Lower Serpukhovian Research Articles

Late Mississippian (early Serpukhovian) carbon isotope record of northern Laurussia: A proposal for the Viséan/ Serpukhovian boundary

The fauna provincialism in the interval led to the appearance of some problems with the tracing of this boundary with biostratigraphic methods. Therefore, it is important to determine auxiliary non-biostratigraphic markers of the boundary. The article is focused on the evaluation of the correlation potential of carbon isotope excursions near the Viséan/Serpukhovian boundary, with special attention to the northern Laurussia region. The biostratigraphically constrained carbon isotope record is revealed from the terminal Viséan ‑ lower Serpukhovian (Mississippian) shelf successions of the northern Laurussia (six key sections located in the north of Urals and Cis-Urals, NE Europe). Onset of a negative excursion in the middle part of the Lochriea ziegleri conodont Zone (lower Serpukhovian) shows amplitude of 1–2‰ and high spatial stability, and can be used as a stratigraphic marker in regional and global correlations.

New finds of the Carboniferous cephalopods on the territory of Ukraine

Formulation of the problem. Carboniferous sediments are widespread in Ukraine. Cephalopods remains are not rare in these deposits. However, they are poorly studied. Cephalopods have great importance for the dismemberment and correlation of Carboniferous sediments, as well as for paleogeographic reconstructions. For this reason, their study is very relevant. The history of the study. Mississippian cephalopods of the Donets Basin and Don-Dnipro Downwarp are poorly studied. At the moment, few ammonoids and one nautilid have been determined from the Mississippian of the Don-Dnipro Downwarp. Numerous Mississippian ammonoids are known from the Donets Basin. Nautilids are known only from the Samara Formation (Lower Serpukhovian). Material and research methods. This article is based on the results of a study of Mississippian cephalopods collection from the Donets Basin (Ukraine: Grabove Village and Dokuchayivs’k in the south of the Donetsk Region) and the Don-Dnipro Downwarp (Ukraine: Sumy and Poltava Regions, Bugrovate and Gubs’ke Villages). In addition, allochthonous remains of cephalopods from the moraine of the Dnipro glacial maximum were studied (Ukraine: Poltava Region, Pyvykha Hill nearby Hradyzk Town). Statement of the main material. Orthocerids, oncocerid Culullus sp., actinocerid Antonoceras balaschovi Shimansky, nautilids Pseudostenopoceras sp. and Liroceras sp. have identified from the limestone boulders in the moraine of the Dnipro glacial maximum (Hradyzk). The age of these limestones from the Late Viséan to Serpukhovian. The geographical origin of the limestone debris can be determined by studying the fossils in these rocks. The results of the study of chaetetids and corals (Victor Ohar), brachiopods (Vladystav Poletaev) and cephalopods (author) show that the source of the limestone boulders with Carboniferous fossils situated in the southern part of the Moscow Syneclise. Fragments of conchs of the orthocerids Brachycycloceras scalare (Archiac et Verneuil) are occurred in the black mudstones of the Upper Viséan opened by the boreholes Bugrovativs’ka-160 (depth is 3650.0-3654.0 metres; Bugrovate Village, Okhtyrka District, Sumy Region) and Gubs’ka-2 (depth is 4740.0-4745.0 metres; Gubs’ke Village, Lubny District, Poltava Region). This species is known from the Namurian of Belgium, Viséan of the Czech Republic and Poland and Mississippian of Germany. The collection also contains a fragment of a large conch of actinocerid Rayonnoceras sp. This specimen comes from the limestone B81 of the Mezha Formation (Upper Viséan) exposed in the vicinity of the Grabove Village on the Kalmius River (Donetsk Region). This genus is very widespread in the Mississippian sediments of North America, Western Europe, European part of Russia and China. Previously actinocerids in the Carboniferous of the Donets Basin were not known. Fragments of conchs of indeterminate orthocerids find in the dark gray fine-crystalline Viséan limestones (Dokuchayivs’k, borehole no. 51, depth is 88.0 metres). Conclusions. The study of new finds of Carboniferous cephalopod remains in Ukraine allowed us to confirm the approximate location of the source of the clastic material of the Dnipro glacial maximum moraine. In addition, expand the systematic diversity of the Mississippian cephalopods of the Donets Basin and Don-Dnipro Downwarp.

