eocene calcareous deposits outcropping near Nadvirna, Ivano-Frankivsk Region, Ukraine. The bivalves occur in laminated pelagic marls intercalated with calcareous turbidite deposits, indicativeof deep-water environment. No could not find any evidence for hydrocarbon seepage, for example
there are no textures typical for methane-derived authigenic carbonates. This suggests that the faunain question comes from ‘background’ environment with high redox potential but not from the seep
deposit.
Both solemyid and lucinid bivalves are too poorly preserved to allow their taxonomic identification.
The solemyid bivalves have been previously initially classified as Solemya vialovi which apparently
has not been known from elsewhere in the Carpathians.. Large size (shell length up to 77 mm) andrelatively thick shell suggest the species might actually belong to Acharax, often associated withdeep-water environments. The identity of the lucinid is equally difficult to resolve, although somemorphological details preserved make it dissimilar to Eocene shallow-water lucinids known fromthat time, and suggest affinities to deep-water lucinid taxa.
Solemyid bivalves show the ‘butterflied’ preservation with the dorsal margin upward and characteristic breakage pattern, allowing to reconstruct the events around the time of their death, and shortly
thereafter. The arrangement of the shells is indicative for in situ preservation, and not for redeposition, which is in agreement with the deep-water character of this fauna. The breakage pattern issuggestive of a collapse of largely articulated shell which was unsupported by the sediment fillingand squeezed in a semi-confined space. The shells collapsed in two stages, with thinner posteriorand central part collapsing prior the thicker anterior part of the shell. We argue that the collapse
occurred within the solemyid burrow system either syn-vivo or early post-mortem, as would be thecase if the solemyid-bearing pelagic carbonate ooze would be rapidly covered with thick blanket of
calcareous turbidite deposit.

Keywords: Carpathians, chemosymbiosis, deep-water, lucinids, solemyids, taphonomy.

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2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

Oral 13CHEMOSYNTHETIC FOSSIL COMMUNITY IN EARLY CRETACEOUS METHANE SEEP FROM YUBARI
CITY, HOKKAIDO
Nanami Shimazu1 and Robert G. Jenkins1
1

Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japanemail: nanami_0520@stu.kanazawa-u.ac.jp

Abstract
The Japanese archipelago has many fossil records of Cretaceous to Quaternary methane-seep communities, and many researches on it have been performed. However, the Early Cretaceous seep
communities in Japan has hardly been studied so far. We studied the Early Cretaceous seep material
found along the Utagoesawa Creek, Yubari City, Hokkaido, using comprehensive approaches including sedimentary petrological, isotope geochemical and paleontological analyses.
Many carbonate rocks were found along the creek as floats, and its size was small in downstream
and becomes bigger, sometime more than 1 m in diameter, toward upstream. The carbonate rocks
have mosaic textures mainly composed of micritic grayish patchy brocks. Bladed calcite and sparrycalcite are also found in voids and cracks in the rocks. Detailed observation revealed the paragenetic sequence, i.e. micrites and the bladed calcites were precipitated in early diagenetic stages,
whereas the sparry calcite were precipitated in later diagenetic stage. Isotopic compositions of the
micrite and bladed calcite facies are -45.8 to -38.5 ‰ VPDB for carbon and -4.9 to 2.4 ‰ VPDB
for oxygen. Those lithology and isotopic features suggests that carbonate formation was associatedwith anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) caused by microbial activity in methane seep.
The carbonate rocks yield many bivalves such as Caspiconcha, lucinids, Nucinella, solemyids,
thyasirids, and some gastropods such as hokkaidoconchids. These molluscan fossils are typical forother Cretaceous seeps. Interestingly, there is no brachiopods, which were thought to be main biotic
component in Paleozoic to mid-Cretaceous seeps. Actually, many brachiopods were found in lateJurassic to Early Cretaceous seeps in California. Current study and other recently published studies,
however, have shown molluscs were main component in other area of the world. Thus, Early Cretaceous seeps characterized by the brachiopods were distributed in California region only, and theother Cretaceous seeps in the world were characterized by mollusks.

