Journal of Micropalaeontology, 17: 183-1 9 1. 0262-821)</98 $10.00 0 1998 British Micropalaeontological Society. Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous) miospores from the Cuyahoga and Logan formations of northeastern Ohio, USA GEOFFREY CLAYTON,' WALTER L. MANGER & BERNARD OWENS ' Department of Geology, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland. *Department of Geology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA. British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK. ABSTRACT - Well-preserved Lower Mississippian (Dinantian) miospore assemblages have been recovered from the upper Cuyahoga Formation (type Wooster Member) and overlying lower Logan Formation (Byer Member) at two localities in Wayne County, northeastern Ohio, USA. All six samples were productive and yielded assemblages that represent the middle Tournaisian Spelaeotriletes preriosus- Raistrickia clavata (PC) Miospore Biozone of Western Europe including a new species of trilete, acamerate miospore, Mooreisporites streelii, described from the Wooster Shale. Significant numbers of latest Devonian and earlier Carboniferous miospores are reworked into all assemblages. The palynological evidence is consistent with a late Kinderhookian age for most of the Cuyahoga Formation, including its well known ammonoid fauna. However, the position of the boundary between the Kinderhoohan and Osagean Series remains uncertain. J. Micropalueontol. 17(2): 183-191, December 1998. INTRODUCTION The stratigraphic interval extending from the Ohio Shale to the base of the Sharon Conglomerate of the Pottsville Group, has I I been referred historically to the Waverly Group (Briggs, 1838) America FORMATIONS / Members and divided, in ascending order, into the Bedford Shale, Berea Sandstone, Sunbury Shale, Cuyahoga Formation, Logan For- RUSHVILLE SHALE mation and Maxville Limestone (Collins, 1979). In spite of considerable recent progress, the age and correlation of this succession, particularly surrounding the Bedford-Berea and Cuyahoga-Logan formations, remain controversial. Contra- dictory statements concerning assignments for the component formations permeate the literature. This situation is well illustrated by Waverly Group correlations on the charts produced for the Correlation of Stratigraphic Units of North America Project (COSUNA). The Northern Appalachian Region Chart (Patchen et al., 1985a), which includes eastern Ohio, places the entire Waverly succession in the Lower Mississippian (columns 15, 16 & 20), and locates the Kinder- hookianasagean boundary within the upper Logan Forma- II' I tion, or at its top, where erosion has removed the younger II SUNBURY SHALE I Logan interval. A similar age assignment and correlation is recorded for the interval on the Southern Appalachian Region Chart (Patchen et al., 19856, column 16), which includes a small DEVONIAN. UPPER BEDFORD portion of south central Ohio that comprises the drainage basin SHALE I Famennian of the Scioto River. In contrast, the conterminous Midwestern I OHIO SHALE Basin and Arches Region COSUNA chart (Shaver, 1985, columns 16 & 18) includes adjacent western Ohio and places Fig. 1. Stratigraphic summary of the Upper Devonian and Lower Mississippian in northeastern Ohio. the Devonian-Mississippian boundary within the Bedford Shale and the Kinderhookian-Osagean boundary within the upper Cuyahoga Formation. In none of these charts is there any Formation (Newberry, 1870) is a deltaic complex, characterized suggestion that any of the lithostratigraphic boundaries of by prodeltaic and interdistributary shales and siltstones, and Waverly formations are time transgressive. The stratigraphy of coeval distributary channel quartz sandstones and conglomer- the region is summarized in Fig. 1. ates. A plethora of lithostratigraphic members has been proposed to differentiate laterally equivalent shale and siltstone LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY successions that were deposited between, but occasionally Lower Mississippian rocks crop out in an arcuate band across eroded by, lobes of conglomeratic sandstone (Holden, 1942; central and northeastern Ohio. The sections in Wayne County, Collins, 1979). In Wayne County, the upper Cuyahoga Ohio investigated in this study are restricted to the upper distributary channel facies is referred to the Black Hand Cuyahoga and lower Logan formations (Fig. 2). The Cuyahoga Sandstone (Hicks, 1878) and the interdistributary facies is called 183 Clayton et al. 'LITTLE ARLZONA' ROADCUT I WAYNE COUNTY I MEDAL BRlCKANDTUE QUARRY* WOOSTER*k .) L..-..I 'LITTLE ARaON ROADCUT MEDAL BRICK AND TILE QUARRY (ABANDONED) DATUM -BASE OF LOGAN FORMATION . =BERNE CONGLOMERATE ..