Late Viséan/early Serpukhovian conodont succession from the Triollo section, Palencia (Cantabrian Mountains, Spain)
Abstract and Figures
The present study reports upon the conodont faunas of the uppermost lower Viséan (Carrión unit) through the lower Serpukhovian (Peña unit) deep water Triollo section, Cantabrian Mountains, Palencia, Spain. The condensed succession of grey, laminate, nodular and cherty limestones with marl intercalations contains abundant and diverse conodont faunas. Three new species of Vogelgnathus, V. cantabricus, V. palentinus and V. triolloensis, as well as one new species and one new subspecies of Gnathodus, Gn. boogaardi and Gnathodus girtyi pyrenaeus Nemyrovska & Perret subsp. nov., are described. All stratigraphically important taxa for the studied interval are described. Four conodont zones are distinguished, three in the Viséan, Gnathodus praebilineatus, Gn. bilineatus and Lochriea nodosa Zones, and one in the lower Serpukhovian, L. ziegleri Zone. It is proposed to identify the Viséan/Serpukhovian boundary at the first appearance of L. ziegleri. The Triollo carbonate succession (Carrión and Peña units) is compared by conodonts with coeval deposits in other areas. The conodonts are divided into eight palaeoecological groups, their occurrences are analysed and diagrammatically illustrated. Four peaks representing invasions of the Vogelgnathus-dominated faunas may correspond to the four flooding events during late Viséan and early Serpukhovian times. Investigations of the conodont biofacies together with sedimentological studies of the Triollo sections indicate deep water, basinal depositional conditions.
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... Remarks.-Vogelgnathus campbelli is cosmopolitan and has been reported from many regions of middle and low latitudes (e.g., North America: Rexroad, 1957;Globensky, 1967;Purnell and von Bitter, 1992a;western Europe: Rhodes et al., 1969;Park, 1983;van den Boogaard, 1992;Purnell and von Bitter, 1992a;Nemyrovska and Samankassou, 2005;eastern Europe: Kabanov et al., 2009;East Asia: Igo, 1973;Qi et al., 2014;north coast of Gondwana: Jenkins et al., 1993;Nemyrovska et al., 2006;Medina-Varea, 2018;Atakul-Ozdemir et al., 2019; south Urals of central Asia: unpublished materials of the authors). We accept the recently revised phylogeny (Purnell and von Bitter, 1992a;Nemyrovska and Samankassou, 2005;Sanz-Lopez et al., 2019), and the profiles of our specimens are more like the possible ancestor V. simplicatus (Rhodes, Austin, and Druce, 1969) rather than the possible descendant V. postcampbelli (Austin and Husri, 1974). ...
... Remarks.-Vogelgnathus campbelli is cosmopolitan and has been reported from many regions of middle and low latitudes (e.g., North America: Rexroad, 1957;Globensky, 1967;Purnell and von Bitter, 1992a;western Europe: Rhodes et al., 1969;Park, 1983;van den Boogaard, 1992;Purnell and von Bitter, 1992a;Nemyrovska and Samankassou, 2005;eastern Europe: Kabanov et al., 2009;East Asia: Igo, 1973;Qi et al., 2014;north coast of Gondwana: Jenkins et al., 1993;Nemyrovska et al., 2006;Medina-Varea, 2018;Atakul-Ozdemir et al., 2019; south Urals of central Asia: unpublished materials of the authors). We accept the recently revised phylogeny (Purnell and von Bitter, 1992a;Nemyrovska and Samankassou, 2005;Sanz-Lopez et al., 2019), and the profiles of our specimens are more like the possible ancestor V. simplicatus (Rhodes, Austin, and Druce, 1969) rather than the possible descendant V. postcampbelli (Austin and Husri, 1974). Our specimens closely resemble the holotype and other specimens from the type area in Illinois and also in Atlantic Canada, possessing distinct lateral nodes (Norby and Rexroad, 1985;Purnell and von Bitter, 1992a, b). ...
... As for the conodonts, Hindeodus cristulus and Vogelgnathus campbelli are common in the late Visean and early Serpukhovian, but their first occurrences are much lower, from late Tournaisian (Metcalfe, 1981;Zhuravlev, 2017;Sanz-Lopez et al., 2019). Invasions of V. campbelli were considered indicators of rapid sea-level-rise events in the Cantabrian Mountains, Spain (van den Boogaard, 1992;Nemyrovska and Samankassou, 2005); however, their occurrence in shallow-water facies is sparse and therefore not useful to correlate sea-level change. The shallowwater conodonts are particularly prone to facies control; thus, correlation between restricted and endemic faunas is complicated (Austin and Davies, 1984;Barrick et al., 2022). ...
