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Cryptospore Assemblages from the Ordovician/silurian Boundary in the Puna Region, North‐west Argentina
Author(s) -
Rubinstein Claudia V.,
Vaccari Norberto E.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
palaeontology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.69
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1475-4983
pISSN - 0031-0239
DOI - 10.1111/j.0031-0239.2004.00388.x
Subject(s) - biozone , acritarch , ordovician , paleontology , geology , palynology , biostratigraphy , glacial period , range (aeronautics) , pollen , ecology , biology , materials science , composite material
Palynomorph assemblages have been recovered from deposits believed to straddle the Ordovician/Silurian boundary, from the upper member of the Salar del Rincón Formation, in the Puna region of north‐west Argentina. The palynomorph assemblages are dominated by terrestrial cryptospores, but also contain marine elements (acritarchs, prasinophycean algae and chitinozoans). The cryptospore assemblages are similar in composition to those described from coeval deposits worldwide, suggesting that the producers were cosmopolitan and tolerated a wide range of climatic conditions. They are correlated with the Imperfectotriletes spp. Interval Biozone (sub‐biozone α) of the Imperfectotriletes spp.‐ Laevolancis divellomedia Assemblage Biozone, indicating a Hirnantian (latest Ordovician) age. Acritarchs include late Ordovician species such as Eupoikilosusa striata and Villosacapsula cf. setosapellicula , that coexist with the Llandovery species Dactylofusa estillis. Based on lithological and palynological evidence, an early Llandovery, or a late Hirnantian (post‐glacial) age is proposed for the basal part of the upper member of the Salar del Rincón Formation.