Late Ordovician brachiopod faunas from Pomeroy, Northern Ireland: a palaeoenvironmental synthesis

2005 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 317-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yves Candela
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Shallow Water ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Water Regime ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Tectonic Events ◽  
Low Diversity ◽  
Storm Wave ◽  
Laurentian Margin ◽  
Brachiopod Fauna

ABSTRACTComparisons of the Caradoc assemblages with North American biofacies indicate that the Bardahessiagh Formation was deposited during a transgressive regime, which peaked with the presence of a typical Sericoidea association (member (II)). These diverse and exceptionally preserved faunas lived below the storm-wave base. The assemblages also contained a shallower water brachiopod component typical of transition zone environments or above, which may have been transported during periods of instability. A deep-water regime (BAs 4 to 4–5) through the Rawtheyan occurs with the deposition of the Killey Bridge Formation, which yielded a diverse brachiopod fauna including Bimuria, Chonetoidea and Christiania. The Rawtheyan assemblage also contains a shallower water component. Representatives of the deep-water Proboscisambon assemblage occur in middle parts of the Tirnaskea Formation. This distinctive low-diversity assemblage yields small, thin-shelled brachiopods including Dedzetina, Sericoidea, Protozyga and Proboscisambon. The upper parts of the Tirnaskea Formation yielded the low diversity, shallow water (BA 3) Hirnantia fauna, which is characterised by the presence of Eostropheodonta, which is a key form of the fauna, Dysprosorthis and the absence of Hirnantia. As a whole the changing brachiopod biofacies monitor environmental fluctuations, on part of the Laurentian margin, driven mainly by eustatic and tectonic events.

Late Ordovician brachiopod biofacies of the Girvan district, SW Scotland

2000 ◽  
Vol 91 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 471-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. T. Harper
Keyword(s):  
South China ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Outer Shelf ◽  
Tectonic Events ◽  
Environmental Fluctuations ◽  
Laurentian Margin

ABSTRACTDiverse and abundant brachiopod faunas, associated with unstable outer shelf and slope environments, occur through the Upper Ardmillan Group (upper Caradoc–upper Ashgill) in the Girvan district of SW Scotland. Representatives of the deep-water Foliomena fauna occur intermittently throughout the group, appearing in both the Whitehouse and Drummuck subgroups. This distinctive assemblage of small, thin-shelled brachiopods, including Dedzetina, Christiania, Cyclospira and Foliomena itself, first appeared in South China during the early Caradoc but had colonised the Laurentian margins by the late Caradoc. Within the upper Caradoc–lower Ashgill Whitehouse Subgroup, the Foliomena fauna is interbedded with a variety of other less cosmopolitan deep-water assemblages including the Onniella–Skenidioides and Lingulella–Trimurellina associations. Shallower-water environments in the middle Ashgill Lower Drummuck Subgroup hosted the Fardenia–Eopholidostrophia association in sands, and the Christiania-Leptaena association in muds and silts. The remarkable Lady Burn Starfish Beds in the upper part of the group contain a variety of brachiopod-dominated assemblages including the Eochonetes and Plaesiomys-Schizophorella associations, transported from various shelf locations, within a very diverse mid-Ashgill biota. Nevertheless, elements of the Foliomena fauna persisted to near the top of the Drummuck Subgroup, occurring as rare assemblages in more muddy and silty facies. The upper Ashgill High Mains Formation contains abundant elements of the terminal Ordovician Hirnantia fauna including Eostropheodonta, Hindella and Hirnantia itself, but also some taxa more typical of the Laurentian Edgewood Province. As a whole, the changing brachiopod biofacies monitor environmental fluctuations, on part of the Laurentian margin, driven by mainly eustatic and tectonic events.