The typical Mississippian shallow-water deposits of the Jiusi and Shangsi formations are well exposed in the Yashui section in southern Guizhou, South China. The strata are composed mainly of platform limestones intercalated with shales and sandstones. Conodonts obtained from the limestones are dominated by two assemblages of cavusgnathids: the Cavusgnathus aff. Cav. unicornis and Clydagnathus windsorensis assemblage from the upper Jiusi Formation and the Cavusgnathus unicornis assemblage from the lowest Shangsi Formation. Vogelgnathus campbelli (Rexroad, 1957) is reported for the first time in Eastern Paleotethys and is characterized by small lateral denticles. The evolutionary first occurrence of Cavusgnathus unicornis Youngquist and Miller, 1949 is recognized as a marker for the regional Shangsian stage. This biostratigraphic datum is interpreted to be correlative with other shallow-water conodont zones marked by Cavusgnathus unicornis s.l. and similar species from North America and Europe.
... truyolsi zone). Among numerous studies, some relevant biostratigraphic papers are from van Adrichem Boogaert (1967), Higgins (1971), Higgins & Wagner-Gentis (1982), García-López & Sanz-López (2002) and Nemyrovska (2005). In the last decade, uppermost Viséan and Serpukhovian conodonts and smaller foraminifers of the Genicera Fm. gained attention due to their importance for definition of a GSSP at the Viséan-Serpukhovian boundary (e.g. ...
... Sanz-López et al., 2007;Cózar et al., 2016;Sanz-López et al., 2019). The Genicera Fm. and its lateral equivalents, e.g. the Carrión Fm. of Nemyrovska (2005) from the Palentine realm, are widespread in all tectonic units of the Cantabrian Mountains containing Mississippian rocks. Its sediments represent the largest preserved late Palaeozoic pelagic carbonate platform of the European-North African Variscides. ...
For the first time an echinoderm microfauna is recorded from the cephalopod limestone facies (‘griotte facies’) of the lower Carboniferous (Mississippian) Genicera Fm. (Alba Fm.). The formation is widespread in the Cantabrian Mountains in NW Spain, but the ossicles are from some sections in the surroundings of the Bernesga valley in northern León. They have been derived from insoluble acetic acid residues from samples of the upper and especially of the uppermost part of the formation (Canalón Mb. and Millaró Beds). The microfauna include taxonomically treated wheel-shaped ossicles, sieve-plates and rods of holothurians, goniodonts of ophiocistioids, and ophiuroid and stenuroid skeletal elements. From the Palaeozoic of Spain, Ophiocistioidea, Stenuroidea, Apodida (Holothuroidea), and allagecrinids (microcrinoids) are first reported. Here, we describe two new species: Linguaserra heidii n. sp. (Ophiocistioidea) and Calclyra bifida n. sp. (Ophiuroidea). Indeterminate echinoderm remains are also figured and discussed. The findings stress the importance of a diverse but still poorly documented echinoderm fauna in Upper Mississippian psychrospheric pelagic environments.
... This species originated at the base of Serpukhovian and evolved from the Gnathodus girtyi girtyi. Gnathodus girtyi simplex has been described in the lowest Serpukhovian beds in the Cantabrian Mountains, Spain [13] and in the Southern Urals [14]. ...
... In this study the Kladognathus -Gnathodus girtyi simplex Zone is defined in the Pendleian Stage and is characterized by the occurences of Gnathodus bilineatus bilineatus, Gnathodus girtyi girtyi, Gnathodus girtyi intermedius, Lochriea commutata, Lochriea nodosa, Lochriea mononodosa, Neoprinoidus spathatus and Kladognathus macrodentata. The base of this zone corresponding to the Visean -Serpukhovian boundary is marked by the first occurence of Gnathodus girtyi simplex [13,15]. The BS and BSE sections cropping out in the Bademli region have been measured in order to determine the Visean -Serpukhovian boundary by conodont biostratigraphy. ...
