The upper Viséan–Serpukhovian in the type area for the Serpukhovian Stage (Moscow Basin,Russia): Part 1. Sequences,disconformities, and biostratigraphic summary

The upper Viséan–Serpukhovian strata in the type region for the Serpukhovian Stage is an epeiric‐sea succession ca. 90 m in thickness. The predominantly Viséan Oka Group (comprising the Aleksin, Mikhailov, and Venev formations) is dominated by photozoan packstones with fluvial siliciclastic wedges developed from the west. The Lower Serpukhovian Zaborie Group is composed of the Tarusa and Gurovo formations. The latter is a new name for the shale‐dominated unit of Steshevian Substage age in the studied area. The Zaborie Group is composed of limestones and marls in its lower (Tarusa and basal Gurovo) part and black smectitic to grey palygorskitic shales in the main part of the Gurovo Formation. The Gurovo Formation is capped by a thin limestone with oncoids and a palygorskitic–calcretic palaeosol. The Upper Serpukhovian is composed of a thin (3–12 m) Protva Limestone heavily karstified during a mid‐Carboniferous lowstand. The succession shows a number of unusual sedimentary features, such as a lack of high‐energy facies, shallow‐subtidal marine sediments penetrated by Stigmaria, the inferred atidal to microtidal regime, and palustrine beds composed of saponitic marls. The succession contains many subaerial disconformities characterized by profiles ranging from undercoal solution horizons to palaeokarsts. Incised fluvial channels are reported at two stratigraphic levels to the west of the study area. The deepest incisions developed from the Kholm Disconformity (top of the Mikhailov Formation). This disconformity also exhibits the deepest palaeokarst profile and represents the major hiatus in the Oka–Zaborie succession. The new sea‐level curve presented herein shows two major cycles separated by the Kholm Unconformity at the Mikhailov/Venev boundary. The Lower Serpukhovian transgression moved the base‐level away from falling below the seafloor so that the section becomes conformable above the Forino Disconformity (lower Tarusa). The maximum deepening is interpreted to occur in the lower dark‐shale part of the Gurovo Formation. The base of the Serpukhovian Stage is defined by FADs of the conodont Lochriea ziegleri and the foraminifer Janischewskina delicata in the middle of the sequence VN2. The Aleksinian–Mikhailovian interval is provisionally correlated with the Asbian (Lower–Middle Warnantian) in Western Europe. Based on FODs of Janischewskina typica and first representatives of Climacammina, the Venevian is correlated with the Brigantian in Western Europe. The Tarusian–Protvian interval contains diverse fusulinid and conodont assemblages, but few forms suitable for international correlation. FADs of the zonal conodont species Adetognathus unicornis and Gnathodus bollandensis at several metres above the Protvian base suggest correlation of the entire Zaborie Group and may be the basal Protvian to the Pendleian. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Late Viséan–Serpukhovian foraminiferans and calcareous algae from the Adarouch region (central Morocco), North Africa

Three Upper Viséan to Serpukhovian limestone formations from the Adarouch region (central Morocco), North Africa, have been dated precisely using foraminiferans and calcareous algae. The lower and middle part of the oldest formation, the Tizra Formation (Fm), is assigned to the latest Asbian (upper Cf6γ Subzone), and its upper part to the Early Brigantian (lower Cf6δ Subzone). The topmost beds of this formation are assigned to the Late Brigantian (upper Cf6δ Subzone). The lower part of the succeeding Mouarhaz Fm is also assigned to the Late Brigantian (upper Cf6δ Subzone). The Akerchi Fm is younger than the other formations within the region, ranging from the latest Brigantian (uppermost Cf6δ Subzone) up to the Serpukhovian (E₁–E₂). The base of the Serpukhovian (Pendleian Substage, E₁) is repositioned, to coincide with the appearance of a suite of foraminiferans including Archaediscus at tenuis stage, Endothyranopsis plana, Eostaffella pseudostruvei, Loeblichia ukrainica, Loeblichia aff. minima and Biseriella? sp. 1. The upper Serpukhovian (Arnsbergian Substage, E₂) is marked by the first appearance of Eostaffellina ex. gr. paraprotvae and Globoomphalotis aff. pseudosamarica. The biostratigraphical scheme used for the reassessment of the foraminiferal zones and subzones in the Adarouch area closely compares with that for the British succession in northern England (Pennine Region), where the stratotypes of the Upper Viséan (Asbian and Brigantian) and Early Serpukhovian (Pendleian) substages are located. Thus, a succession equivalent to an interval from the Melmerby Scar Limestone to the Great (or Little) Limestone is recognized. These assemblages are also compared to other foraminiferal zones proposed in other regions of Morocco. Several foraminiferans have been identified that are proposed as potential Serpukhovian markers for other basins in Western Europe, and compared to sequences in Russia and the Donets Basin, Ukraine. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stratigraphie et sédimentologie des « calcaires à Productus » du Carbonifère inférieur de la Montagne noire (Massif central,France)Stratigraphy and sedimentology of the Lower Carboniferous ‘Calcaires à Productus’ of the Montagne Noire (Massif Central,France)

