Graptolites from Silurian (Llandovery Series) Sedimentary Deposits Attributed to a Forearc Setting, Co to Formation, Co to Archipelago, Northeast Vietnam

Abstract

Newly collected graptolites from the Co To Formation, Co To archipelago, NE Vietnam, comprise assemblages indicative of two biostratigraphical levels within the lower Silurian, Llandovery Series, Telychian Stage: the co-occurrence of Spirograptus turriculatus and Torquigraptus proteus? suggests an interval most likely within the upper part of the Spirograptus turriculatus Biozone or ‘Monograptus’ crispus Biozone, whilst Oktavites spiralis and Monoclimacis cf. subgeinitzi identify the Oktavites spiralis Biozone. The graptolites provide important biostratigraphical evidence for the age of the upper part of the lower Co To Formation, biostratigraphical ties between the NE Vietnamese succession of the Bac Bo Region and graptolite assemblages of the Long Dai Formation in the Viet-Lao Region of central Vietnam, and include the new species Monograptus hamulus sp. nov. co-occurring with S. turriculatus, which is perhaps an ancestral form to the later Telychian species Monograptus drepanoformis. We also report the first chitinozoans, including Belonechitina, from the Co To Formation.