Biostratigraphy and lithostratigraphy of the Mid-Carboniferous boundary beds in the Muradymovo section (South Urals, Russia)

Abstract

AbstractThe uninterrupted succession of the Mississippian–Pennsylvanian boundary beds in the Muradymovo section in the South Urals contains diverse fossils and has a high correlative potential. The Muradymovo section is located in the Zilair Megasynclinorium (ZM), which belongs to the West Uralian Subregion and displays carbonate-siliciclastic deep-water facies of the Bukharcha Formation, which is partly Serpukhovian (Kosogorian, Protvian and Yuldybaevian) and partly Bashkirian (Syuranian). In the southern ZM, the lower part of the formation contains argillaceous carbonates with beds of shale and siltstone, subordinate clastic limestones and limestone breccia, while the upper part is mostly limestone with cherty interbeds. In the north of the ZM, the formation mainly consists of limestone. The Muradymovo succession contains no identifiable gaps in the Mid-Carboniferous Boundary (MCB) portion and has a succession of foraminiferal, conodont, ammonoid and ostracod zones. The MCB in this section coincides with the base of the Bogdanovkian and is defined by the entry ofDeclinognathodus noduliferus.This level falls within the upper part of the foraminiferalMonotaxinoides transitoriusZone, is near the base of the ammonoidHomoceras–HudsonocerasGenozone and can be correlated worldwide.