The studied successions in the Central Taurides were mainly deposited in a shallow marine environment during the Early Carboniferous time. Conodonts are one of the most important microfossil groups for the Lower Carboniferous biostratigraphy. The measured sections are not rich in conodonts but important species including those of the Lower Carboniferous boundary conodonts. The conodont elements recorded in this study include Gnathodus cuneiformis, Gnathodus girtyi girtyi, Gnathodus girtyi simplex, Kladognathus sp., Lochriea commutata and Vogelgnathus campbelli. Based on the recovered conodont assemblages, Visean - Serpukhovian boundary has been recognized by the first occurrence of Gnathodus girtyi simplex . Conodont faunal variations in Paleozoic to Triassic marine deposits are generally environmentally controlled. Within the context of paleoenvironmental interpretations, different microfacies types could be determined by microfacies criteria reflecting patterns of the depositional environments. The types of microfacies and their environmental interpretations can provide a framework for conodont paleoecology. The defined facies types in BSE section are mainly crinoidal bioclastic packstone, bioclastic grainstone, sandy oolitic grainstone, quartz-peloidal grainstone and quartz arenitic sandstone facies. Crinoidal bioclastic packstones and bioclastic grainstones are suitable facies for conodonts owing to environmental conditions. Bioclasts associated with the conodonts are mainly crinoids, fusulinids, algae, echinoids, brachiopods and ostracods. Conodont elements could not be recorded from sandy oolitic grainstone and quartz arenitic sandstone facies due to the deposition in high energy environments under unstable conditions.
... This species originated at the base of Serpukhovian and evolved from the Gnathodus girtyi girtyi. Gnathodus girtyi simplex has been described in the lowest Serpukhovian beds in the Cantabrian Mountains, Spain [13] and in the Southern Urals [14]. ...
... In this study the Kladognathus -Gnathodus girtyi simplex Zone is defined in the Pendleian Stage and is characterized by the occurences of Gnathodus bilineatus bilineatus, Gnathodus girtyi girtyi, Gnathodus girtyi intermedius, Lochriea commutata, Lochriea nodosa, Lochriea mononodosa, Neoprinoidus spathatus and Kladognathus macrodentata. The base of this zone corresponding to the Visean -Serpukhovian boundary is marked by the first occurence of Gnathodus girtyi simplex [13,15]. The BS and BSE sections cropping out in the Bademli region have been measured in order to determine the Visean -Serpukhovian boundary by conodont biostratigraphy. ...
... The L. nodosa Zone or L. mononodosa Zone are used in Europe because of their proven biostratigraphic significance (e. g., Metcalfe 1981, Riley 1993, Skompski 1996, Somerville and Somerville 1999. The L. nodosa Zone has been also recognized in the Cantabrian Mountains (Nemyrovska 2005), the Donets Basin (Nemyrovska 2017), the Russian Platform (Alekseev et al. 1996), Japan (Koike 1967), northwest Serbia (Sudar et al. 2018) and the Rhenish Mountains . ...
... The L. multinodosa Zone of Russia (Barskov et al. 1987, Makhlina et al. 1993 was consequently revised to the L. ziegleri Zone (Alekseev et al. 1996) but later changed to the L. cruciformis Zone (Kagarmanov and Kossovaya 2003). The L. ziegleri Zone has also been recognized in the Donets Basin (Nemyrovska 1999, Nemyrovska 2017, the Cantabrian Mountains (Nemyrovska 2005), northwest Serbia (Sudar et al. 2018), the Rhenish Mountains , the South Urals (Nikolaeva et al. 2009, Pazukhin et al. 2010, western Ireland (Barham et al. 2015) and southwest Japan (Ishda et al. 2013). Although L. ziegleri has not been officially reported from North America, one of the authors (Yuping Qi) has examined specimens from Texas and identified two specimens as L. ziegleri. ...
Carboniferous conodonts from the candidate GSSPs of the four stages Serpukhovian, Moscovian, Kasimovian and Gzhelian in the Naqing and the adjacent sections of South China have been intensely studied in recent decades. The Carboniferous conodont zonation of China is updated based on the conodont material from South China; 39 conodont zones including eleven Tournaisian zones, four Visean zones, three Serpukhovian zones, six Bashkirian zones, five Moscovian zones, five Kasimovian zones and five Gzhelian zones are separated and discussed in detail. Species of the genera Siphonodella, Polygnathus, Protognathodus and Gnathodus dominate the zonation for Early Mississippian (Tournaisian) strata, Pseudognathodus,
Lochriea and Gnathodus are most important for the zonation for Middle and Late Mississippian (Visean and Serpukhovian) strata, Declinognathodus, Idiognathoides, Neognathodus provide the zonation of early Bashkirian strata and Diplognathodus, Mesogondolella, Idiognathodus and the related genera Swadelina and
Streptognathodus provide the zonation for late Bashkirian through the middle and late Pennsylvanian interval. In South China, the Carboniferous conodont zonation is mainly characterized by deep-water conodont biofacies with Siphonodella, Lochriea, Gnathodus, Declinognathodus, Idiognathoides, “Streptognathodus” expansus group, Diplognathodus and Streptognathodus. The updated Carboniferous conodont zonation of China is dominated mainly by cosmopolitan species, which may eventually allow refined global correlation.
