Biostratigraphic subdivision and correlation of Uppermost Carboniferous/Lower Permian sediments in the Southern Alps: Fusulinoidean and condont faunas from the Carnic Alps (Austria/Italy), Karavanke Mountains (Slovenia), and Southern Urals (Russia)

Summary In order to establish a refined biostratigraphic subdivision and correlation of the Uppermost Carboniferous/Lower Permian deposits of the Southern Alps (Carnic Alps, Karavanke Mountains; Austria/Italy/Slovenia), two major microfossil groups (fusulinoideans, conodonts) were investigated within the same sample. The fusulinoidean species diversity (71 species, including five new species and three new subspecies) and generic composition were reviewed and complemented. Additionally, the data on fusulinoidean assemblages were supplemented by co-occurring conodont faunas (seven species). Accompanying studies on material from the type sections of the Southern Urals (Russia) were made to improve the biostratigraphic correlation with the Russian standard zonation and to discuss paleobiogeographical aspects of the faunal associations. An integrated microfacies analysis of the sampled material in the Southern Alps serves to evaluate the relationships between certain genera and specific microfacies types. The fusulinoidean fauna of the Lower “Pseudoschwagerina” Limestone is of late Gzhelian age. The Carboniferous/Permian boundary is close to the base of the Grenzland Formation, which covers the entire Asselian and a part of the Sakmarian. The Upper “Pseudoschwagerina” Limestone and Trogkofel Limestone are Lake Sakmarian to Artinskian. The studies sequences in the Karavanke Mountains. formerly known as “carbonate and clastic Trogkofel beds”, correlate to the Lower “Pseudoschwagerina” Limestone, respectively with parts of the Grenzland Formation. Due to the lithologic differences, new formation names (Dolzanova Soteska Fm., Born Fm.) were introduced for the so-called “Trogkofel” Limestone along the Dolzanova Soteska. Whereas late Gzhelian/Asselian fusulinoidean faunas of the Southern Alps correspond to the Southern Uralian faunas to a large extent, Sakmarian and Artinskian faunas reveal an increasing divergence in species and genus composition. Climatic as well as geographic barriers may have prevennted the dispersal of Paleotethyan taxa into the Southern Urals. Biostratigraphic correlation of Sakmarian to Artinskian deposits is therefore possible only on the basis of the sparse conodont faunas.     

Paleobiogeographic significance of a new ozawainelloid fusulinid Pseudoacutella partoazari n. sp., from the Asselian (lowermost Permian) of Gaduk (Central Alborz,Iran)

The uppermost Carboniferous–Lower Permian Dorud Group that crops out at the Gaduk section of Central Alborz is over 44 m thick and includes thick sequences of conglomerate, quartzarenite, calcareous sandstone, oncolitic fusulinid limestone, sandy limestone, sandstone and shale. The Toyeh, Emarat and Shah Zeid formations of this Group were dated as latest Gzhelian to Early Sakmarian. A review of the Asselian fusulinids and smaller foraminifers of Iran emphasizes (1) how the foraminiferal assemblages of Alborz and central Iran differ; (2) why non-Pseudofusulina cannot be a nomen substitutum to Pseudofusulina (even if this latter was often misinterpreted in the Tethyan regions). A new smaller fusulinid Pseudoacutella partoazari n. sp. is described from the Emarat Formation (Asselian) that crops out in the Gaduk area. The palaeobiogeographic significance of Pseudoacutella is discussed, because this genus, which was cosmopolitan from Late Bashkirian to Moscovian, became rare in the Upper Pennsylvanian of the USA and the Carnic Alps, and then, very rare in Lower Permian of Texas, Arizona and Iran.     

Robust sequential Factor Analysis of geochemical data from the Permian-Triassic Gartnerkofel-1 core (Southern Alps): the geochemical response to changing paleo-oceanographic conditions in shallow-marine carbonate platforms

The Gartnerkofel-1 core provides a high-quality multi-element dataset that characterizes an Upper Permian to Lower Triassic shallow-marine carbonate sequence (Bellerophon and Werfen Formations) of the Carnic Alps (Southern Alps). Based on the well-known sedimentological evolution, robust sequential Factor Analysis is explored as a multivariate statistical technique to understand geochemical processes in carbonate platforms. The results demonstrate that 93% of the whole-rock compositional variability of the Gartnerkofel-1 core can be explained by the detrital input that is diluted by the carbonate production and the early diagenetic redox state. Two stages of anoxia, one at the Permian/Triassic boundary and one in the Mazzin Member of the Werfen Formation, are related to indicative factor scores. The factor scores within this interval suggest an enhanced dolomitization of shales and marls, a mobilization of manganese, and an accumulation of syndiagenetically precipitated pyrite.     

