Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Methane Seeps in the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, USA

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Ancient Hydrocarbon Seeps

Part of the book series: Topics in Geobiology ((TGBI,volume 53))

Abstract

Seep deposits in the Upper Cretaceous US Western Interior appear today as prominent geomorphic features in the landscape and are called “tepee buttes.” They are widespread and occur, in general, from the Campanian to early Maastrichtian, persisting for approximately 7 Myr. The presence of methane has been confirmed by isotopic analyses of the seep carbonates, which exhibit values of δ13C as low as −50‰ VPDB. The likely source of the methane was biogenic, produced by the decomposition of sedimentary organic matter, originating from the Pierre Shale and underlying formations. The seeps formed in relatively shallow water ≤100 m deep. Variation in the structure, lithofacies, and fossil composition of the seep deposits may reflect differences in the duration and rate of methane emission. Most seep species reflect the background fauna and are not seep-obligate. In some seeps, authigenic precipitation of carbonates resulted in the development of hard, irregular limestone crusts that provided suitable substrates for animals to settle on and attach to, including stalked articulate crinoids, feather stars, sponges, ophiuroids, asteroids, regular and irregular echinoids, tube worms, crabs, bryozoa, and corals. In turn, these communities attracted a diverse suite of other organisms including gastropods, scaphites, baculites, nautilids, fish, and mosasaurs.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Anderson J, Shapiro R, Lyons T (2005) Petrology and petrography of the Tepee Buttes (Cretaceous) methane-deep carbonates. In: Abstracts with programs, Geological Society of America 37:138

    Google Scholar 

  • Arthur MA, Kauffman EG, Scholle PA et al (1982) Chemical and paleobiological evidence for the submarine spring origin of carbonate mounds in the Pierre Shale (Cretaceous of Colorado). In: Abstracts with programs, Geological Society of America 14:435

    Google Scholar 

  • Barron EJ (1983) A warm, equable Cretaceous: the nature of the problem. Earth Sci Rev 19:305–338

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bash E, Shapiro R, Anderson J et al (2005) Distribution and mapping of the Cretaceous Tepee Buttes of the Western Interior Seaway. In: Abstracts with programs, Geological Society of America 37:138

    Google Scholar 

  • Bayon G, Dupré S, Ponzevera E et al (2013) Formation of carbonate chimneys in the Mediterranean Sea linked to deep-water oxygen depletion. Nat Geosci 6:755–760

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergstresser TJ (1981) Foraminiferal biostratigraphy and paleobathymetry of the Pierre Shale, Colorado, Kansas, and Wyoming. University of Wyoming, Dissertation

    Google Scholar 

  • Birgel D, Peckman J, Klautzch S et al (2006) Anaerobic and aerobic oxidation of methane at Late Cretaceous seeps in the Western Interior Seaway, USA. Geomicrobiol J 23:565–577

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bishop GA, Williams AB (2000) Fossil crabs from tepee buttes, submarine seeps of the Late Cretaceous Pierre Shale, South Dakota and Colorado, USA. J Crustac Biol 20(2):286–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blake DB, Halligan WK, Larson NL (2018) A new species of the asteroid (Echinodermata) genus Betelgeusia from methane seep settings, Late Cretaceous of South Dakota. J Paleontol 92(2):196–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blakey R (2014) Paleogeography of the Western Interior Seaway of North America. Western Interior Seaway (NAM) series. Late Campanian (B. compressus). Used by permission: Colorado Plateau Geosystems https://deeptimemaps.com/map-room/. Accessed 21 Nov 2021

  • Boetius A, Ravenschlag K, Schubert CJ et al (2000) A marine microbial consortium apparently mediating anaerobic oxidation of methane. Nature 407:623–626

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brezina JA, Larson NL, Landman NH (2019) Fossil wood fall and associated fauna from the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway in South Dakota. Paper presented at second international workshop on ancient hydrocarbon seep and cognate communities, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, 13–15 June 2019

    Google Scholar 

  • Brophy SK, Garb MP, Landman NH et al (2018) Biotic response to a Late Cretaceous ash fall: comparative faunal analyses from a methane seep and non-seep ecosystem within the Western Interior Seaway. Abstracts with programs, Geological Society of America 50(6):257–214

    Google Scholar 

  • Brophy SK, Garb MP, Naujokaityte J et al (2022) Methane seeps as possible refugia during ash falls in the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway. Geology 50(4):442–447

