Conodonts from the Kapp Starostin Formation (Permian) of Spitsbergen
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ACT A PAL A EON T 0 LOG ICA POLONICA Vol. 24 1 979 No.2 HUBERT SZANIAWSKI and KRZYSZTOF MALKOWSKI CONODONTS FROM THE KAPP STAROSTIN FORMATION (PERMIAN) OF SPITSBERGEN SZANIAWSKI H. and MALKOWSKI K. 1979. Conodonts from the Kapp Starostin Formation (Permian) of Spitsbergen. - Acta Palaeont. Polonica, 24, 2, 231-264, June 1979. Sixteen morphologic forms of conodonts are described from four sections of Kapp Starostin Formation of Spitsbergen. One new genus and two new species are established (Sweetocrtstatus arcHeus gen.n., sp.n., Neostreptognathodus sva! bardensts sp.n.). The assemblage is considered to be stratigraphically correspond Ing to that one known from the Upper Leonardian and Lower Roadian of western United States. Affinity of Neostreptognathodus to Adetognathus and Idtogna thodus Is suggested and hypothetical multielement apparatus of the genus is presented. Two distinct conodont biofacies In Kapp Starostin Formation are defined and their depositional environment Is discussed. Key W 0 r d s: conodonts, Permian, Spitsbergen, stratigraphy. Hubert Szaniawski and Krzysztof Malkowski, Zaklad Paleobiologii, Pol ska Akademia Nauk, At Zwirki i Wigury 93, 02-089 Warszawa, Poland. Received: June 1978. INTRODUCTION The Kapp Starostin Formation of Spitsbergen (Burov et al. 1965, Cut bill and Challinor 1965) consisting of some hundred meters thick fossili ferous marine deposits has for long been investigated both paleontologi cally and stratigraphically. The modern authors assigned it most comm only to the Kungurian and Ufimian (d. Malkowski and Szaniawski 1976). The geographic position of the Kapp Starostin Formation between the Cis-Ural region (that is the type area of the Permian System) and on the other side North America and Greenland makes those strata very im portant for the Permian correlation all over the northern hemisphere. Therefore, Stepanov (1957, 1973) erected a new stage, the Svalbardian, with its type section comprising the Kapp Starostin Formation, to replace the Kungurian and Ufimian stages the type sections of which comprise 232 HUBERT SZANIAWSKI & KRZYSZTOF MALKOWSKI mostly lagoon and continental deposits. Unfortunately, most fossils of the Kapp Starostin Formation represent benthos (brachiopods, bryozoans, sponges, ostracodes, "small" foraminifers) and show merely narrow geo graphic and facies ranges. Some reference points may be given by the conodonts more and more commonly applied recently to the Permian stratigraphy. However, the Kapp Starostin Formation contains, mostly cherty rocks which makes difficult extraction of those microfossils. Actu ally, the investigated conodonts derived entirely from some portions of a ISFJORD \ \ o Polakkljellel J Burgerbukla ~'jellel Treskelen O'-- --:;25km. Fig. 1. Outline map of Svalbard showing the location of sections from which the conodonts were collected. The outcrops of the Kapp Starostin Formation is marked. CONODONTS FROM KAPP STAROSTIN FM. 233 few geological sections (figs 1, 2). Much further work is needed to recog nize well the whole conodont assemblage of the Kapp Starostin Forma tion. The field work was performed in 1974-1976 during the scientific expeditions to Spitsbergen organized by the Institute of Paleobiology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The junior author investigated then se veral sections of the Kapp Starostin Formation in the southern Vestspits bergen and took samples for micropaleontological work from five localities (fig. 1). A single conodont specimen has been found in samples from Hyr nefjellet section (Malkowski and Szaniawski 1976), which is out of the present study. Some sixty samples were taken from other geological sections (Treskelen, Polakkfjellet, Ahlstrandodden, Kapp Starostin), of which twenty three yielded conodonts. Location of the conodont-bearing samples is -given in fig. 2. In addition, a single sample (B-1) taken from slope debris close to Burgerbukta (fig. 1) also supplied conodonts; it appears equivalent lithologically to the base part of the formation in this area. Those conodonts from the limestones of Polakkfjellet and Ahlstran dodden sections have been extracted by acetic-acid treatment, while those from the cherty rocks of Treskelen, Burgerbukta and Kapp Starostin sec tions by hydrofluoric-acid treatment. The data are insufficient to permit any certain reconstruction of multielement conodont apparatuses. Ne vertheless, possible assignment of some investigated conodont groups to multielement apparatuses is discussed below. The systematic part of the