The Upper Sinemurian Ammonite Succession in the Sierra Madre Oriental (Mexico) 31

The Upper Sinemurian ammonite succession in the Sierra Madre Oriental (Mexico) 31

The Upper Sinemurian ammonite succession in the Sierra Madre Oriental (Mexico)

Christian MEISTER 1, Joachim BLAU 2, Jean-Louis DOMMERGUES 3, Rudolf SCHLATTER 4 and Reinhard SCHMIDT-EFFING 5

1 Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle, Département de Géologie et Paléontologie, 1 Rte de Malagnou, CP. 6434, CH-1211 Gen¯ve 6, Switzerland; e-mail: [email protected] 2 Feldbergstrasse 5, D-61191 Rosbach-Rodheim, Germany; e-mail: [email protected] 3 UMR CNRS 5561, Biogéosciences Dijon, Centre des Sciences de la Terre de l’Université de Bourgogne, 6 Boulevard Gabriel, F-21000 Dijon, France; e-mail: [email protected] 4 Naturkundemuseum, Lortzingstrasse 3, D-04105 Leipzig, Germany. 5 Institut für Geologie und Paläontologie, Hans-Meerwein-Strasse 11a, D-35032 Marburg, Germany; e-mail: [email protected]

Key -words: ammonites, Early Jurassic, Sinemurian, biostratigraphy, Mexico, Sierra Madre Oriental.

ABSTRACT: In the Sierra Madre Oriental (Mexico), the biostratigraphic subdivision of the Upper Sinemurian can be refined. It has been possible to differentiate 11 horizons from the upper Obtusum Zone to the top of the Raricostatum Zone which are correlated with the NW European standard zonation. The index species of each horizon is figured.

INTRODUCTION BIOSTRATIGRAPHY

Marine Lower Jurassic sediments have been A revision of Erben’s collection (Erben 1956) known from Mexico since the pioneering works of and the collections of Schmidt-Effing (1977) and Barcena (1875, 1877), Aguilera (1888), Felix (1891) Schlatter and Schmidt-Effing (1984) combined and Böse (1894). The main areas are Sonora and with our field data have facilitated the produ- Sierra Madre Oriental (Fig. 1) and we focus on ction of a synthetic range chart (Fig. 2) and the the latter region. Biostratigraphical frameworks for construction of a sequence of 11 faunal horizons in the Sierra Madre Oriental were proposed by the Upper Sinemurian (Fig. 3). Burckhardt (1930), Erben (1954a, b; 1956) and The ranges are controlled by the authors’ field more recently by Schmidt-Effing (1977) and Schla- observations in association with data given in tter and Schmidt-Effing (1984). In this work, we the literature ( e.g. Hillebrandt 2000, 2002; Taylor briefly review the biostratigraphical implications of et al. 2001). The succession of horizons proposed our studies since 2001 (Blau et al. 2001, 2002, 2003; here, however, is in part hypothetical due to the Meister et al. 2002, 2005) and, in addition we discontinuity of outcrops. illustrate the index species of each of the faunal The ranges of several taxa not collected bed-by- horizons. bed: Oxynoticeras palomense Erben, Gleviceras 32 Volumina Jurassica, Volumen VII

Obtusum Zone is based on the occurrence of Euerbenites corinnae Sonora in Sonora below Oxynoticeras cf. simpsoni (Simpson) (see Taylor et al. 2001). This horizon, therefore, can be placed near in the upper part of the Obtusum Zone, but without the exclu- sion of a possible lower Oxynotum Zone age. Mexico Oxynotum Zone Sierra Madre Following Erben (1956), the pre- Mexico City Oriental sence of Oxynoticeras palomense 500 km characterizes the Oxynotum Zone (Oxynoticeras palomense horizon). N Some Gleviceras and Bifericeras tenangoense may indicate further horizons which can be included in the upper part of the zone. Fig. 1. Distribution of marine Lower Jurassic outcrops in Mexico (Sonora and Sierra Madre Oriental). Raricostatum Zone aztecorum Meister, Blau, Schlatter and Schmidt- In the Sierra Madre Oriental, the major part of Effing, Gleviceras choffati (Pompeckj), Glevice- the ammonite fauna belonging to this Zone ras aff. chollai Taylor et al. , Bifericeras tena- is composed of Echioceratidae. The zone can be ngoense Meister, Blau, Schlatter and Schmidt- subdivided in to 9 horizons in this area. Effing, Paramicroderoceras aff. birchiades (Ro- senberg), Eoderoceras sp., Angulaticeras floresi Densinodulum Subzone (Erben), Ectocentrites aff. dommerguesi Meister, Within the Plesechioceras horizon, we include Vu Khuc, Huyen and Doyle, Juraphyllites nardii Plesechioceras cihuacoatlae (Erben) , Plesechio- (Meneghini), Aegolytoceras sp., Partschiceras sp., ceras cf . domeykoense Hillebrandt, and Oxy- are based on the ranges known from the literature noticeras sp. Overlying this fauna an association for these genera and species and the maximum with Orthechioceras incaguasiense Hillebrandt, known range is used. It is likely, however, that all Orthechioceras pauper (Erben), Oxynoticeras these taxa have a shorter range inside the period aff. soemanni (Dumortier), and Phylloceras cylin- considered (see Figs 2 and 3). dricum (Sowerby) corresponds to the Orthe- chioceras pauper /incaguasiense horizon. Based on the association described by Hillebrandt (2002) Upper Sinemurian in South America, these two horizons belong to the Densinodulum Subzone. Obtusum Zone A third unit, the Orthechioceras (?) obli- quecostatum horizon, can be attributed to The presence of several Arnioceras in the this subzone and characterized by the index Sierra Madre Oriental most probably indicates species only. the presence of the Lower Sinemurian but does not exclude their presence in the lower/middle Upper Densinodulum/ Obtusum Zone. lower Raricostatum Subzones The Euerbenites horizon represents the first The position of the Orthechioceras jame- true Upper Sinemurian faunal association with sdanae sensu Erben horizon in the context of Euerbenites bravoi (Tilmann), Euerbenites the NW European standard zonation is not clear corinnae (Blau, Meister, Schlatter and Schmidt- and it may represent an interval within the Effing) and Angulaticeras sp. Its position in the Densinodulum and/or Raricostatum subzones. The Upper Sinemurian ammonite succession in the Sierra Madre Oriental (Mexico) 33

