Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-9pm4c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T03:19:24.141Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Heliolitine corals of the topmost Douro and overlying formations (Upper Silurian), Canadian Arctic islands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Owen A. Dixon*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Ottawa and Ottawa-Carleton Geoscience Centre, Ottawa K1N 6N5, Canada

Abstract

Heliolitine corals occur in Upper Silurian strata of the topmost Douro, lower Barlow Inlet, and lower Somerset Island formations in the Boothia Uplift region. The fauna includes Heliolites (nine species), Propora (two species), the stelliporellid genera Podollites (three species) and Stelliporella (one species), and the plasmoporid Squameolites (one species). Species present but not previously reported from the region include Heliolites arcuatus Bondarenko, Heliolites uksunayensis Mironova, Stelliporella ilensis Bondarenko, Podollites assitus new species, Podollites parryi new species, Podollites plectilis new species, Propora tubulata (Lonsdale) and an unidentified species of Propora. All species occur in reef and reef-associated facies of open carbonate shelf and ramp settings. In restricted nonreefal carbonate shelf settings, diversity attenuates to a minimum, exemplified by numerically abundant monospecific assemblages of Heliolites uksunayensis. Six of the 16 morphotaxonomic units recognized compare with species reported previously in Silurian faunas of Kazakhstan and Mongolia. Combinations of characters in the species attributed to Podollites support revision of the genus, possibly to include Derivatolites and Tarbagatailites, in a group morphologically intermediate between Stelliporella and Heliolites.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Amsden, T. 1949. Stratigraphy and paleontology of the Brownsport Formation (Silurian) of Western Tennessee. Peabody Museum of Natural History Bulletin, 5:1138.Google Scholar
Angelin, N. P., and Lindström, G. 1880. Fragmenta silurica e dono Caroli Henrici Wegelin. Opus studio Nicholai Petri Angelin inchoatum jussu et impensis Academiae Regiae Scientiarum Suecicae edendum curavit G. Lindström, Stockholm, 605 p.Google Scholar
Barskaja, V. F. 1963. Ordovikskie i siluriyskie korally Gornogo Altaya. Paleontologicheskiy Zhurnal, 1963(3):2738 (Ordovician and Silurian corals of the Altai Mountains. Translation in International Geology Review, 7: 898–909).Google Scholar
Bondarenko, O. B. 1963. Reviziya roda Plasmopora. Paleontologicheskiy Zhurnal, 1963(1):4252 (Revision of the genus Plasmopora. Translation in International Geology Review, 6:1,858-1,867).Google Scholar
Bondarenko, O. B. 1966. Geliolitoidey isen'skoy svity, p. 145197. In Chetverikova, N. P. (ed.), Stratigrafiya i fauna siluriyskikh i nizhnedevonskikh otlozheniy Nurinskogo sinklinoriya. Materialy po geologii tsentral'nogo Kazakhstana, 6(Heliolitoids of the Isen Suite, in Stratigraphy and fauna of the Silurian and Lower Devonian deposits of the Nurin synclinorium. Geological Survey of Canada Translation Series Number 614).Google Scholar
Bondarenko, O. B. 1971. Ob'em novogo semeystva Stelliporellidae (geliolitidy), p. 166178. In Dubatolov, V. N. (ed.), Tabulyaty i geliolitoidei paleozoya SSSR. II Vsesoyuznogo simpoziuma po izucheniyu iskopaemykh korallov SSSR, Trudy, 1. Izdatel'stvo “Nauka,” Moscow (Members of the new family Stelliporellidae (heliolitids), in Paleozoic Tabulata and Heliolitoidea of the U.S.S.R. Geological Survey of Canada Translation Series Number 572).Google Scholar
Bondarenko, O. B. 1975. Geliolitoidey, p. 5061. In Menner, V. V. (ed.), Kharakteristika fauny pogranichnikh sloev silura i devona tsentral'nogo Kazakhstan. Materialy po geologii tsentral'nogo Kazakhstana, 12 (Heliolitoids, in Characteristic faunas of the Silurian-Devonian boundary beds of central Kazakhstan. Geological Survey of Canada Translation Series Number 2061).Google Scholar
