Rocky Harbour Formation


The Rocky Harbour Formation is an Ediacaran formation cropping out in Newfoundland. Its depositional setting was deltaic, with sediments showing the influence of tides and waves.
It is also known to preserve pre-Gaskiers glaciation fossils, in the form of palaeopascichnid specimens, around 579 Ma.

Facies from top to bottom

As reported in, and partly in.
Ford's Harbour.

Paleobiota

The Rocky Harbour Formation is currently the oldest formation in Newfoundland, Canada, to bear pre-Gaskiers glaciation fossil material at around 579 Ma, although it is beaten by the Lantian Formation, which sits at 602 - 577 Ma. These fossils are of the enigmatic palaeopascichnids, elongated to agglutinated organisms which consist of multiple sausage-shaped chambers or spherical or hemispherical chambers that occasionally branch.

''incertae sedis''

GenusSpeciesNotesImages
Orbisiana?
Agglutinated, branching organism.
Palaeopascichnus
  • P. linearis
    		• Elongated, branching organism.