Fusuline Faunas Research Articles

Carboniferous (Moscovian) Fusulines of the Beedeina lanceolata Zone in the Ichinotani Formation, Hida Marginal Terrane, Japan

The Carboniferous Ichinotani Formation in the Hida Marginal Terrane has lithologic and paleobiogeographic features of a continental margin affinity significantly different from those of the coeval seamountoriginated limestones widely distributed in the Japanese Islands. The fusuline fauna of the former is also different from that of the latter as exemplified by the restricted occurrence of late Moscovian Neostaffella and Hidaella in the former. The occurrence of these two genera is confined to the Podolskian Beedeina lanceolata Zone and are completely absent in the underlying and overlying biozones of the middle part of the Ichinotani Formation. Fusuline species mainly described in this paper are Beedeina lanceolata, Neostaffella umbilicata, Hidaella kameii, and Ozawainella vozhgalica prolific in and almost restricted to the B. lanceolata Zone, and Fusiella hayashii also characteristic and dominant in this zone.

A new late Kungurian (Cisuralian, Permian) conodont and fusuline fauna from the South Qiangtang Block in Tibet and their implications for correlation and paleobiogeography

A late Kungurian (Cisuralian, Permian) fauna including conodonts and fusulines is reported for the first time from the limestone units in the lower part of the Lugu Formation in the South Qiangtang Block (SQB) in Tibet. The conodonts include Mesogondolella siciliensis , M. qiangtangensis sp. nov., Sweetognathus subsymmetricus and S. guizhouensis . They all consistently indicate a late Kungurian age. The associated fusulines in the same interval include Armenina asiatica , Neoschwagerina simplex , Pseudodoliolina ozawai minima and Cancellina sp., which reliably indicate a Murgabian age. The coexistence of these conodonts and fusulines provides direct correlation between the base part of the Murgabian Stage in the fusuline-based Tethyan timescale and the late Kungurian Stage in the conodont-based international timescale. The conodont species S. subsymmetricus and S. guizhouensis together with the associated fusulines and brachiopods generally indicate a warm condition when the Lugu Formation was deposited, therefore, the SQB had incorporated into the equatorial warm water province during the late Kungurian. This contrasts with coeval cool water Vjalovognathus fauna from the basal part of the Xiala Formation in the Lhasa Block, the lower part of the Moulmein Limestone in the Hpa-An area in southern Myanmar and the Wandagee Formation in Western Australia. In addition, typical warm water Tethyan fusulines are absent in the Lhasa Block in the equivalent strata. These distinct faunal differences suggest that a wide Bangong-Nujiang Ocean between the SQB and the Lhasa Block probably existed during the late Kungurian. • A new late Kungurian conodont and fusuline fauna is reported from the South Qiangtang Block, Tibet. • The lower limestone units of the Lugu Formation are determined to be of late Kungurian in age. • The basal part of Murgabian Stage is correlative with the upper part of the Kungurian Stage. • The Bangong-Nujiang Ocean might have had a considerable width during the late Kungurian.

A late Cisuralian (early Permian) brachiopod fauna from the Taungnyo Group in the Zwekabin Range, eastern Myanmar and its biostratigraphic, paleobiogeographic, and tectonic implications

AbstractThe tectonic evolution of the Sibumasu Block during the Permian remains controversial, and Permian faunas and their paleobiogeographic affinities provide some insight into its paleogeographic and tectonic evolutionary histories. In this paper, a new brachiopod fauna dominated bySpinomartinia prolificaWaterhouse, 1981 is described from the uppermost part of the Taungnyo Group in the Zwekabin Range, eastern Myanmar. This brachiopod fauna includes 23 species and its age is well constrained as late Kungurian by the associated conodonts, i.e.,Vjalovognathus nicolliYuan et al., 2016 andMesogondolella idahoensis(Youngquist, Hawley, and Miller, 1951), contrary to the late Sakmarian age given to the same brachiopod faunas previously reported from southern Thailand and Malaysia. Based on comprehensive comparisons of the Cisuralian brachiopod faunas and other data in different parts of the Sibumasu Block, we consider that they are better subdivided into two independent stratigraphic assemblages, i.e., the lower (earlier)Bandoproductus monticulus-Spirelytha petaliformisAssemblage of a Sakmarian to probably early Artinskian age, and the upper (younger)Spinomartinia prolifica-Retimarginifera alataAssemblage of a late Kungurian age. The former assemblage is a typical cold-water fauna, mainly composed of Gondwanan-type genera, e.g.,BandoproductusJin and Sun, 1981,SpirelythaFredericks, 1924, andSulciplicaWaterhouse, 1968. The latter assemblage is strongly characterized by an admixture of both Cathaysian and Gondwanan elements, as well as some genera restricted to the Cimmerian continents. Notably, the spatial distribution pattern of these two separate brachiopod assemblages varies distinctly. The Sakmarian cold-water brachiopod faunas have been found in association with glacial-marine diamictites throughout the Sibumasu Block including both the Irrawaddy and Sibuma blocks. In contrast, the Kungurian biogeographically mixed brachiopod faunas are only recorded in the Irrawaddy Block, unlike the Sibuma Block that contains a contemporaneous paleotropical Tethyan fusuline fauna. Thus, it appears likely that by the end of Cisuralian (early Permian), the Sibumasu Block comprised the Irrawaddy Block in the south with cool climatic conditions, and the Sibuma Block in the north with a temperate to warm-water environment, separated by the incipient Thai-Myanmar Mesotethys.

