Aretz et al_2011.pdf - ORBi - Université de Liège

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Kölner Forum Geol. Paläont., 19 (2011)
M. ARETZ, S. DELCULÉE, J. DENAYER & E. POTY (Eds.)
Abstracts, 11th Symposium on Fossil Cnidaria and Sponges, Liège, August 19-29, 2011
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Late Visean to Early Serpukhovian Rugose corals from Yashui, Guizhou,
South China
Wei LIN 1 , Xiangdong WANG 1 , Edouard POTY 2 & Markus ARETZ 3
1 Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, China Academy of Science, No. 39 East Beijing Road,
Nanjing, P. R. China; robert_lynnxx@hotmail.com; xdwang@nigpas.ac.cn
2 Service de Paléontologie animale, Université de Liège, Bâtiment B18, Allée du 6 août, Sart Tilman, B-4000
Liège, Belgium; e.poty@ulg.ac.be
3 Université de Toulouse (UPS), GET (OMP), 14 Avenue Edouard Belin, F-31400 Toulouse, France;
markus.aretz@get.obs-mip.fr
The use of rugose corals for biostratigraphic correlation is always underestimated due to the difficulties
in identification and overemphasis on facies control on coral distributions. Especially in such strata as the
Late Visean-Serpukhovian, the frequent appearance of sedimentary disruptions brought further trouble in
rugose coral biostratigraphic studies. Thus, the problem of using rugose corals to recognize the base of
Serpukovian still remains unsolved.
The Yashui section in the Guizhou Province, South China contains a late Visean-Serpukhovian shallow
water sedimentary succession mainly composed of light coloured bioclastic limestone, which is rich in
rugose corals and foraminifers. The section was recently dated by foraminifers (WU et al. 2009). Rugose
corals have been collected from 90m of strata. The fauna is diversified and 23 species have been identified
(including four in open nomenclature). They belong to 14 genera. All are shallow water inhabitates and can
be included in four families: Aulophyllidae, Palaeosmiliidae, Lithostrotionidae and Axophyllidae.
Lithostrotionidae and Aulophyllidae are the most diversified in the section.
The ranges of coral species are shown in Fig. 1. Most of the corals occuring in the sampling interval
indicate the Yuanophyllum zone as proposed by YÜ (1931), which was further divided into three subzones
by WU (1964). A correlation to the European coral zonations can be attempted based on species such as
Dibunophyllum bipartitum konicki and Siphonodendron irregulare, which are also common faunal elements in
the Visean and Early Serpukhovian of Europe. Aulina rotiformis is a typical species for strata of
Visean/Serpukhovian transition. This species occurs at Yashui about 20 m below the Viséan/Serpukhovian
boundary based on foraminifers.
WU X., JIN X., WANG Y., WANG W. & QI Y. (2009): The foraminiferal assemblage in the Visean/Serpukhovian boundary
interval at the Yashui section, Guizhou, South China. - Newsletters on Carboniferous Stratigraphy, 27: 28-33.
YÜ C. (1931): The correlation of the Fengning system, the Chinese Lower Carboniferous, as based on coral zones. -
Bulletin of the Geological Society of China, 10: 1-30.
WU W. (1964): Lower Carboniferous corals in Central Hunan. - Memoirs of the Institute of Geology and Palaeongology,
3: 1-100 (In Chinese with an English abstract).