Bondarenko, O. B. 1991. Novie vidy Stelliporella iz Silura Mongolii (korally geliolitoidei). Paleontologicheskiy Zhurnal, 1991(3):2027 (New species of Silurian Stelliporella (heliolitoid corals) from Mongolia, Paleontological Journal, 1991(3): 23–32).Google Scholar
Bondarenko, O. B. 1992. Sistema Geliolitoidey. Moskovskoye Obshchestvo Ispytateley Prirody, Moscow, 206 p. (The system of heliolitoids).Google Scholar
Bondarenko, O. B., and Minzhin, CH. 1981. Otryad Heliolitida, p. 94117. In Menner, V. V. (ed.), Atlas fauny ordovika Mongolii. Izdatel'stvo “Nauka,” Moscow (Order Heliolitida, in Atlas of Ordovician fauna of Mongolia. Geological Survey of Canada Translation Series Number 2,912).Google Scholar
Dana, J. M. 1846. Structure and classification of Zoophytes. In U.S. Exploring Expedition During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842 Under the Command of Charles Wilkes, U.S.N., Volume 7. Lea and Blanchard, Philadelphia, 740 p.Google Scholar
Defreitas, T. A., and Dixon, O. A. 1995. Silurian microbial buildups of the Canadian Arctic. International Association of Sedimentologists, Special Publication 23:151169.Google Scholar
Defreitas, T. A., Dixon, O. A., and Mayr, U. 1993. Silurian pinnacle reefs of the Canadian Arctic. Palaios, 8:172182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deng, Z.-Q. 1984. Lower and Middle Devonian Tabulata from Alengchu of Northwestern Yunnan. Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Academia Sinica, Bulletin No. 7:287310.Google Scholar
Dixon, O. A. 1979. Late Silurian plasmoporid and stelliporellid corals (Heliolitidae) from the Canadian Arctic. Journal of Paleontology, 53:642656.Google Scholar
Dixon, O. A. 1989. Species definition in heliolitine corals of the lower Douro Formation (Upper Silurian), Canadian Arctic. Journal of Paleontology, 63:819838.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dixon, O. A. 1993. Coral communities and implications for paleoenvironments: Silurian heliolitine corals in a carbonate ramp setting, Canadian Arctic. Palaios, 8:1830.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dixon, O. A. 1996. Heliolitine corals of the upper Douro Formation (Upper Silurian), Canadian Arctic islands. Journal of Paleontology, 69:718740.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dixon, O. A., and Graf, G. C. 1992. Upper Silurian reef mounds on a shallowing carbonate ramp, Devon Island, Arctic Canada. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, 40:123.Google Scholar
Dubatolov, V. N., and Spassky, N. Ya. 1964. Nekotorye novye korally iz devona Sovetskogo Soyuza, p. 112140. In Dubatolov, V. N. and Spassky, N. Ya. (eds.), Stratigraficheskii i geograficheskii obzor devonskich korallov SSSR, “Nauka,” Moscow (Some new corals from the Devonian of the Soviet Union, in Stratigraphic and geographic survey of Devonian corals of the U.S.S.R.).Google Scholar
Dzyubo, P. S. 1972. Tabulyaty i geliolitidy verchnego ordovika i silura Kul'dzhuk-Tau, p. 1840. In Abdullaeva, Ch. M. (ed.), Novie dannie po faune Paleozoya i Mesozoya Uzbekistana. Akademiya nauk Uzbekskoi SSR, Institut geologii i geofiziki, Tashkent (Tabulates and heliolitids of the Upper Ordovician and Silurian of Kul'dzhuk-Tau, in New data on the Paleozoic and Mesozoic faunas of Uzbekistan).Google Scholar
Dzyubo, P. S., and Mironova, N. V. 1961. Siluriyskaya sistema, Podklass Tabulata, p. 5674. In Khalfin, L. L. (ed.), Biostratigrafiya paleozoya Sayano-Altayskoy gornoy oblasti II, sredniy paleozoy. Sibirskii nauchno-issledovatel'skii institut (geologii, geofiziki i mineral'nogo syr'ja), Trudy, 20[1960] (The Silurian System, Subclass Tabulata, in Paleozoic biostratigraphy of the Sayan-Altai mountain region II, Middle Paleozoic).Google Scholar