Late Ordovician (Katian) brachiopods from the Southern Uplands of Scotland: biogeographic patterns on the edge of Laurentia

2009 ◽  
Vol 100 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yves Candela ◽  
David A. T. Harper
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Outer Shelf ◽  
Biogeographic Patterns ◽  
Laurentian Margin ◽  
Upper Slope

ABSTRACTSome 40 brachiopod species are known from the localities of Kilbucho and Wallace’s Cast in the Kirkcolm Formation in the Northern Belt of the Southern Uplands of Scotland. The fauna is diverse despite the relatively small numbers of brachiopod specimens (c. 180) available for study. Much of the fauna was transported downslope and is locally preserved in obtrution deposits. It represents a broad census of outer shelf and upper slope palaeocommunities around this part of the Laurentian margin during the early Katian, and is dominated by relatively small plectambonitoid brachiopods. When compared with other circum-Iapetus assemblages, the brachiopods from the Southern Uplands compare most closely with those from the Bardahessiagh Formation, Pomeroy, Northern Ireland, rather than with adjacent, well-known faunas from the Girvan district, SW Scotland. These new data suggest that this part of the Southern Uplands was located in closer proximity to Pomeroy than Girvan, and located in deep-water environments similar to those in the upper parts of the Bardahessiagh Formation.

scholarly journals Taphonomy and ecology of deep-water Ediacaran organisms from northwestern Canada

1992 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 219-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy M. Narbonne ◽  
Robert W. Dalrymple
Keyword(s):  
Shallow Water ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Microbial Mats ◽  
Bedding Plane ◽  
Thin Layers ◽  
Sea Bottom ◽  
Windermere Supergroup ◽  
Storm Wave ◽  
Upper Slope

Although most occurrences of Ediacaran fossils are from shallow-shelf deposits, taxonomically-similar assemblages have recently been described from a 2.5 km-thick succession of dark mudstones and turbiditic sandstones in the Windermere Supergroup of the Mackenzie Mountains, northwestern Canada. The paleogeographic position (20-40 km seaward of the shelf edge), abundant evidence of mass flow, and the complete absence of in situ shallow-water features imply that deposition took place on a slope considerably below storm wave-base. Ediacaran fossils were not observed in axial trough deposits (lower parts of the Twitya and Sheepbed formations), but megafossils occur sporadically in lower to middle slope deposits higher in the same formations. Megafossils and trace fossils are present in upper slope settings (Blueflower Formation) at the top of the Ediacaran succession. The megafossil assemblage varies stratigraphically, but in all formations is dominated by discoid forms (e.g. Cyclomedusa, Ediacaria, Nimbia); frondose forms and vendomiids are very rare.Megafossils are preserved mainly as positive features on the soles of thin turbidite beds. Most fossiliferous beds begin with the rippled layer of the turbidite (Tc), but a few begin with the graded (Ta) or parallel-laminated (Tb) layer. Consistent orientation and high relief of individuals, evidence of mutual deformation during growth of adjacent organisms, and other taphonomic features imply that virtually all of the taxa represent benthic polypoid and frond-like organisms (not jellyfish). Slump structures occur commonly in the sandstone fill of fossils, suggesting that many of the organisms were buried alive by the turbidite and later decomposed. Other individuals, even on the same bedding plane, exhibit graded to laminated fill identical to that of the overlying turbidite bed, indicating that the depressions on the sea bottom produced by these individuals were empty at the time of turbidite deposition. Escape structures are absent, suggesting that the Ediacaran organisms were not capable of burrowing up through even thin layers of sand.Ediacaran megafossils are invariably preserved on black, wrinkled surfaces similar to those elsewhere interpreted as microbial mats. Molding of delicate features (including tentacles), preservation of open molds as negative epireliefs, and sedimentological evidence of considerable cohesion of these surfaces relative to the underlying turbiditic muds (Td,e) supports this interpretation, and suggests that microbial mats were as important in the preservation of these deep-water Ediacara faunas as they were in their shallow-water equivalents. The presence of the wrinkled mats and their associated Ediacaran fossils almost exclusively in the pyritic intervals of the succession suggests that both may have lived under exaerobic conditions in this deep-water setting.

From shallow to deep water: an ecological study of the Hirnantia brachiopod Fauna (Late Ordovician) and its global implications

Lethaia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 332-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bing Huang ◽  
David A. T. Harper ◽  
Hanghang Zhou ◽  
Jiayu Rong
Keyword(s):  
Deep Water ◽  
Ecological Study ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Brachiopod Fauna

Late Ordovician nearshore faunas and depositional environments, northwestern Maine

1994 ◽  
Vol 68 (5) ◽  
pp. 925-937 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen G. Pollock ◽  
David A. T. Harper ◽  
David Rohr
Keyword(s):  
Tidal Flat ◽  
Sedimentary Basins ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Depositional Environments ◽  
Swash Zone ◽  
Nearshore Environments ◽  
Lake Formation ◽  
East Lake ◽  
Laurentian Margin ◽  
Brachiopod Fauna

