Biostratigraphy of Dinantian limestones and associated volcanic rocks in the Limerick Syncline,Ireland

Rocks of Courceyan to Brigantian age are exposed in the Limerick Syncline. However, a complete Courceyan succession is known only from two boreholes which correlate closely, both faunally and lithologically, with a standard Limerick Province succession in the Pallaskenry Borehole on the Shannon estuary. This is followed by a thick Waulsortian sequence (the newly defined Limerick Limestone Formation) of late Courceyan to early Chadian age and overlying cherty micrites (the newly defined Lough Gur Formation) of early to late Chadian age, whose top is younger to the east. The Lough Gur Formation is succeeded by lavas and tuffs of the Knockroe Volcanic Formation whose upper part is interbedded with and overlain by shallow water oolites and algal-rich bioclastic limestones of the Herbertstown Limestone Formation. The higher part of the latter is in turn interbedded with lavas and tuffs of the Knockseefin Volcanic Formation. The Herbertstown Limestone has rich and diverse coral/brachiopod and foraminiferal assemblages of late Chadian to Asbian age. Its base is markedly diachronous: late Chadian in the west of the syncline and Holkerian in the east. Both the base and top of the Knockroe Volcanic Formation are thus shown to be markedly diachronous and volcanism extends from the Chadian to early Asbian. The Knockseefin Volcanic Formation is entirely of Asbian age. The highest limestones (Dromkeen Limestone Formation) have a diagnostic late Asbian–early Brigantian fauna and are overstepped by mid-Namurian shales.     

The lower carboniferous (dinantian) of the Swords area: Sedimentation and tectonics in the Dublin Basin,Ireland

The litho- and biostratigraphy of the Lower Dinantian succession in a deeper part of the Dublin Basin is described. The sub-Waulsortian Malahide Limestone Formation (emended) is described fully for the first time, and has proved to be very much thicker than was previously suspected, in excess of 1200 m. Succeeding the ‘Lower Limestone Shale’ unit, which is transitional from the underlying Old Red Sandstone facies, the following six new members are recognized: Turvey Micrite Member, Swords Argillaceous Bioclastic Member, St. Margaret's Banded Member, Huntstown Laminated Member, Dunsoghly Massive Crinoidal Member and Barberstown Nodular Member (top). The Malahide Limestone Formation is overlain by ‘Waulsortian’ limestones of the Feltrim Limestone Formation (new name) which form overlapping and isolated mudmounds with complex relationships with their enclosing non-mound facies. Though very much thicker, the Courceyan succession is comparable with that elsewhere on the south side of the Basin, and is part of the Kildare Province (Strogen and Somerville 1984). Isopach maps for the region show that this province and the North Midlands are separated by the deepest part of the Dublin Basin, named the ‘East Midlands Depocentre’, in which a shale-dominant facies is present. The top of the ‘Waulsortian’ is of early Chadian age. Formations younger than this are dominated by basinal calcareous shales (Tober Colleen Formation) and by storm deposits and calciturbidites with appreciable terrigenous input from the east (Rush Formation). The Courceyan main shelf conodont biozones are also greatly thickened in this area. The Pseudopolygnathus multistriatus Biozone (> 300 m thick) is succeeded by a very thick (> 900 m) Polygnathus mehli Biozone. The base of the Chadian is considered to occur below the top of the Feltrim Limestone Formation and, although equivocal, may be diagnosed in the Dublin Basin by the first appearance of the problematic microfossil Sphaerinvia piai and a primitive form of the calcareous alga Koninckopora. In the late Courceyan, the Swords area was part of a gently sloping shelf extending northwards into the basin. During deposition of the Feltrim Limestone Formation there was major deepening and there is evidence of initial break up of the Dublin Basin by faulting into separate blocks. By Chadian time the Basin was definitely subsiding by fault displacements and basinal limestones contain shallow water faunas and littoral sand and pebbles derived by turbidite flows from the margins of the higher blocks. The early subsidence was apparently by pure flexure, but in the Viséan the Dublin Basin was fault-controlled, differing from the adjacent Shannon Basin in having both margins strongly faulted.     

