Conodontophorid biodiversification during the Ordovician in South China

Wu, R., Stouge, S. & Wang, Z. 2012: Conodontophorid biodiversification during the Ordovician in South China. Lethaia, Vol. 45, pp. 432–442. Analysis of the Ordovician conodontophorid diversity pattern for South China using normalized and total diversity measures reveals that diversity peaks occurred in the mid‐Tremadocian, mid‐late Floian, early Dapingian and mid‐Darriwilian periods. The conodontophorids radiated during the Floian, maintaining relatively high diversity into the early part of the Middle Ordovician until a significant diversity decrease occurred in the late Dapingian. A relatively low diversity level prevailed in the Late Ordovician. Three diversification intervals based on origination, extinction and turnover rates have been identified i.e. (1) Tremadocian to mid‐late Floian, (2) early Dapingian and (3) late Dapingian to early Darriwilian. Diversity curves for conodontophorids, brachiopods, graptolites, acritarchs and trilobites from South China are comparable during the Early Ordovician, although differences are apparent in the Middle and Late Ordovician. In South China, conodontophorid diversity reacted primarily to sea‐level changes during the Early and Middle Ordovician, when the peak of this biodiversification generally coincided with a transgression. Climate changes – especially the global cooling that occurred during the Late Ordovician glaciation – and sea‐water chemistry were also important controlling factors. □Biodiversification, conodonts, Ordovician, South China.     

STROPHOMENIDE BRACHIOPODS FROM THE CHANGWU FORMATION (LATE KATIAN, LATE ORDOVICIAN) OF CHUN'AN, WESTERN ZHEJIANG, SOUTH-EAST CHINA

Abstract:  Late Ordovician strophomenide brachiopods (superfamilies Strophomenoidea and Plectambonitoidea) from the upper Changwu Formation (mid Ashgill, late Katian) of Jianglütang, Chun'an County, western Zhejiang Province, consist of ten genera and 12 species. Five new species of three new genera are recognized: Chunanomena triporcata , Chunanomena sembellina , Cheramomena subsolana , Lateriseptomena modesta , and Lateriseptomena rugosa . The strophomenide brachiopods from the upper Katian strata described in this study and those from the border region of Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces reported in previous work contain 16 strophomenoid and 12 plectambonitoid genera, and most of the strophomenoids are endemic to South China. Numerical analysis of well-documented late Katian strophomenide brachiopod faunas indicates a strong provincialism, characterized by the highly distinct North American province (Laurentia), the South China-Kazakhstan province, and the Avalonia-Baltica province (Wales, Belgium and Sweden). Surprisingly, the Girvan district of Scotland, which was a peri-Laurentian terrane during the Ordovician, contains a late Katian brachiopod fauna that is more closely related to the contemporaneous brachiopods of Avalonia-Baltica than to those of North America.     

Ordovician conodont biogeography – reconsidered

Review of the traditional separation of global Ordovician conodont distribution into the North American Midcontinent Province (NAMP) and North Atlantic Province (NAP) reveals a confusing variety of concepts and definitions that hinder biogeographic analysis. Use of this twofold scheme and its subsequent variants should be­discontinued in favour of the more detailed divisions proposed here. Major biogeographical entities of the Shallow-Sea and Open-Sea Realms, separated by the shelf-slope break, are both further subdivisible into Tropical, Temperate and Cold Domains. In the Cold domains, faunal differences between the two Realms and their subdivisions are not easily discernible, since biofacies zones and different habitats were highly condensed. Faunal differences are amplified in the tropical regions, where the North American Midcontinent Province and North Atlantic Province were originally defined. Recognition of endemic taxa is essential for finer classification within domains of the Shallow-Sea Realm (SSR). Our preliminary analysis of Early Ordovician conodont distribution identifies the Laurentian Province (in the Tropical Domain), Australian­(Tropical Domain), North China (Tropical Domain), South China (Temperate Domain), Argentine Precordillera (Temperate Domain) and Balto-Scandian Province (in the Cold Domain). The Open-Sea Realm (OSR) is dominated by cosmopolitan and widespread taxa, and formal subdivision at provincial level is yet to be achieved. The North Atlantic Province encompasses both the Open-Sea Realm and the Temperate and Cold Domains of the Shallow-Sea Realm. The North American Midcontinent Province sensu stricto is more or less equivalent to the Laurentian Province, representing shallow-water regions fringing Laurentia; in a broader sense the North American Midcontinent Province includes all provinces of the Tropical Domain within the Shallow-Sea Realm.     