The early Wuchiapingian (late Permian) fusuline fauna from the Penglaitan Section, South China

AbstractA fusuline fauna is described from the base of the Heshan Formation in the Penglaitan Section, the GSSP for the base Lopingian Series. This fauna falls within the Clarkina guangyuanensis and Clarkina transcaucasica conodont zones, indicating an early Wuchiapingian age. A new genus, Laibinella, is established to include those species that are morphologically similar to but phylogenetically independent of Palaeofusulina. In total, three species from two genera can be recognized in the studied material: Laibinella tobensis (Zhang), Laibinella ellipsoidalis gen. et sp. nov., and Lantschichites minima (Chen). The Laibinella tobensis Zone is established for the early Wuchiapingian. Based on morphology and biostratigraphy, we infer the evolutionary lineages of Dunbarula–Laibinella in the early Wuchiapingian, and Dunbarula–Nanlingella in the late Wuchiapingian.

Middle Permian fusulines from the Thitsipin Formation of Shan State, Myanmar and their palaeobiogeographical and palaeogeographical implications

AbstractFusuline faunas including 29 species belonging to 19 genera/subgenera are described from the Thitsipin Formation in eight sections/localities on the Shan Plateau in eastern Myanmar. These fusulines broadly indicate a Midian (middle Permian, Guadalupian) age. The lower diversity and the presence of some genera, such as Monodiexodina and Eopolydiexodina, suggest that the Sibumasu Block belonged to the palaeobiogeographic Cimmerian Province during the Midian. Furthermore, quantitative cluster analysis of middle Permian fusulines from the Shan Plateau and adjacent Cimmerian blocks suggests close faunal affinities between the Sibumasu Block and the Baoshan Block in western Yunnan. More importantly, the widespread occurrence of fusulines Eopolydiexodina afghanensis and Jinzhangia shengi on the Shan Plateau is similar to that of contemporaneous fusuline faunas from the Baoshan Block and the South Qiangtang Block but different to that of the Tengchong and Lhasa Blocks, which are dominated by the characteristic Nankinella–Chusenella assemblage. This faunal discrepancy provides strong evidence that the Bangong–Nujiang suture passes through the Gaoligong Orogen in western Yunnan rather than through the Myitkyina ophiolites in northern Myanmar. Additionally, palaeobiogeographical analysis of these fusuline faunas from the Lhasa, Tengchong, South Qiangtang, Baoshan and Sibumasu Blocks implies that the Bangong–Nujiang Ocean might have been present before the Midian.

Anthracoporella–Palaeoaplysina mound in Upper Carboniferous mid-Panthalassan atoll-type carbonates in a Jurassic accretionary complex, central Japan

The Carboniferous–Permian Kano-yama limestone in the Jurassic Chichibu Accretionary Complex, central Japan, contains an algal-microbial mound composed of Anthracoporella, Palaeoaplysina, Tubiphytes, Archaeolithoporella, and bryozoans. The limestone is characterized by abundant micrite, implying a low-energy back-reef depositional environment. The fusuline fauna includes Daixina sokensis, Carbonoschwagerina minatoi and C. morikawai, which are representative of the Gzhelian Stage of the Carboniferous. Anthracoporella and Palaeoaplysina are interpreted to be the main bafflers in the mound. The lower horizon of the mound is characterized by a binding structure of Tubiphytes, Archaeolithoporella and bryozoans, which enabled the formation of this Anthracoporella and Palaeoaplysina mound. Compared with the Akiyoshi–Taishaku limestone, a well-documented Panthalassan atoll-type carbonate, the occurrence of Palaeoaplysina is a common feature of these limestones. Based on their accretion ages, the Kano-yama limestone is estimated to have been located several thousand kilometers west of the Akiyoshi–Taishaku limestone in the Panthalassa Ocean during the latest Carboniferous. The occurrence of Palaeoaplysina in both the Akiyoshi–Taishaku and Kano-yama limestones indicates that the distribution of Palaeoaplysina, which is known to be a cool-water genus, extended over thousands of kilometers in the Panthalassa during the period of the Gondwana glaciation.