... It is used to define the G. bilineatus Zone in South China, indicating late Viséan in age (Qi et al., 2014a,b). However, the range of G. bilineatus romulus often extends to the lower Serpukhovian in northern Spain (Nemyrovska and Samankassou, 2005). Neognathodus symmetricus, a cosmopolitan species, was recorded from the Bashkirian of the Northern Hemisphere (e.g., Nemyrovska, 1999;Sanz-López and Blanco-Ferrera, 2012;Barrick et al., 2013;Hu et al., 2020). ...
In the Qoltag tectonic belt of eastern Tianshan, southwestern Central Asian Orogenic Belt, there are widespread Carboniferous marine volcanic-sedimentary successions. These successions record critical information about the development of the North Tianshan Ocean. To date, ages of them are uncertain, due to the lack of index fossils. In this study, abundant rugose corals, fusulines, and some conodonts are collected and allow us to assign precise ages for the successions. In ascending order, we recognized four rugose coral assemblages, including the Zaphrentites-Meniscophyllum Assemblage, Gangamophyllum-Palaeosmilia-Kueichouphyllum Assemblage, Petalaxis-Koninckophyllum Assemblage and the Ivanovia Assemblage. Four fusuline zones, including the Profusulinella parva-Profusulinella staffellaeformis Zone, Profusulinella wangyui-Eofusulina triangula Zone, Fusulinella-Fusulinella Zone and the Rauserites rossicus Zone were also established. Based on these new fossil assemblages and biozones, age of the sedimentary units in the Qoltag tectonic belt was constrained as following. The Nanbeidagou Formation ranges from Tournaisian to early Viséan in age, the Yamansu Formation from early Viséan to late Bashkirian, the Shaquanzi Formation from late Bashkirian to middle Moscovian, the Dikaner Formation from Bashkirian to Moscovian, and the Qi’eshan Formation from Bashkirian to as late as early Gzhelian. The updated Carboniferous framework enables the establishment of regional standard and improves the precision of correlation with others. It further provides a sound basis for the future interpretation of tectonic evolution in the southwestern Central Asian Orogenic Belt.
... The Alba Formation corresponds to a deep-water sedimentation and yields mainly conodonts, ammonoids and ostracods, and occasionally echinoderms, small corals, brachiopods and foraminifers. Biostratigraphy is mostly based on conodont occurrences (HIGGINS & WAGNER-GENTIS 1982;PARK 1983;GARCÍA-LÓPEZ & SANZ-LÓPEZ 2002;NEMYROVSKA 2005). Ammonoids may be abundant (KULLMANN 1961(KULLMANN , 1963WAGNER-GENTIS 1963, 1980, but taxonomy and distribution of taxa requires revision. ...
The Viséan/Serpukhovian Boundary is located in the Canalón Member of the Alba Formation based on the first occurrence of Lochriea ziegleri above other important conodont index species such as L. monodonosa (Rhodes, Austin and Druce, 1969), L. binodosa JI, 1986, L. nodosa (Bischoff, 1957) and L. multinodosa (Wirth, 1967).
... The Alba Fm, 20-30 m thick, is a predominantly ammonoid-bearing reddish to grey nodular limestone composed of up to 6 members (Sanz-López and Blanco-Ferrera 2012), and interpreted as a pelagic platform. However, in the Palentian Domain, Nemyrovska et al. (2005Nemyrovska et al. ( , 2011 described the Carrión Limestone and Peña formations. The former is composed of grey to yellowish nodular to well-bedded limestone (ca. ...