    Google Scholar 

  • Cobban WA, Jeletzky JA (1965) A new scaphite from the Campanian rocks of the Western Interior of North America. J Paleontol 39(5):794–801

    Google Scholar 

  • Cobban WA, Reeside JB Jr (1952) Correlation of the Cretaceous formations of the Western Interior of the United States. Geol Soc Am Bull 63:1011–1044

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cobban WA, Kennedy WJ, Scott GR (1992) Upper Cretaceous heteromorph ammonites from the Baculites compressus Zone of the Pierre Shale in north-central Colorado. US Geol Surv Bull 2024:A1–A11

    Google Scholar 

  • Cobban WA, Mereweather EA, Fouch TD et al (1994) Some Cretaceous shorelines in the Western Interior of the United States. In: Caputo MV, Peterson JA, Franczyk KJ (eds) Mesozoic systems of the Rocky Mountain region, USA. Rocky Mountain Section Society for Sedimentary Geology, Denver, Colorado, pp 393–413

    Google Scholar 

  • Cobban WA, Walaszczyk I, Obradovich JD et al (2006) A USGS zonal table for the Upper Cretaceous Middle Cenomanian-Maastrichtian of the Western Interior of the United States based on ammonites, inoceramids, and radiometric ages. US Geol Surv Open-File Rep 2006-1250:1–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Cochran JK, Landman NH, Turekian KK et al (2003) Paleoceanography of the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Western Interior Seaway of North America: evidence from Sr and O isotopes. Palaeogeog Palaeoclimat Palaeoecol 191:45–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cochran JK, Kallenberg K, Landman NH et al (2010) Effect of diagenesis on the Sr, O, and C isotope composition of Late Cretaceous mollusks from the Western Interior Seaway of North America. Am J Sci 310:69–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cochran JK, Landman NH, Larson NL et al (2015) Geochemical evidence (C and Sr isotopes) for methane seeps as ammonite habitats in the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) Western Interior Seaway. Swiss J Paleontol 134(2):153–165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cochran, JK, Landman NH, Jakubowicz M et al (this volume) Chapter 1: Geochemistry of cold hydrocarbon seeps: an overview. In: Kaim A, Cochran JK, Landman NH (eds) Ancient hydrocarbon seeps. Topics in Geobiology, vol. 50. Springer, Cham

    Google Scholar 

  • Collom CJ, Johnston PA (2000) Late Cretaceous seep facies in the Western Interior of Canada and the United States: iron ooids, carbonate mounds, and associated tectonism. In: Program with extended abstracts (CD), GeoCanada 2000 Millenium Geoscience Summit, University of Calgary, Alberta, 29 May–2 June 2000

    Google Scholar 

  • Corbett MJ, Watkins DK (2013) Calcareous nannofossil paleoecology of the mid-Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway and evidence of oligotrophic surface waters during OAE2. Palaeogeog Palaeoclimat Palaeoecol 392:510–523

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Covey C, Sloan LC, Hoffert MI (1996) Paleoclimate data constraints on climate sensitivity: the paleocalibration method. Clim Chang 32:165–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cross TA (1986) Tectonic controls of foreland basin subsidence and Laramide style deformation, western United States. In: Allen PA, Homewood P (eds) Foreland basins. International Association of Sedimentology Special Publications, vol 8, Blackwell Scientific, Oxford, pp 15–39

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahl RM, Close HG, Parsons-Hubbard K et al (2005) Paleoecology and topographic expression of a Cretaceous cold-seep: a taphonomic analysis of the Tepee Butte limestone. In: Abstracts with programs, Geological Society of America 37(7):138

    Google Scholar 

  • Dane CH, Pierce WG, Reeside JB Jr (1937) The stratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous rocks north of the Arkansas River in eastern Colorado. US Geol Surv Prof Pap 186-K:207–232

    Google Scholar 

  • Darton NH (1902) Oelrichs folio: South Dakota–Nebraska. United States Geologic Survey Geologic Atlas of the United States 85. United States Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia

    Google Scholar 

  • Darton NH (1904) Newcastle folio: Wyoming–South Dakota. United States Geological Survey Geologic Atlas of the United States 107. United States Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia

    Google Scholar 

  • Darton NH (1905) Preliminary report on the geology and underground water resources of the central Great Plains. US Geol Surv Prof Pap 32:1–108

