A modern assessment of Ordovician chitinozoans from the Shelve and Caradoc areas, Shropshire, and their significance for correlation

New chitinozoan data are presented from the classical section along the Onny River in the type Caradoc area, and from the deeper-water sections in the Shelve area, including the former British candidate GSSP for the base of the Upper Ordovician Series. The rich and well-preserved chitinozoan fauna o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geological magazine 2009-03, Vol.146 (2), p.216-236
Main Authors: VANDENBROUCKE, THIJS R. A., ANCILLETTA, ANTONIO, FORTEY, RICHARD A., VERNIERS, JACQUES
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
assemblages
Betton Shale
biostratigraphy
biozones
Caradoc
Caradoc Wales
Chitinozoa
chitinozoans
correlation
England
Europe
Geology
Graptolithina
Great Britain
Hagley Shale
Hagley Volcanics
Meadowtown Formation
microfossils
Onny Valley
Ordovician
Paleobiology
Paleozoic
palynomorphs
Rivers
Rorrington Shale
Sediments
Shelve Inlier
Shropshire England
Spy Wood Brook Formation
Stratigraphy
type localities
type section
United Kingdom
Upper Ordovician
Wales
Welsh Borderland
Western Europe
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Summary:New chitinozoan data are presented from the classical section along the Onny River in the type Caradoc area, and from the deeper-water sections in the Shelve area, including the former British candidate GSSP for the base of the Upper Ordovician Series. The rich and well-preserved chitinozoan fauna of the Onny River has been a standard for 40 years, but new data revise some of the identifications. The assemblages are now attributed to biozones that are more readily applicable for international correlation. The main part of the section can be interpreted as belonging to the originally Baltoscandian Spinachitina cervicornis Biozone, although this is uncertain in the lower part. Within this biozone, the Fungochitina actonica Subzone has been defined. The Onny Formation at the top of the section is equated with the Acanthochitina latebrosa–Ancyrochitina onniensis Biozone; contrary to earlier reports, Acanthochitina barbata is absent. The Lower Wood Brook and Spy Wood Brook section from the Shelve Inlier yielded a great number of moderately to well-preserved chitinozoans, but a low-diversity assemblage. Their ranges have been neatly positioned against the well-known graptolite stratigraphy in the area. A local Eisenackitina rhenana Biozone? has been recognized, allowing us to suggest some international correlations.
ISSN:0016-7568
1469-5081
DOI:10.1017/S0016756808005815