Reconsideration of the Late Carboniferous and Permian Fusuline Faunas in the Sakamototoge Area (Northern Part of the Mino Belt), Gifu Prefecture, Japan

Faunal composition and correlation of the late Carboniferous and Permian fusulines contained in exotic limestone blocks of the Sakamototoge area, Gifu Prefecture, Japan were reconsidered. Main alterations of the previous results are summarized as: (1) Moscovian fusulines are confined to the Myachkovian; (2) many species collectively included in Triticites are attributed to Protriticites, Montiparus, Rauserites, Triticites, or Schwagerina; (3) “Triticites” faunas designated as the Carboniferous–Permian are reorganized into three faunas: Protriticites subschwagerinoides (early Kasimovian), Montiparus mesopachus-Protriticites kiyomiensis (middle Kasimovian), and Rauserites arcticus-Carbonoschwagerina nakazawai-Quasifusulina longissimi (late Kasimovian to possibly early Gzhelian); and (4) the species assigned to Pseudoschwagerina is now attributed to late Gzhelian Carbonoschwagerina, implying the probable absence of the Asselian in the area. In addition, the Capitanian Yabeina fauna heterogeneous to the coeval neoschwagerinid faunas in the Permian terranes of Japan is ascertained.

Middle Permian foraminifers from the Zhabuye and Xiadong areas in the central Lhasa Block and their paleobiogeographic implications

Two new Middle Permian foraminifer faunas are described from the Xiala Formation in the Zhabuye and Xiadong sections in the central Lhasa Block. The presence of some significant taxa in paleobiogeography such as Shanita, Lysites biconcavus, Hemigordiopsis subglobosa, indicates that the Lhasa Block was in the Cimmerian Province in paleobiogeography during the Middle Permian. Furthermore, the Nankinella-Chusenella fusuline assemblage that occurs in the upper part of the Xiala Formation in the Xiadong section resembles contemporaneous fusuline faunas from the Xainza and Bashor areas in the Lhasa Block and the northern part of the Tengchong Block. The endemism of the Nankinella-Chusenella assemblage in the Lhasa and Tengchong blocks indicates that these two blocks were isolated from both the South Qiangtang Block and the northern Gondwanan margin during the Middle Permian. It further suggests that both the Bangong-Nujiang Ocean and the Neotethys Ocean would have opened before the Middle Permian. A new species Chusenella tsochenensis sp.nov. was described.

Permian fusuline biostratigraphy

Abstract A review of Permian fusuline biostratigraphy is made in this paper in order to improve the correlation of Permian strata globally. Permian fusuline biostratigraphy in the Tethyan and Panthalassan regions can be correlated roughly because the fusulines had good faunal communications between these two regions. However, fusuline faunas from the North American Craton region were devoid of almost all neoschwagerinids and dominated exclusively by schwagerinids during the Guadalupian (Middle Permian) because of the blockage caused by the vast Pangaea supercontinent. This renders the correlation of Middle Permian biostratigraphy and chronostratigraphy between the Tethyan region and North American region challenging. Significant evolutionary key points in fusulines include the first occurrence of Pseudoschwagerina or Sphaeroschwagerina during the earliest Permian, first occurrence of Pamirina and Misellina during the Yakhtashian and Bolorian, and the extinction of all schwagerinids and neoschwagerinids by the end of the Midian.