The ‘Calcaires à Productus’ of the Montagne Noire are microbial build-ups. Two formations are defined and dated respectively as Uppermost Visean (Upper Warnantian–Brigantian) and Serpukhovian on the basis on corals. That makes these limestones out to be younger than previously stated (Lower and base of Upper Warnantian–Asbian and base of Brigantian) and indicates that the development of the olistoliths and thrusts including them, due to the Variscan orogeny, was at least as young as the Upper Serpukhovian. The Serpukhovian limestones of the Montagne Noire are correlated with the Lanet Limestone (Mouthoumet Massif, Corbières) and Ardengost Limestone (central Pyrenees). To cite this article: É. Poty et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 843–848.     

塔里木盆地石炭系卡拉沙依组的厘定

长期以来 ,塔里木盆地石炭系卡拉沙依组存在多种划分方案。根据巴楚组的原始定义及井下化石特征 ,结合前人研究成果及对卡拉沙依组的习惯用法 ,厘定了卡拉沙依组 ,将底界放在生屑灰岩段与中泥岩段之间 ,顶界放在顶灰岩段与含灰岩段之间 ,厘定后的卡拉沙依组自上而下可进一步划分为“含灰岩段、砂泥岩段、上泥岩段、标准灰岩段、中泥岩段”五段。塔中 4 0 1井卡拉沙依组发育全 ,岩性段划分清楚 ,生物发育 ,地层时代确定 ,被指定为卡拉沙依组次层型。     

Foraminifers and conodonts from the late Viséan to early Bashkirian succession in the Saharan Tindouf Basin (southern Morocco): biostratigraphic refinements and implications for correlations in the western Palaeotethys

The Carboniferous succession in the Tindouf Basin of southern Morocco, North Africa, displays Mississippian to Early Pennsylvanian marine beds, followed by Pennsylvanian continental deposits. The marine beds comprise a shallow water cyclic platform sequence, dominated by shales and fine‐grained sandstones with thin but laterally persistent limestone/dolostone beds. Foraminiferal assemblages have been studied in the limestone beds in several sections from the Djebel Ouarkziz range in the northern limb of the Tindouf Syncline; they indicate that the age of the limestones range from late Asbian (late Viséan) to Krasnopolyanian (early Bashkirian). The foraminiferal assemblages are abundant and diverse, and much richer in diversity than those suggested by previous studies in the region, as well as for other areas of the western Palaeotethys. The richest assemblages are recorded in the Serpukhovian but, unusually, they contain several taxa which appear much earlier in Western European basins (in the latest Viséan). In contrast, conodont assemblages are scarce due to the shallow‐water facies, although some important taxa are recorded in the youngest limestones. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Bashkirian Stage of Southwestern Darvaz, the Pamir Mountains: Stratigraphy and paleotectonics

Sections of the Bashkirian Stage of Southwestern Darvaz (the Pamir Mountains) are described. Based on fusulinids, the presence of all four Bashkirian substages was established. The Bashkirian beds transgressively overlie clastic-volcanic series of the Lower Carboniferous, and are conformably overlain by the Moscovian (Vereian). Upper Kashirian unconformably overlies both the Vereian beds and all earlier beds, up to of the Lower Carboniferous. An unconformity can be assumed within the Bashkirian, because the lower Bashkirian strata are missing from certain sections. The Bashkirian beds have no evidence of synsedimentary volcanism, which had completely ceased by the end of the Early Carboniferous. Fusulinids most characteristic of the Bashkirian substages are figured.     