河南内乡晚奥陶世石燕河组牙形石及其地质意义

将河南内乡晚奥陶世石燕河组牙形石自下而上建立了Ｏｕｌｏｄｕｓｕｉｒｉｃｈｉ－Ａｐｈｅｌｏｇｎａｔｈｕｓｓｈｏｓｈｏｎｅｎｓｉｓ带，Ｏｎｏｄｕｓｒｏｂｕｓｔｕｓ带，Ａｐｈｅｌｏｇｎａｔｈｕｓｇｒａｎｄｉｓ带，Ａｐｈｅｌｏｇｎａｔｈｕｓｄｉｖｅｒｇｅｎｓ带和Ａｐｈｅｌｏｇｎａｔｈｕｓｚｕｏｑｕｅｎｓｉｓ带。这个序列与北美中大陆的很相似，两者可详细对比。充分证实了北美中大陆型牙形石动物群以及中国合此类型牙形石的最高奥陶纪地层在华北地台以南的武当地块北缘的存在，并指明了其古生物地理分区和构造意义。     

Correlation of eustatic and biotic events in the Ordovician paleobasins of the Siberian and Russian platforms

Nine sedimentary sequences are recognized in the Ordovician of the Siberian Platform. These sequences correspond to sea level fluctuations of the 3rd order, from 1 to 6 My. Correlation with the sequences recognized in the Ordovician of the Russian Platform suggest their possible eustatic nature. Cold water nontropical carbonates are suggested in the Ordovician of the Tungus Syneclise, which may be explained by the upwelling of cold oceanic waters. The upwelling was caused by re-distribution of oceanic currents due to largescale tectonic events in the mid-Ordovician. The Ordovician evolution of the Siberian Platform was much more similar to that of the North American Platform than of the Russian Platform.     

Bryozoan provinces and patterns of generic evolution and extinction in the Late Ordovician of North America

The Late Ordovician bryozoan genera of central and southeastern North America are geographically distributed in three biotic provinces, separated by boundaries reflecting major lithofacies differences. The central Cincinnati Province contains most of the North American endemic genera, and represents a narrow ecological zone separating the clastic wedges of the marginal Reedsville-Lorraine Province from the cratonic carbonate platform of the Red River-Stony Mountain Province. The provinces provided major life zones, or biomes, for each of the five bryozoan orders. Genera comprising the provinces differed as well in morphologic complexity, geochronologic survivorship, tiering, endemism and eurytopy. Regions on either side of the Cincinnati Province were dominated by inferred immigrants from Baltoscandia. Al-logenic provincial succession produced time-averaged mixed faunas in regions near the provincial boundaries. Although most generic originations took place within the Cincinnati Province, evolutionary novelties are associated with the Reedsville-Lorraine Province. The loss of the diverse Cincinnati Province, connected with global cooling and a eustatic lowering of sea level, may have been a chief factor in the Late Ordovician extinction of bryozoan genera. Genera from the Red River-Stony Mountain Province differentially survived into the Silurian.     

A nearshore–offshore trend in acritarch distribution from the Early–Middle Ordovician of the Yangtze Platform, South China

The stratigraphical interval of the late Early Ordovician Didymograptus deflexus and the early Middle Ordovician Azygograptus suecicus graptolite Biozones was investigated from seven sections from the upper Yangtze Platform, southern China. These are located on different parts of the platform, between the nearshore environments of the Kunming area, Yunnan Province, and the offshore carbonate shelf of the Yichang area, Hubei Province. The assemblages recovered from the different parts of the platform vary both in terms of diversity and composition. The nearshore environments show low diversity assemblages with about 10 acritarch species, whereas the offshore shelf environments reflect higher diversities with about 40 species. The composition of the assemblages also changes from simple morphologies (micrhystrids, leiosphaerids, fusiform acritarchs) in nearshore environments to specimens with longer and more complexly branched processes on the shelf. The polygonomorph acritarchs are common over all the upper Yantze Platform, while the acanthomorph genera Baltisphaeridium and Peteinosphaeridium are the most abundant taxa on the offshore carbonate shelf area. Phylogenetic or sea-level changes are probably not responsible for the compositional and diversity changes that occurred during the investigated interval. This study confirms previous interpretations that poorly diversified Palaeozoic acritarch assemblages occur in neritic environments and more complex, highly diversified assemblages are found on the shelf.     