paper was prepared by the senior author during his stay in 1978 at the Department of Geology and Mineralogy of the Ohio State University, Columbus, United States. The rest of the paper was prepared by both authors at the Institute of Paleobiology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland. The investigated collection from Spitsbergen is housed at the Institute of Paleobiology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (abbreviated as ZPAL); the illustrated comparative specimen from North America is in the pale ontological repository of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, United States (abbreviated as UW). Acknowledgements. - Warm thanks are due to Professor Gertruda Biernat, Institute of Paleobiology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, for her scientific leadership of the expeditions to Spitsbergen; and to Professor Krzysztof Birkenmajer, Institute of Geology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Cracow, for introducing the authors into the geology of the investigated area. The senior author appreciates greatly the award of the Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Ohio State University, Columbus, and has a pleasure to express his deep gratitude to Professors Stig M. Bergstrom and Wal- 4 Acta Palaeontologica Polonica No. 2/79 N s o Kapp Starostin Ahlstrandodden -;:: ;~ Brach. Cherty lim. Fm: - II -\' ~ ,- 11- I:L. " II V II K-20 VVV II VVV" II v V v v II VV V II VV VV \I II \I II II V ::E V\I II V VVVV VV II V V II V V VVV II ... VVVV V II VV v II V v Iv v II II II \I II II " v v II II V V V zl V V" V V II V V z II II II II VV II V II VV II VVV V VV \I V VVVV VV \I V - VV \I II 100 V II II II V II II V .... II \t v V \I II II V « ,,'Iv II 1/ V VV l/) II II V \I 11'0' II V \I II \I II ~ to 0 "v" II IIII II \I ... II II II V ~ I a: V II VV « ,,, ~a t&SJb ~VIV c .... v v II V II V II V II II V \I ::Ell/) V II V II II v v II VVV II ,,, - v -v - V v v II ~d v II VV e ~11- II - v· f \I 'Ii V II A-IO V II \I V VVVV V V II V II II \I V Q. 200m. V II II II V V II V VVVV ~ ~i a:1 \I VVV ------ 9 CJh Q. II V II V V II VV V II II II A-12 II II II V « II II II V K-20 II II II V conodont samples "V 'II II ~-12 VV II II V II II II w·,. II II V V V II V v \I II V v Fig. 2. Geological sections of the Kapp Starostin Formation with marked conodont- V v v II II II V II bearing samples. a limestone, b sandy limestone, c cherty limestone, d marly limestone, e chert, f cherty marl, g marl, h pebbles and granules, i dosconformities. * At Hornsund Q. region the cherty rocks were named Brachiopod Cherty Limestone Formation. (Bir kenmajer 1964). (H-3*) The sample not taken into account in this paper (see also p. 233 and 247). CONODONTS FROM KAPP STAROSTIN FM. 235 Ta ble 1 Distribution of conodonts in samples. The position of samples in the sec- tion is shown in fig. 2 (except of the sample B-1, see p. 233) limestone facies cherty rock facies u u C C u 00 ~ c ~ c ~ . ~ . ~ ~ · g c ~· '"0 li' 0 1: e 1: · ..; u u ~ < ~ .. u ~ ~ ~ c §. .~ ~ c ~ 3 <l ~ .!:· 3 ~ ~ g- E ~ .c 0 ~ ~ ~ • ! ! ~ j 0, .c ,c ~' 8 < c ~ ~ ~ ~ . .:l .c '" 0 0 [ '" & 00 t ~ ~ ~ 0 0 ..00 >: 00 0 E '" ·0 u 00 ':i'" ':i '"~ . '" '" ~ 3 '" iii 3 00 Oo . ~ ! ~ g- · ~ ~ g ~ ~ c . · '" ~ ~ ~ ';; ·0 0 5. t '" ';;'" '. ':i "0 · "0 ,~ · 2· 2 . ~. .:1 i: .!: .!: l fo, ~ . 0 0 . ! ~ g- 0:: ~ c <l ~ g § c c · §. c . t t . E ·· '"g '"c '" c · . ~ ~ ]] ~ ~ && ,~ ~ ~ ~ . 0 ..0 i 0 0 c .c ·~ ~ ~ '" ~ :l1 ~ ~ j ~ E 1'l · ~ ~ ~ ~ :§ £ t: ! · :l1 E "" ... ... P-I P-2 P-3 40 12 2 10 24 91 P-4 P-S P-7 Hj 4 8 13 P-8 p-q P-IO P-21 --'"] 13, 2 5 3 2 21 49 P-22 P-23 A-12 3 2 A-IO 3 5 9 B-i 18 12 28 Tr-B 2 Tr-C 12 4 2 20 Tr-O 12 8 19 Tr-E '4 2 8 25 Tr-F Tr-G 2 K-2Q 21 4 1 23 51 Tntals 51 6 .8 5 2 2 2 12 60 77 3 5 2 57 6 320 ter C. Sweet for their very helpful assistance during his work at the uni- versity. He is particularly indebted to Professor Walter S. Sweet for providing comparative collections and unpublished information as well as for profitable discussions and review of the manuscript. Helpful dis- cussions were also offered by Dr. James W. Collinson, Ohio State Uni- t· 236 HUBERT SZANIAWSKI & KRZYSZTOF MALKOWSKI versity, Columbus; Dr. Bruce R. Wardlaw, United States Geological Sur vey, Denver; and Dr. Heinz Kozur, Meiningen State Museum, G. D. R. Professor David L. Clark, University of Wisconsin, Madison, kindly loaned to the authors very useful comparative material from North America. Most SEM micrographs were prepared at the Department of Geology and Mineralogy of the Ohio State University; the others were prepared at the Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Scien ces, Warsaw.