Sequences and biofacies packages in the mid‐Cenozoic Gambier Limestone,South Australia: Reappraisal of foraminiferal evidence

The mid to outer neritic carbonates of the Gambier Limestone (Upper Eocene to lower Middle Miocene) can be divided into seven units by using criteria of sequence stratigraphy and foraminiferal biofacies. The boundaries fall mainly on erosional surfaces, even though the temporal duration of these surfaces appears to be largely beyond the resolution of foraminiferal biostratigraphy. The Eocene/Oligocene contact is distinctively unconformable in several sections, with at least part of the Upper Eocene sediments missing. Chert nodules, common to abundant in most sections, are associated with deep‐ or cool‐water benthic assemblages (> 100–200 m and <15°C), indicating cool, nutrient‐rich bottom conditions probably influenced by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current beginning during the Early Oligocene. The mid‐Oligocene fall in sea‐level was probably coupled with a major local uplift that removed at least part of the Lower Oligocene, an event widely recorded in the Australian‐New Zealand region. In areas weakly affected, this glacioeustatic lowstand is represented by chert‐free limestone and grey to pink dolomites in some sections, with a poorly preserved assemblage comprising few planktonic and deep‐water benthic species. Local unconformities separate regional unconformity‐bounded or allostratigraphic packages of strata to represent third‐order sequences. Although variations in local subsidence might have influenced accumulation space and sediment thickness, glacioeustatic influence on the packaging of the sequences and units of the Gambier Limestone was easily the more effective and concordant with the global patterns.     

Bathymetric trend of Late Cretaceous southern Tethys upwelling regime based on benthic foraminifera

Benthic foraminifera are one of the most commonly used indicators to infer paleodepth. The information on depth distribution of fossil benthic foraminifera is generally obtained from normal marine environments. However, a significant gap exists with respect to implications of benthic foraminiferal distributions in unique sedimentary successions, such as those deposited under upwelling regimes. In such settings, the paleobathymetric signal is somewhat obscured by the extreme food fluxes and oxygen depletion at the seafloor that cause changes in benthic foraminiferal assemblage composition. Nevertheless, the dynamics of upwelling systems, and as a result the sediment and organic matter accumulation, are known to be directly influenced by eustatic changes, making paleobathymetric reconstruction highly valuable for understanding these systems.The Upper Cretaceous high productivity marine succession of southern Israel, with its variable lithologies, provides a unique opportunity for addressing this issue. Through this succession, a significant turnover in the benthic foraminiferal assemblages is observed associated with a sharp change in lithology from phosphate (Phosphate Member) to organic rich carbonates (Oil Shale Member; OSM). Statistical nMDS analysis distinguished four groups of species indicative of distinct depth habitats: <200 m, 100–300 m, 300–500 m, and >500 m. Each one of these groups corresponds to different parts of the sequence. According to our analysis, the shift in the benthic foraminiferal assemblages is attributed to a distinct regional deepening from shelf environment (<200 m) in the Phosphate Member (upper Campanian) to upper bathyal (200–500 m) at the base of OSM (base Maastrichtian), and deeper to middle bathyal (>500 m) during the Maastrichtian. While taking into account other factors affecting benthic foraminiferal distribution, this study demonstrates that depth distribution models based on normal marine settings might also be applicable as proxies for paleobathymetry in high productivity environments.     