山东省青州地区寒武-奥陶系界线研究的新进展

首次报道了山东省青州地区尧王山剖面的寒武 奥陶系界线地层的牙形石生物地层学的最新研究成果,在该剖面的炒米店组灰岩建立了 9个牙形石带,其中下奥陶统为 3个带,上寒武统凤山阶为 6个带;并与国内外研究较详细的寒武 奥陶系界线地层进行了对比。在该剖面首次发现了界线牙形石分子Iapetognathusfluctivagus,这也是在整个华北地区的首次报道,这一发现为山东地区乃至整个华北地区的寒武 奥陶系的界线划分提供了新的标尺。     

扬子区中、晚奥陶世和兰多维利世四射珊瑚起源、扩散及生物古地理关系

扬子区中奥陶世—志留纪兰多维利世四射珊瑚产出丰富 ,尤以兰多维利世最为繁盛。目前已报道的1 2 3属 (包括中奥陶世 4属 ,晚奥陶世 2 5属 ,兰多维利世 94属 )中 ,有 30属最早出现在扬子区 ,尔后扩散到欧洲、北美和其它邻区。例如 :Calostylis最早出现在川南的中奥陶世 (Llandeilo)地层中 ;Aphyllum和Cantrillia最早出现在浙西的晚奥陶世中Ashgill地层 ;扭心珊瑚类Briantelasma ,Pycnactis和Tunguselasma等 ,最早出现在黔东北晚Ruddanian地层 ;柱珊瑚类Ceriaster、Stauria、Amplexoides、Synamplexoides等 ,泡沫珊湖类Maikottia ,Rhizophyl lum等均最早出现在黔东北的中兰多维利统 (MiddleLlandovery)。根据这些资料 ,我们认为扬子区应该是奥陶纪和志留纪四射珊瑚起源中心之一。文中论述扬子区中奥陶世—兰多维利世四射珊瑚动物群特征及其生物古地理关系。该区中奥陶世珊瑚以穿孔珊瑚类的Calostylis和Yohophyllum为特征。下扬子区浙西晚奥陶世三衢山组 (中Ashgill)四射珊瑚群有某些澳大利亚分子Hillophyllum和Bowanophyllum ;而上扬子区晚Ashgill观音桥层的四射珊瑚动物群与北欧同期珊瑚群有高度的相似性。这表明扬子区当时与欧洲具有较密切的古生物地理关系。扬子区兰多维利世四射珊瑚群与西伯利亚。     

福建省食螨瓢虫区系及地理分布

食螨瓢虫Stethorus spp.是世界上许多果树和经济作物叶螨的一类重要天敌。本文通过对采自福建省28个县、市约3000号食螨瓢虫成虫标本的整理,解剖雄外生殖器制片标本约800张,共鉴定出福建省食螨瓢虫9种,其中4种是福建新记录,包含1种中国大陆新记录和一未定名种。除福建北部和西北部以深点食螨瓢虫Stethorus punctillum Weise为优势种外,其余全省广大地区,以腹营食螨瓢虫片S.siphonulus Kapur和广东食螨瓢虫S.cantonensis Pang为优势种,本文记述了这9个种的分布和寄主,并对福建省食螨瓢虫区系及地理分布作初步分析。     

贵州沿河土地坳下奥陶统牙形石

本文报道了采自贵州沿河土地坳下奥陶统的牙形石,计有２５属３９种,根据牙形石组合特片分析,认为其与黔北其它地区下奥陶统牙形石组合面貌基本一致,属北大西洋牙形石动物地理区。     

Revision of the Zone 13 graptolite biostratigraphy in the Marathon, Texas, standard succession and its bearing on Upper Ordovician graptolite biogeography

