БЪЛГАРСКО ГЕОЛОГИЧЕСКО ДРУЖЕСТВО, Национална конференция с международно участие „ГЕОНАУКИ 2014“ BULGARIAN GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, National Conference with international participation “GEOSCIENCES 2014”
The ammonite collection of the Historical Museum in Etropole (Bulgaria) Амонитната колекция на Исторически музей – гр. Етрополе (България) Lubomir Metodiev1, Natalia Tsvetkova2 Любомир Методиев1, Наталия Цветкова2
1 Geological Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. G. Bonchev str., bl. 24, 1113 Sofia; E-mail: [email protected] 2 Historical Museum – Etropole, 105 Ruski Blvd., 2108 Etropole, p.o.b. 35; E-mail: [email protected]
Key words: ammonite collection, Historical Museum, Etropole, Bulgaria.
In memory of Gerd Ernst Gerold Westermann (1927–2014) Introduction been obtained from nearby exposures. Best known are the examples from the localities St. Iliya and near the The Historical Museum in the town of Etropole opened cemetery, first listed by Zlatarski (1908), and then de- doors on December 7, 1958. It was hosted in the for- scribed by Kamenov (1936). These specimens are the mer monastery school at the church “St. Georgi”. Ten source of a number of ammonite species that enabled years later, the museum launched a new exhibition in the recognition of the Bajocian in Bulgaria and later the restored Turkish Konak, and it is still housed there allowed the studies of the Lower Bajocian ammonites (Fig. 1). The building of the museum was constructed for the purposes of taxonomy and biostratigraphy (e.g. between 1853 and 1870 from Etropole master painters Sapunov, 1961, 1963, 1971). The rocks and the as- Deno and Tsvetko, and it is a national cultural monu- sociated ammonite faunas were allocated to a series ment. The present museum exposition was set up in of stratigraphic horizons that composed the stratotype 1992. The exhibition represents the rich historical her- section designated as the reference standard for the def- itage of the Etropole region, and it is displayed in 10 inition and characterization of the Etropole Formation exhibition rooms. The Museum is an active organizer (Sapunov, 1969). Importantly, the exposures and the of the local folk festivals and recreations of historical fossiliferous levels reported from the previous authors events. The Museum contains more than 15 000 cul- have now nearly disappeared. Hence, the ammonite tural treasures, including many photos and authentic collection in Etropole provides authentic specimens to documents. In addition, it also holds small but valu- be viewed. Besides, only a handful of Bulgarian mu- able collection of Jurassic fossils (mainly ammonites), seums have ammonites from the Etropole region. Thus which have been gathered in the area of the town of we believe that the collection hosted by the Etropole Etropole and donated by locals. The area of Etropole Historical Museum forms an integral part of the over- is famous for the well-preserved ammonites that have all heritage of the Etropole region and therefore offer both educational and scientific values.
The ammonites (ages, preservation and taxa) The Museum holds nearly 70 Lower Bajocian am- monite specimens, referred to 18 genera (subgen- era) and at least 25 species, from the ammonite families Sonniniidae, Oppeliidae, Otoitidae and Stephanoceratidae, and corresponding to an inter- val ranging from the Hyperlioceras discites to the Stephanoceras humphriesianum Zone (an approximate time span from 171.5 to 169.5 Ma). The ammonites usually appear as negatives or phosphatized and fer- ruginized internal moulds in medium-sized phospho- ritic and sideritic concretions, having well-preserved ornament, and commonly preserved body-chambers and apertures. The Sonniniidae correspond to exam- Fig. 1. The Historical Museum in Etropole. The house of the museum and the Clock Tower (from 1710) are the unique authentic old buildings ples of Witchellia jugifera (Waagen), Euhoploceras in Etropole that have remained to the present marginatum (Buckman), Pelekodites moisyi (Brasil),
