ORIGINS OF CARBONATE MOUNDS IN SOUTHERN MISSOURI

Small carbonate mud mounds are found in the lowermost Mississippian strata of southwestern Missouri. These compare favorably with larger mounds, known as Waulsortian mounds found in the Meuse River valley of southern Belgium. The origin of both Waulsortian and similar mounds is unknown, but they commonly are interpreted as an accumulation of mud where framework, binding, or baffling organisms remain uncertain. An alternative hypothesis is that these may have been slump masses. To establish an understanding of how the mounds in southwest Missouri and elsewhere formed, models will be made via Unmanned Aerial Vehicle imagery, and possible mechanisms of formation will be determined by δ13C and δ18O isotope analysis.