国际泥盆系GSSP与华南泥盆系划分

简要介绍国际泥盆系各阶界线定义、界线层型,以及目前进行的国际泥盆系埃姆斯阶、吉维阶、弗拉斯阶和法门阶亚阶划分的情况,并讨论了中国区域性阶与国际性阶之间的关系:除了埃姆斯阶和法门阶在华南分别进一步细分为郁江阶和四排阶以及锡矿山阶和邵东阶等外,那高岭阶、应堂阶、东岗岭阶和佘田桥阶大致分别相当于布拉格阶、艾费尔阶、吉维阶和弗拉斯阶;今后需加强对上述几个中国区域性阶底界确切时代的研究。国际泥盆系中各亚阶在我国大体可以应用,但吉维阶中亚阶-上亚阶、弗拉斯阶下亚阶-中亚阶的分界及最上法门亚阶的底界在华南台地相区岩石地层上不易划分。     

The Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary on the cape fear arch,North Carolina,U.S.A.

Petrologic and faunal study of a 72.5 m continuous corehole drilled in southeastern North Carolina has provided an opportunity to study a relatively uninterrupted vertical sequence across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. The following stratigraphic sequence occurs; upper middle Maastrichtian Peedee Formation, −65.8 m to −51.8 m below mean sea-level (BMSL), upper middle Maastrichtian Rocky Point Member of the Peedee Formation, −51.8 m to −27.4 m BMSL, and middle to upper (?) Eocene Castle Hayne Limestone, −27.4 m to −15.2 m BMSL (base of casing).The Peedee Formation consists of moderately indurated, very fine to fine, sandy foraminiferal biomicrite and sandy biomicrite. Silt-size zoned dolomite rhombohedra form up to 30% of the upper Peedee Formation and are most abundant where bioturbation is common. A diverse and well-preserved foraminiferal fauna indicates a middle to outer continental shelf environment.The Rocky Point Member conformably overlies typical Peedee Formation lithology and consists of well-indurated sandy, fossiliferous biomicrite that grades upward into sandy, pelecypod biomicrosparite, and finally pelecypod biomicrudite. The Peedee Formation and the Rocky Point Member represent an overall shallowing-upward sequence with the upper surface forming the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary.The Castle Hayne Limestone disconformably overlies the Rocky Point Member and consists of lithoclast-bearing, bryozoan-molluscan biomicrudite grading upward into bryozoan biomicrudite. The Castle Hayne Limestone was deposited in an open, normal salinity environment between 30 m and 100 m in water depth.     

The upper Viséan–Serpukhovian in the type area for the Serpukhovian Stage (Moscow Basin,Russia): Part 2. bulk geochemistry and magnetic susceptibility

This study is the summary analysis of bulk XRF geochemistry (233 samples from three sections) of the Oka and Zaborie groups of the type Serpukhovian succession in the Moscow Basin. The siliciclastic wedges in the limestone‐dominated Oka Group are two to three times enriched in Fe, Ti, and Zr compared to Clarke values. Bulk iron strongly correlates with magnetic susceptibility. Iron tends to form ferruginized horizons (original siderites) in finer grained siliciclastic beds associated with coal seams. These beds also tend to be enriched in Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, and other trace metals (metal enrichment horizons or MEHs). MEHs formed in ponded conditions of coastal low‐pH marshlands vegetated by mangrove‐like lycopsid bushes. Well‐drained environments of palaeokarst formation and alkaline everglades (Akulshino palustrine event) on the other hand did not accumulate Fe and trace metals. The thin shale seam (found close to the Viséan–Serpukhovian boundary in Polotnyanyi Zavod) has unusually high Rb and Sr values, which may contain volcanigenic material useful for absolute dating. The Gurovo Formation (Steshevian Substage of the Serpukhovian) is less enriched in Fe and Ti. In the Gurovo Formation, the transition from the lower montmorillonitic shale (Glazechnya Member) to the upper palygorskitic shale (Dashkovka Member) is expressed by a five‐fold increase in background MgO values, which indicates progressive shoaling and climatic aridization. Phosphorus remains close to 0% in the Oka Group and tends to increase in the Zaborie Group, in agreement with a dramatic increase of conodont numbers and other signatures of a lower Serpukhovian marine transgression. The lower half of the Glazechnya Member exhibits fluctuating enrichment in Fe, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, V, Cr, and Co. These fluctuations are mostly inverse to fluctuations of Mn. This pattern has been interpreted as a signature of seafloor oxygen deficiency, where Mn‐rich samples record oxygen‐poor environments (redox barrier level with the sediment surface) and Mn‐poor samples enriched in Fe and trace metals record transitions to anoxic setting. This interval is interpreted as the Lower Serpukhovian highstand. Enrichment in Fe, Ti, and Zr of Oka siliciclastic units of Polotnyanyi Zavod indicates provenance from the ore‐rich Voronezh Land, south of the Moscow Basin. The westerly flux regarded as a possible provenance in previous palaeogeographic reconstructions is discarded for the studied sections. The Gurovo Shale is also linked to the Voronezh province, although Fe, Ti, and Zr concentrations are lower than in the Oka shales. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Erratum to “The Albian-Cenomanian boundary at Eggardon Hill, Dorset (England): An anomaly resolved?” [Proc. Geol. Assoc. 120 (2009) 108-120]

