Lithofacies and stratigraphy of the Ordovician Guniutan Formation in its type area, China

Abstract

The Lower to Middle Ordovician Guniutan (Kuniutan) Formation in the eastern Yangtze Gorges, China has been demonstrated to be similar to the ‘Orthoceratite Limestone’ in Baltoscandia with respect to facies, stratigraphic development and conodont biostratigraphy. Thus the ‘Orthoceratite Limestone’ appears to be a much more widely distributed and characteristically Ordovician facies than has hitherto been assumed. Five lithostratigraphic subdivisions of the Guniutan Formation are here defined in ascending order as the Nanya, Puxi, Wuguixi, Daping and Niangjiafang members. It is shown that these members, which represent considerable spans of time as indicated by their conodont stratigraphy, may be fairly thin but nevertheless regionally extensive. A new conodont zone, with Eoplacognathus crassus as the zonal fossil, is established to accommodate the precise dating of the Wuguixi and Puxi members. Microfacies data from the Guniutan Formation, available for the first time, show that its dominant component particles are sand-sized echinoderm and arthropod debris, as in the Baltoscandian ‘Orthoceratite Limestone’.