FUSULINES FROM THE BASHKIRIAN/MOSCOVIAN TRANSITION IN THE CARBONIFEROUS OF THE CANTABRIAN ZONE (NW SPAIN)

The Moscovian stratoype is located at the Moscow Basin (western Russian Platform), where fusulines have traditionally been used to subdivide the stage and to trace its lower boundary. However, fusuline assemblages from the lower Moscovian and the underlying upper Bashkirian show differences in species composition throughout Eurasia and also worldwide that make it difficult to establish correlations with the Russian Platform. This paper describes the succession of fusuline faunas yielded by three Cantabrian Zone (NW Spain) sections exposing the Bashkirian/Moscovian transition. Los Tornos and La Camocha sections are particularly relevant for they contain a fusuline record that could fill, at least partially, a gap existing at the base of the Moscovian stage stratotype. Another section, the Santo Firme section, is of interest in that it contains a cinerite that provided a numerical age at a level within the Bashkirian/Moscovian transition. Forty-nine fusuline taxa belonging to the Profusulinella Zone are described from these three sections, including the new species Schubertella multiforme , Profusulinella martinezi , Aljutovella asturiensis , and Eowedekindellina solovievae . In spite of the differences mentioned, attempts are made to correlate the fusulines from the Cantabrian Zone with the fusuline biozones defined in relevant Carboniferous areas of Eastern Europe (Russian Platform, Urals, Donets Basin).

An Early Permian fusuline fauna from southernmost Peninsular Thailand: Discovery of Early Permian warming spikes in the peri-Gondwanan Sibumasu Block

An Early Permian fusuline fauna is reported from the Tarn To Formation of the Yala area in southernmost Peninsular Thailand, which geotectonically belongs to the peri-Gondwanan Sibumasu Block. The fauna consists of Pseudofusulina and Praeskinnerella? species, including forms closely resembling Tethyan and Panthalassan Pseudofusulina fusiformis and Pseudofusulina ex gr. kraffti. A Yakhtashian–Bolorian age is estimated for this fauna. In Sibumasu, shallow-marine biotas showing similar Tethyan affinities, such as the fusulines Misellina and alatoconchid bivalves, also occur in the Early Permian succession of the Kinta Valley area in western Peninsular Malaysia. These unusual Tethyan faunas within Early Permian peri-Gondwanan fossil records suggest episodic influences from paleo-tropical Tethyan biotas. They are here interpreted as showing short-term warming spikes during the late Yakhtashian–Bolorian transgression, which would facilitate sporadic migration and temporal inhabitation of warm-water dwellers into the eastern Cimmerian areas. The Yala and Kinta Valley fusuline and other invertebrate faunas would give us a new insight for the Permian geohistory and environmental change of the peri-Gondwanan Sibumasu Block.

Permian Fusuline Fauna from the Lower Part of the Lugu Formation in the Central Qiangtang Block and its Geological Implications

Abstract:A Kubergandian (Kungurian) fusuline fauna from the lower part of the Lugu Formation in the Cuozheqiangma area, central Qiangtang Block is described. This fusuline fauna belongs to the Southern Transitional Zone in palaeobiogeography, and is characterised by the presence of the distinctive bi‐temperate genus Monodiexodina and many genera common in lower latitude Tethyan areas such as Parafusulina and Pseudodoliolina. The occurrence of Monodiexodina in the fauna confirms that the seamount‐type carbonates of the Lugu Formation did not originate from the Palaeotethys Ocean, but rather from a branch of the Neotethys Ocean after the rifting of the Qiangtang Block from the Tethys Himalaya area in the Artinskian.

Artinskian (Early Permian) fusuline fauna from the Rongma area in northern Tibet: palaeoclimatic and palaeobiogeographic implications

Zhang, Y.C., Wang, Y., Zhang, Y.J. & Yuan, D.X., 2013. Artinskian (Early Permian) fusuline fauna from the Rongma area in northern Tibet: palaeoclimatic and palaeobiogeographic implications. Alcheringa 37, 529–546. ISSN 0311–5518.A fusuline fauna consisting of ten species in five genera from the Qudi Formation of the Jiaomuri and Gangtangcuo sections in the Rongma area, northern Tibet, is described. This fauna contains a few typical Peri-Gondwanan fusuline species such as Pseudofusulina pamirensis, Neodutkevitchia insignis and N. sp. cf. N. tumidiscula. The fauna is dated as Artinskian based on the presence of both genera Chalaroschwagerina and Praeskinnerella. The Peri-Gondwanan fusuline fauna in the Qiangtang Block is grouped palaeobiogeographically into the Southern Transitional Zone, which is located in the southern part of the Peri-Gondwanan blocks during the late Sakmarian and Artinskian. Moreover, the occurrence of the Peri-Gondwanan fusuline fauna, the lithological transition from glacimarine deposits to carbonates, and the Peri-Gondwanan fusulines’ apparent southeastward migration from the Kalmard Block of central Iran during the Artinskian, are interpreted here to be the result of global warming after the peak of the Late Palaeozoic Ice Age.Yi-chun Zhang [geozyc@yahoo.com], School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Melbourne Burwood Campus, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia; State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, PR China; Yue Wang [yuewang@nigpas.ac.cn], State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, PR China; Yu-jie Zhang [zebiac@163.com], Chengdu Center, China Geological Survey, 2 Renming Road North, Chengdu 610081, PR China; Dong-xun Yuan [yuanzi55@163.com], State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China; Department of Earth Sciences, Nanjing University, 22 Hankou Road, Nanjing 210008, PR China. Received 12.3.2013; revised 2.5.2013; accepted 12.5.2013.