Late Paleozoic faunal, climatic, and geographic changes in the Baoshan block as a Gondwana-derived continental fragment in southwest China

The Carboniferous and Permian of the Baoshan block consist of three major depositional sequences: a Lower Carboniferous carbonate sequence, a Lower Permian siliciclastic sequence, and a Middle Permian carbonate sequence. These three sequences were interrupted by two major regressive events: first, the Namurian Uplift ranging in age from Serpukovian to Gzhelian, and second, the Post-Sakmarian Regression occurring probably at Artinskian time in the Baoshan block, although the precise time interval of the latter event is still unclear. The Baoshan block is characterized by warm-water, highly diverse and abundant faunas during the Early Carboniferous, by cold-water and low diversity faunas during the Early Permian, and by possibly warm-water but low diversity faunas during the Middle Permian. The Sweetognathus bucaramangus conodont fauna constrains the upper boundary of the diamictite-bearing siliciclastic deposits (Dingjiazhai Formation) to the Sakmarian to early Artinskian, as well as the eruption of the rifting basalts (Woniusi Formation) to, at least, the post-early Artinskian. Paleozoogeographically, affiliation of the faunas in the Baoshan block changed from Eurasian in the Early Carboniferous, to Peri-Gondwanan in the Early Permian, and to Marginal Cathaysian/Cimmerian in the Middle Permian. Cimmerian blocks have more or less comparable geohistory to one another in the Carboniferous and Permian. During the Middle Permian, the eastern Cimmerian blocks such as Sibumasu (s.s), Baoshan, and Tengchong are not far from the palaeoequator, but apparently more distant than the western Cimmerian blocks based on the presence or absence of some index taxa such as the fusulinaceans Eopolydiexodina and Neoschwagerina, and the corals Thomasiphyllum and Wentzellophyllum persicum.     

Late Devonian - Early Carboniferous vertebrate microremains from the Carnic Alps, northern Italy

Vertebrate microremains from the Late Devonian-Early Carboniferous of the Carnic Alps are predominantly chondrichthyan, with minor placoderm and actinopterygian remains. The faunas are sparse and, with very few exceptions, occur only in conodont-rich pelagic limestones (Pramosio Limestone) representative of the palmatolepid-bispathodid conodont biofacies. Phoebodont and jalodont chondrichthyans, also reflecting open-ocean environments, predominated during the Famennian, and eventually symmoriids seem to predominate during the Early Carboniferous. The presence of Siamodus in this assemblage gives a new locality for this genus known from few regions in the world and allows confirming its stratigraphical range (limpidus Zone) and its relation to deep-water environments. The Late Devonian vertebrate faunas are tropical and cosmopolitan, having much in common with coeval taxa from the North-Gondwanan margins and Asian terranes. Composition of the vertebrate faunas is consistent with the Carnic Alps terrane having occupied a position intermediate between Gondwana and Laurussia, as hypothesized by various authors, but because of sparsity of the taxa represented and the pronounced cosmopolitan nature of both the conodont and vertebrate faunas, the data are not compelling.     

An Alpine immigrant: Phragmoceras Broderip, 1839 from the Silurian of the Carnic Alps (Austria)

A rare occurrence of Phragmoceras imbricatum Barrande is recorded from moderately shallow marine Silurian sequences in the Carnic Alps (Austria). The specimen was collected from a condensed series of nautiloid-bearing wackestones/packstones which are documented as being one of the earliest levels of the Silurian Cephalopod Limestone Biofacies deposited along the North Gondwana margin. The presence of this genus and particular species in the Alpine area, whether as an in situ fauna or as a “stray immigrant”, during a period of global eustatic lowstand, adds new data with regard to the mechanisms of faunal exchange of nectobenthic nautiloid taxa between the Carnic Alps, the Prague Basin, SW Sardinia, Avalonia and Baltica which must have been made possible by currents connecting all five areas. It seems likely that some of the nautiloid taxa appearing in the Prague Basin during the Ludlow may have already been present in the Carnic Alps much earlier in the Silurian; these document early faunal affinities with Baltica. As well as confirming the existence of open migrational seaways between these terranes at a precise stratigraphic interval during the Silurian (lower Homerian: Wenlock), the presence of this species also indicates a prevailing more temperate paleoenvironment in these areas which this element of a usually tropical fauna could tolerate, and provides significant evidence that warm water currents reached the Carnic Alps at this time. In addition due to the bathymetric restrictions of the shells of these particular faunas, exchange by currents could not have taken place over great distances, even considering drifted individuals, and therefore indicates the relatively close positions/connections of various peri-Gondwana Terranes such as the Carnic Alps, SW Sardinia and the Prague Basin to Avalonia and Baltica during this time slice.     

Lower Permian Bryozoa of the Jamal Formation from Bagh-e Vang (Shotori Mountains,northeast Iran)

Lower Permian Bryozoan fauna of Jamal Formation, exposed in Bagh-e Vang (Shotori Mountains, northeast Iran) includes six species. Three species – Streblotrypa (Streblascopora) marmionensis (Etheridge 1926), Rhabdomeson bispinosum (Crockford 1944) and Alternifenestella kungurensis (Stuckenberg 1898) – indicate the Lower Permian (Artinskian to Kungurian) age of the formation. Three additional taxa – Fistulipora sp. 1, Fistulipora sp. 2 and undetermined timanodictyid bryozoan ?Timanodictya sp. could not be identified at the species level. The investigated fauna refers to Uralian and Australian palaeobiogeographic provinces.     

Early Permian brachiopod faunas from Peninsular India: Their Gondwanan relationships

The Early Permian (Late Asselian? to Aktastinian?) brachiopod faunas of Peninsular India are revised in terms of current taxonomy. Genera such as Semilingula, Arctitreta, Etherilosia, Strophalosia, Aulosteges, Bandoproductus, Cyrtella, Neospirifer, Crassispirifer, Tomiopsis and Gilledia confirm the Gondwanan aspect of the faunas and a close relationship, at the generic level, to the Early Permian brachiopod faunas of Western Australia. Peninsular Indian Early Permian brachiopod faunas belong to a complex of Gondwanan and peri‐Gondwanan faunas from Oman and the Pamirs in the West to Australasia in the east. This distribution implies relative freedom of migration for the faunas along the northern margin of Gondwana during the Early Permian.     

Biostratigraphical correlation of late carboniferous (Kasimovian) sections in the Carnic Alps (Austria/Italy): Integrated paleontological data, facies, and discussion

Summary The fusulinacean faunal content of the Bombaso Fm. and lower part of the Auernig Group (Carnic Alps, Austria/Italy) is reviewed and completed by data on conodonts and algae. Four different faunal associations can be distinguished within this stratigraphic interval. The beginning of the postvariscan sedimentation in the investigated sections is diachronous, shifting in age from early Kasimovian (Krevyakinian) at Zollner Lake and Mt. Auernig, early to middle Kasimovian at Cima Val di Puartis to late Kasimovian (Dorogomilovian) at Mt. Ro?kofel. The sections analyzed consist of shallow-marine sediments, which differ in microfacies of limestones and partly in biotic assemblages. They are geographically isolated and could not be traced laterally for lithologic correlation in the field. The biostratigraphic correlation with the faunas of the stratotype sections in the Moscow Basin is hindered by the searceness of fusulinaceans in the critical levels, especially in the lowermost Kasimovian, and differences in the species composition. A biostratigraphic correlation of the Bombaso Fm. and basal part of the Auernig Group with the Peski Fm. (Myachkovian) of the Moscow Basin, as suggested byDavydov & Krainer (1999), is not confirmed by our results. Due to our taxonomic reinterpretation of the oldest fauna (Protriticites aff.permirus with distinct mural pores and largeBeedeina (Pseudotriticites) asiaticus) a lowermost Kasimovian (Lower Krevyakinian) age is more probable. This correlation is supported by the co-occurring conodont fauna, which is suggested to belong to the zone of “Streptognathodus subexcelsus”. This biozone reaches from the topmost Peski Fm. to the Suvorovo Fm. (Lower Krevyakinian) in the Moscow Basin, and may be correlated with the uppermost Desmoinesian of the Midcontinent North America. Fusulinaceans and conodonts of the overlying strata at Zollner Lake and from the sections at Cima Val di Puartis and Mt. Auernig most probably correspond to the upper Krevyakinian/lowermost Khamovnikian of the Russian platform (Lower Missourian of the Midcontinent North America). The algal associations (Dvinella, Beresella, Herakella) from these lowermost strata are unique for the Carnic Alps. Their stratigraphic range points to Moscovian-Kasimovian as well, and fits with the fusulinacean and conodont data. Sediments of the N?lbling Group (=“untere kalkreiche Schichtgruppe”) have their correlative levels in the upper Khamovnikian, but reach higher into the Dorogomilovian. More reliable correlations are possible with the fusulinacean faunas of the Cantabrian Mts. and Central Asia, based on the coincidence of several species. A revised biostratigraphic correlation with the different remote basins of the Paleotethyan realm and the Russian Platform is given, based on own data and recent results by the members of the SCCS Working group to define a GSSP close to the Moscovian/Kasimovian boundary. The sequence-stratigraphic scheme, the systematics, and the biostratigraphic correlation ofDavydov & Krainer (1999) are discussed.     

Asteriacites lumbricalis von schlotheim 1820: Ophiuroid trace fossils from the lower triassic thaynes formation,central Utah

Several trace fossils of burrowing ophiuroids, Asteriacites lumbricalis von Schlotheim 1820, occur on slabs of thinly‐bedded silty limestone in the lower Spathian part of the Lower Triassic Thaynes Formation in central Utah. This is the first record of Asteriacites in the Lower Triassic of North America. Their occurrence adds information to studies of the recovery of marine faunas following the Permian extinctions, including the oxygénation of benthic sediments.     

Late Paleozoic reef mounds of the Carnic Alps (Austria/Italy)

The Late Paleozoic (early Kasimovian-late Artinskian) sedimentary sequence of the Carnic Alps (Austria/Italy) is composed of cyclic, shallow-marine, mixed siliciclastic-carbonate sedimentary rocks. It contains different types of skeletal mounds in different stratigraphic levels. The oldest mounds occur at the base of the Auernig Group, within a transgressive sequence of the basal Meledis Formation. These mounds are small and built by auloporid corals. Algal mounds are developed in the Auernig Formation of the Auernig Group, forming biostromes, and Lower Pseudoschwagerina Limestone of the Rattendorf Group forming biostromes and bioherms. The dominant mound-forming organism of these mounds is the dasycladacean alga Anthracoporella spectabilis. In mounds of the Auernig Formation subordinately the ancestral corallinacean alga Archaeolithophyllum missouriense is present, whereas in mounds of the Lower Pseudoschwagerina Limestone a few calcisponges and phylloid algae occur locally at the base and on top of some Anthracoporella mounds. Mounds of the Auernig Formation formed during relative sea level highstands whereas mounds of the Lower Pseudoschwagerina Limestone formed during transgression. The depositional environment was in the shallow marine, low-turbulence photic zone, just below the active wave base and lacking siliciclastic influx. The algal mounds of the Carnic Alps differ significantly from all other algal mounds in composition, structure, zonation and diagenesis; the formation of the mounds cannot be explained by the model proposed by Wilson (1975). The largest mounds occur in the Trogkofel Limestone, they are composed of Tubiphytes/Archaeolithoporella boundstone, which shows some similarities to the “Tubiphytes thickets” of stage 2 of the massive Capitan reef complex of the Guadalupe Mountains of New Mexico/West Texas.     

滇西保山地区石炭纪、二叠纪古动物地理演化

探讨滇西保山地块晚古生代Ｔｉｎｇ类、有孔虫、珊瑚、牙形刺、腕足类等动物群的古生物地理属性,根据牙形刺和Ｔｉｎｇ类化石,确定长期争论的丁家寨组的时代为Ａｒｔｉｎｓｋｉａｎ期,小型单体珊瑚Ｃｙａｔｈａｘｏｎｉａ动物群可出现在从早石炭世到二叠纪的多种沉积环境中,不一定指示冷水冈瓦纳型。根据沉积特征及对环境特别敏感的珊瑚和Ｔｉｎｇ类动物群的分布特点,结合全球构造事件,恢复保山地块的古地理演化模式。早石炭世     

UPPER ORDOVICIAN BRYOZOANS OF THE PIN FORMATION (SPITI VALLEY, NORTHERN INDIA)

Abstract: Twenty‐nine species of bryozoans from the Upper Ordovician–Lower Silurian Pin Formation (Spiti, India) have been identified. Eight of these are new: Trematopora minima, Ulrichostylus bhargavai, Ptilodictya exiliformis, Phaenopora ordinarius, Oanduellina himalayaica, Pesnastylus? vesiculosum, Ralfina? originalis and Pinocladia triangulata. The fossil record and facies analyses of the area investigated indicate shallow‐water conditions within the subtropical–tropical realm. The distribution pattern of fossils among the Ordovician/Silurian succession on the Northern Gondwana shelf and the influence of the Late Ordovician cooling phases on marine organisms are distinctive owing to a dramatic reduction in diversity globally. As far as the bryozoan taxa of Spiti are concerned, only one (Helopora fragilis) of the 29 species was recorded above the Ordovician/Silurian boundary. Observed bryozoan communities are very similar to faunas of Laurentia, the Baltic, Siberia and southern China of early–late Ordovician age.     

Funsulinid assemblages and facies of the Bombaso Fm. and basal meledis Fm. (Moscovian-Kasimovian) in the central Carnic Alps (Austria/Italy)

Summary The Bombaso Formation and basal Meledis Formation in the central Carnic Alps near Straniger Alm and Zollnersee (Austria/Italy) unconformably overlie the folded Variscan basement and consist of shallow marine clastic and carbonate sediments which are arranged to form two fining and deepening upward sequences. Particularly limestones and even breccias of the Bombaso Formation yielded a rich fusulinid fauna composed of 34 species which are attributed to the following zones:Quasifusulinoides quasifusulinoides-Protriticites ovatus; Protriticites pseudomontiparus, andMontiparus montiparus. Breccias of the Bombaso Formation west of Straniger Alm contain the oldest fusulinid fauna of the Carnic Alps, belonging to theQuasifusulinoides quasifusulinoides —Protriticites ovatus zone. The fauna is composed ofQuasifusulinoides quasifusulinoides, Q. fallax, Q. intermedius, Protriticites cf.ovoides, andPr. ovatus. This assemblage is most similar to that of the Peskovskaya Formation of the Myachkovian Horizon in the Moscow Basin indicating uppermost Moscovian age. Limestones from depositional sequence 1 at Zollnersee also contain fusulinids of the uppermost Moscovian which are characterized by a more diverse assemblage:Schubertella donetzica, Fusiella lancetiformis, Beedeina ulitinensis, B. consobrina, B. nytvica, B. siviniensis, Quasifusulinoides pakhrensis, Q. fallax, Q. kljasmicus, Q. quasifusulinoides, Fusulinella rara, andProtriticites ovatus. Limestones and calcareous sandstones-siltstones of the basal Meledis Formation of depositional sequence 2 near Zollnersee and at Cima Val di Puartis are characterized by fusulinids of theProtriticites pseudomontiparus zone (Protriticites globulus, Pr. pseudomontiparus, Pr. sphaericus, Pr. rotundatus, Pr. ovoides, Pr. lamellosus, andPraeobsoletes burkemensis) and byMontiparus paramontiparus zone (Praeobsoletes pauper, P. burkemensis, Obsoletes timanicus, O. obsoletes, Montiparus paramontiparus, M. umbonoplicatus, M. montiparus, M. likharevi, M. rhombiformis andM. priscus) indicating lower to middle Kasimovian age (Krevyakinskian and Khamovnicheskian Horizons of the Russian Platform). In memoriam FranzKahler (1900–1995)     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Icriodus marieae</Emphasis>, a new icriodontid conodont species from the Middle Devonian

A new conodont species, Icriodus marieae, is described from pelagic limestone beds of the Carnic Alps (Austria). Specimens are obtained from the upper part of the Valentin Formation (Central Carnic Alps) and range from the latest Eifelian to middle Givetian. Significantly differing from other icriodontid conodonts is that the icriodontan element of the new species develops only three denticles on either lateral denticle row, which are constricted to the central part of the element. The anterior part of the element is free of lateral row denticles and consists of two to four denticles, which have a fan-shaped outline in lateral view. The anterior part as well as the posterior part (consisting of cusp and two to three pre-cusp denticles) is higher than the denticles of the central part of the element. Shape analysis confirms that the parameters chosen for landmarks (element size relation and denticle setting) show little variation between different specimens.     

Rings without a lord? Enigmatic fossils from the lower Palaeozoic of Bohemia and the Carnic Alps

Fossilized ring‐like structures with enigmatic function and taxonomic affiliation were recovered for the first time from the Upper Ordovician of the Carnic Alps and the Silurian of Bohemia. These rings, already mentioned as minor constituents in previous conodont studies (e.g. Webers 1966, p. 1; Bischoff 1973, p. 147), were reported from the Palaeozoic of several regions in Europe and North America. Originally considered as inwardly accreted adhering discs of a benthic hyolithelminth worm with a phosphatic tubular projection, they were later reinterpreted in relation to a putative crinoid epibiont or even as possible scyphozoans. Despite a long debate, neither the function of the enigmatic Palaeozoic rings nor their taxonomic affiliation has been fully clarified. The studied material, extracted by a standard technique in use for conodonts, consists of 235 elements from 16 stratigraphic levels in the Plöcken Formation (Carnic Alps, Cellon Section; Amorphognathus ordovicicus Biozone, Hirnantian, Ordovician) and in the Kopanina Formation (Bohemia, Mu?lovka Quarry; Polygnathoides siluricus Biozone, Ludfordian, Silurian). To explore whether ring size and shape changed over time, we employed a novel combination of geometric morphometric approaches for outlines with no ‘homologous’ landmarks and showed that only size appreciably varied with an increase of ca. 20%. The emerging data from this study are consistent with the interpretation of the rings as an adhering structure of a benthic organism living on a relatively uniform hard substrate.     

河南叶县下寒武统辛集组单板类和腹足类化石的研究

本文描述和讨论了河南叶县杨寺庄下寒武统辛集组单板类１３种,腹足类２种,未定类１种。其中包括２新属６新种：Ｒｅｐｅｎｏｃｏｎｕｓ ｘｉｎｊｉｅｎｓｉｓ ｇｅｎ．ｎｏｖ．,Ｓｃｅｎｅｌｌａ ｐｙｃｎａ ｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．,Ｓｅｃｕｒｉｃｏｎｕｓ ｖｕｌｇａｒｉｓ ｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．,Ｏｂｔｕｓｏｃｎｕｓ ｇｒｏｓｓｉｃｏｓｔｕｓ ｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．,Ｉｇｏｒｅｌｌｉｎａ ｐｒｏｂｏｓｃｉｓ ｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．,Ｇａｌ     

Rhabdomesid and cystoporid bryozoans from the Permian of Deh-e Mohammad, Shotori Mountains (northeastern Iran)

Seven bryozoan species belonging to the Order Rhabdomesida and Order Cystoporida are described from the Permian deposits exposed near the small town of Deh-e Mohammad, Shotori Mountains (northeastern Iran): Rhabdomeson cf. consimile Bassler, Pamirella nitida Gorjunova, Clausotrypa conferta Bassler, Streblotrypa (Streblotrypa) elegans Sakagami, Streblotrypa (Streblascopora) supernodata nov. sp., Cystodictya sp., and Filiramoporina cf. kretaphilia Fry and Cuffey. The described fauna identifies the age of the Jamal Formation at the locality near Deh-e Mohammad as Lower Permian. It displays palaeobiogeographic connections to the Lower Permian of Pamir (Tajikistan), Indonesia, Thailand and Kansas (North America).     

Record of Lower Gondwana megafloral assemblage from Lower Kamthi Formation of Ib River Coalfield, Orissa, India

Recent investigations carried out in the Ib River Coalfield, Mahanadi Master Basin, Orissa, identified some fossiliferous beds in the Lower Gondwana deposits. Two exposures of the Lower Kamthi Formation yielded diverse and abundant plant remains, which includeNeomariopteris, Vertebraria, and a scale leaf along with 14Glossopteris species otherwise mapped as Barren Measures and Upper Kamthi formations.Glossopteris indica dominates the flora (22.78%) followed byG. communis (17.72%) andG. browniana (13.92%). Based on megafloral assemblages, different beds exposed at Gopalpur and Laxamanpur Pahar are assigned here to the Lower Kamthi Formation (Late Permian). The floristic composition suggests that a warm and humid climate prevailed during the Late Permian. The status of the Kamthi Formation in the Ib River Coalfield has been redefined in the present study.