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2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

Oral 14FOSSIL ASSOCIATIONS FROM TURONIAN, UPPER CRETACEOUS HYDROTHERMAL VENT DEPOSITSFROM CYPRUS, A GLIMPSE INTO MESOZOIC HYDROTHERMAL VENT ECOSYSTEMS

Andrzej Kaim1, Crispin T. S. Little2, Ellen Mears2, William J. Kennedy3, Louise Anderson4

1

Instytut Paleobiologii PAN, ul. Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland, 2School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK, 3Oxford University Museum of Natural History,
Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PW, UK, 4Total E&P UK Limited, Total House, Tarland Road, Westhill AB32
6JZ, UKemail: kaim@twarda.pan.pl
Abstract
The Troodos Ophiolite from Cyprus is a 91 million-year-old (Upper Cretaceous; Turonian) pieceof Tethyan ocean seafloor that contains numerous ancient hydrothermal vent deposits. Six of these(Kambia, Kinousa, Memi, Peristerka, Kapedhes and Sha) contain relatively well-preserved pyritized fossils: worm tubes (in all six sites), gastropods (in three sites: Kambia, Kinousa, Memi), andsingle gaudryceratid ammonite (Kambia only). There is a surprising absence of bivalve taxa fromthe Cypriot vent deposits. The gastropod and worm tube fossils were preliminarily discussed in Little et al. (1999) and the worm tubes were subsequently described by Georgieva et al. (2019). The
gastropods are in a final stage of detailed taxonomic description. The gastropod fauna is dominatedby small specimens with a gross cerithioid morphology and identified as such in Little et al. (1999).
However, a provannid-like protoconch specimen found subsequently to this publication strongly
supports these cerithioid-like gastropods being provannids, belonging to Desbruyeresia. In total
three species in this genus have been identified, with the Kambia, Kinousa and Memi sites eachyielding its own species. In addition, two species of Paskentana, one species of Ascheria and one
species of Hokkaidoconcha have been found. A new genus and species of a previously unknown
hokkaidoconchid will be described. The most intriguing feature of the Cypriot vent gastropod fauna
is a total lack of any vetigastropods and neomphalids—either limpet-shaped or spiral shaped—andany other gastropod groups, which are common in modern hydrothermal vents. This suggests either
preferential preservation of abyssochrysoids (provannids, paskentanids, hokkaidoconchids) in the
Cypriot vent deposits, or, more likely, a lack of other gastropod groups associated with worm tube
clusters in Upper Cretaceous Neotethyan hydrothermal vents.
Keywords: hydrothermal vent, Cyprus, Cretaceous, Gastropoda, Ammonoidea, worm tubes.

References:
Georgieva, M.N, Little, C.T.S., Watson J.S., Sephton M.A., Ball A.D. and Glover A.G. (2019) Identificationof fossil worm tubes from Phanerozoic hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. Journal of Systematic
Palaeontology 17: 287-329.
Little, C.T.S., Cann, J.R., Herrington, R.J. and Morisseau, M. (1999) Late Cretaceous hydrothermal ventcommunities from the Trodos ophiolite, Cyprus. Geology 27: 1027-1030.

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2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

Oral 15EVOLUTION AND GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF CHEMOSYNTHETIC BIVALVES IN JAPAN
Kazutaka Amano1, Robert G. Jenkins2, Yusuke Miyajima3 and Steffen Kiel4
1

Joetsu University of Education, Joetsu, Japan, 2Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan, 3Geochemical Research Centre, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, 4Swedish Museum of Natural History, Department of Palaeobiology, Stockholm, Sweden
email: amano@juen.ac.jp
Abstract

