Clasts derived from rhizocretions in shallow-marine Miocene clastic deposits of northern Hungary: an example of zombie structures

Abstract

Disc- and cylindrical-shaped clasts of fine-grained calcareous and ferruginous rock, each with a central tunnel, occur in shallow marine brackish Miocene sandy deposits of the Egyházasgerge Formation in Hungary. Previously, these have been interpreted as enigmatic biogenic (?) structures. After field and laboratory examination and comparisons with sub-recent rhizoclasts in subsoils developed on Quaternary fine-grained deposits in SE Poland, they are re-interpreted as redeposited rhizocretions possibly washed out of the coeval continental deposits of the Salgótarján Lignite Formation. Most are fragmented and abraded. They are termed rhizoclasts and are presented as an example of zombie structures inherited from another environment where they played a different role. Such rhizoclasts can be considered as an indicator of the source of the clastic material transported from a vegetated landmass on which moderate or poorly drained soils develop and plant roots penetrate the fine-grained substrate. In such soils, iron was mobilized, then fixed by oxidation, as the water table and oxygen levels fluctuated.