中国主要块体奥陶纪达瑞威尔期（Darriwilian）晚期—凯迪期（Katian）早期海相红层及其构造意义

根据中国主要块体奥陶纪达瑞威尔期地层学、古生物学和岩石学的特点,本文主要论述了中国9个块体,其中包括5个主要块体（扬子克拉通、中朝克拉通、塔里木克拉通、拉萨地块和喜马拉雅北坡）中达瑞威尔晚期—凯迪期早期海相红层的分布、岩性特征和古动物群。它们的岩性特征：如红色灰岩;古生物群特征：如牙形石Pygodus serra动物群,P.anserinus动物群和Hamarodus europaeus动物群,珊瑚Yohophyllum动物群,以及头足类Sinoceras chinense动物群均十分相似或相同。这就充分阐明,中华古陆块群（包括扬子、中朝和塔里木克拉通等）与冈瓦纳古陆北缘古陆块群（包括拉萨地块和喜马拉雅北坡等）之间的关系十分密切,可能在此之前它们同属于冈瓦纳古陆。这对于阐明中华古陆块群与冈瓦纳古陆之间的关系具有重要意义。此外,还将海相红层分为两类：陆棚红层和大洋红层。陆棚红层主要见于寒武纪至三叠纪,大洋红层主要见于白垩纪至现代。     

Correlation of Mississippian (Upper Viséan) foraminiferan,conodont, miospore and ammonoid zonal schemes,and correlation with the Asbian–Brigantian boundary in northwest Ireland

The microbiota of the upper Viséan (Asbian–Brigantian) rocks in the Lough Allen Basin in northwest Ireland is analysed. The Middle Mississippian sequence studied extends from the upper part of the Dartry Limestone/Bricklieve Limestone formations of the Tyrone Group to the Carraun Shale Formation of the Leitrim Group. The rocks have been traditionally dated by ammonoid faunas representing the B_2a to P_2c subzones. The Meenymore Formation (base of the Leitrim Group) also contains conodont faunas of the informal partial‐range Mestognathus bipluti zone. The upper Brigantian Lochriea nodosa Conodont Zone was recognized by previous authors in the middle of the Carraun Shale Formation (Ardvarney Limestone Member), where it coincides with upper Brigantian ammonoids of the Lusitanoceras granosus Subzone (P_2a). Foraminifera and algae in the top of the Dartry Limestone Formation are assigned to the upper Cf6γ Foraminifera Subzone (highest Asbian), whereas those in the Meenymore Formation belong to the lower Cf6δ Foraminifera Subzone (lower Brigantian). The Dartry Limestone Formation–Meenymore Formation boundary is thus correlated with the Asbian–Brigantian boundary in northwest Ireland. For the first time, based on new data, a correlation between the ammonoid, miospore, foraminiferan and conodont zonal schemes is demonstrated. The foraminiferans and algae, conodonts and ammonoids are compared with those from other basins in Ireland, northern England, and the German Rhenish Massif. Historically, the Asbian–Brigantian boundary has been correlated with several levels within the P_1a Ammonoid Subzone. However, the new integrated biostratigraphical data indicate that the Asbian–Brigantian boundary in northwest Ireland is probably located within the B_2a Ammonoid Subzone and the NM Miospore Zone, but the scarcity of ammonoids in the Tyrone Group precludes an accurate placement of that boundary within this subzone. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stratigraphy and sedimentology of lower carboniferous (Dinantian) boreholes from West Co. Meath,Ireland