A new mound-building biota from the lower Carboniferous of Alabama

AbstractA small (1.2 m) columnar carbonate mound in shaley strata equivalent to the Hartselle Sandstone (lower Serpukhovian) near Woodville, northeastern Alabama, was built by a consortium of species unlike those of other Carboniferous mounds in the southeastern United States. The mound contains a new problematic microencruster,Aphralysia anfractanew species, along with encrusting bryozoans (FistuliporaM'Coy, 1849), nonskeletal microbes, and other microencrusters, includingAphralysia caprioraeMamet and Roux, 1975, in a carbonate mud matrix. Mound cavities are filled with three generations of carbonate and siliciclastic sediment. Other biotic constituents of the mound include oncoids, sponges (includingPileospongiaRigby, Keyes, and Horowitz, 1979), gastropods, crinoids, a tabulate coral, and coenobionts, including coccoid calcimicrobes. The mound biota, especially the microencrusters, is dramatically different from those of other Serpukhovian mounds that have been described from Alabama (made by various consortia of rugose corals, fenestrate bryozoans, crinoids, sponges, and nonskeletal microbes). Indeed, the Woodville mound extends the range of the lower Carboniferous encrusterAphralysiaGarwood, 1914 to North America.UUID:http://zoobank.org/d3988875-a7fb-4382-bd14-b17c083d87ad

Trace fossils from the Mississippian of the Piaskowa Góra section (the Intra-Sudetic Basin, SW Poland)

Eight ichnotaxa and enigmatic tubular forms were discovered and described for the first time from clastic deposits (the Culm facies) of the uppermost part of the Szczawno Formation (upper Mississippian) from in the Piaskowa Góra section in the northern part of the Intra-Sudetic Basin near Wałbrzych. The trace fossils are represented mostly by pascichnia and less numerous domichnia, fodinichnia and repichnia. Psammichnites plummeri and numerous Phycosiphon isp . are the most common ichnotaxa. They are accompanied by Archaeonassa fossulata, Beaconites cf. capronus , Curvolithus multiplex, Dictyodora liebeana, Palaeophycus isp ., and Planolites isp . D. liebeana is described for the first time from the lower Serpukhovian. Most components of the ichnoassemblage are typical of the Cruziana ichnofacies, but the co-occurrence of Dictyodora and Phycosiphon could indicate a transition to deeper environmental settings (the Zoophycos ichnofacies). The lithological features as well as the accompanying trace fossils, wrinkle structures and floral remains of Archaeocalamites indicate rapid sedimentation, alternating with more tranquil periods of sedimentation, in an intermediate environment between the lower offshore (the distal Cruziana ichnofacies) and the fan-delta slope (below the wave base, the Zoophycos ichnofacies). The studied trace fossils and palynological data indicate that marine conditions in the Wałbrzych area in the Mississippian prevailed locally until the early Sepukhovian.

Нижний серпухов (нижний карбон) в бассейне р. Кожим (Приполярный Урал)

Нижний серпухов (нижний карбон) в бассейне р. Кожим (Приполярный Урал)

Lower Serpukhovian (Steshevian) foraminifers and algae from exotic limestone clasts of Nötsch (Eastern Alps, Austria)