Re-examination of the classic exposures of the Eggardon Grit (topmost Upper Greensand Formation) at Eggardon Hill, Dorset shows that the upper part of this unit has a more complex stratigraphy than has been previously recognised. The Eggardon Grit Member, as described herein, is capped by a hardground and associated conglomerate, and is entirely of Late Albian age. The hardground is probably the lateral equivalent of the Small Cove Hardground, which marks the top of the Upper Greensand succession in southeast Devon. The conglomerate is overlain by a thin sandy limestone containing Early Cenomanian ammonites. This limestone is almost certainly the horizon of the Early Cenomanian ammonite fauna that has previously been attributed to the top of the Eggardon Grit. The limestone is regarded as a thin lateral equivalent of the Beer Head Limestone Formation (formerly Cenomanian Limestone) exposed on the southeast Devon coast. The fauna of the limestone at Eggardon suggests that it is probably the age equivalent to the two lowest subdivisions of the Beer Head Limestone in southeast Devon, with a remanié fauna of the Pounds Pool Sandy Limestone Member combined with indigenous macrofossils of the Hooken Nodular Limestone Member. The next highest subdivision of the Beer Head Limestone in southeast Devon (Little Beach Bioclastic Limestone Member), equates with the ammonite-rich phosphatic conglomerate of the ‘Chalk Basement Bed’, which caps the Beer Head Limestone at Eggardon, and which was previously regarded as the base of the Chalk Group on Eggardon Hill.Petrographic analysis of the Eggardon Grit shows that lithologically it should more correctly be described as a sandy limestone rather than sandstone. The original stratigraphical definition of the unit should probably be modified to exclude the softer, nodular calcareous sandstones that have traditionally been included in the lower part of the member.Without the apparently clear evidence of unbroken sedimentation across the Albian-Cenomanian boundary, suggested by the previous interpretation of the Eggardon succession, it is harder to argue for this being a prevalent feature of Upper Greensand stratigraphy in southwest England. Correlation of the Eggardon succession with successions in Dorset and southeast Devon reveals a widespread regional break in sedimentation at the Albian-Cenomanian boundary. The sand-rich facies above this unconformity represent the true base of the Chalk Group, rather than the ‘Chalk Basement Bed’ of previous interpretations.Selected elements of regionally important Upper Greensand ammonite faunas previously reported from Shapwick Quarry, near Lyme Regis, and Babcombe Copse, near Newton Abbot, are newly figured herein.     

松辽盆地情南-黑帝庙次凹青山口组储层成岩作用研究

利用薄片鉴定、扫描电镜、包裹体测温及压汞分析等手段, 进行了储层岩石学特征、成岩作用类型、成岩阶段和成岩演化模式研究。研究区储层岩石类型为细粒2粗粒长石岩屑砂岩和岩屑长石砂岩, 砂岩经历了机械压实压溶、化学胶结、交代、溶蚀和黏土矿物转化等成岩作用。依据成岩标志, 研究区青山口组处于晚成岩期A2-A3亚期。成岩演化模式表明: 嫩二、三段沉积时, 青一段处于晚成岩A1期, 青二、三段处于早成岩B亚期-晚成岩A1亚期; 明水期, 青山口组整体处于晚成岩A2 亚期; 古近纪, 青一段进入晚成岩A3亚期, 青二、三段中上部处于晚成岩A2亚期。     

The Albian–Cenomanian boundary at Eggardon Hill,Dorset (England): an anomaly resolved?

