Five types of replacement silica are recognized in the Lower Mississippian Virden Member carbonates on the northeastern flank of Williston basin： microcrystalline quartz, chalcedonic quartz, anhedral megaquartz, euhe...Five types of replacement silica are recognized in the Lower Mississippian Virden Member carbonates on the northeastern flank of Williston basin： microcrystalline quartz, chalcedonic quartz, anhedral megaquartz, euhedral megaquartz, and stringy megaquartz. Silica tends to replace various bioclasts, and all except the stringy megaquartz also occur as non-replacive void-filling cement or as silica forming chert nodules and silicified limestone. Although crinoids, brachiopods, corals, bryozoans, molluscs, trilobites, forams, and ostracodes are present in the sediments studied, only the first three show evidence of silicification. Crinoids are commonly replaced by microcrystalline quartz whereas brachiopods typically by spherules of length slow chalcedony. Coalesced spherules, often in concentric rings （beekite rings）, may form sheet-like masses on the surface of corals and brachiopods. Although bryozoans are common in the Virden Member, none showed any evidence of silicification. The difference in the susceptibility to silicification may be related to the shell microstructure, biological group, size of organism, skeletal mineralogy, and organic content of the bioclasts. Biogenic silica derived from the dissolution of siliceous sponge spicules is considered to be the most likely silica source for silicification. Most silica is believed to be released during early diagenesis before the sediments were deeply buried. The Virden Member carbonate may have experienced two episodes of replacement, the first affecting the bioclasts, the second producing silicified limestone and chert nodules.展开更多
A new Bergeria(Lepidodendrales, Flemingitaceae), B. wenquanensis sp. nov., is described in this paper, typically characterized by the longest and elongated leaf cushions ever found. The specimen, collected from the Mi...A new Bergeria(Lepidodendrales, Flemingitaceae), B. wenquanensis sp. nov., is described in this paper, typically characterized by the longest and elongated leaf cushions ever found. The specimen, collected from the Mississippian of Wenquan County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, is represented by a fossil stem about two meters long, with distinct leaf cushions. The genus Bergeria has usually been assigned to partially decorticated Lepidodendron stems. Although Cathaysian Lepidodendron have been extensively reported in China, most of them were found in the central, eastern and southern parts of the country, rarely in northwestern China. This new species is so far the westernmost record and the most isolated representative from the Cathaysian Lepidodendron center.Based on the distribution of the Cathaysian Lepidodendron during the Mississippian, most of the species were in the South China Plate near the Equator, while the new species is discrete in the north, far from the Equator. According to the spatiotemporal distribution of Cathaysian Lepidodendron, this genus appeared during the Mississippian, a period which was represented by rather few species, it flourished and expanded northwards during the Pennsylvanian, taking the north block of the South China Plate as the center. Since the Cisuralian to the Guadalupian, the genus became gradually sparser in all areas of distribution, probably due to strong climate change. During the Lopingian, the genus migrated southwards to the South China block and had a broader distribution range again, and it became extinct to the end of this interval. The new species is also significant for the evolution of Lepidodendron leaf cushions. During the Mississippian, the primitive species of Lepidodendron usually had narrow, fusiform leaf cushions, while the Pennsylvanian or Permian species were more variable in shape of leaf cushions, from inverted water-drop, rhomboidal, hexagonal, trapeziform to horizontal rhomboidal.展开更多
An integrated study of borehole data and outcrop of Mississippian （late Tournaisian to late Visean） rocks in Co. （County） Galway, western Ireland has enabled a more detailed geological map and lithostratigraphy to...An integrated study of borehole data and outcrop of Mississippian （late Tournaisian to late Visean） rocks in Co. （County） Galway, western Ireland has enabled a more detailed geological map and lithostratigraphy to be constructed for the region. Several carbonate formations have been distinguished by microfacies analysis and their precise ages established by micropalaeontological investigations using foraminifers and calcareous algae. In addition, palaeogeographic maps have been constructed for the late Tournaisian, and early to late Visoan intervals in the region. The oldest marine Mississippian （late Tournaisian） deposits are recorded in the south of the study region from the Loughrea/Tynagh area and further south in the Gort Borehole; they belong to the Limerick Province. They comprise the Lower Limestone Shale Group succeeded by the Ballysteen Group, Waulsortian Limestone and Kilbryan Limestone Formations. These rocks were deposited in increasing water depth associated with a transgression that moved northwards across Co. Galway. In the northwest and north of the region, marginal marine and non-marine Tournaisian rocks are developed, with a shoreline located NW of Galway City （Galway High）. The central region of Co. Galway has a standard Visdan marine succession that can be directly correlated with the Carrick-on- Shannon succession in counties Leitrim and Roscommon to the northeast and east as far as the River Shannon. It is dominated by shallow-water limestones （Oakport, Ballymore and Croghan Limestone Formations） that formed the Galway-Roscommon Shelf. This facies is lat- erally equivalent to the Tubber Formation to the south which developed on the Clare-Galway Shelf. In the southeast, basinal facies of the Lucan Formation accumulated in the Athenry Basin throughout much of the Visean. This basin formed during a phase of extensional tectonics in the early Visean and was probably connected to the Tynagh Basin to the east. In the late Visean, shallow-water limestones of the Burren Formation extend across much of the southern part of the region. They are characterized by the presence of rich concentrations of large brachiopod shells and colonial coral horizons which developed in predominantly high-energy conditions. These limestones also exhibit palaeokarstic surfaces and palaeosols which formed during regressive conditions of glacio-eustatically controlled cyclicity. Locally, slightly deeper water, lower energy conditions developed on the shelf with the formation of rare bryozoan-rich mud-mounds. Deep-water basinal facies were maintained in the central and southeastern parts of the region between the two shelves with the persistence of the Lucan Formation. Ac- tive syn-sedimentary faulting influenced deposition in the Visean and interfingering of basinal sediments with slumps and shallow-water shelf carbonates are recognized.展开更多