    Google Scholar 

  • Darton NH (1919) Newell folio: South Dakota. United States Geological Survey Geologic Atlas of the United States 209. United States Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia

    Google Scholar 

  • Darton NH, O’Harra CC (1909) Belle Fourche folio: South Dakota. United States Geological Survey Geologic Atlas of the United States 164. United States Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia

    Google Scholar 

  • Darton NH, Paige S (1925) Central Black Hills folio: South Dakota. United States Geological Survey Geologic Atlas of the United States 219. United States Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennis KJ, Cochran JK, Landman NH et al (2013) The climate of the Late Cretaceous: new insights from the application of the carbonate clumped isotope thermometer to Western Interior Seaway macrofossils. Earth Planet Sci Lett 362:51–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elias MK (1931) The geology of Wallace County, Kansas. Kansas Geol Surv Bull 18:1–254

    Google Scholar 

  • Elias MK (1933) Cephalopods of the Pierre Formation of Wallace County, Kansas, and adjacent area. Univ Kansas Sci Bull 21(9):289–363

    Google Scholar 

  • Fenneman NM (1931) Physiography of western United States. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Finlay GJ (1916) Colorado Springs folio: Colorado. United States Geological Survey Geologic Atlas of the United States 203. United States Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher CA (1906) Nepesta folio: Colorado. United States Geological Survey Geologic Atlas of the United States 135. United States Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher CG, Arthur MA (2002) Water mass characteristics in the Cenomanian Western Interior Seaway as indicated by stable isotopes of calcareous organisms. Palaeogeog Palaeoclimat Palaeoecol 188:189–213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fricke HC, Foreman BZ, Sewall JO (2010) Integrated climate model-oxygen isotope evidence for a North American monsoon during the Late Cretaceous. Earth Planet Sci Lett 289:11–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert GK (1896) The underground water of the Arkansas Valley in eastern Colorado. US Geol Surv Ann Rept 17(2):551–601

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert GK (1897) Pueblo folio: Colorado. United States Geological Survey Geologic Atlas of the United States 36. United States Geologic Survey, Reston, Virginia

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert GK, Gulliver FR (1895) Tepee buttes. Geol Soc Am Bull 6:333–342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill JR, Cobban WA (1966) The Red Bird section of the Upper Cretaceous Pierre Shale in Wyoming. US Geol Surv Prof Pap 393-A:1–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall J, Meek FB (1856) Description of new species of fossils, from the Cretaceous formations of Nebraska, with observations upon Baculites ovatus and B. compressus, and the progressive development of the septa in Baculites, Ammonites, and Scaphites. Mem Am Acad Arts Sci 5:379–411

    Google Scholar 

  • Hay WW (2008) Evolving ideas about the Cretaceous climate and ocean circulation. Cret Res 29:725–753

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He S, Kyser TK, Caldwell WGE (2005) Paleoenvironment of the Western Interior Seaway inferred from δ18O and δ13C values of molluscs from the Cretaceous Bearpaw marine cyclothem. Palaeogeog Palaeoclim Palaeoecol 217:67–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howe B (1987) Tepee Buttes: a petrological, paleontological, paleoenvironmental study of Cretaceous submarine spring deposits. Thesis, University of Colorado

    Google Scholar 

  • Howe B, Kauffman EG (1986) Tepee Buttes, late Campanian submarine springs and the biofacies, between Colorado Springs and Boone, Colorado. In: Kauffman EG (ed), Cretaceous biofacies of the central part of the Western Interior Seaway: a field guidebook. 4th North American Paleontological Convention, University of Colorado, Boulder, pp 155–175

    Google Scholar 

  • Hryniewicz K (this volume) Appendix: Fossil seeps of the world. In: Kaim A, Cochran JK, Landman NH (eds) Ancient hydrocarbon seeps. Topics in Geobiology, vol 50. Springer, Cham. (Appendix)

    Google Scholar 

  • Huber BT, Norris RD, MacLeod KG (2002) Deep-sea paleotemperature record of extreme warmth during the Cretaceous. Geology 30:123–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hudson JD, Anderson TF (1989) Ocean temperatures and isotopic compositions through time. Earth Environ Sci Trans R Soc Edinburgh: Earth Sci 80(3/4):183–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunter AW, Larson NL, Landman NH et al (2016) A new crinoid from cold methane seep deposits in the Upper Cretaceous Pierre Shale. J Paleontol 90(3):506–524

