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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

THIJS R. A. VANDENBROUCKE ,
ANTONIO ANCILLETTA ,
RICHARD A. FORTEY  and
JACQUES VERNIERS
THIJS R. A. VANDENBROUCKE*
Affiliation:
Research Unit Palaeontology, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281/S 8, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
ANTONIO ANCILLETTA
Affiliation:
Research Unit Palaeontology, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281/S 8, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
RICHARD A. FORTEY
Affiliation:
The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
JACQUES VERNIERS
Affiliation:
Research Unit Palaeontology, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281/S 8, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
*
‡Author for correspondence: thijs.vandenbroucke@ugent.be
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Abstract

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.

Keywords

chitinozoansbiostratigraphyCaradocWelsh Borderlandtype section
Type
Original Article
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 146 , Issue 2 , March 2009 , pp. 216 - 236
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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Footnotes

†

Postdoctoral Fellow of the Research Foundation–Flanders (FWO-Vlaanderen).

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