One of the long-standing problems in North American graptolite biostratigraphy is the distinct differences in assemblages of post-Climacograptus bicornis age between the classical graptolite sequences in the New York - Quebec and Marathon, west Texas, regions. These have been attributed either to faunal provincialism or to the presence of a major hiatus between the Woods Hollow and Maravillas formations in Texas. New collections from the key Marathon Picnic Grounds section contain diagnostic Late Ordovician graptolites that confirm the existence of a major stratigraphic gap below the Maravillas Formation. The lower Maravillas Formation (Zone 13) has a Late Ordovician, low-diversity Pacific Province graptolite fauna that includes the biostratigraphically diagnostic species Climacograptus nevadensis, C. tubuliferus, Orthograptus fastigatus and Dicellograptus ornatus. Zone 13 graptolite assemblages from the Marathon region correlate with the C. tubuliferus to D. ornatus zones in the Trail Creek, Idaho, succession, the Ea4-Bo2 interval in Victoria, the O. fastigatus Zone in the Canadian Arctic Islands, the O. quadrimucronatus to D. ornatus zones of the Canadian Cordillera, and the D. complanatus to D. anceps zones in Scotland. The hiatus between the Woods Hollow and Maravillas formations spans an interval corresponding to at least the Eal Ea3 interval in Australia, the C. americanus to upper A. manitoulinensis zones in the New York - Quebec succession, and the D. clingani and P. linearis zones in Scotland. These results agree with the magnitude of the hiatus previously indicated by conodont biostratigraphy. Late Ordovician graptolite distribution patterns in North America can be explained by an extension of Cooper, Fortey & Lindholm's (1991; Lethaia 24) Lower Ordovician graptolite biofacies model into the Upper Ordovician, which incorporates both lateral water-mass specificity and depth stratification. Using this model, we recognize in Laurentia two separate biofacies among tropical-zone Late Ordovician Pacific Province graptolite faunas, a cosmopolitan Oceanic biofacies, and a cratonic Laurentian biofacies. The lower Maravillas Formation graptolite fauna is clearly part of the Oceanic biofacies, whereas the coeval Appalachian faunas represent the Laurentian biofacies. □Graptolites, Ordovician, biostratigraphy, Texas, biofacies, biogeography.     

Didymograptus bifidus and the trans-Atlantic correlation of the Lower Ordovician

Bergström, S. M. & Cooper, R. A.: Didymograptus bi'us and the trans-Atlantic correlation of the Lower Ordovician.
The co-occurrence of Didymograptus bifidus (Hall) and Prioniodus mae Lindstrom, and other conodonts of the middle Arenigian P. mae Zone in the upper part of the Marathon Limestone, Texas, provides the first non-graptolitic evidence that at least part of the D. bifidus Zone, as recognized in the reference area for the standard graptolite zonal succession of the Ordovician of North America, is as old as the BritisK D. nitidus Zone. This has important implications for the correlation of Early Ordovician rocks within North America and across the Atlantic. A regional review of the available evidence from conodonts and shelly megafossils indicates that the D. bifidus—D. artus graptolite assemblage widely used for identification of the D. bifidus Zone in North America ranges in age from the middle Arenigian to, probably, the lower Llanvirnian, and hence is of relatively limited use for precise local and regional correlations. It is also noted that the base of the North American Middle Ordovician falls within hograptus 'caduceus' Zone strata that apparently correspond to an interval in the middle to upper part of the British D. hirundo Zone.     

Aspects of recent advances in the Ordovician stratigraphy and palaeontology of China

The continuous and richly fossiliferous Ordovician succession of China (particularly South China) comprises a heterogeneous suite of litho- and bio-facies, which has been a main focus of stratigraphical and palaeontological research in recent years. Among the seven GSSPs established in China, three are within the Ordovician System, and the GSSP of the Darriwilian Stage at Huangnitang, Changshan County, western Zhejiang Province, was the first “golden spike” in China and the first for the Ordovician System. A series of case studies have revealed that: (1) the Ordovician radiation of some fossil groups on the Upper Yangtze Platform (e.g., brachiopods and graptolites) reached their first α-diversity acme in the Didymograptellus eobifidus Biozone, four zones earlier than the global trend; (2) the β-diversity peak was attained 3–4 zones later than the α-diversity peak; (3) many brachiopod communities or faunas first occurred in the central part of the Upper Yangtze Platform and subsequently expanded to both more offshore and near-shore facies; (4) diachroneity existed in many aspects of the radiation. The end-Ordovician mass extinction was a severe event in South China. Two pulses of the extinction are recognized for a number of major fossil groups, some being most strongly affected during the first pulse whereas the others suffered during the second pulse. Macroevolution during the Ordovician–Silurian transition has been investigated in detail, and the role of the Lazarus effect has been found to be less important than previously believed.     