Fig. 2. Range chart of the ammonites from the Sierra Madre Oriental. Grey lines are used for bed-by-bed collected material and black lines cover the maximum ranges known from the literature for the respective genera and/or species. The question marks show the uncertainty for the ranges of the taxa. 34 Volumina Jurassica, Volumen VII F ( a i g l l

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Orthechioceras jamesdanae (Barcena) sensu tations of provincialism or endemism must be seen Erben is very abundant and associated with O. aff. prudently because they reflect either biologic soemanni . reality or only differences in taxonomic sensibi- lity (see Dommergues et al. 2004; Meister et al. Middle Raricostatum Subzone 2005). In the Sierra Madre Oriental, the proportion The Paltechioceras gr. burckhardti horizon is of the endemic fauna for the Upper Sinemurian characterized by Paltechioceras gr. burckhardti reaches about 41%. This strong endemism can (Erben) and Gleviceras sp. It represents the first be explained by the embayment position of occurence of Paltechioceras in the Sierra Madre the Huayacocotla Basin which was perhaps Oriental. In NW Europe, the genus Paltechioceras isolated from other areas. The other faunal is known from the European boehmi/intermedium affinities (13% with South America, 7% with horizon up to the tardecrescens/romanicum North America, 3% with Asia and mainly 36% horizon (Fig. 2). with Tethyan area) indicate several possibilities (or combinations of them) of migrations ways: Middle Raricostatum to lower Aplanatum Subzone (1) southern peri-Pangean, (2) peri-Asiatic, (3) latu- Three horizons can be placed in this interval. dinal trans-Panthalassian, and (4) Boreal (Viking The lowest, the Paltechioceras harbledownense Corridor, Arctic seas). All these migration routes horizon is characterized by the index species in remain hypothetical and the existence of a association with Angulaticeras sp. In the Queen 5th migration way, the Hispanic Corridor, cannot be Charlotte Islands ( e.g . Pálfy et al. 1994), P. exclude completely. harbledownense (Crickmay) occurs first and is later found associated with Paltechioceras cf. rothpletzi (Böse). In the Sierra Madre Oriental REFERENCES these two taxa have not been found in association, we suppose therefore that they form two distinct Aguilera J. C. 1888. Itinerarios geológicos de horizons with the Paltechioceras rothpletzi la Republica Méxicana. Boletin del Instituto de horizon above. The latter horizon yielded only Geología Méxicana, 4-6: 1-256. the index species. Barcena M. 1875. Datos para el estudio de The succeding Paltechioceras latesellum las rocas mesozoicas de México y sus fósiles horizon is also characterized by the index species característicos. Boletin de la Sociedad Méxi- only. cana de Geografía y Estadistica, 2: 369-405. Barcena M. 1877. Materiales para la formación de Aplanatum Subzone una obra de Paleontología Méxicana. Moluscos The association of Paltechioceras tardecre- cefalópodos. Anales del Museo Nacional de scens (Hauer), Paltechioceras sp., Angulatice- México , 1: 283-286. ras floresi and Gleviceras sp. characterizes the Blau J. and Meister C. 2000. Upper Sinemurian Paltechioceras tardecrescens horizon. The index ammonite successions based on 41 faunal hori- species is the last Paltechioceras species found zons: an attempt at worldwide correlations. worldwide. GeoResearch Forum , 6: 3-12. Blau J., Meister C., Schlatter R. and Schmidt-Effing R. 2001. Ammonites from the Lower Jurassic CONCLUSION S (Sinemurian) of Tenango de Doria (Sierra Ma- dre Oriental, Mexico) Part I: Erbenites n. g., a new The faunal horizons recognized here are Asteroceratinae. Neues Jahrbuch für Geo logie allocated maximum time intervals in relation to und Paläontologie, Monatshefte , 3: 175-183. the NW European standard zonation. Most Blau J., Meister C., Schlatter R. and Schmidt- probably, the duration of some horizons is much Effing R. 2002. Nomenclatural and taxonomical shorter than indicated, the sequence is more remarks on an Asteroceratinae (Ammonoidea): incomplete than proposed and new faunal horizons Euerbenites nom. nov. for Erbenites Blau, can be added. This sequence is based mainly on Meister, Schlatter, Schmidt-Effing, 2001. Revue taxa described by Erben which show quite strong de Paléobiologie , 21 , 1: 411-412. endemism of the fauna, reflecting difficulties with Blau J., Meister C., Schlatter R. and Schmidt- correlations with other regions. The interpre- Effing R. 2003. Ammonites from the Lower Jura- 36 Volumina Jurassica, Volumen VII

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