Re-examination of the classic exposures of the Eggardon Grit (topmost Upper Greensand Formation) at Eggardon Hill, Dorset shows that the upper part of this unit has a more complex stratigraphy than has been previously recognised. The Eggardon Grit Member, as described herein, is capped by a hardground and associated conglomerate, and is entirely of Late Albian age. The hardground is probably the lateral equivalent of the Small Cove Hardground, which marks the top of the Upper Greensand succession in southeast Devon. The conglomerate is overlain by a thin sandy limestone containing Early Cenomanian ammonites. This limestone is almost certainly the horizon of the Early Cenomanian ammonite fauna that has previously been attributed to the top of the Eggardon Grit. The limestone is regarded as a thin lateral equivalent of the Beer Head Limestone Formation (formerly Cenomanian Limestone) exposed on the southeast Devon coast. The fauna of the limestone at Eggardon suggests that it is probably the age equivalent to the two lowest subdivisions of the Beer Head Limestone in southeast Devon, with a remanié fauna of the Pounds Pool Sandy Limestone Member combined with indigenous macrofossils of the Hooken Nodular Limestone Member. The next highest subdivision of the Beer Head Limestone in southeast Devon (Little Beach Bioclastic Limestone Member), equates with the ammonite-rich phosphatic conglomerate of the ‘Chalk Basement Bed’, which caps the Beer Head Limestone at Eggardon, and which was previously regarded as the base of the Chalk Group on Eggardon Hill.Petrographic analysis of the Eggardon Grit shows that lithologically it should more correctly be described as a sandy limestone rather than sandstone. The original stratigraphical definition of the unit should probably be modified to exclude the softer, nodular calcareous sandstones that have traditionally been included in the lower part of the member.Without the apparently clear evidence of unbroken sedimentation across the Albian–Cenomanian boundary, suggested by the previous interpretation of the Eggardon succession, it is harder to argue for this being a prevalent feature of Upper Greensand stratigraphy in southwest England. Correlation of the Eggardon succession with successions in Dorset and southeast Devon reveals a widespread regional break in sedimentation at the Albian–Cenomanian boundary. The sand-rich facies above this unconformity represent the true base of the Chalk Group, rather than the ‘Chalk Basement Bed’ of previous interpretations.Selected elements of regionally important Upper Greensand ammonite faunas previously reported from Shapwick Quarry, near Lyme Regis, and Babcombe Copse, near Newton Abbot, are newly figured herein.     

鄂尔多斯东北部太原组上部灰岩段高分辨层序地层分析

根据对露头、测井和岩心资料的垂向分析和横向对比,结合古生物化石资料,在识别关键性界面的基础上,对鄂尔多斯东北部下二叠统太原组上部灰岩段建立了高分辨层序地层格架,划分出5个三级层序。研究层段为有陆源碎屑混入的碳酸盐缓坡沉积,形成于华北晚古生代最大海侵阶段。各层序分别由低位体系域的下切谷充填沉积的砂岩、砂砾岩,海侵体系的灰岩、泥灰岩、泥岩、煤和高位体系域的碎屑岩和煤组成。区内厚达数十米的桥头砂岩主要由几个层序低位域下切河谷充填沉积叠置而成。通过编制的各层序海侵域灰岩的厚度和分布图,证实层序3、4沉积期海侵范围最大。早二叠世早期海侵来自东南和西南两个方向      