Correlating the global Cambrian–Ordovician boundary: Precise comparison of the Xiaoyangqiao section,Dayangcha, North China with the Green Point GSSP section,Newfoundland, Canada

The Cambrian–Ordovician boundary interval exposed at the Xiaoyangqiao section, North China is presented. The distribution of stratigraphically important fossils in the Xiaoyangqiao section revealed several nearly coeval graptolite, conodont, trilobite, and acritarch bioevents in the uppermost Cambrian–lowermost Ordovician carbonate-siliciclastic sedimentary sequence. The precise correlation to the Green Point GSSP section, western Newfoundland, Canada allows for the identification of the corresponding GSSP level in the Xiaoyangqiao section. The combined data from the Xiaoyangqiao section and the Green Point GSSP section provide a series of events that all can be applied as proxies for identification of the Cambrian–Ordovician boundary horizon outside the GSSP. Based on this, the Xiaoyangqiao section, Dayangcha, is here strongly recommended as a candidate for an Auxiliary Boundary Stratigraphic Section and Point section (ASSP) for the base of the Ordovician System, because it provides one of the best and most complete Cambrian–Ordovician transitions in the world and because the first planktic graptolites are from the Xiaoyangqiao section.     

A new fossil genus of South American cricetid rodents allied to Wiedomys, with an assessment of the Sigmodontinae

A new genus and species of sigmodontine cricetids, Cholomys pearsonl , from the Lower Pleistocene Vorohué Formation of south-eastern Buenos Aires Province. Argentina, is described. Its closest relative among the extant and extinct cricetids proved to be the living Wiedomys pyrrhorhinus of Brazil. Wiedomys and Cholomys are included in a new tribe of the Sigmodontinae, Wiedomyini. The distinction between the North American and the South American cricetids is stressed, the two groups being postulated to pertain to different subfamilies. The names Neotominae and Sigmodontinae are chosen for these two taxa, respectively. A tribal classification of the Sigmodontinae is advanced. Oryzomyini, Akodontini, Scapteromyini, Phyllotini, Sigmodontini, lehthyomyini and Wiedomyini are recognized as natural tribes of the Sigmodontinae. This broad array of suprageneric groupings reflecting different adaptive types strongly supports the hypothesis that the differentiation of the Sigmodontinae took place in South America from a primitive cricetid immigrant stock which entered South America, probably from North America, not later than during Miocene times.     

加拿大北极地区泥盆纪叶肢介修订及兼论早期李氏叶肢介类(leaiins)的形态特征

湘南地区在晚奥陶世发育深水坳陷盆地相沉积, 完整记录了晚奥陶世桑比–凯迪期笔石页岩相生物地层序列。本论文在湘南地区祁东双家口 B 剖面开展笔石化石系统采集和生物地层学研究, 针对特征的江西笔石 (Jiangxigraptus)开展研究, 根据最新的分类学方案鉴定出江西笔石 1 属 6 种, 包括 Jiangxigraptus alabamensis (Ruedemann)、 Jiangxigraptus divaricatus (Hall)、 Jiangxigraptus gurleyi (Lapworth)、 Jiangxigraptus intortus (Lapworth)、Jiangxigraptus sextans (Hall)和 Jiangxigraptus vagus (Hadding)。此外, 本文还讨论了该属在全球范围内的分布, 认为在华南等地, Jiangxigraptus 可作为全球上奥陶统底界笔石生物地层对比的辅助属, 对识别上奥陶统桑比–凯迪阶的地层具有重要意义。     