A new early Visean coral assemblage has been recorded from turbidite facies in the southern part of the AzrouKhenifra Basin,northwest of Khenifra,central Morocco.The newly discovered Ba Moussa West(BMW)coral fauna inc...A new early Visean coral assemblage has been recorded from turbidite facies in the southern part of the AzrouKhenifra Basin,northwest of Khenifra,central Morocco.The newly discovered Ba Moussa West(BMW)coral fauna includes Siphonophyllia khenifrense sp.nov.,Sychnoelasma urbanowitschi,Cravenia lamellata,Cravenia tela,Cravenia rhytoides,Turnacipora megastoma and Pleurosiphonella crustosa.The early Visean age of the coral assemblage is supported by foraminiferal and conodont data,with the recognition of the basal Visean MFZ9 Zone.This confirms that the first transgression in the Azrou-Khenifra Basin was during the earliest Visean.The allochthonous coral assemblage was recovered from coarse-grained proximal limestone debris flow and turbidite beds within a faultbounded unit,lying to the west of a thrust syncline containing upper Visean limestones.No evidence exists of the former early Visean shallow-water platform from which the corals were derived.All other in situ platform carbonate rocks around the southern margin of the Azrou-Khenifra Basin are probably of late Visean(Asbian–Brigantian)age.The early Visean Ba Moussa West coral fauna can be compared with that at Tafilalt in eastern Morocco,as well as in other Saharian basins of Algeria.Many of the genera and species in the Ba Moussa West assemblage are identical to those in NW Europe,with which it must have had marine connections.The new rugose species described,Siphonophyllia khenifrense,is probably endemic to North Africa.Its ecological niche in NW Europe was occupied by S.cylindrica or S.aff.garwoodi.展开更多
基金supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (No. 327092-06)Brandon University (BU) Research Committee for financial support
文摘Five types of replacement silica are recognized in the Lower Mississippian Virden Member carbonates on the northeastern flank of Williston basin： microcrystalline quartz, chalcedonic quartz, anhedral megaquartz, euhedral megaquartz, and stringy megaquartz. Silica tends to replace various bioclasts, and all except the stringy megaquartz also occur as non-replacive void-filling cement or as silica forming chert nodules and silicified limestone. Although crinoids, brachiopods, corals, bryozoans, molluscs, trilobites, forams, and ostracodes are present in the sediments studied, only the first three show evidence of silicification. Crinoids are commonly replaced by microcrystalline quartz whereas brachiopods typically by spherules of length slow chalcedony. Coalesced spherules, often in concentric rings （beekite rings）, may form sheet-like masses on the surface of corals and brachiopods. Although bryozoans are common in the Virden Member, none showed any evidence of silicification. The difference in the susceptibility to silicification may be related to the shell microstructure, biological group, size of organism, skeletal mineralogy, and organic content of the bioclasts. Biogenic silica derived from the dissolution of siliceous sponge spicules is considered to be the most likely silica source for silicification. Most silica is believed to be released during early diagenesis before the sediments were deeply buried. The Virden Member carbonate may have experienced two episodes of replacement, the first affecting the bioclasts, the second producing silicified limestone and chert nodules.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under the Grant 41271070the West Light Foundation of Chinese Academy of Sciences under Grant 2015-XBQN-B-25
文摘A new Bergeria(Lepidodendrales, Flemingitaceae), B. wenquanensis sp. nov., is described in this paper, typically characterized by the longest and elongated leaf cushions ever found. The specimen, collected from the Mississippian of Wenquan County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, is represented by a fossil stem about two meters long, with distinct leaf cushions. The genus Bergeria has usually been assigned to partially decorticated Lepidodendron stems. Although Cathaysian Lepidodendron have been extensively reported in China, most of them were found in the central, eastern and southern parts of the country, rarely in northwestern China. This new species is so far the westernmost record and the most isolated representative from the Cathaysian Lepidodendron center.Based on the distribution of the Cathaysian Lepidodendron during the Mississippian, most of the species were in the South China Plate near the Equator, while the new species is discrete in the north, far from the Equator. According to the spatiotemporal distribution of Cathaysian Lepidodendron, this genus appeared during the Mississippian, a period which was represented by rather few species, it flourished and expanded northwards during the Pennsylvanian, taking the north block of the South China Plate as the center. Since the Cisuralian to the Guadalupian, the genus became gradually sparser in all areas of distribution, probably due to strong climate change. During the Lopingian, the genus migrated southwards to the South China block and had a broader distribution range again, and it became extinct to the end of this interval. The new species is also significant for the evolution of Lepidodendron leaf cushions. During the Mississippian, the primitive species of Lepidodendron usually had narrow, fusiform leaf cushions, while the Pennsylvanian or Permian species were more variable in shape of leaf cushions, from inverted water-drop, rhomboidal, hexagonal, trapeziform to horizontal rhomboidal.
