Glacial Erratic Boulders from Jutland, Denmark, Feature an Uppermost
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Glacial erratic boulders from Jutland, Denmark, feature an uppermost lower Cambrian fauna of the Lingulid Sandstone Member of Västergötland, Sweden THOMAS WEIDNER, GERD GEYER, JAN OVE R. EBBESTAD & VOLKER VON SECKENDORFF Weidner, T., Geyer, G., Ebbestad, J. O. R. & von Seckendorff, V. 2015. Glacial erratic boulders from Jutland, Denmark, feature an uppermost lower Cambrian fauna of the Lingulid Sandstone Member of Västergötland, Sweden. © 2015 by Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark, Vol. 63, p. 59-86. ISSN 2245-7070. (www.2dgf.dk/publikationer/bulletin). https://doi.org/10.37570/bgsd-2015-63-06 Reinvestigation of glacial erratic boulders from Jutland, Denmark, and from northern Germany, has revealed a moderately diverse fauna with the trilobites Holmiella? sp., Epichalnipsus anartanus, Epichalnipsus sp. A, Epichalnipsus sp. B, and Berabichia erratica, three species of lingulid brachiopods, one hyolith species, and trace fossils comparable to Halopoa imbricata. Comparison with faunas from the Cambrian of Scandinavia strongly suggested a biostratigraphic position equivalent to the uppermost part of the (revised) Holmia kjerul i–‘Ornamentaspis’ linnarssoni to lowermost Com- Received 21 April 2015 luella?–Ellipsocephalus lunatus zones sensu Nielsen & Schovsbo (2011), or the lower to middle part Accepted in revised form of the traditional ‘Ornamentaspis’ linnarssoni Zone, but probably a particular horizon and biofacies 2 November 2015 not yet discovered in Scandinavia. Considerations of glacial transport regimes and the distribu- Published online tion of comparable rock units, as well as a petrographical analysis of the material from the studied 4 December 2015 erratic boulders and rocks from outcrops in Sweden, indicate that the boulders were derived from the Lingulid Sandstone Member of the File Haidar Formation and the source area is situated in the vicinity of the present-day outcrops in the Halleberg–Hunneberg area, Västergötland, Sweden. Keywords: Trilobites, Lingulid Sandstone Member, lower Cambrian, Cambrian Series 2, Västergöt- land, Sweden, Denmark, biostratigraphy, glacial boulders. Thomas Weidner [[email protected]], Ravnholtvej 23, Rårup, DK-7130 Juelsminde, Denmark. Gerd Geyer [[email protected]], Institut für Geographie und Geologie, Lehrstuhl für Geodynamik und Geo- materialforschung, Bayerische Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany. Jan Ove R. Ebbestad [[email protected]], Museum of Evolution, Uppsala University, SE-75236 Uppsala, Sweden. Volker von Seckendorff [[email protected]], Institut für Geographie und Geologie, Lehrstuhl für Geodynamik und Geomaterialforschung, Bayerische Julius- Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany. Corresponding author: Gerd Geyer Trilobite-bearing lower Cambrian strata (provisional Ornamentaspis and Strenuaeva), and the eodiscid genera Cambrian Series 2) in Sweden have been studied mainly Runcinodiscus, Calodiscus, Chelediscus and Neocobboldia. at scattered localities in the south (Scania) and in nu- The early Cambrian faunas and biostratigraphy of the merous outcrops along the Caledonian mountain range Swedish regions are portrayed by Bergström (1973), (Jämtland, Ångermanland and Lapland), in both the Ahlberg & Bergström (1978, 1983, 1991), Ahlberg (1979, autochthonous and allochthonous sequences (Fig. 1A). 1980, 1984a, 1984b, 1984c, 1985), Bergström & Ahlberg Rocks of early Cambrian age predominantly consist of (1981), Ahlberg et al. (1986), Nielsen & Schovsbo (2006, siltstone and sandstone. Trilobites recorded from these 2011) and Høyberget et al. (2015). Studies during the last strata of Baltica are fairly restricted by comparison 15 years have increased our knowledge about these fau- to those from other Cambrian continents and belong nas, particularly of those from localities in the northern to the olenelloid family Holmiidae (Holmia, Holmiella, Caledonides (Moczydłowska et al. 2001; Axheimer et Kjerulfia and Schmidtiellus), to the ptychoparioid family al. 2007; Cederström et al. 2009, 2011, 2012). Due to both Ellipsocephalidae (with species assigned, or provision- outcrop conditions and depositional environments, ally attributed to the genera Comluella, Ellipsocephalus, polymerid trilobites are mostly fragmentary and often Glacial boulders from Denmark of the Lingulid Sandstone Member, Sweden · 59 Fig. 1. A, map of Scandinavia showing outcrops of the Cambrian with inserts of the areas in Denmark and Sweden treated in the text; B and B1, maps of Jutland, Denmark, with localities (red) yielding boulders of the fossil-bearing Lingulid Sandstone; C, map of Västergötland showing Lower Palaeozoic outcrops at Halleberg, Hunneberg, Kinnekulle, and Falbygden to the east with localities (red) yielding the fossil-bearing Lingulid Sandstone; C1, detailed map of Halleberg with the localities Ovandalen and Kvillen (base map from Andersson et al. 1985). 