Numerous Cretaceous and Cenozoic chemosynthetic communities have been found in Japan (Majima et al., 2005; Amano, 2014; Amano et al., 2018; Jenkins et al., 2018). These communities include
members of characteristic families or subfamilies of chemosynthetic bivalves such as solemyids,
lucinids, nucinellids, thyasirids, vesicomyids, and bathymodiolins. The first four families are foundfrom the mid-Cretaceous onward, the latter two appeared in the late Eocene and the late Eocene toearly Oligocene, respectively (Amano, 2014). The families Thyasiridae, Lucinidae, and Vesicomyidae show remarkable changes in their generic composition through time, while solemyids, nucinellids, and bathymodiolins do not. Lucinidae were diverse during the Cretaceous, are absent during
the Eocene, and Lucinoma is the dominant genus from the early Miocene onward. Within the Thyasiridae, Conchocele replaced Thyasira as the dominant genus in the late Eocene. The vesicomyids
show two occasions of turnovers of the dominant genera: during the Oligocene and at the end of the
middle Miocene. Hubertschenckia is as-yet the only known vesicomyid genus in Japan in late Eocene to early Oligocene time. It was replaced by Pleurophopsis in the late Oligocene, which lasted
as dominant genus until the middle Miocene. From the late Miocene onward Archivesica and Calyptogena are the most diverse and widespread genera. An interesting paleobiogeographic pattern
can be observed among the Neogene vesicomyids, when they show marked differences in diversity
and species composition between the Japan Sea side and the Pacific side of Japan. The Japan Sea
hosts mainly species of Calyptogena, with an increase in species diversity since the early Miocene,
attributed to the semi-enclosed geographic situation with an open strait to the north, likely allowing
the influx of cold northern waters. In contrast, only Archivesica has been recorded from the Pacific side with its presumably warmer waters since the Pliocene. No such paleobiogeographic trends
have been observed in other families of chemosymbiotic bivalves.
Keywords: evolution, paleogeography, chemosynthesis, Bivalvia.

References:
AMANO, K (2014) Fossil records and evolution of chemosynthetic bivalves. Fossils (Palaeont. Soc. Japan) 96:
5-14. (in Japanese with English abstract)
AMANO, K, RG JENKINS & H KURITA (2018) New and Mesozoic-relict mollusks from Paleocene wood-fallcommunities in Urahoro Town, eastern Hokkaido, northern Japan. Journal of Paleontology 92: 634-647.
JENKINS, RG, A KAIM, K AMANO, K SAKURAI & K MATSUBARA (2018) A new Miocene whale-fallcommunity dominated by the bathymodiolin mussel Adipicola from the Hobetsu Area, Hokkaido, Japan.
Paleontological Research 22:105-111.
MAJIMA, R, T NOBUHARA & T KITAZAKI (2005) Review of fossil chemosynthetic assemblages in Japan.
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 227:86–123.

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2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

Poster 01
A LATE PALEOCENE FAUNA FROM SEEP AND ASSOCIATED SUNKEN DRIFTWOOD FROMSPITSBERGEN, SVALBARD, AND ITS EVOLUTIONARY SIGNIFICANCEKRZYSZTOF HRYNIEWICZ1, KAZUTAKA AMANO2, MARIA ALEKSANDRA BITNER1, JONAS HAGSTRÖM3,
STEFFEN KIEL3, ADIËL A. KLOMPMAKER4, THOMAS MÖRS3, CRISTINA M. ROBINS5, and ANDRZEJ
KAIM1
1Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland,
Department of Geoscience, Joetsu University of Education, 1Yamayashiki, Joetsu City, Niigata 9438512, Japan, 3Department of Palaeobiology, Box 50007, 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden, 4Department
of Integrative Biology & Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley, 1005 Valley
Life Sciences Building #3140, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA, 5 Museum of Paleontology, University ofCalifornia, Berkeley, 1101 Valley Life Science Building, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