文摘An integrated study of borehole data and outcrop of Mississippian （late Tournaisian to late Visean） rocks in Co. （County） Galway, western Ireland has enabled a more detailed geological map and lithostratigraphy to be constructed for the region. Several carbonate formations have been distinguished by microfacies analysis and their precise ages established by micropalaeontological investigations using foraminifers and calcareous algae. In addition, palaeogeographic maps have been constructed for the late Tournaisian, and early to late Visoan intervals in the region. The oldest marine Mississippian （late Tournaisian） deposits are recorded in the south of the study region from the Loughrea/Tynagh area and further south in the Gort Borehole; they belong to the Limerick Province. They comprise the Lower Limestone Shale Group succeeded by the Ballysteen Group, Waulsortian Limestone and Kilbryan Limestone Formations. These rocks were deposited in increasing water depth associated with a transgression that moved northwards across Co. Galway. In the northwest and north of the region, marginal marine and non-marine Tournaisian rocks are developed, with a shoreline located NW of Galway City （Galway High）. The central region of Co. Galway has a standard Visdan marine succession that can be directly correlated with the Carrick-on- Shannon succession in counties Leitrim and Roscommon to the northeast and east as far as the River Shannon. It is dominated by shallow-water limestones （Oakport, Ballymore and Croghan Limestone Formations） that formed the Galway-Roscommon Shelf. This facies is lat- erally equivalent to the Tubber Formation to the south which developed on the Clare-Galway Shelf. In the southeast, basinal facies of the Lucan Formation accumulated in the Athenry Basin throughout much of the Visean. This basin formed during a phase of extensional tectonics in the early Visean and was probably connected to the Tynagh Basin to the east. In the late Visean, shallow-water limestones of the Burren Formation extend across much of the southern part of the region. They are characterized by the presence of rich concentrations of large brachiopod shells and colonial coral horizons which developed in predominantly high-energy conditions. These limestones also exhibit palaeokarstic surfaces and palaeosols which formed during regressive conditions of glacio-eustatically controlled cyclicity. Locally, slightly deeper water, lower energy conditions developed on the shelf with the formation of rare bryozoan-rich mud-mounds. Deep-water basinal facies were maintained in the central and southeastern parts of the region between the two shelves with the persistence of the Lucan Formation. Ac- tive syn-sedimentary faulting influenced deposition in the Visean and interfingering of basinal sediments with slumps and shallow-water shelf carbonates are recognized.
基金funded by projects CGL2012–30922 and CGL2016–78738-P of the Spanish Government.
文摘A new early Visean coral assemblage has been recorded from turbidite facies in the southern part of the AzrouKhenifra Basin,northwest of Khenifra,central Morocco.The newly discovered Ba Moussa West(BMW)coral fauna includes Siphonophyllia khenifrense sp.nov.,Sychnoelasma urbanowitschi,Cravenia lamellata,Cravenia tela,Cravenia rhytoides,Turnacipora megastoma and Pleurosiphonella crustosa.The early Visean age of the coral assemblage is supported by foraminiferal and conodont data,with the recognition of the basal Visean MFZ9 Zone.This confirms that the first transgression in the Azrou-Khenifra Basin was during the earliest Visean.The allochthonous coral assemblage was recovered from coarse-grained proximal limestone debris flow and turbidite beds within a faultbounded unit,lying to the west of a thrust syncline containing upper Visean limestones.No evidence exists of the former early Visean shallow-water platform from which the corals were derived.All other in situ platform carbonate rocks around the southern margin of the Azrou-Khenifra Basin are probably of late Visean(Asbian–Brigantian)age.The early Visean Ba Moussa West coral fauna can be compared with that at Tafilalt in eastern Morocco,as well as in other Saharian basins of Algeria.Many of the genera and species in the Ba Moussa West assemblage are identical to those in NW Europe,with which it must have had marine connections.The new rugose species described,Siphonophyllia khenifrense,is probably endemic to North Africa.Its ecological niche in NW Europe was occupied by S.cylindrica or S.aff.garwoodi.