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunter AW, Brezina J, Larson NL (2018) Comment to Kato et al. (2017), Paleoecology of echinoderms in cold seep environments revealed by isotope analysis in the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway. PALAIOS 33(6):282–283

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyatt A (1903) Pseudoceratites of the Cretaceous. US Geol Surv Monogr 44:1–351

    Google Scholar 

  • Izett GA, Cobban WA, Gill JR (1971) The Pierre Shale near Kremmling, Colorado, and its correlation to the east and the west. US Geol Surv Prof Pap 684-A:1–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkyns HC, Forster A, Schouten S et al (2004) High temperatures in the Late Cretaceous Arctic Ocean. Nature 432:888–892

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kato M, Oji T, Shirai K (2017) Paleoecology of echinoderms in cold seep environments revealed by isotope analysis in the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway. PALAIOS 32:218–230

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kato M, Oji T, Shirai K (2018) Reply to comment on Kato et al. (2017) Paleoecology of echinoderms in cold seep environments revealed by isotope analysis in the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway. PALAIOS 33(6):284–285

    Google Scholar 

  • Kauffman EG (1984) Paleobiogeography and evolutionary response dynamic in the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway of North America. In: Westermann GEG (ed), Jurassic–Cretaceous biochronology and paleogeography of North America. Geol Ass Canada Spec Pap 27:273–306

    Google Scholar 

  • Kauffman EG, Caldwell WGE (1993) The Western Interior Basin in space and time. In: Caldwell WGE, Kauffman EG (eds), Evolution of the Western Interior Basin. Geol Ass Can Spec Pap 39:1–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Kauffman EG, Arthur MA, Scholle P et al (1990) Lithofacies, biofacies, and geochemistry of the Tepee Buttes, Late Campanian (Cretaceous) submarine springs, Pueblo-Boone area, southern Colorado: Cretaceous rhythms, events and resources field trip. University of Colorado, Boulder

    Google Scholar 

  • Kauffman EG, Arthur MA, Howe B et al (1996) Widespread venting of methane-rich fluids in Late Cretaceous (Campanian) submarine springs (Tepee Buttes), Western Interior Seaway, U.S.A. Geology 24:799–802

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiel S (ed) (2010) The vent and seep biota: aspects from microbes to ecosystems. Topics in Geobiology, vol 33. Springer, Cham

    Google Scholar 

  • Kiel S, Weise F, Titus AL (2012) Shallow-water methane-seep faunas in the Cenomanian Western Interior Seaway: no evidence for onshore-offshore adaptations to deep-sea vents. Geology 40(9):839–842

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krause FF, Clark J, Sayegh SG et al (2009) Tube worm fossils or relic methane expulsing conduits? PALAIOS 24:41–50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kruta I, Landman NH, Rouget I et al (2011) The role of ammonites in the Mesozoic marine food web revealed by jaw preservation. Science 331:70–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laird JD, Belanger CL (2018) Quantifying successional change and ecological similarity among Cretaceous and modern cold-seep faunas. Paleobiology 45(1):114–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landman NH, Klofak SM (2012) Anatomy of a concretion: life, death, and burial in the Western Interior Seaway. PALAIOS 27:672–693

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landman NH, Kennedy WJ, Cobban WA et al (2010) Scaphites of the ‘nodosus group’ from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) of the Western Interior of North America. Bull Am Mus Natl Hist 342:1–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landman NH, Cochran JK, Larson NL et al (2012) Methane seeps as ammonite habitats in the U.S. Western Interior Seaway revealed by isotopic analyses of well-preserved shell material. Geology 40(6):507–510

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landman NH, Kennedy WJ, Cobban WA et al (2013) A new species of Hoploscaphites (Ammonoidea: Ancyloceratina) from cold methane seeps in the Upper Cretaceous of the U.S. Western Interior. Am Mus Novit 3881:1–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landman NH, Grier JC, Grier JW et al (2015) 3-D orientation and distribution of ammonites in a concretion from the Upper Cretaceous Pierre Shale of Montana. Swiss J Paleontol 134(2):257–279

    Google Scholar 

  • Landman NH, Cochran JK, Slovacek M et al (2018a) Isotope sclerochronology of ammonites (Baculites compressus) from methane seep and non-seep sites in the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, USA: implications for ammonite habitat and mode of life. Am J Sci 318:603–639