2

Abstract
A late Paleocene macrofauna from methane seep carbonates and sunken driftwood of the shallow
marine Basilika Formation, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, is discussed. The macrofauna comprises 22 taxa,
chiefly bivalves (14 species), with subordinate crustaceans (3 species), gastropods (3 species), brachiopod (1 species) and a bony fish (1 species). One genus, a munidid decapod crustacean Valamunida Klompmaker and Robins gen. nov., is new to science. Four new species have been discovered:
the terebratulide brachiopod Neoliothyrina nakremi Bitner sp. nov., the protobranch bivalve Yoldiella spitsbergensis Amano sp. nov., the xylophagain bivalve Xylophagella littlei Hryniewicz sp.
nov., and the munidid decapod Valamunida haeggi Klompmaker and Robins gen. et sp. nov. New
combinations are provided for four taxa: mytilid bivalve Inoperna plenicostata, thyasirid bivalve
Rhacothyas spitzbergensis, ampullinid gastropod Globularia isfjordensis, and munidid decapod
Protomunida spitzbergica. Thirteen taxa are left in open nomenclature.
The fauna discussed herein lived in a shallow marine embayment, where gas seepage and accumulation of plant material from adjacent land mass allowed seep and sunken driftwood fauna toco-exist in mutual proximity. With respect of their evolutionary histories, the studied taxa can be
subdivided into three main groups: long-lasting genera with pre-Paleocene origins which survive
to the post-Paleocene times (5 genera), Cretaceous relics which go extinct during the Paleocene or
shortly thereafter (4 genera) and Cenozoic novelties which have Paleocene origins (4 taxa). It isnotable that chemosymbiotic bivalves belong either to the long-lasting genus Solemya, or to the two
species of thyasirid bivalve family which has originated during the Cretaceous. The wood-boring
xylophagain Xylophagella also has Cretaceous affinity, and is in fact a relict going extinct after the
Paleocene. No novelties are discovered among the chemosymbiotic taxa or taxa normally associated with sunken driftwood environments. We therefore argue that Paleocene chemosynthesis-based
faunas where largely a continuation of their Cretaceous predecessors.

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2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

Poster 02
NEW DATA ON NON-DIMERELLOID BRACHIOPODS FROM CHEMOSYNTHESIS-BASEDCOMMUNITIESMaria Aleksandra BITNER1, Krzysztof HRYNIEWICZ1, Kazutaka AMANO2, Robert JENKINS3 andAndrzej KAIM1
1

Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland;
2
Joetsu University of Education, Department of Geoscience, Joetsu 943-8512, Japan; 3College of
Science and Engineering, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa 920-1192, Japan
Corresponding author: bitner@twarda.pan.pl
Abstract

Dimerelloid brachiopods are most characteristic for ancient hydrocarbon seeps and hydrothermal
vents. They commonly occur in mass accumulations and thus could have lived some form of relationship with chemosynthesizing bacteria. The other brachiopod groups are much less common andin several instances they occur seemingly fortuitously at hydrocarbon seeps. So far the best known
association is that reported from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Omagari site in Japan with terebratulide Eucalathis occurring in significant quantities (Kaim et al. 2010). Brachiopods were also
found in the Oligocene seeps in Japan, being represented by a rhynchonellide Frieleia sp. and cancellothyrid ?Terebratulina sp.
Recently a new species Neoliothyrina nakremi Bitner, 2019 has been described from the Paleocenehydrocarbon seeps in Spitsbergen (Hryniewicz et al. 2019). This species was initially tentatively assigned to Pliothyrina (see Hryniewicz et al. 2016), however, the investigations of internal structures
proved that it represents the genus Neoliothyrina. Neoliothyrina is a short-looped terebratulide,characterized by the presence of inner hinge plates, a feature rarely present in terebratuloids. It was
known so far from the Upper Cretaceous of Europe, thus it is another example of Cretaceous survivor at generic level.
Brachiopods were also found in the wood-fall communities in the Paleocene deep-water deposits of
the Katsuhira Formation in Hokkaido, Japan. They are represented by a rhynchonellide ?Hemithiris
sp. and short-looped terebratulide Abyssothyris sp.