Brachiopods, fusulines and palynomorphs of the Mengkarang Formation (Early Permian, Sumatra) and their palaeobiogeographical significance

Brachiopods, fusulines and palynomorphs from the Lower Permian Mengkarang Formation (Sumatra, Indonesia) have been studied in order to establish the palaeogeographical position and the palaeolatitude of the West Sumatra Block. The position of the West Sumatra Block within the Palaeo-Tethys and Panthalassa oceans and its relationships to their marginal landmasses, in particular the Gondwana supercontinent and the Cathaysian palaeogeographical area, currently is uncertain.Brachiopods, fusulines and palynomorphs of the Lower Permian Mengkarang Formation were analysed to test the Gondwanan versus Cathaysian affinity of the West Sumatra Block. Six genera and two species of fossil brachiopods were identified: Neochonetes (Neochonetes) carboniferus (Keyserling, 1846), Marginifera (Arenaria) sp. ind., Reticulatia sp. ind., Stereochia aff. S. irianensisArchbold, 1981a, ?Protoanidanthus sp. ind., Cancrinella sp. ind., and an undetermined genus and species of the subfamily Toryniferinae. Multivariate analysis of the available brachiopod data including those from the Mengkarang Formation identified two groups, the first comprising Iran, Yukon, the Urals and West Sumatra, the second comprising South Thailand, Baoshan, central Afghanistan, Karakoram, India, West and East Australia, indicating that Lower Permian brachiopods from West Sumatra are best grouped with warm water taxa rather than with cold water taxa from the Gondwanan-Perigondwanan region.Six fusuline species belonging to five genera were identified from six limestone samples: Eostaffella sp., Schubertella sp., Pseudoschwagerina cf. afghanensisLeven, 1971, Pseudoschwagerina meranginensisThompson, 1936, Eoparafusulina ?haydeniLeven, 1971, Pseudofusulina rutschiThompson, 1936. The fusuline fauna is rather poor in terms of generic composition as it is composed mainly by widespread genera but, in a broad sense, the Lower Permian West Sumatra fauna is typical of palaeo-tropical Tethyan regions because of the common occurrence of large schwagerinids.Only one sample level in the Mengkarang Formation yielded abundant palynomorphs, dominated by Laevigatosporites spp. indeterminate bisaccate pollen, Florinites florini Imgrund, 1960 and Convolutispora sp. This assemblage is very different from coeval assemblages of the Gondwanan region, northern Palaeotethyan regions of Kazakhstan, and parts of western Europe and the Intrasudetic Basin, but has more affinity with the Cathaysian phytogeographic province as represented in northern China, Turkey and northern Iraq.

Kungurian (Late Cisuralian) fusuline fauna from the Cuozheqiangma area, northern Tibet and its palaeobiogeographical implications

A fusuline fauna of seven species belonging to six genera from the lower part of the Lugu Formation in the Qiangtang Block, Tibet, is described for the first time. This fauna is assigned to the middle Kungurian based on the dominance of Cancellina primigena (Hayden). Biogeographically, the fauna is characterised by influx of many palaeoequatorial Tethyan taxa by comparison with the underlying Artinskian fauna. The palaeobiogeography of fusuline fauna in the Qiangtang Block from the Artinskian to the middle Kungurian is characterised by a pronounced transition from peri-Gondwanan affinity to a transitional affinity (Tethyan Cimmerian subregion). This transition is considered to have resulted from the combined effects among a northward drift of the Qiangtang Block, contemporaneous global climatic amelioration during the Permian, and the oceanic currents along the new-formed Neotethys Ocean.