Late Ordovician extinction of North American and British crinoids

After reaching a diversity peak in the Caradocian, North American Ordovician crinoids underwent a gradual decline to a nadir in the early Ashgillian (Maysvillian). This interval, recording extinction of the Cleiocrinidae, Merocrinidae, Ottawacrinidae, Hybocystitidae, and several lineages of camerate crinoids, was apparently caused by major environmental shifts in seas of eastern North America resulting from a westward-prograding wedge of terrigenous clastics derived from the Taconic Highlands, possibly coupled with a marine transgression in the Maysvillian that allowed colder water slope biofacies to invade the craton. Crinoids suffered a major episode of extinction in the late Ashgillian (late Richmondian/Rawtheyan). This event, preceding the end of the Ordovician by at least one stage or 2 to 4 million years, resulted in extinction of 12 families of crinoids including the Xenocrinidae, Tanaocrinidae, Reteocrinidae, Archaeocrinidae, Anthracocrinidae, Cincinnaticrinidae, Iocrinidae, Anomalocrinidae, Carabocrinidae, Cupulocrinidae, Porocrinidae, and Hybocrinidae. Glacio-eustatic lowering of sea level may have triggered this crisis by partially draining the North American craton, resulting in changes in oceanic circulation, salinity, and temperature. Latest Ordovician (Hirnantian) carbonates of the North American mid-continent region contain pelmatozoan assemblages from which Silurian crinoids radiated. These taxa were largely unaffected by a minor extinction event at the Ordovician/Silurian boundary.     

湖北宜昌黄花场剖面中/下奥陶统界线附近的牙形剌

重点描述宜昌黄花场剖面中 /下奥陶统界线附近的重要牙形剌共 3属、5种和 2新种Bergstroe mognathussp .nov .,BaltoniodustetrachotomusLiandWangsp .nov .,并对Oepikodusevae带和Baltoniodustriangu laris带分子的首现位置及带的含义进行厘定。作者还在此剖面大湾组下段发现北美中大陆区暖水型牙形剌Tripoduslaevis和Protoprioniodusaranda ,并确定Tripoduslaevis的首现位置在Baltoniodustriangularis带底界之上 0 .3m处。Tripoduslaevis的首次出现曾提议为中奥陶统的底界的标志 (见陈旭等 ,2 0 0 0 ) ,在宜昌黄花场剖面上Tripoduslaevis的首现位置接近Baltoniodustriangularis带底界 ,对确定中 /下奥陶统界线很重要。由于在黄花场剖面可识别出Baltonioduscrassulus—B .gladiatus—B .triangularis演化谱系 ,作者建议以B .triangularis的首次出现作为中奥陶统的底界 ,宜昌黄花场剖面为中 /下奥陶统界线的层型剖面。同时 ,文中将本区的牙形刺带与世界其它地区作了对比。     

Response of Late Ordovician paleoceanography to changes in sea level, continental drift, and atmospheric pCO2: potential causes for long-term cooling and glaciation

We performed sensitivity experiments using an ocean general circulation model at two stages of the Late Ordovician (Caradoc, 454 Ma; Ashgill, 446 Ma) under a range of atmospheric pCO₂ values (8–18× PAL; pre-industrial atmospheric level) at high and low sea level.

The model results indicate that the long-term cooling trend during the Late Ordovician can be explained by progressive cooling of the global ocean in response to falling levels of atmospheric pCO₂, sea level change, and paleogeographic change. These results also explain the occurrence of low latitude cool-water carbonates in North America.

In all simulations, a drop in sea level led to a reduction in poleward ocean heat transport. This indicates a possible positive feedback that could have enhanced global cooling in response to sea level drop during the Late Ordovician. Alterations in poleward ocean heat transport linked to changes of atmospheric pCO₂ also indicate that there is a threshold of 10× PAL, above which ocean current change cannot be responsible for glaciation in the Late Ordovician. Continental drift could explain the observed global cooling trend in the Late Ordovician through a combined poleward ocean heat transport feedback and increased ice-albedo effect if atmospheric pCO₂ was low during the entire Late Ordovician.

The model results further indicate that the response of meridional overturning to changes in paleogeography, atmospheric pCO₂, and sea level is stronger than the response of surface circulation to these perturbations. Because the overturning circulation is so strong, meridional overturning was the dominant mechanism for described changes in heat transport in the Late Ordovician.