References:
Hryniewicz, K., Bitner, M.A., Durska, E., Hagström, J., Hjálmársdottir H.R., Jenkins, R.G., Little, C.T.S., Miyajima, Y., Nakrem, H.A., and Kaim, A. 2016. Paleocene methane seep and wood-fall marine environmentsfrom Spitsbergen, Svalbard. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology,Palaeoecology 462: 41–56.
Hryniewicz, K., Amano, A., Bitner, M.A., Hagström, J., Kiel, S., Klompmaker, A.A., Mörs, T., Robins, C.M., andKaim, A. 2019. A late Paleocene fauna from shallow-water chemosynthesis-based ecosystems, Spitsbergen, Svalbard. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 64 (1): 101–141.
Kaim, A., Bitner, M.A., Jenkins, R.G., and Hikida, Y. 2010. A monospecific assemblage of terebratulide brachiopods in the Upper Cretaceous seep deposits of Omagari, Hokkaido, Japan. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica
55: 73–84.

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2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

Poster 03
PLEISTOCENE SHALLOW WATER WHALE-FALL COMMUNITY FROM THE OMMA FORMATION IN
CENTRAL JAPANAsuka Seki1, Robert Jenkins1
1

Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japanemail: seki-asuka@stu.kanazawa-u.aca.jp

Abstract
We report a single whale bone associated mainly with lucinid bivalves, Lucinoma sp., found in thelower Pleistocene shallow-water Omma Formation distributed along the Sai-gawa River, Kanazawa
City. Recent lucinid bivalves harbour chemosymbiotic bacteria in their gills and are well known asa member of chemosynthetic community (Taylor and Glover, 2000). Most of the lucinid bivalvesfrom the Omma Formation show articulated valves and umbo-upward position indicating in situ
occurrence. Thus, the fossil assemblage associated with the whale bone is interpreted as a fossil
whale-fall community established in shallow water environment. The shallow-water whale-fallcommunity may differ from the deep-water ones by dominance of infaunal bivalve (lucinid) andlack of epifaunal and semi-infaunal chemosynthetic bivalves, such as bathymodiolins and vesicomyids. This lack (rare) of epifauna and semi-infaunal species would be influenced by various
factors such as high predation pressure and high rate of deposition in shallow water (Sahling et al.,2003).

Keywords: Pleistocene, Baleen Whale, Lucinoma, chemosymbiotec bivalve, Whale-fall community,
Shallow-water, Omma Formation
References:
Sahling, H., Galkin, S. V., Salyuk, A., Greinert, J., Foerstel, H., Piepenburg, D. and Suess, E. (2003) Depth-related
structure and ecological significance of cold-seep communities –a case study from the Sea of Okhotsk.
Deep-Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers 50:1391–1409.
Taylor, J. D. and Glover, E. A. (2000) Functional anatomy, chemosymbiosis and evolution of the Lucinidae. In,
Harper, E. N., Taylor, J. D. and Crame, J. A. eds., The Evolutionary Biology of the Bivalvia, 177:207–225.
Geological Society of London Special Publications, London.

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2nd International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities, June, 2019, Sapporo, Japan

Poster 04
DIET OF THE OPHRYOTROCHA (ANNELIDA: DORVILLEIDAE) FROM WHALE- FALLS IN THETSUKUMO BAY, JAPAN
Midori Suzuki1, Robert Gwyn Jenkins1, Shouzo Ogiso2, Nobuo Suzuki3
1.Division of Environmental Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Natural Science andTechnology, Kanazawa University, 2.Kanazawa university, 3.Institute of Nature and Environmental
Technology, Kanazawa university)
email: robertgj@staff.kanazawa-u.ac.jp