Late Guadalupian (Middle Permian) Fusuline Fauna from the Xiala Formation in Xainza County, Central Tibet: Implication of the Rifting Time of the Lhasa Block

A fusuline fauna consisting of 9 species of 4 genera from the Xiala Formation of the Mujiucuo section, Xainza County, Tibet, China is described. The fusuline fauna is dominated byNankinellaandChusenellaand indicates a Midian (Late Guadalupian) age. The earliest record of fusuline fauna during the Midian in the Lhasa Block suggests that the block rifted later than the Qiangtang Block to the north and the Baoshan and Tengchong blocks to the east, all of which yield much earlier fusuline faunas of Yakhtashian (Artinskian) age, but had drifted away from Gondwana to a relatively warm temperate zone in the Late Guadalupian (Middle Permian).

Middle Permian (Guadalupian) Fusulines from the Xilanta Formation in the Gyanyima area of Burang County, southwestern Tibet, China

This paper reports a diversified fusuline fauna from the Middle Permian (Guadalupian) Xilanta Formation in the Gyanyima area, Burang County, southwestern Tibet, China. Nine genera, Lantschichites, Kahlerina, Nankinella, Yangchienia, Chusenella, Verbeekina, Armenina, Paraverbeekina and Neoschwagerina are recognized.Anew species Yangchienia gyanyimaensis n. sp. is established. This fauna indicates a Midian age in terms of the coexistence of Kahlerina, Lantschichites and Neoschwagerina. Paleobiogeographically, the fauna closely resembles that from the Lasaila exotic limestone block of Tibet, both resemble the fusuline assemblages known from the western Cimmerian continents in the Western Tethys Province. However, the absence of Afghanella and Sumatrina in the fauna suggests that the Gyanyima limestone block as well as the Lasaila exotic limestone block, the Batain plain of Oman and the Salt Range of Pakistan, were affected by relatively cool water during the Middle Permian.

ウクライナ，ドネツ炭田における上部石炭系

To better understand and update knowledge of the stratigraphy and foraminiferal and conodont faunal successions of Bashkirian-Moscovian (Pennsylvanian/Upper Carboniferous) boundary intervals in the Donets Basin of Ukraine, we studied the C21 to C26 suites (Limestones F to L) of the following eight stratigraphic sections located in the eastern part of the basin. These are the Karaguz, Volnukhino, Kriven'ky Yar, Rudnya, Zolotaya, and Malonikolaevka sections in Lugansk county and the Soroch'ya and Kholodnaya sections in Donetsk county. Among them, the Malonikolaevka section, which is located about 35km southwest of Lugansk and is documented for the first time in this study, provides important data on the faunal successions of the Bashkirian-Moscovian boundary interval, ranging from Limestones I2 to K3. Both the conodont and fusuline faunas record the appearances in the basal part of the C25 (K) Suite of several new taxa that are more characteristic of the early Moscovian. These forms include Declinognathodus donetzianus at the top of K1 in conodonts and Eofusulina triangula, E. trianguliformis, and a large Neostaffella species (N. vozhgalica) at K2 in fusulines. Thus, the K1-K2 interval is very promising as the potential position of the formal Bashkirian-Moscovian boundary in the Donets Basin. The data from the Malonikolaevka section, together with those from other sections in the present study, would be significant for future investigations of the Task Group to establish a GSSP close to the existing Bashkirian-Moscovian Boundary organized in IUGS Subcommission on Carboniferous Stratigraphy (SCCS).

Upper Permian conodonts from Hydra, Greece

Conodont faunas recovered from the upper 80 m of Late Permian limestones on the Greek island of Hydra (Idhra) include Neogondolella leveni (Kozur, Mostler, and Pjatakova), Neogondolella orientalis (Barskov and Koroleva), Hindeodus julfensis Sweet, Xaniognathus hydraensis n. sp., and Ellisonia sp. The conodonts occur with a rich assemblage of silicified brachiopods, fusulines, and other invertebrates. Diagnostic fusulines include Reichelina media Miklukho-Maklai and Palaeofusulina cf. P. prisca Deprat. The conodont and fusuline faunas are correlative with well-known faunas described from the lower part of the Ali Bashi Formation of the Djulfa region of Iran, and with similar faunas described from other regions of Central Asia. The presence of conodonts from the Neogondolella orientalis Zone of Kozur indicates that the age of the upper part of the Permian sequence on Hydra is early-middle Dzhulfian (Baisalian Substage).

Marine early Permian of the central Andes and its fusuline faunas; Part II

Marine early Permian of the central Andes and its fusuline faunas; Part II