The 2-km deep Athboy Borehole (1439/2) together with the lower part of boreholes EP30 and N915 form a standard type section for strata of Dinantian (Courceyan to Asbian) age in west Co. Meath. Above a thin basal red-bed siliciclastic sequence, the marine Courceyan shelf succession is almost 600 m thick. It comprises the Liscartan, Meath, and Moathill Formations of the Navan Group and the Slane Castle Formation of the succeeding Boyne Group. The shallow-water limestones include micrites, oolites, and sandy bioclastic packstones and grainstones with subordinate skeletal wackestones and shales. Lateral facies changes from north to south in the Navan area suggest deepening across a shelf towards a depocentre further to the south around Trim. The deeper-water Waulsortian Limestones of late Courceyan to Chadian age (Feltrim Formation, ca. 213 m thick) form a series of five sheet-like mudbanks, interbedded with generally thin units of nodular crinoidal limestones and shales. The mudbanks are formed of bryozoan-rich peloidal wackestones and lime-mudstones with phase C and D components. Rare soft-sediment breccias occur at the bottom and top of banks. The succeeding Fingal Group commences with a thin interval (3–20 m) of black shales, laminated packstones, and micritic limestones of Chadian age, the Tober Colleen Formation. This is followed by the Lucan Formation (Chadian to Asbian) predominantly of laminated and graded calciturbidites, laminated sandstones, cherts, and black shales, which is over 1300 m thick. Ten sedimentary units have been informally defined, based on lithofacies and facies associations. The oldest unit, the Tara Member, is characterized by proximal debris-flow breccia deposits and nodular mudstones. A thick bioturbated micrite and shale unit (Ardmulchan Member) in the middle of the formation is overlain directly by a coarse oolitic and crinoidal grainstone unit (Beauparc Member). Near the top of the formation is a distinctive unit of coarse-grained laminated sandstones and shales (Athboy Member). The highest rocks in the Borehole are clean thickly-bedded limestones of the Asbian Naul Formation (>90 m thick). The youngest Dinantian strata in the area, the Brigantian Loughshinny Formation, marks a return to shale-dominant basin sedimentation. The significance of this work lies in the fact that the Athboy borehole is the longest continuously cored borehole in the Carboniferous of Ireland and provides a continuous sedimentary and biostratigraphic record for the northern part of the Dublin Basin. Foraminiferal biozones (Cf2–Cf6) have been recognized in this and in borehole N915, and Stage boundaries identified, which can be applied throughout the Basin. The sedimentary record for the Lucan Formation indicates four tectonic pulses during the Viséan, in the late Chadian/early Arundian, mid-Arundian, Holkerian, and late Holkerian/early Asbian.     

Qinling Faunal Region-The Third Ordovician Faunal Region: International Correlation

The Ordovician conodont faunal provinces were previously divided into the Midcontinent and Atlantic Faunal Regions situated respectively in low and high latitudes, where warm- and cold-water type conodont faunas flourished respectively. According to the international correlation this paper proposes the third Ordovician conodont faunal region-Qinling Faunal Region, in which cold-water conodont faunas were well developed in the Early to middle Middle Ordovician and warm-water conodont faunas were well developed in the late Middle and Late Ordovician, indicating that the Qinling Region was situated in high latitudes earlier and in low latitudes later. The origin was only due to plate movement In the Qinling Region the time interval of the change of the conodont fauna from the cold- to warm-water type was 4 Ma (from 474 to 470 Ma), during which the fauna geographically spanned 40° of latitudes, with a movement velocity of nearly 1.12 m/a, indicating that the high-latitude plates were divorced and reduced i     

The carboniferous lithostratigraphy of Southeast County Limerick,Ireland, and the origin of the shannon trough

The Carboniferous succession in southeast County Limerick, on the southeastern margin of the Shannon Trough, is Courceyan to mid-Namurian in age and over 1900 m thick. The lithostratigraphy is described in detail. Its most important aspect is the presence of two thick volcanic sequences, a Chadian one of the alkali basalt to trachyte suite and one of Asbian age dominated by limburgites and ankaramites. The associated Dinantian carbonates are of shelf or ramp facies throughout, and no fundamental division into shelf and basin facies occurs as in the Dublin and Craven Basins in early Viséan times. Rapid differential subsidence between this area and the Shannon Estuary began during deposition of the late Courceyan to early Chadian Waulsortian facies but was less marked in the remaining Viséan when much of the volcanic topography was preserved by rapid basinal subsidence. There was basinal inversion in the late Dinantian to lower Namurian, followed by renewed subsidence in mid-Namurian times. This contrasts with the continuous rapid subsidence of the area further west on the Shannon Estuary. This behaviour, together with a comparison of that of nearby Carboniferous basins such as the Dublin, South Munster, and Craven Basins, which lack substantial volcanic sequences, suggests an origin in a transtensional regime rather than one of simple crustal stretching.     

