Acta Palaeontologica Polonica

The distribution of Tournaisian and early Viséan (Carboniferous) coral faunas from the Bristol and South Wales areas of Britain

Murray Mitchell

Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 25 (3-4), 1980: 577-585

The Tournaisian and early Visean (Carboniferous) faunas of Britain have been divided into a sequence of four assemblage biozones, the Vaughania vetusZaphrentites delanouei and Caninophyllum patulum assemblage biozones which are of Tournaisian age, and the Siphonophyllia cylindrica Assemblage Biozone of Visean (Chadian) age. This sequence of biozones established at Burrington Combe in the Mendips is used to correlate the Tournaisian and early Visean rocks from eight sections in the Bristol and South Wales areas. Several sections can be shown to be incomplete with a northward widening non-sequence present between the top of the Black Rock Limestone and the base of the succeeding Gully Oolite. One new species Sychnoelasma clevedonensis sp.n. and one new subspecies Caninophyllum patulum greeni sub-sp.n. are named.

Key words: Rugosa, biostratigraphy, Tournalslan, early Visean, Britain.


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