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landman NH, Jicha BR, Cochran JK et al (2018b) 40Ar/39Ar date of a bentonite associated with a methane seep deposit in the upper Campanian Baculites compressus Zone, Pierre Shale, South Dakota. Cret Res 90:90–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Landman NH, Kennedy WJ, Larson NL et al (2019) Description of two species of Hoploscaphites (Ammonoidea: Ancyloceratina) from the Upper Cretaceous (lower Maastrichtian) of the U.S. Western Interior. Bull Am Mus Natl Hist 427:1–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landman NH, Kennedy WJ, Grier J et al (2020) Large scaphitid ammonites (Hoploscaphites) from the Upper Cretaceous (upper Campanian–lower Maastrichtian) of North America: endless variation on a single theme. Bull Am Mus Natl Hist 441:1–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larson NL, Jorgensen SD, Farrar RA et al (1997) Ammonites and the other cephalopods of the Pierre Seaway. Geoscience Press, Tucson, Arizona

    Google Scholar 

  • Larson NL, Brezina J, Landman NH et al (2014) Hydrocarbon seeps: unique habitats that preserved the diversity of fauna in the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway. Wyoming Geological Society Guidebook, Caspar, Wyoming. https://www.academia.edu/4641897/Hydrocarbon_seeps_unique_habitats. Accessed 4 Nov 2021

  • Lavington CS (1933) Montana Group in eastern Colorado. Am Assoc Pet Geol Bull 17:397–410

    Google Scholar 

  • Lukeneder A, Harzhauser M, Müllegger S et al (2010) Ontogeny and habitat change in Mesozoic cephalopods revealed by stable isotopes (δ18O, δ13C). Earth Planet Sci Lett 296:103–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lynds RM, Slattery JS (2017) Correlation of the Upper Cretaceous stratigraphy of Wyoming. Wyoming State Geol Surv Open File Rept:2017–2013

    Google Scholar 

  • Mapel WJ, Pillmore CL (1963) Geology of the Newcastle area, Weston County, Wyoming. US Geol Surv Bull 1141-N:1–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Meehan K, Landman NH (2016) Faunal associations in cold-methane seep deposits from the Upper Cretaceous Pierre Shale, South Dakota. Palaios 31(6):291–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meehan KC, Mego Vela M, Gilles NV et al (2018) Foraminifera from the upper Campanian Pierre Shale methane cold-seeps. South Dakota Cret Res. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2018.03.023

  • Meek FB (1876) A report on the invertebrate Cretaceous and Tertiary fossils of the upper Missouri country. US Geol Surv Terr Rept 9:1–629, pls 1–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Meek FB, Hayden FV (1856) Descriptions of new species of Gasteropoda from the Cretaceous formations of Nebraska Territory. Proc Acad Natl Sci Phila 8:63–69

    Google Scholar 

  • Merewether EA, McKinney KC (2015) Chronostratigraphic cross section of Cretaceous formations in western Montana, western Wyoming, eastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, and northwestern New Mexico, U.S.A. US Geol Surv Open-File Rept 2015–1087. https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20151087

  • Metz CL (2002) Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) sequence and biostratigraphy, west Texas to east-central Utah and development of cold-seep mounds in the Western Interior Cretaceous basin. Texas A&M University, Dissertation

    Google Scholar 

  • Metz CL (2010) Tectonic controls on the genesis and distribution of Late Cretaceous, Western Interior Basin hydrocarbon seep mounds (tepee buttes) of North America. J Geol 118:201–213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michaelis W, Seifert R, Nauhaus K et al (2002) Microbial reefs in the Black Sea fueled by anaerobic oxidation of methane. Science 297:1013–1015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morton SG (1834) Synopsis of the organic remains of the Cretaceous group of the United States illustrated by nineteen plates, to which is added an Appendix containing a tabular view of the Tertiary fossils hitherto discovered in North America. Biddle, Philadelphia

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Morton SG (1842) Description of some new species of organic remains of the Cretaceous group of the United States: with a tabular view of the fossils hitherto discovered in this formation. J Acad Natl Sci Phila 8(2):207–227

    Google Scholar 

  • Owen DD (1852) Report of a geological survey of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota; and incidentally of a portion of Nebraska Territory made under instructions from the United States Treasury Department, 2 vols. Lippincott, Grambo, Philadelphia

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Petta TJ, Gerhard LC (1977) Marine grass banks, a possible explanation for carbonate lenses, Tepee Zone, Pierre Shale (Cretaceous), Colorado. J Sediment Res 47(3):1018–1026