The >1,000 m-thick Carboniferous sedimentary succession of Nötsch is divided into the Erlachgraben, Badstub, and Nötsch formations with poorly constrained precise ages, but probably constituting a continuous lithostratigraphic Group deposited from the latest Viséan to the early Bashkirian, thus including a complete Serpukhovian succession. We date the early Serpukhovian (Steshevian) in exotic limestone clasts of the Badstub Fm. based on algae and foraminifers. These limestone clasts have been reworked from a carbonate shelf, indicating that they are older than the Badstub Fm. Microfacies and fossil assemblages indicate that a shallow marine carbonate shelf was developed at the northern margin of the deep-sea basin of Nötsch. The assemblages include the red alga Hortonella, rare green algae, and incertae sedis algae Praedonezella, Aoujgalia, and Frustulata; howchiniid and lasiodiscid foraminifers; atypical endothyrids, probably belonging to Semiendothyra emend.; rare Janischewskina; taxonomically disputable eostaffellids (including Eostaffellina aff. paraprotvae) and pseudoendothyrids; attached forms transitional between pseudolituotubid Fusulinata and calcivertellid Miliolata; and probably the oldest known free Miliolata. Newly described taxa include the incertae sedis algae Praedonezella sebbarae nov. sp. and the foraminifers Pseudoendotaxis nov. gen., Quasilituotuba serpens nov. sp., Q. pseudospiroides nov. sp., and Eoglomospiroides carnica nov. sp. Revised foraminiferal taxa include Pseudolituotubidae, Quasilituotuba cf. serpuchoviensis nov. comb., and Q. ex gr. extensa nov. comb. The studied material provides information about the phylogeny of the first Miliolata and permits the reconstruction of the lineage of Pseudolituotubidae and Calcivertellidae, between the classes Fusulinata and Miliolata. The palaeobiogeography of Austria during the Serpukhovian is not yet clearly established, but relationships with the Saharan and Mediterranean Provinces exist, and especially with the Donbass. Fewer relationships are conspicuous with England, the Moscow Basin or the Urals.

Late Viséan-Serpukhovian lasiodiscid foraminifers in Vegas de Sotres section (Cantabrian Mountains, NW Spain): Potential biostratigraphic markers for the Viséan-Serpukhovian boundary

The Vegas de Sotres section (Cantabrian Mountains, Northern Spain) spans a continuous record of upper Viséan-Serpukhovian (Mississippian) marine carbonates. It contains distinctive bioclastic pale grey nodular and black limestones of the upper part of the Alba Formation, representative of more shallower-water facies than the classically described deeper-water red griotte limestones of the formation. Above the Alba Formation are dark grey laminated limestones typical facies of the Barcaliente Formation. The Alba Formation in Vegas de Sotres section is noteworthy for the common foraminifers. Systematic analysis of the lasiodiscid foraminifers allows the identification of diverse assemblages with 26 species assigned to 5 genera. The dominant genus is Howchinia, in which 18 species have been identified. Six species were previously described in the literature, 5 species are identified in open nomenclature, and 7 new species are described: H. acutiformis, H. cantabrica, H. enormis, H. hemisphaerica, H. plana, H. sotrensis, and H. variabilis. Also abundant are 5 species of the new genus Hemidiscopsis, formally described here for the first time. Another common genus is Monotaxinoides and, more rarely, Planohowchinia and Eolasiodiscus. Owing to the abundance of taxa, including intermediate forms, phylogenetic relationships are recognized, with transitional forms occurring between distinct genera. Biostratigraphically, some species may help in the recognition of the Viséan/Serpukhovian boundary, as they are recorded close to the first occurrence of the conodont Lochriea ziegleri. Howchinia hemisphaerica nov. sp. first occurs in slightly older levels in the upper Viséan, and H. nov. sp. 4 is found in the same bed as L. ziegleri. Nine species of Howchinia first occur in slightly younger levels in the lower Serpukhovian and therefore also help potentially in the recognition of the base of the Serpukhovian.

