Palynostratigraphy of the Carboniferous at the margin of the Polish part of the East-European platform

Abstract

The paper presents results of miospore studies on Carboniferous strata from drillings made in the last 20 years in several regions in marginal zones of the East-European Platform in Poland (Lublin Coal Basin, Warsaw, Płock, and Bydgoszcz regions, and western Pomerania). In that area the Carboniferous is represented by Dinantian and Silesian strata, from the Tournaisian to Westphalian D. Because of differences in geological development of the Carboniferous and in composition of microfloristic assemblages from strata of that age in the above mentioned regions the first stage of the studies had to be aimed at compilation of local palynostratigraphic schemes for individual regions. The next stage involved compilation of a regional palynostratigraphic scheme for the whole area of Polish margin of the East-European Platform. The scheme comprises 16 spore zones of the concurrent-range-zone type: 6 for the Dinantian and 10 for Silesian. The detailed characteristics of miospore assemblages and age correlations of the zones are given. The proposed scheme was subsequently compared with that proposed for the Carboniferous in western Europe. The comparison showed marked similarities in ranges of taxa diagnostic for individual stratigraphic units in both schemes.