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson CS, Mapel WJ, Cobban WA (1959) Pierre Shale along western and northern flanks of Black Hills, Wyoming and Montana. Am Ass Pet Geol Bull 43:101–123

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson CS, Mapel WJ, Bergendahl MH (1964) Stratigraphy and structure of the northern and western flanks of the Black Hills Uplift, Wyoming, Montana, and South Dakota. US Geol Surv Prof Pap 404:1–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowe A, Landman NH, Witts JW et al (2020) Late Cretaceous methane seeps as habitats for newly hatched ammonites. PALAIOS 35:1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan D, Witts JD, Landman NH (2020) Paleoecological analysis of a methane seep in the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Western Interior, USA. Lethaia 54:185–203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sahling H, Galkin SV, Salyuk A et al (2003) Depth-related structure and ecological significance of cold-seep communities—a case study from the Sea of Okhotsk. Deep-Sea Res Part I 50:1391–1409

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Say T (1820) Observations on some species of zoophytes, shells, &c. principally fossil. Am J Sci Arts 2(2):34–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Schröder-Adams C (2014) The Cretaceous Polar and Western Interior seas: paleoenvironmental history and paleoceanographic linkages. Sediment Geol 301:26–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott GR (1969) General and engineering geology of the northern part of Pueblo, Colorado. US Geol Surv Bull 1262:1–131

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott GR, Cobban WA (1965) Geologic and biostratigraphic map of the Pierre Shale between Jarre Creek and Loveland. Colorado US Geol Surv Misc Geol Invest Map Ser I-439. scale 1:48,000

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott GR, Cobban WA (1975) Geology and biostratigraphic map of the Pierre Shale in the Canon City-Florence Basin and the Twelvemile Park area, south-central Colorado. US Geol Surv Misc Geol Invest Map Ser I-937. scale 1:48,000

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott GR, Cobban WA (1986a) Geologic and biostratigraphic map of the Pierre Shale in the Colorado Springs-Pueblo area. Colorado. US Geol Surv Misc Geol Invest Map Ser I-1627. scale 1:100,000

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott GR, Cobban WA (1986b) Geology, biostratigraphic, and structure map of the Pierre Shale between Loveland and Round Butte. Colorado. US Geol Surv Misc Geol Invest Map Ser I-1700. scale 1:50,000

    Google Scholar 

  • Shackleton NJ, Kennett JP (1975) Paleotemperature history of the Cenozoic and initiation of Antarctic glaciation: oxygen and carbon isotope analyses in DSDP sites 277, 279 and 281. Init Rep Deep Sea Drilling Prog 29:743–755

    Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro RS (2004) Recognition of fossil prokaryotes in Cretaceous methane seep carbonates: relevance to astrobiology. Astrobiology 4:438–449

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro RS, Fricke H (2002) Tepee buttes: fossilized methane-seep ecosystems. In: Leonard EM et al (eds), High Plains to Rio Grande Rift: Late Cenozoic evolution of central Colorado. Geol Soc Am Field Guide 3:94–101

    Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro RS, Gale CM (2001) Bacterial fossils from Cretaceous methane-seep carbonates. In: Abstracts with programs, Geological Society of America 33(6):A453

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharps JA (1976) Geologic map of the Lamar Quadrangle. Colorado and Kansas US Geol Surv Misc Geol Invest Map Ser I-944. scale 1:250,000

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharps JA (1980) Geologic map of the Limon 1″ X 2″ quadrangle, Colorado and Kansas. US Geol Surv Misc Geol Invest Map Ser I-1250., scale 1:250,000

    Google Scholar 

  • Spicer RA, Corfield RM (1992) A review of terrestrial and marine climates in the Cretaceous with implications for modeling the ‘Greenhouse Earth.’ Geol Mag 129:169–180

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephenson LW (1941) The larger invertebrates of the Navarro Group of Texas (exclusive of corals and crustaceans and exclusive of the fauna of the Escondido Formation). Univ Texas Bull 4101:1–641