Abstract
Decomposition of large organic-falls, e. g. sunken whale carcasses is a part of nutrient cycle (Smithet al., 2015). The decomposition is performed by not only microbes but also some animals, e. g.
the polychaetes. Some polychaetes can be found from inside of decaying bone, however, roles ofthe polychaetes animals are poorly understood. We examined the organic carbon isotope ratio andDNA(COI) of polychaete Ophryotrocha (Annelida: Dorvilleidae), a species lived in the whale bone
deployed in the Tsukumo Bay. They are exposed to stress in the form of high levels of hydrogensulfide but have successfully invaded into the bone. Morphological observation revealed the species
is mainly characterized by shape of jaw and we considered as new species. Phylogenetic analyses
based on COI suggest that they have independently invaded into whale falls, hydrothermal vent andmethane seep from normal environment for each taxon group. The examined Ophryotrocha sp. had
the broadest δ¹³C range (-33.8‰~-19.0‰) among other species lived on/in the bones. It indicatesthat some of them fed on bacterial mat such as Beggiatoa sp. (-37.2‰~-28.5‰) but some of them
don’t. These results highlight the role of Ophryotrocha has diverse food source, and it would be anadvantage to adapt various “extreme environment” such as vent, seep, and whale falls.

References:
Smith, C.R., Glover, A.G., Treude, T., Higgs, N.D. and Amon, D.J. (2015) Whale-fall ecosystems: recent insights
into ecology, paleoecology, and evolution. Marine Science 7: 571–596.

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Poster 05
MINERALS IN THE GILL CHAMBER AND THE DIGESTIVE TRACT OF HYDROTHERMAL VENT SHRIMP
RIMICARIS KAIREI
Masanari HIKOSAKA1, Kenta KIMURA1, Hiromi WATANABE2, Chong CHEN2, Yoshio TAKAHASHI3, Rovert G. JENKINS1
Kanazawa University, 2. Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 3. Tokyo University

Abstract
The hydrothermal vent shrimp Rimicaris dominates the macrofauna community in the Mid Atlantic
Ridge, the Central Indian Ridge (CIR), and the Caribbean Mid-Cayman Rise. This shrimp harbors
numerous strains of episymbiotic bacterial community in its gill chamber, and depends on them formost of the nutrition. It is known that the tissues in the gill chamber were encrusted with brown or
black iron precipitates probably due to the metabolism of the symbiotic bacterial community. Moreover, various minerals probably originated from hydrothermal vent fluid accumulated in the digestive tract. Considering that these minerals will deposit on the sea floor with molting or excretion, it
is expected that Rimicaris play a role in metal accumulation and precipitating in the hydrothermalvent system. However, Detailes of the bioaccumulated minerals, e.g. mineral phase, quantities, anddistribution, in the gill chamber and digestive tract haven’t been studied deeply. In this study, weinvestigated the mineral species and mineral distribution in gill chamber and digestive tract of Rimicaris kairei from Edmond and Kairei vent fields in the CIR.
Observations on freeze-dried and thin-section samples using SEM and polarized microscopy respectively, it was observed that the brown precipitates form crusts of about 50 µm in thickness andcover entirely the inside of branchiostegite, where black precipitates occur as submicron size microparticles in organic filmy tissues around filamentous bacteria. Using SEM-EDX and µXRF-XAFS,
it was suggested that the brown precipitates contain ferrihydrite, goethite, FePO4, while the black
precipitates contain ferrihydrite, goethite, FePO4, and pyrrhotite. In the digestive tract, iron oxides,
narive sulfur [S], pyrite [FeS2], marcasite [FeS2], chalcopyrite [CuFeS2], sphalerite [(Zn,Fe) S], andbarite [BaSO4] were detected by XRD and Raman spectroscopy in specimens from the EdmondField; while anhydrite was additionally detected in specimens from the Kairei Field. The metal sulfides decreased in density through the digestive tract from the mouth towards the anus in specimensfrom Edmond.
These results suggested that Rimicaris eat metal sulfides, sulfates, and iron oxides, and crush andconsume these minerals through mouth to digeseive tract. On the other hand, in the gill chamber, it
was suggested that iron hydroxide and pyrrhotite could be precipitated by microbial metabolism. In
this study, we show different metal accumulation process in in the gill chamber and digestive tractof Rimicaris, respectively.

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