Carboniferous stratigraphy and context of the Seal Sands No. 1 Borehole, Teesmouth, NE England: the deepest onshore borehole in Great Britain

SUMMARY Carboniferous rocks totalling 3442 m in thickness were drilled in the Seal Sands No. 1 Borehole at Teesmouth, Cleveland, in 1974–75. Cores taken in the middle and towards the bottom of the Carboniferous section show that the strata are broadly horizontal so the thicknesses drilled are close to true stratigraphical thicknesses. The borehole passed through 727 m of Triassic and Permian strata, which lie unconformably on the Carboniferous rocks. The latter comprise a Mississippian succession of Viséan–Serpukhovian (Holkerian–?Arnsbergian) age that is dominated by near-shore, shallow-water deposits with numerous but mainly thin coal seams. The Serpukhovian (Pendleian–?Arnsbergian) succession of shales and siltstones with thin sandstones, several thin limestones and rare coals is assigned to the Stainmore Formation (135 m). Below this, a thick calcareous interval of limestone and interbedded mudstone is believed to be the Great Limestone (110 m), which forms the top member of the underlying upper Viséan (Brigantian)–lower Serpukhovian (Pendleian) Alston Formation. The remaining strata of the Alston Formation (782 m) are equivalent to the 10 principal cyclothems (Four Fathom–Peghorn limestones) of the Alston Block, together with the underlying Birkdale Limestone at the base of the Alston Formation from which the lowest Brigantian microfossils have been recorded. The underlying Great Scar Limestone Group of late Asbian age (148 m) includes pale limestones of the Melmerby Scar Limestone Formation, similar to the limestones of the same formation on the Alston Block, interbedded with sandstones and mudstones. Below the Great Scar Limestone Group, the new informally defined Cleveland Group comprises three new informally defined formations. At the top of the group, the Greatham Formation (388 m) comprises limestones interbedded with mudstone and sandstone in cyclic sequences of late Asbian age. Below this, the informally defined Teesmouth Formation (539 m), also of late Asbian age, is a more terrigenous succession with numerous coal seams. The oldest unit in the borehole, the informally defined Seal Sands Formation (1338 m), comprises finely interbedded, black fissile mudstone, siltstone, fine-grained sandstone, thin black peloidal limestone beds, black chert and many coal seams. This distinctly black succession is mostly Asbian in age, but Holkerian microfossils occur in the lower part, from 3621 m down to the bottom of the hole at 4169 m. Correlations are made with the Alston Block succession and that of the Stainmore Basin. The unusually thick Mississippian succession, especially in the Asbian (>1800 m thick), is in accordance with the borehole's location within the eastern part of the Stainmore Basin, where a thick Carboniferous sequence is inferred from geophysical data. It is also comparable with a thick Asbian succession in the Northumberland Basin.

Trophic structure and spatial distribution of macrofaunas in the Hurlet and Index limestones (Carboniferous: upper Viséan and lower Serpukhovian) of Ayrshire, Scotland

Synopsis Explorative multivariate numerical analysis of British Geological Survey historical Biostratigraphy collections from the Carboniferous Hurlet and Index limestones, Ayrshire, yields results capable of palaeoecological interpretation. The faunas are distributed along environmental gradients within carbonate facies that systematically extended out into other sedimentary settings. Clusters of genera in higher taxa plotted on ternary diagrams of trophic structure show both units commonly include epifaunal suspension feeders, although one cluster from the Hurlet Limestone includes epifaunal detritus-suspension feeders and another from the Index Limestone includes vagrant-epifaunal detritus-suspension feeders. All the clusters include the surficial and semi-infaunal tiers, non-motile and suspension feeding categories, but they show trends of increasing ecological complexity. The geographical distribution of the clusters shows the Hurlet Limestone palaeoenvironment was most diverse around Sorn, whereas that for the Index Limestone was diverse in all three main areas of outcrop. This variation is attributed to local fluctuations in depth, sea floor conditions and water quality. An ‘embayment’ in the palaeoenvironment of the Index Limestone, seen by draping the interpretations over a 3D computer model of the subsurface, was associated with the Kerse Loch Fault, where penecontemporaneous displacement and an inferred palaeotopographical fault scarp influenced marine water flow, environmental distribution and genus diversity.