INHIGEO Symposium：‘Geological Travellers＇

The 28th International Symposium and Meeting of the International Commission on the History of Geology was held in Dublin from 14 to 18 July 2003. Fittingly, the venue was the Geological Museum and Department of Geology at Trinity College. The College,founded in 1592, has numerous distinguished graduates, including many in earth sciences and history. The museum, a grand Victorian building with Venetian overtones, has made extensive use of a wide range of building stones from Ireland and Britain, particularly in its breathtaking interior where Connemara     

Lower Carboniferous (Dinantian) stratigraphy and structure of the Walterstown-Kentstown area,Co. Meath,Ireland

Stratigraphic units are defined and described for the Lower Carboniferous succession in the Walterstown-Kentstown area of Co. Meath, Ireland. A complete (unexposed) Courceyan succession from the terrestrial red bed facies of the Baronstown Formation to the Moathill Formation of the Navan Group has been penetrated in several boreholes. Although the lower part of the sequence is comparable with the Courceyan succession at Navan and Slane, the middle part of the sequence differs markedly in the Walterstown-Kentstown area and two new members, the Proudstown and Walterstown Members, are defined in the upper part of the Meath Formation. Syndepositional faulting was initiated during the Courceyan, probably in latest Pseudopolygnathus multistriatus or early Polygnathus mehli latus time. Movement on the ENE trending St. Patrick's Well Fault influenced the deposition of the Walterstown Member and the overlying Moathill Formation and was probably associated with the development of the East Midlands depocentre to the south of the area. A second episode of tectonism in the latest Courceyan or early Chadian resulted in uplift and erosion and the development of ‘block and basin’ sedimentation. Subsequent transgression of the uplifted block led to the establishment of the Kentstown Platform, bounded to the north, west and south by rocks of basinal facies. The Milverton Group (Chadian-Asbian), confined to this platform, unconformably overlies Courceyan or Lower Palaeozoic strata and is subdivided into three formations: Crufty Formation (late Chadian), Holmpatrick Formation (late Chadian-Arundian) and Mullaghfin Formation (late Arundian-Asbian). The Walterstown Fault controlled the western margin of the Kentstown Platform at this time. Contemporaneous basinal sediments of the Fingal Group (Lucan and Naul Formations) accumulated to the west of the Walterstown Fault and are much thicker than age-equivalent platform facies. Platform sedimentation ceased in latest Asbian to early Brigantian time with tectonically induced collapse and drowning of the platform; platform carbonates of the Mullaghfin Formation are onlapped northwards by coarse proximal basinal facies of the Loughshinny Formation. A distinct gravity anomaly in the Kentstown area suggests the presence of a granitoid body within the basement. The Kentstown Platform is therefore considered to have formed on a buoyant, granite-cored, footwall high analogous to the Askrigg and Alston Blocks of northern England.     

浙江长兴煤山二叠-三叠系界线层牙形石序列及其全球对比

在详细研究全球二叠－三叠系界线层候选剖面───中国浙江长兴煤山剖面Ｐ／Ｔ界线层牙形石动物群序列基础上，自下而上识别出４个牙形石带：（１）ＣｌａｒｋｉｎａｃｈａｎｇｘｉｎｇｅｎｓｉｓＣｌａｒｋｉｎａｄｅｆｌｅｃｔａ带；（２）Ｉｓａｒｃｉｃｅｌｌａｐａｒｖａ带；（３）Ｉｓａｒｃｉｃｅｌｌａｉｓａｒｃｉｃａ带；（４）ＣｌａｒｋｉｎａｃａｒｉｎａｔａＣｌａｒｋｉｎａｐｌａｎａｔａ带，并在第一带中划分出３个动物群，从下向上是：ＣｌａｒｋｉｎａｃｈａｎｇｚｉｎｇｅｎｓｉｓＣｌａｒｋｉｎａｄｅｆｌｅｃｔａ－Ｃｌａｒｋｉｎａｓｕｂｃａｒｉｎａｔａ动物群，Ｈｉｎｄｅｏｄｕｓｌａｔｉｄｅｎｔａｔｕｓ－Ｃｌａｒｋｉｎａｍｅｉｓｈａｎｅｎｓｉｓｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．动物群和Ｈｉｎｄｅｏｄｕｓｔｙｐｉｃａｌｉｓ动物群，煤山剖面二叠、三叠系界线层牙形石序列的建立、完善，对确立该剖面在全球二叠、三在系界线高精度对比中的标准地位具重要意义。     

