Upper Silurian lithistid sponge reefs on Somerset Island, Arctic Canada

Sedimentology ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
GUY M. NARBONNE ◽  
OWEN A. DIXON
1989 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 819-838 ◽  
Author(s):  
Owen A. Dixon

Specimens representingHeliolites diligensBondarenko, 1966,H.aff.H. luxarboreusYang, 1978, andH. tchernysheviBondarenko, 1966, are common andHeliolitessp. andStelliporellasp. are rare in diverse coral assemblages associated with lithistid sponge reefs in deep shelf or ramp limestone facies of the Douro Formation.Heliolites diligens, a more widely adapted, possibly “opportunist” species, occurs abundantly in lower diversity stromatoporoid/coral assemblages from nonreefal, shallower shelf limestone facies. Detailed systematic study of approximately contemporaneous populations of these Ludlovian heliolitid species shows that all are morphologically variable; assessment of this variability qualitatively and quantitatively is critical to species definition and recognition.Heliolites diligensis the most variable, with wide intercolony variation in septal development, corallite wall configuration, and spacing of horizontal skeletal elements. This apparently represents morphological plasticity rather than differences that can be ascribed to distinct species. Conspecificity of the more extreme and dissimilar variants can be inferred from study of large assemblages of coeval specimens. The other species, with more narrowly defined, discrete variation fields, are more readily distinguished from each other.


1979 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. 2204-2218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Jones

Species of the brachiopod genus Atrypoidea have a distinct distribution in carbonate rocks of the late Silurian Read Bay Formation of Arctic Canada. Atrypoidea phoca occurs in the basal part of the formation and this species is succeeded by Atrypoidea foxi forma B at higher levels. The ranges of the two species overlap, defining a third useful zone. Locally, as in the Pressure Point area of northwestern Somerset Island, Atrypoidea foxi forma B is succeeded by Atrypoidea foxi forma A. Atrypoidea foxi forma A is generally restricted to carbonates with a low content of detrital material and has a significantly larger shell than Atrypoidea foxi forma B. A higher zone is defined by Atrypoidea erebus which occurs in the basal part of the Somerset Island Formation on Somerset Island and in the basal part of member C of the Read Bay Formation at Goodsir Creek on Cornwallis Island. At the latter locality, Atrypoidea foxi forma A is found with Atrypoidea erebus, thereby demonstrating their overlapping ranges.The overlapping ranges of Atrypoidea phoca and Atrypoidea foxi forma B occur in the middle to late Ludlovian ploeckensis–siluricus conodont zones. On Somerset Island, Atrypoidea foxi forma B and Atrypoidea foxi forma A range through the ploeckensis–siluricus conodont zone. Atrypoidea erebus occurs in late Ludlovian and (or) early Pridolian strata.


1979 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 364-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
James M. Savelle

Plexodictyon katriense Nestor, P. heclae n. sp., Diplostroma sp., Actinostroma furyi n. sp., Actinodictyon netsiliki n. sp., and Vicinostachyodes sokolovi (Riabinin) occur in Upper Silurian (middle to late Ludlovian) strata near Creswell Bay, Somerset Island. Faunal and sedimentological evidence suggests the stromatoporoids inhabited predominantly shallow, high energy, near-shore environments.


1977 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 2168-2168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy M. Narbonne

The type specimen of Carpocrinus arcticus Frest and Strimple was collected approximately 65 m below the upper boundary of the Read Bay Formation (Member A) at Fury Point, Somerset Island. Associated brachiopods, trilobites, and bryozoans suggest a Ludlovian age for this specimen.


1998 ◽  
Vol 72 (6) ◽  
pp. 937-966 ◽  
Author(s):  
Owen A. Dixon

Heliolitine corals occur in Upper Silurian strata of the topmost Douro, lower Barlow Inlet, and lower Somerset Island formations in the Boothia Uplift region. The fauna includesHeliolites(nine species),Propora(two species), the stelliporellid generaPodollites(three species) andStelliporella(one species), and the plasmoporidSquameolites(one species). Species present but not previously reported from the region includeHeliolites arcuatusBondarenko,Heliolites uksunayensisMironova,Stelliporella ilensisBondarenko,Podollites assitusnew species,Podollites parryinew species,Podollites plectilisnew species,Propora tubulata(Lonsdale) and an unidentified species ofPropora.All species occur in reef and reef-associated facies of open carbonate shelf and ramp settings. In restricted nonreefal carbonate shelf settings, diversity attenuates to a minimum, exemplified by numerically abundant monospecific assemblages ofHeliolites uksunayensis.Six of the 16 morphotaxonomic units recognized compare with species reported previously in Silurian faunas of Kazakhstan and Mongolia. Combinations of characters in the species attributed toPodollitessupport revision of the genus, possibly to includeDerivatolitesandTarbagatailites, in a group morphologically intermediate betweenStelliporellaandHeliolites.


1996 ◽  
Vol 70 (5) ◽  
pp. 718-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Owen A. Dixon

Heliolitine corals are closely associated with lithistid sponge-dominated reef mounds in Ludlow carbonate ramp facies on Somerset Island. The corals occur abundantly in argillaceous, fossiliferous wackestone immediately flanking and capping the reef mounds, less commonly in calcilutite mudstone within the reef mounds, and with sharply decreasing abundance in nodular argillaceous wackestone to mudstone away from the reef mounds. Exhaustive field collection, and systematic study that included biometric analysis of collected assemblages, indicates that ten heliolitine species are present, including the new species Heliolites furyi, H. garnieri, and H. greineri, and two unidentified species, Heliolites sp. A, and Podollites? sp. The occurrence of H. subdecipiens Klaamann, 1984, H. tchernyshevi Bondarenko, 1966, H. cf. H. rariformis Tchi, 1976, Stelliporella cf. S. podolica Bondarenko, 1971, and Squameolites anomalus Tchi, 1976 indicates an affinity with Eurasian rather than North American faunas of equivalent age. Many new species have been ascribed to Stelliporella since the mid-1970s; most lack the diagnostic axial structures of the genus and are more appropriately regarded as belonging to Heliolites. Newly defined structures termed septal florets occur commonly in H. garnieri and very rarely in three other species of Heliolites. Effective taxonomic use of septal development requires very careful study because of the degree of intraspecific and intracolony variation in some species.


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