Mid-Holocene marine faunas from the Bangkok Clay deposits in Nakhon Nayok, the Central Plain of Thailand

By

Jirapatrasilp, Parin
Cuny, Gilles
Kocsis, László
Čhirasak Sutčharit
Ngamnisai, Nom
Charoentitirat, Thasinee
Kumpitak, Satapat
Suraprasit, Kantapon

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2024-5-15

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1202

Pages

1--110

Subjects

carbon-14 dating , Chao Phraya River Basin , Chondrichthyes , marine transgression , mollusc , paleoenvironment

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1202.119389

 

Abstract

Based on several field investigations, many molluscan shells and chondrichthyan teeth, together with other invertebrate and actinopterygian remains were found from the marine Bangkok Clay deposits in Ongkharak, Nakhon Nayok, at a depth of ~ 5–7 m below the topsoil surface. Animal macrofossils recovered from these Holocene marine deposits were identified and their chronological context was investigated in order to reconstruct the paleoenvironments of the area at that time. The majority of marine fossils recovered from the site consist of molluscs, with a total of 63 species identified. Other invertebrate species include a stony coral, a mud lobster, barnacles, and a sea urchin. The vertebrates are represented by fish remains, including carcharhinid shark teeth from at least nine species, stingray and trichiurid teeth, and one sciaenid otolith. The molluscan fauna indicates that the paleoenvironments of the area corresponded to intertidal to sublittoral zones, where some areas were mangrove forests and intertidal mudflats. The fish fauna is dominated by the river sharkGlyphis, indicating freshwater influences and possibly occasional brackish conditions. The carbon-14 analysis of mollusc and charcoal remains shows that deposition of the marine sediment sequence began during the mid-Holocene, spanning approximately from 8,800 to 5,300 cal yr BP. This study provides in-depth insights into the diversity of fishes, marine molluscs, and other invertebrates from the Bangkok Clay deposits, supporting the existence of a marine transgression onto the Lower Central Plain of Thailand during the mid-Holocene.