Ordovician conodonts of the Tarim Region, Xinjiang, China: Occurrence and use as paleoenvironment indicators

A review of the distribution of different Ordovician conodont faunas in eight areas of the Tarim Region shows that these conodont faunas can be classified into the North China and South China types. The North China type is characterized by Aurilobodus leptosomatus, A. aurilobodus, A. simplex, Tangshanodus tanshanensis, Loxodus dissectus, Parasseratognathus paltodiformis, Microcoelodus symmetricus, Belodina compressa, B. confluens, Pseudobelodina dispansa, Yaoxianognathus yaoxianensis, and Taoqupognathus blandus. These were adapted to shallow, warm-water environments. The South China type is represented by the genera Amorphognathus, Baltoniodus, Cahabagnathus, Eoplacognathus, Lenodus, Microzarkodina, Oepikodus, Paroistodus, Paracordylodus, Periodon, Polonodus, and Pygodus, which were adapted to outer shelf, deeper, and colder water environments. Using the general pattern of conodont distribution, it is possible to interpret the various depositional environments and to reconstruct broad changes in palaeogeography of the Tarim Region during Ordovician time. In general, during Tremadocian to early Middle Ordovician time, most of the Tarim Region was a shallow semi-restricted platform that became deeper towards the north and east, with an open platform in Kalping and in the northern part of Taklimakan Desert. A slope and deep basin existed in the current Tianshan Mountains region. The Tarim sea was shallow during the Early Ordovician and became deeper during “Caradocian” (Sandbian and Early Katian) time, to become shallow again during “Ashgillian” (Late Katian) time, with the exception of part of central Taklimakan, which was a land area during “Caradocian” (Sandbian and Early Katian) time.     

Subdivision of the Lochkovian Stage based on conodont faunas from the stratotype area (Prague Synform,Czech Republic)

Relatively rich conodont faunas from sections in the Prague Synform (Barrandian area, Czech Republic) include a number of indexes and other important guide conodonts that can be correlated with other regions, especially with Nevada and the Spanish Central Pyrenees. The collation and detailed correlation of conodont data from the Lochkovian in two parallel sections in the Požáry quarries, together with biostratigraphic control of additional data from several (incomplete) sections with changing facies development, is the basis for a new detailed regional biozonal scale for the Lochkovian in the Prague Synform. The new subdivision follows, with modification, the global threefold conodont subdivision of the Lochkovian. Data from the Prague Synform enable further detailed subdivision of the lower, middle and upper Lochkovian into small‐scale units. The conodont distribution shows a large proportional discrepancy between the late Lochkovian elsewhere; the conodont record in the latest Lochkovian in the Prague Synform area, which appears to be rather restricted and requires further discussion. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Magnetic crustal character in Central Ireland

The simplest magnetic model for the upper 20 km of crust in central Ireland is of two layers. A thin, weakly magnetic upper layer carrying a number of magnetic bodies that can be related to surface geology overlies a magnetic crustal zone whose gross magnetization increases towards the north. The deeper trace of the lapetus Suture in central Ireland forms the boundary between a more magnetic northern crustal area and a less magnetic southern area. A pre-Carboniferous major dextral offset of this suture boundary occurs in the Limerick area. The suture is traced beneath the Dingle peninsula in the far south-west of Ireland. In east-central Ireland, between the Iapetus Suture and Southern Upland Line, the crust contains a large, south-dipping magnetic body with no surface expression, which produces the Virginia magnetic anomaly. The development of magnetic bodies — in particular, volcanic rocks of Carboniferous age — has been controlled by regional stress patterns. The major volcanic centre at Limerick lies at the intersection of two major Caledonian block fault systems just to the north of the surface trace of the Hercynian Front.     