石炭纪年代地层学研究概况

国际石炭系分会尝试性地将石炭系分成两部分 ,下石炭亚系或 Mississipian及上石炭亚系或 Pennsylvani-an,前者包括 3个统 :Tournaisian,Visean,Serpukhovian;后者包括 4个统 :Bashkirian,Moscovian,Kasimovian以及Gzhelian。由于全球对比的需要 ,西欧和北美的统级年代单位作为辅助性序列也被置于综合年代地层表中。石炭系底界、中间界线及顶界的 GSSP已经分别确立在法国的 L aserre剖面 ,美国的 Arrow Canyon剖面 ,哈萨克斯坦的Aidaralash Creek剖面。据西欧及澳大利亚的同位素年龄数据 ,石炭纪的时间跨度为 5 3 Ma。中国的石炭系划分成丰宁亚系和壶天亚系 ,前者包括岩关统和大塘统以及汤粑沟阶 ,旧司阶 ,上司阶和德坞阶 ;后者包括威宁统和马平统以及罗苏阶 ,滑石板阶 ,达拉阶和小独山阶。     

Paleogeography of the Southern Baltic Region in the late Mesozoic: Implications of foraminifers

Foraminifers from Middle-Upper Jurassic and Upper Cretaceous sediments of the Kaliningrad basin located in the southwestern part of the East European platform are studied. During the greater part of the Late Mesozoic, the study region represented a northern margin of a spacious epicontinental sea in the Boreal zoogeographic realm. The analyzed composition and quantitative distribution of foraminifers, ratio between planktonic and benthic species, ornamentation degree of tests, and their preservation are used to reconstruct paleogeography and history of eustatic sea-level changes. The upper Callovian through Upper Jurassic zonation based on distribution of Epistomina species is proposed. Defined foraminiferal assemblages are correlated with coeval assemblages from the East to West European platforms and North Atlantic     

Cephalopod accumulations from the Late Ordovician of Cumbria: Mud mounds and stromatolites

Accumulations of cephalopods in the Late Ordovician (Katian [Ka4]) Troutbeck Siltstone Member of the Ash Gill Mudstone Formation at Skelghyll Beck in the Lake District and in the Keisley Limestone Formation of the Cross Fell Inlier contribute toward an understanding of their respective depositional environments as well as the palaeogeography of the southeastern margins of the Lakesman Terrane. The accumulation present in the Troutbeck Siltstone Member is interpreted as having been deposited in a shallow, near-shore lagoon that supported stromatolite growth. The shore lay to the north of this site. Geopetals infilling cephalopods forming concentrations in the Keisley Limestone Formation indicate that the conchs came to rest on angles of 30–40° to horizontal. The lithologies of the matrix suggest that they were deposited in cavities or fissures from which fine-grained carbonate was either excluded or winnowed away. Both observations accord with hypotheses that the Keisley Limestone Formation represents the remnants of a carbonate mud mound, and facilitate comparison with the contemporaneous Boda mounds of Siljan, Sweden. Comparison with local late Katian – Hirnantian successions indicate that the Keisley mound would have formed a prominent feature on the sea floor, becoming largely buried by argillaceous sediments during the Hirnantian.     

New chitinozoans from the historical type area of the Hirnantian Stage and additional key sections in the Wye Valley,Wales, UK

The type locality for several core elements of the Hirnantia brachiopod fauna is a small disused quarry on the western slopes of Cwm Hirnant. There, the Hirnant Limestone Member of the Foel‐y‐Ddinas Mudstone Formation yields a new, well‐preserved chitinozoan assemblage, attributed to the Spinachitina taugourdeaui Biozone. This allows tight correlation with the Hirnantian of Baltica and Laurentia and neatly ties the chitinozoan zonation with the classical brachiopod fauna. Nearby, the chitinozoan assemblage from the Caradoc Cymerig Limestone Member at Gelli‐grîn belongs to the Spinachitina cervicornis Biozone?, and is identical to that recovered from the Burrellian in the Onny Valley, Welsh Borderland. A Silurian assemblage higher up section, discovered in the Cwm‐yr‐Aethnen Formation, is attributed to the globally recognized Eisenackitina dolioliformis Biozone. Attempts to integrate the chitinozoan and graptolite biozonation, in the central Welsh Rhayader area, were less successful. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.