The Little East Lake Formation represents a spectrum of Late Ordovician (Ashgill) nearshore environments. These physical environments are characterized by a variety of quartz- and feldspar-rich sandstone and slate. Depositional environments include neritic nearshore, beach, tidal flat, and alluvial(?). The beach and neritic nearshore environments contain a variety of fossil invertebrates. The majority of the brachiopod fauna is confined to two taxa: Eodinobolus rotundus Harper, 1984, and Dalmanella testudinaria ripae Mitchell, 1978 (in Cocks, 1978). Some of the specimens have been broken and abraded suggesting transport within the beach swash zone. Gastropods include Lophospira cf. L. milleri (Hall), Lophospira(?), Trochonemella cf. T. notabilis (Ulrich and Scofield), and Daidia cerithioides (Salter). Tidal-flat environment contains the trace fossils Palaeophycus and Planolites.The Late Ordovician (Caradoc and Ashgill) sedimentary basins developed subsequent to the collisional Taconian orogeny, wherein an arc accreted to the eastern Laurentian margin. Prior paleomagnetic reconstructions place the southeastern continental margin of Laurentia at approximately 25° south latitude during the Late Ordovician. Using these reconstructions, the siliciclastic Ashgill rocks discussed here would have been deposited in an elongated, northeast-trending basin on the southeastern Laurentian margin. The fauna developed along this margin, but in contrast to possibly adjacent Irish and Scottish assemblages, was located in much shallower water.

The Late Ordovician Dawson Point Formation (Timiskaming outlier, Ontario): key to a new regional synthesis of Richmondian–Hirnantian carbonate and siliciclastic magnafacies across the central Canadian craton

2007 ◽  
Vol 44 (9) ◽  
pp. 1313-1331 ◽  
Author(s):  
George R Dix ◽  
Mario Coniglio ◽  
John FV Riva ◽  
Aïcha Achab
Keyword(s):  
Shallow Water ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Carbonate Platform ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Foreland Basins ◽  
Southern Ontario ◽  
Regional Tectonic ◽  
History Of ◽  
Water Carbonate ◽  
Shallow Water Carbonate

Current paleogeographic reconstructions extend Late Ordovician Taconic-derived siliciclastics across the central Canadian craton prior to the terminal Ordovician glacioeustatic lowstand. Revision of the Late Ordovician Dawson Point Formation of the Timiskaming outlier greatly reduces the distribution of these siliciclastics, and documents a greater spread of shallow-water carbonate of Richmondian age. As revised, the Dawson Point Formation contains two informal members: a deep-water graptolitic shale that grades upward into shallow-water siliciclastic redbeds, and an upper member of shallow-water, muddy, crinoidal limestone with interbedded shale, likely representing low-energy shoals on a muddy shelf. Deep-water shale accumulation began in the upper manitoulinensis graptolite Zone following foundering of the regional foreland carbonate platform. Basin development documents a northward-younging (~1 million years) from southern Ontario foreland basins, in keeping with regional tectonic-driven transgression along eastern North America. The shale-to-carbonate succession of the Dawson Point Formation correlates with the Georgian Bay Formation on Manitoulin Island, wherein the upper carbonate-dominated divisions of both formations are equivalent to the siliciclastic Queenston Formation of southern Ontario. In absence of additional biostratigraphic information, the upper member of the Dawson Point Formation is likely Richmondian (or late Ashgillian) in age. The revised Late Ordovician history of the Timiskaming outlier may identify a once significant volume of shallow-water carbonate across the central Canadian craton, with related sequestration of carbon dioxide possibly aiding global cooling. Erosion of the carbonate, driven by developing glacioeustatic lowstand conditions, was likely contemporaneous with early Hirnantian peritidal deposition of the uppermost Queenston Formation in southern Ontario.

scholarly journals Late Ordovician deep-water brachiopod fauna from Raheen, Waterford Harbour, Ireland

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
David A.T. Harper ◽  
Matthew A. Parkes ◽  
Zhan Ren-Bin
Keyword(s):  
Deep Water ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Brachiopod Fauna