-.. DITCH AT ROAD LEVEL Fig. 2. Location and stratigraphy of the sections investigated. the Wooster Shale (Szmuc, 1957, 1970). Black Hand lithologies of the underlying Black Hand Member, which supports its lack marine fossils, while the Wooster Shale has a normal recognition as the base of the Logan Formation (Szmuc, 1970; marine invertebrate assemblage usually associated with sideritic Manger, 1971a). Thus, there is an unconformable boundary concretionary intervals in this dark gray, silty shale. Maximum between the Cuyahoga and Logan formations, particularly at thickness and coarsest grain sizes of the Black Hand Member localities where the Black Hand Member is developed, but the occur in its type area, central Ohio, where the member contact is diastematic and below biostratigraphic resolution. approaches 70 m. It thins to less than 13 m throughout most Maximum thickness of the Logan Formation may exceed lOOm of Wayne County, and is only c. 3.25 m at the Medal Brick and in southern Ohio, where both the Berne and Allensville Tile Quarry (Locality 2). Elsewhere, the Black Hand Member conglomerates pinch-out, and the Logan is not subdivided. pinches out and is represented by interdistributary shales. Logan deposition represents establishment of a shallow marine Maximum thicknesses for the Wooster Member vary from 2G shelf over the drowned Cuyahoga delta. 30 m, and it is persistent throughout most of northeastern Ohio. The overlying Logan Formation (Andrews, 1870) is an PREVIOUS BIOSTRATIGRAPHIC WORK alternation of fine sandstone-siltstone intervals with thin Mississippian Series chronostratigraphy is based on exposures (< 1m), but persistent, quartz pebble conglomerates and lacks along the Mississippi River where it separates Missouri and significant shales. Lithostratigraphic nomenclature recognizes Illinois in the North American mid-continent, with the exception the Berne (basal) and Allensville conglomerate members of the Osagean Series, which has been derived from exposures in separating the Byer and Vinton members of essentially identical, southwestern Missouri. Stratotype sections have not been fine-grained lithology. The conglomeratic Berne Member has designated and the biostratigraphic framework supporting this been included in the Cuyahoga Formation (Collins, 1979), but classification is based primarily on conodont zonations devel- its thickness and lithologic variation can be related to reworking oped during the decade of the 1960s (Collinson et al., 1971). 184 Mississippian miospores -- /I /I MIOSPORE N ZONATION AND CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHY\ 9 ;S. claviger .A. macro I I Anapkanisporites atheticus 2 I x I Aratrismrites saharaensis 3 Auroraspora macra 4 S. prerwsus - R. clavata Auroraspora solisorta 5 .- x 6 .- Ill Calamospora paUida baizeam - R. poiyptycha X I x I Convolutistwramaior 71 s. Convolutispora cf: mellita 8 HD x x Convohtispora vermifonnis 9 K. hibernicus - U. distincnu Crasismm maculosa 10 viI! vemosus - R. incohatus I x I x I Grandisporaechinata 14 R. lepidophyta - I! nilidus I x I Gr~katismritcsmicronranifer 15 -9 w .- I x I Knoxisporites literatus 161 R. iepidophyta - H. explanatus x x Knoxisporites cf. triradiatus 17 5 x Lewm'letes inermis 18 x Mooreispontes streelii sp. nov. 19 R. kpidophyta ~ K. lireranu ILL 201 I I Neoraiskickia mmsa x Neorairkickia Iogani 21 Fig. 3. Stratigraphic ranges in Western Europe of selected miospore x Mooreisjmrites sp. cf: N. logani 22 species recorded in the Ohio samples (key taxa not recorded in the Ohio Perotriiites ~IUQIUS 23 samples are shown by dashed lines: * = in part). tt x I I Plicatispora quarilabrata 24 x I I Punctativmritesminutus 2s Ammonoid cephalopods are notably absent in these sections 1 x I Punctatisporitespka~ 26 and the predominance of carbonate lithologies has precluded x I x I ~urtuIatismritcsdolbii 27 palynomorph recovery, although a zonal scheme based on X x 1 x I Raism'ckia ckavata 28 calcareous foraminifers is well known. Mississippian biostrati- X I1 x I x I Rairtrickia ct: stnunosa 29 graphic correlations from those same sections were accom- lxlxlxlx x x Retisporakpidopiyta 30 x x Retusotriktesincohatus 31 plished mainly by brachiopods earlier in this century (e.g. Weller x RetusoMlctes trianpuhtur 32 et al., 1948) and more recently the COSUNA program has ~ hgospora radiata reviewed and revised many of these assignments, although the t 1 1 Spelueotriletes hiteatus - Spelueobiletes crenulutus X Spelaeokiletes pretiosur 36 Table 1. Distribution of miospore taxa and other selected palynomorphs. x x Spinozonotriktes uncatus 37 The authors of the taxa listed are: 1. Playford, 2. Neves & Ioannides, 3. Twnulispora malevkemis 38 Loboziak, Clayton & Owens, 4. Sullivan, 5. Hoffmeister, Staph & - x Tumulismra rarituberculata 39 Malloy, 6. (Loose) Schopf, Wilson & Bentall, 7. (Kedo) Turnau, 8. X UmboMtiSporitCS abSh4.W.S Hoffmeister, Staph & Malloy, 9. Hughes & Playford, 10. (Knox) &I- 40 X