Occurrence of paleozoic and early mesozoic radiolaria in Thailand (preliminary report)

Abstract

Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic radiolarians are newly recovered from chert and associated fine-grained clastic rocks in Thailand. This study clarifies the geologic age of these radiolarian rocks and their paleogeographic and geotectonic significance. Devonian, Early Carboniferous and Permian radiolarians were found in the “Fang Chert” which outcrops along the Chiang Mai-Fang Road, upper north Thailand, Early Carboniferous radiolarians were recovered from a sequence of tuffaceous shale and chert exposed in the Pak Chom area along the Mekong River, and well-preserved Late Devonian and Early Carboniferous radiolarians were also recovered from cherts exposed along the Pak Chom-Loei Road near Phu Laem, north of Loei, in northeast Thailand. These Devonian to Carboniferous radiolarian faunas are apparently identical with those reported from eastern and western Australia. Well-preserved Early Triassic conodonts and radiolarians were obtained from a limeston exposed near Patthalung, southern Thailand. Most of the radiolarian species of this fauna show close affinity with those reported from the Upper Paleozoic rocks, and are new species except for some spicule-type forms. Based on the above-mentioned newly obtained micropaleontological evidence, the geotectonic significance of these radiolarian rocks are briefly discussed in relation to the paleography of the Palaeo-Tethys Ocean, Sibumas and Indochina Terranes, and Australia during the Late Devonian to Middle Permian times.