    Google Scholar 

  • Teichert BMA, Bohrmann G, Suess E (2005) Chemoherms on Hydrate Ridge—unique microbially-mediated carbonate build-ups growing into the water column. Palaeogeog Palaeoclimat Palaeoecol 227:67–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thuy B, Landman NH, Larson NL et al (2018) Brittle star mass occurrence on a Late Cretaceous methane seep from South Dakota, USA. Sci Rep 8-9617:1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Tobin TS, Ward PD (2015) Carbon isotope (δ13C) differences between Late Cretaceous ammonites and benthic mollusks from Antarctica. Palaeogeog Palaeoclimat Palaeoecol 428:50–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsujita CJ, Westermann GEG (1998) Ammonoid habitats and habits in the Western Interior Seaway: a case study from the Upper Cretaceous Bearpaw Formation of southern Alberta, Canada. Palaeogeog Palaeoclimat Palaeoecol 144:135–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tweto O (1980) Summary of Laramide orogeny in Colorado. In: Kent HC, Porter KW (eds), Colorado geology. Proceedings, Symposium on Colorado geology, Denver, pp 129–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Weise F, Kiel S, Pack A et al (2015) The beast burrowed, the fluid followed—crustacean burrows as methane conduits. Mar Pet Geol 66(3):631–640

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitfield RP (1877) Preliminary report on the paleontology of the Black Hills, containing descriptions of new species of fossils from the Potsdam, Jurassic, and Cretaceous formations of the Black Hills of Dakota. US Geographical and Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright EK (1987) Stratification and paleocirculation of the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway of North America. Geol Soc Am Bull 99:480–490

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

At the American Museum of Natural History, we thank Ana Rashkova, Bushra Hussaini, Mary Conway, Kathleen Sarg, and Marion Savas for accessioning material and assigning AMNH numbers, Mariah Slovacek and Ana Raskhova for collecting fossils in the field and preparing specimens, and Stephen Thurston for photographing specimens and preparing figures. We thank Barbara A. Beasley for arranging permits to collect on the Buffalo Gap National Grassland, South Dakota. We thank Cheryl L. Metz for calling our attention to the maps of the Black Hills produced by N. H. Darton. Many students, colleagues, and family members have helped us collect in the field and interpret the results, and we wish to express our thanks to the ranchers, farmers, and private landowners who granted us permission to collect on their property: Malcolm Bedell, Gale Bishop, Shannon Brophy, Jim and Joyce Grier, William Halligan, Kayla Irizarry, Steve Jorgensen, the late Susan Klofak, Ekaterina Larina, Luke Larson, Tom Linn, Jone Naujokaityte, Dustin Perriguey, Remy Rovelli, James Witts, Adiel Klompmaker, Joshua Slattery, Joshua Laird, Christina Robins, Ben Thuy, Aaron Hunter, Tatsuo Oji, Paul Taylor, Ted Hubbard, Daniel Blake, Mary Haas, Andrzek Kaim, George Philips, Robert Jenkins, and all the doctors who treated us after our field injuries. This research was supported, in part, by the N.D. Newell Fund (AMNH). We are grateful for incisive reviews by William Halligan, Stephen Kiel, Russell Shapiro, and Andrzej Kaim whose comments substantially improved this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Invertebrate Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA

    Neil H. Landman & J. Kirk Cochran

  2. School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA

    J. Kirk Cochran

  3. Department of Mining Engineering, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD, USA

    Jamie Brezina

  4. Larson Paleontology Unlimited, Keystone, SD, USA

    Neal L. Larson

  5. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    Matthew P. Garb

  6. Department of Geology, University at Buffalo (SUNY, Buffalo), Buffalo, USA

    Kimberly C. Meehan

  7. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Corinne Myers

Authors
  1. Neil H. Landman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. Kirk Cochran
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jamie Brezina
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Neal L. Larson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Matthew P. Garb
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Kimberly C. Meehan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Corinne Myers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Neil H. Landman .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warszawa, Poland

    Andrzej Kaim

  2. School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA

    J. Kirk Cochran

  3. Department of Invertebrate Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA

    Neil H. Landman

Appendix

Appendix

Table 15.1 AMNH localities, Pierre Shale. Abbreviations: B. bac., Baculites baculus; B. comp., Baculites compressus; B. cun., Baculites cuneatus; B. scotti, Baculites scotti; D. chey., Didymoceras cheyennense; D. neb., Didymoceras nebrascense. Study number is a waypoint number (WPT) assigned by J. Brezina
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Landman, N.H. et al. (2022). Methane Seeps in the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, USA. In: Kaim, A., Cochran, J.K., Landman, N.H. (eds) Ancient Hydrocarbon Seeps. Topics in Geobiology, vol 53. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05623-9_15

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation