Palynostratigraphy of the Zorritas Formation, Antofagasta region, Chile: Insights on the Devonian/Carboniferous boundary in western Gondwana
The Middle Member of the Zorritas Formation in the Antofagasta region of northern Chile, yielded terrestrial and marine palynomorph assemblages which span the Devonian/Carboniferous boundary. The assemblages show a clear predominance of terrestrial palynomorphs with 70 miospore species, 18 marine ph...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2017-05-01
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| Series: | Geoscience Frontiers |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987116300317 |
| _version_ | 1797706765180076032 |
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| author | Claudia V. Rubinstein Elodie Petus Hans Niemeyer |
| author_facet | Claudia V. Rubinstein Elodie Petus Hans Niemeyer |
| author_sort | Claudia V. Rubinstein |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Middle Member of the Zorritas Formation in the Antofagasta region of northern Chile, yielded terrestrial and marine palynomorph assemblages which span the Devonian/Carboniferous boundary. The assemblages show a clear predominance of terrestrial palynomorphs with 70 miospore species, 18 marine phytoplankton species, two non-marine algae and one chitinozoan species, all coming from 15 productive levels. Palynomorphs are poorly preserved and most of them are reworked. Three palynological associations are recognized based on miospores. These are assigned to the Tournaisian–Visean, Tournaisian and probable latest Famennian. Age assignments are discussed in the frame of the spore zonal schemes established for Euramerica and western Gondwana. The stratigraphical distribution of spores allows the identification of the probable position of the Devonian/Carboniferous boundary within the Zorritas Formation. This system boundary is proposed for the first time in Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks of northern Chile. The presence of Gondwanan typical miospore species indicates affinities with this palaeocontinent even though the Tournaisian and Tournaisian–Visean miospore associations support the cosmopolitanism already suggested for the early Carboniferous flora. The significant number of reworked palynomorphs together with the sedimentological analysis of the studied sections, suggest that these deposits were severely impacted by the climatic change and major sea level fluctuations. Similar conditions were recorded in coeval western Gondwana basins. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T05:56:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-12994d619f4d4e1fbb0c3c00690e460d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1674-9871 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T05:56:11Z |
| publishDate | 2017-05-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geoscience Frontiers |
| spelling | doaj.art-12994d619f4d4e1fbb0c3c00690e460d2023-09-03T04:30:52ZengElsevierGeoscience Frontiers1674-98712017-05-018349350610.1016/j.gsf.2016.04.005Palynostratigraphy of the Zorritas Formation, Antofagasta region, Chile: Insights on the Devonian/Carboniferous boundary in western GondwanaClaudia V. Rubinstein0Elodie Petus1Hans Niemeyer2IANIGLA, CCT-CONICET Mendoza, Av. Ruiz Leal s/n, Parque General San Martín, M5502IRA, Mendoza, ArgentinaPalaeogeobiology-Palaeobotany-Palaeopalynology, Allée du 6 Août, Bât. B-18, Parking 40, University of Liège, B-4000, Liège 1, BelgiumDepartamento de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Católica del Norte, Casilla, 1280, Antofagasta, ChileThe Middle Member of the Zorritas Formation in the Antofagasta region of northern Chile, yielded terrestrial and marine palynomorph assemblages which span the Devonian/Carboniferous boundary. The assemblages show a clear predominance of terrestrial palynomorphs with 70 miospore species, 18 marine phytoplankton species, two non-marine algae and one chitinozoan species, all coming from 15 productive levels. Palynomorphs are poorly preserved and most of them are reworked. Three palynological associations are recognized based on miospores. These are assigned to the Tournaisian–Visean, Tournaisian and probable latest Famennian. Age assignments are discussed in the frame of the spore zonal schemes established for Euramerica and western Gondwana. The stratigraphical distribution of spores allows the identification of the probable position of the Devonian/Carboniferous boundary within the Zorritas Formation. This system boundary is proposed for the first time in Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks of northern Chile. The presence of Gondwanan typical miospore species indicates affinities with this palaeocontinent even though the Tournaisian and Tournaisian–Visean miospore associations support the cosmopolitanism already suggested for the early Carboniferous flora. The significant number of reworked palynomorphs together with the sedimentological analysis of the studied sections, suggest that these deposits were severely impacted by the climatic change and major sea level fluctuations. Similar conditions were recorded in coeval western Gondwana basins.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987116300317MiosporesPhytoplanktonDevonian/Carboniferous boundaryWestern GondwanaChile |
| spellingShingle | Claudia V. Rubinstein Elodie Petus Hans Niemeyer Palynostratigraphy of the Zorritas Formation, Antofagasta region, Chile: Insights on the Devonian/Carboniferous boundary in western Gondwana Geoscience Frontiers Miospores Phytoplankton Devonian/Carboniferous boundary Western Gondwana Chile |
| title | Palynostratigraphy of the Zorritas Formation, Antofagasta region, Chile: Insights on the Devonian/Carboniferous boundary in western Gondwana |
| title_full | Palynostratigraphy of the Zorritas Formation, Antofagasta region, Chile: Insights on the Devonian/Carboniferous boundary in western Gondwana |
| title_fullStr | Palynostratigraphy of the Zorritas Formation, Antofagasta region, Chile: Insights on the Devonian/Carboniferous boundary in western Gondwana |
| title_full_unstemmed | Palynostratigraphy of the Zorritas Formation, Antofagasta region, Chile: Insights on the Devonian/Carboniferous boundary in western Gondwana |
| title_short | Palynostratigraphy of the Zorritas Formation, Antofagasta region, Chile: Insights on the Devonian/Carboniferous boundary in western Gondwana |
| title_sort | palynostratigraphy of the zorritas formation antofagasta region chile insights on the devonian carboniferous boundary in western gondwana |
| topic | Miospores Phytoplankton Devonian/Carboniferous boundary Western Gondwana Chile |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987116300317 |
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