113 Fig. 2. Lower Bajocian ammonites of the Historical Museum in Etropole (most of specimens = x 0.8, except g, h, j = x 0.5; * = beginning of the body-chamber) a, Sonninia propinquans (Bayle), Inv.-Nr. IMET I-47; b, c, Bradfordia praeradiata (Douvillé), Inv.-Nr. IMET I-47 (182), specimen described and figured by Sapunov (1971, p. 79, pl. 1, figs. 4a, b); d, Protoecotraustes laevigatus Sapunov, Inv.-Nr. E-30, another syntype of a species defined by Sapunov (1963, p. 155); e, Emileia douvillei Parsons, Inv.-Nr. IMET I-49 (184); f, Otoites tumulosus Westermann, Inv.-Nr. IMET I-47 (180); g, h, Emileia cf. brocchii (J. Sowerby), Inv.-Nr. IMET I-47 (164); i, Skirroceras leptogyrale Buckman, Inv.-Nr. IMET I-43 (166); j, Kumatostephanus cf. perjucundus Buckman, Inv.-Nr. IMET I-47 (160); k, Itinsaites latumbilicatus Westermann, Inv.-Nr. IMET I-44 (4); l, Itinsaites rhomboidalis Westermann, Inv.-Nr. IMET I-44 (2); m, Itinsaites braikenridgii (J. Sowerby), Inv.-Nr. IMET I-43 (168)
Nannina deltafalcata (Quenstedt), and Sonninia pro- the Lower Bajocian strata near Etropole and elsewhere pinquans (Bayle) (Fig. 2a), the latter probably being the in Bulgaria. In addition, they appear to be good ex- best specimens in Bulgaria. The oppeliid ammonites amples of widespread or easily migrating ammonite include several species from the genera Bradfordia species, which are well-known from many coeval de- and Protoecotraustes (e.g. Fig. 2b–d), and perhaps, the posits in Northwest Europe, and can therefore be used outcrops near Etropole yielded the most valuable as- for the purposes of correlation. Varied ammonite mor- sociation of these two genera in our country. The latter phologies suggest various modes of life of the ammo- applies to the Otoitidae too, and the examples of that nites on the outer shelf of a former epicontinental sea family play an important role in the collection, com- instead we now have a mountain range. prising nice specimens of Emileia douvillei Parsons (Fig. 2e), Otoites tumulosus Westermann (Fig. 2f), References O. contractus (Sowerby), E. cf. brocchii (Sowerby) (Fig. 2g, h), and Chondroceras spp. The Stephano Kamenov, B. 1936. La géologie des environs d’Etropolé. – Rev. ceratidae enclose fragmentary preserved but character- Bulg. Geol. Soc., 8, 2, 30–137 (in Bulgarian). istic ammonites of Skirroceras leptogyrale Buckman Sapunov, I. 1961. Stratigraphy of the Jurassic in the Etropole and Teteven areas (Central Balkan Range). – Trav. géol. (Fig. 2i), Kumatostephanus cf. perjucundus Buckman Bulg., sér. stratigr. et tecton., 3, 93–137 (in Bulgarian). (Fig. 2j), Stephanoceras gr. mutabile–umbilicum, as Sapunov, I. 1963. The ammonites of the Bajocian genus well as several related taxa of Itinsaites braikenridgii Protoecotraustes Spath (Haploceratidae). – Trav. géol. group (e.g. Fig. 2k–m). Compared with the known ma- Bulg., sér. paléont., 5, 149–165 (in Bulgarian). terial from the type-section of the Etropole Formation Sapunov, I. 1969. On certain recent stratigraphical problems available until now, the elements of this collection give of the Jurassic System in Bulgaria. – Bull. Geol. Inst., ser. an excellent impression of the relative abundances of stratigr. and lithol., 18, 5–20 (in Bulgarian). Sapunov, I. 1971. The Bajocian ammonite genus Bradfordia what is common and typical for the Etropole area, and S. Buckman, 1910 (Oppeliidae) in Bulgaria. – Bull. Geol. they are good enough to constitute good guide fossils. Inst., ser. paleontol., 20, 73–90 (in Bulgarian). Although not purposefully collected, the ammonites Zlatarski, G. 1908. Le système jurassique en Bulgarie. – Ann. are both representative of the ammonite spectrum of Univ. Sofia, 3, 148–224 (in Bulgarian).
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