二叠-三叠纪之交牙形石生态新模式

通过对浙江长兴煤山剖面二叠－三叠系界线层沉积相分析及牙形石演化规律研究,提出了该时期Ｃｌａｒｋｉｎａ（Ｎｅｏｇｏｎｄｏｌｅｌａ）,Ｈｉｎｄｅｏｄｕｓ两类重要牙形石属的生态新模式．（１）Ｃｌａｒｋｉｎａ是一种底栖自由游泳生物,可出现于远岸浅海至盆地相较深水环境;（２）Ｈｉｎｄｅｏｄｕｓ是一种洋面浮游型生物,死亡之后可沉于海底的滨、浅海至深水盆地各种环境之中,并可渡过二叠－三叠纪之交海底缺氧事件这一难关,在早三叠世得到发展;因此,Ｈｉｎｄｅｏｄｕｓ可作为全球二叠－三叠系界线划分对比的可靠证据．     

Early Cretaceous ostracoda from the Goban Spur; D.S.D.P. leg 80, site 549

Site 549 recovered a Lower Cretaceous succession which has been shown to include parts of the Barremian and Albian stages. Forty-four species of Ostracoda are illustrated and their stratigraphic distribution used to recognise three major facies units. An high diversity inner shelf facies earlier in the Barremian gives way to a low diversity, outer shelf facies, higher in the succession. The early Albian appears to indicate a return to an inner shelf fauna. The faunas recovered have been compared to similar faunas elsewhere in N. W. Europe.     

Guadalupian （Middle Permian） Conodont Faunas at Shangsi Section, Northeast Sichuan Province

This study recovered the Guadalupian conodont faunas from Shangsi (上寺) Section in Northeast Sichuan (四川). Four genera and nine species were identified, and three conodont zones were recognized and established; they include Jinogondolella nankingensis Zone, J. aserrata Zone, and J. postserrata Zone. The Roadian and Wordian boundary is set in the interval 5 m from the top of Bed 86 by the first appearance of the conodont J. aserrata. The Wordian and Capitanian boundary is set in the interval 2.3 m from the top of the Bed 95 by the first appearance of J. postserrata. Most of the specimens demonstrated low color alteration index (CAI) as 1.5-3, indicating that most part of the Maokou (茅口) Formation may have the suitable thermal conditions for the formation of oil source rocks.     

四川北川桂溪地区晚志留亚纪地层的发现

四川桂溪地区志田纪地层，于１９７０年由四川省地质局第二区调队发现，并根据其中所含腕足类Ｅｏｓｐｉｒｉｆｅｒｔｉｎｇｉ笼统划归中志留统。１９９４年，笔者等在这段地层中发现了以牙形石Ｓｐａｔｈｏｇｎａｔｈｏｄｕｓｃｒｉｓｐｕｓ，腕足类Ｒｅｔｚｉｅｌｌａｕｎｉｐｌｉｃａｔａ，床板珊瑚Ｓｑｕａｍｅｏｆａｖｏｓｉｔｅｓ，Ｏａｃｈｙｆａｖｏｓｉｔｅｓ，Ｐａｃｈｙｃａｎａｌｉｃｕｌａ为代表的晚志留亚纪动物属种，说明该套地层的沉积时限为晚志留亚纪，并可与云南曲靖，四川广元、二郎山、盐边，甘肃迭部等地区相当地层对比。这一发     

Reference lines,fault classification,transform systems,and ocean-floor spreading: Discussion

Wellman (1971) has presented erroneous data relating to lineaments in Papua New Guinea. The main faults and folds in Papua New Guinea as determined by ground and remote-sensing surveys by the Bureau of Mineral Resources, the Geological Survey of Papua New Guinea and by oil exploration companies are shown on the new B.M.R.-G.S.P.N.G. 1:1,000,000 Geological Map of Papua New Guinea.