60 · Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark do not permit a precise determination; they belong to Geyer et al. (2004) described trilobites of the el- genera or species endemic to Baltica and are of limited lipsocephaloid genera Epichalnipsus and Berabichia from use for intercontinental or even global correlation, glacial erratic boulders collected at As Hoved and other whereas correlation into other Cambrian continents is localities in Denmark and northern Germany. These facilitated by the species of Calodiscus and Chelediscus. boulders of trilobite-bearing quartzitic sandstones The lower Cambrian biostratigraphy of Scandinavia and were interpreted as being derived from the Lingulid Baltica in general has thus been in a state of preliminary Sandstone Member of Västergötland and to represent subdivision and was recently revised by Nielsen & an unidentified stratigraphical interval. Based on close Schovsbo (2011) as shown in Fig. 2. morphological affinities with ellipsocephaloid trilobites Of particular interest is the upper lower Cambrian from the Moroccan Atlas ranges, Geyer et al. (2004) pro- part of the succession, which provides distinct problems posed a stratigraphic correlation with the Sectigena Zone for correlation into other regions as emphasized in the of Morocco, West Gondwana. However, differences in discussions on the Cambrian Series 2‒Series 3 and Stage lithology suggested that this type of Lingulid Sandstone 4‒Stage 5 boundary (e.g., Geyer & Palmer 1995; Fletcher was unknown in Sweden. 2003; Geyer 2005; Sundberg et al. in press). The tradi- tional subdivision and subsequent zonal schemes that recognize a Holmia kjerulfi group Zone, a Proampyx (or ‘Ornamentaspis’) linnarssoni Zone, and a ‘Protolenus’ Zone Lingulid Sandstone: distribution, (Fig. 2) are equally unable to characterize the trilobite faunas, lack a recognizable evolutionary development lithology, and biostratigraphy of the trilobites, and are not even readily correlatable A key unit for the upper lower Cambrian is the with the neighbouring regions of Baltica in northern Lingulid Sandstone which is generally treated as a Poland or the Holy Cross Mountains in southern Poland. member of the File Haidar Formation (Thorslund & Fig. 2. Biostratigraphic chart of the Scandinavian classical lower Cambrian with the historic development of the lithostratigraphi- cal units for Västergötland and Scania (left and right columns under Lithostratigraphy southern Sweden) and the tentative posi- tion of important fossil horizons mentioned in numerous publications (cited in the text) from southern and central Sweden, the Swedish Allochthon and Lapland, the Mjøsa District in Norway and the Digermul Peninsula, Finnmark, Norway. Stratigraphic interpretations that differ from the original concepts follow data in Nielsen & Schovsbo (2011). RM, Rispebjerg Member. Glacial boulders from Denmark of the Lingulid Sandstone Member, Sweden · 61 Westergård 1938; Thorslund 1960; Bergström & Gee fragmentary pygidium identified as Holmiella sp. from 1985; Nielsen & Schovsbo 2006). The Lingulid Sand- the lower part of the Lingulid Sandstone Member in a stone was first adequately recognized by Holm (in quarry at Hällekis at Lake Vänern, Kinnekulle (Ahl- Holm & Munthe 1901) who separated Linnarsson’s berg et al. 1986). However, this specimen had originally Fucoid Sandstone (see Wallin 1868) into a lower and been attributed to the Mickwitzia Sandstone (Berg- an upper unit termed Mickwitzia and Lingulid Sand- ström 1981; Ahlberg 1984c). This incomplete pygidium stone, respectively, based on differences in lithological and numerous cranidial fragments from this locality characters and bedding thicknesses. It is generally were assigned to Holmiella sp. Both olenelloid taxa were regarded as a depositional tongue of the File Haidar assumed to indicate the Holmia kjerulfi Zone and are Formation extending from the stratotype on Gotland of little biostratigraphic significance, although Jensen (Thorslund & Westergård 1938; Bergström & Gee 1985) (1997) emphasized the lithological equivalence of the into Öland, Västergötland, Östergötland and Närke. host rocks with the Mickwitzia Sandstone. Further- The two units of the File Haidar Formation form the more, Jensen (1997) cited the discovery of a relatively uppermost part of the traditional lower Cambrian complete trilobite by collector Holger Buentke in 1992, succession, but their vertical extent shows an opposite which has remained unpublished since and also is un- trend. The Mickwitzia Sandstone Member increases in certain with respect