Taphonomic aspects of the Wagondrift Quarry site, and their implications for the depositional environment of the Upper Permian Estcourt Formation; KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

At the Upper Permian site in a quarry at Wagondrift, near Estcourt (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa), many Glossopteris leaves are found at various angles to the horizontal in unbedded, structureless sediments, suggesting slumping in a subaqueous levee setting. Other Glossopteris leaves are found associated with small ripples in very fine sandstone, suggesting overbank spill. The presence of a whorl of the fragile sphenopsid Sphenophyllum and the delicate wing of a plecopteran (Perlaria, Stone-fly) of which the nymph is fully aquatic, suggest proximity to a fresh-water environment, rather than deposition in turbidites.