Progressive opening of the Rheic Ocean led to the drifting away of one or several ribbon terranes, generally ascribed to Avalonia, and inaugurated a passive margin stage on the newly formed margin of NW Gondwana. In Iberia, which remained on the Gondwanan side of the ocean, the rift to drift transition is recorded in the Ossa Morena Zone in latest Furongian times and migrated towards more internal parts of the margin during the Lower Ordovician. The passive margin stage is characterized by development of open marine platform sedimentation locally punctuated by eruption/intrusion of mainly basaltic, alkaline volcanic rocks, during transient periods of tectonic extension. A progression from outer (Ossa Morena Zone), through intermediate (Central Iberian and West Asturian-Leonese Zone, to inner (Cantabrian Zone) shelf environments can be generally established, although with significant variations related to local tectonic development. The end of the passive margin stage is marked by the formation of syn-orogenic basins, which roughly migrate in the same direction, i.e. from external to internal parts of the margin, as a response to the propagation towards the foreland of the Variscan orogenic wedge.
The Mississippian Delle Phosphatic Member of the Woodman Formation and equivalents is named and described at its type section in the South Lakeside Mountains, Utah, and at reference sections in the Oquirrh Mountains , Pavant Range, and Crawford Mountains, Utah. The Delle also forms the basal member of the Deseret Limestone, Brazer Dolomite, Little Flat Formation, Aspen Range Formation, Deep Creek Formation, and Chainman Shale in an area extending 750 km (465 mi) from southeastern Nevada, through western Utah and extreme western Wyoming, to the south edge of the Snake River Volcanic Plain in southeastern Idaho. The member comprises mainly dark organic-rich phosphatic mudstone, shale, and siltstone containing large micritic limestone concretions, bedded black radiolarian chert (lydite), thin beds of peloidal phosphorite, thick interbeds and lenses of dark cherty micrite, and some tongues of red siltstone of unknown origin, yellowish-brown prodeltaic siltstone, and coarse debris-flow encrinite. The Delle Member was deposited in mid-Mississippian (Osagean to Meramecian) time in the Deseret starved basin and on the adjacent lower foreslope of a carbonate platform within the eastern half of the Antler foreland trough. The Delle Phosphatic Member lacks conspicuous shelly megafaunas but contains a rich microfauna, consisting most importantly of conodonts, radiolarians, agglutinate foraminiferans, and fewer large planktonic, epiplanktonic, nektonic, and benthic animals and floating marine and transported land plants. Knowledge of this diverse biota, which was recovered mostly from the large micritic limestone concretions, is Important to an understanding of the source of the hydrocarbons in the organic-rich phosphatic sequence. One conodont species, BIspathodus utahensis, which has an apparatus composed of at least seven pairs of elements, is described as new. A paleoecologic model interprets the origin of the biota in the Delle and a conodont biofacies model interprets the distribution and paleoecology of the conodonts. Organic-carbon and hydrocarbon contents of outcropping phosphatic shales that have been deeply weathered, leached, and biodegraded are difficult to evaluate. Analyses generally produce values that are significantly lower than values that can be expected in the subsurface, where the same rocks have generated or are generating petroleum. Nevertheless, the following organic-carbon yields have been obtained from carefully selected outcrop samples: 1.50 to 7.95 percent (4.29 median) for phosphatic shales, 0.67 to 5.1 1 percent (2.64 median) for phosphorites, and 0.25 to 3.17 percent (1.25 median) for micrites. Hydrocarbon analyses range from 50 to 300 ppm in areas where conodont CAI values range from 1.5 to 4. Maps are presented to show the thickness of the Delle Member and the distribution of organic-carbon and CAI values. A "cold spot" containing low CAI values that indicate optimum maturation of hydrocarbons for petroleum generation Is delineated in east-central Nevada and west-central Utah.
Four new species are assigned to Vogelgnathus Norby and Rexroad because of the close similarity of their Pb and ramiform elements to those of the type species, V. campbelli (Rexroad). Recognition of the four new species requires that the generic diagnosis, based almost exclusively on the morphology of V. campbelli , be modified, chiefly to accommodate greater variation in Pa element morphology. Vogelgnathus dhindsai n. sp., V. gladiolus n. sp., V. kyphus n. sp., and V. pesaquidi n. sp. all possess abbreviated, carminiscaphate Pa elements. Spathognathodus postcampbelli Austin and Husri is reassigned to the genus.
The origins of Vogelgnathus are uncertain but V. gladiolus first appeared in the early Viséan and gave rise to V. pesaquidi . The latter species appears to represent the rootstock from which V. kyphus, V. campbelli , and V. dhindsai evolved. Vogelgnathus postcampbelli evolved from V. campbelli during the late Viséan.
Vogelgnathus campbelli and, to a lesser extent, V. postcampbelli have a wide geographic distribution; the four new species, however, are currently known only from Atlantic Canada, northern England, and southwest Scotland.