Brachiopod biofacies in the Barr and Ardmillan groups, Girvan: Ordovician biodiversity trends on the edge of Laurentia

2007 ◽  
Vol 98 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 281-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. T. Harper ◽  
Sarah E. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Deep Water ◽  
Outer Shelf ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Upper Ordovician ◽  
Middle Ordovician ◽  
Tectonic Events ◽  
Laurentian Margin ◽  
Early Occurrence ◽  
High Diversity ◽  
Water Facies

ABSTRACTLocally abundant and diverse brachiopod faunas, associated with unstable outer shelf and slope environments, occur throughout the Barr and Ardmillan groups (middle Llanvirn–upper Ashgill) in the Girvan district of SW Scotland. A dataset of 350 brachiopod species from 30 horizons through the Middle–Upper Ordovician succession forms the basis for a description of brachiopod diversity through the succession and comparison with global patterns and trends through this time interval. The Middle Ordovician Barr Group incorporates shallow water carbonate and clastic facies, characterised by Valcourea confinis, with deeper-water facies. The trilobite-dominated Albany Group preserves outer shelf biofacies. Deep-water facies occur in the Balclatchie Formation of the lower Ardmillan Group, including an early occurrence of a Foliomena-type species. High diversity brachiopod faunas occur in clastic facies, though many of the biofacies have a transported component to them. Representatives of the deep-water Foliomena fauna occur intermittently throughout the Upper Ardmillan Group, appearing in both the Whitehouse and Drummuck subgroups. This distinctive assemblage of small, thin-shelled brachiopods, including Dedzetina, Christiania, Cyclospira and Foliomena itself, is interbedded with a variety of other less cosmopolitan deep-water assemblages, including the Onniella–Skenidioides and Lingulella–Trimurellina associations. Shallower-water environments in the middle Ashgill Lower Drummuck Subgroup hosted the Fardenia–Eopholidostrophia association in sands, and the Christiania–Leptaena association in muds and silts. The remarkable Lady Burn Starfish Beds in the upper part of the group contain a variety of brachiopod-dominated assemblages, including the Eochonetes and Plaesiomys–Schizophorella associations, transported from various shelf locations, within a very diverse mid Ashgill biota. The upper Ashgill High Mains Formation contains abundant elements of the terminal Ordovician Hirnantia fauna, including Eostropheodonta, Hindella and Hirnantia itself, but also some taxa more typical of the Laurentian Edgewood Province. As a whole, the changing brachiopod biodiversity biofacies reflect environmental fluctuations, on this part of the Laurentian margin, driven by mainly eustatic and tectonic events against a background of global biotic radiation.

First record of a Hirnantia Fauna from Spain, and its contribution to the Late Ordovician palaeogeography of northern Gondwana

1998 ◽  
Vol 89 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Villas ◽  
S. Lorenzo ◽  
J. C. Gutiérrez-Marco
Keyword(s):  
Regional Development ◽  
Iberian Peninsula ◽  
First Record ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Carnic Alps ◽  
Ciudad Real ◽  
Low Diversity ◽  
Brachiopod Fauna ◽  
Armorican Massif ◽  
Hirnantia Fauna

AbstractA new occurrence of the Hirnantia brachiopod fauna is documented from the Criadero Quartzite of Almadén, Ciudad Real Province, Spain. This unit is the regional development of a largely unfossiliferous sandy facies that frequently overlies the typical Late Ordovician diamictitic glaciomarine formations in the Iberian Peninsula and the Armorican Massif. The new occurrence establishes palaeontologically the latest Ashgill age of the quartzite, at least for its lowest horizons, and adds new data on a fauna that, although widespread, has been very rarely documented from peri-Gondwanan Europe. The new collection contains only Hirnantia sagittifera and Plectothyrella crassicosta chauveli. The subspecific status of the latter and its inclusion within Plectothyrella crassicosta is discussed herein, based on the continuous variation in rib thickness of several samples of both forms. The extremely low diversity and the occurrence of the key form P. c. chauveli, are both typical of the Bani Province that developed on the subpolar margins of Gondwana. This contrasts with other occurrences of the Hirnantia Fauna in peri-Gondwanan Europe, such as those from Sardinia and the Carnic Alps, which are characteristic of the more temperate Kosov Province.

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