Ehrenberg, C. G. 1834. Beiträge zur physiologischen Kenntniss der Corallenthiere im allgemeinen, und besonders des Rothen Meeres, nebst einem Versuche zur physiologischen Systematik derselben. Akademie der Wissenschaften, physikalisch-mathematische Klasse, Abhandlungen (1832), p. 225380.Google Scholar
Frech, F. 1897. Referat, J. Wentzel: Zur Kenntniss der Zoantharia tabulata. Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geologie und Paläontologie, 1897(2):212214.Google Scholar
Galle, A. 1968. Two new heliolitoid species from the Silurian of Bohemia (Anthozoa). Vestnik Ustredniho ustavu geologickeho, 43:5355.Google Scholar
Goldfuss, G. A. 1826. Petrefacta Germaniae, Teil 1, p. 176. Dusseldorf.Google Scholar
Greiner, H. R. 1963. Vicinity of Beechey Island to Radstock Bay. In Fortier, Y. O., et al. (eds.), Geology of the North-central Part of the Arctic Archipelago, Northwest Territories (Operation Franklin). Geological Survey of Canada Memoir, 320:201207.Google Scholar
Hill, D. 1981. Supplement 1, Rugosa and Tabulata. In Teichert, C. (ed.), Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Pt. F, Coelenterata. Geological Society of America and University of Kansas, Lawrence. 762 p.Google Scholar
Iven, C. 1980. Alveolitiden und Heliolitiden aus dem Mittel- und Oberdevon des Bergischen Landes (Rheinisches Schiefergebirge). Palaeontographica, A, 167(4-6):121179.Google Scholar
Jin, C.-T. 1984. Silurian tabulate coral succession in Huanggexi of Daguan, Yunan. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica, 23(1):119.Google Scholar
Jones, B. 1978. Rossella: a new Silurian pentamerid brachiopod from the Canadian Arctic. Journal of Paleontology, 52:545560.Google Scholar
Jones, B. 1979. Nanukidium, a new name for Rossella Jones, 1978. Journal of Paleontology, 53:1,261.Google Scholar
Jones, B., and Dixon, O. A. 1977. Stratigraphy and sedimentology of Upper Silurian rocks, northern Somerset Island, Arctic Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 14:1,427-1,452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, O. A., and Hill, D. 1940. The Heliolitidae of Australia, with a discussion of the morphology and systematic position of the family. Royal Society of Queensland, Proceedings, 51[1939]:183215.Google Scholar
Klaamann, E. 1961. Tabulyaty i geliolitidy Venlocka Estonii. Eesti NSV Teaduste Akadeemia Geoloogia Instituudi Uurimused, 6:69112 (Tabulates and heliolitids of the Wenlock of Estonia).Google Scholar
Klaamann, E. 1984. Geliolitidy v pozdnesiluriyskikh korallovykh soobschchestvakh Pribaltiki. Izvestiya Akademii nauk Estonskoy SSR, Geologiya, 23(2):6369 (Heliolitids in Late Silurian coral communities of the Prebaltic).Google Scholar
Kovalevsky, O. P. 1972. Novye vidy pozdneordovikskikh tabulyat i geliolitoidei Kazakhstana, p. 7175. In Zanina, I. E. (ed.), Novye vidy drevnikh rastenii i bespozvonochnikh SSSR, Volume 3. Izdatelstvo “Nauka,” Moskva (New Late Ordovician tabulates and heliolitoids of Kazakhstan, in New species of fossil plants and invertebrates of the U.S.S.R.).Google Scholar
Kovalevsky, O. P. 1975. Tabulyaty, p. 4150. In Menner, V. V. (ed.), Kharakteristika fauny pogranichnikh sloev silura i devona tsentral'nogo Kazakhstana. Materialy po geologii tsentral'nogo Kazakhstana, 12 (Tabulates, in Characteristic faunas of the Silurian-Devonian boundary beds of central Kazakhstan).Google Scholar
Lindström, G. 1876. On the affinities of the Anthozoa Tabulata. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Series 4, 18:117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindström, G. 1899. Remarks on the Heliolitidae. Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens, Handlingar, 32:1140.Google Scholar
Lonsdale, W. 1839. Corals, graptolites, and nondescripts, p. 675698. In Murchison, R. I., The Silurian System, Pt. 2. John Murray, London.Google Scholar
McMillan, N. J. 1963. North coast of Somerset Island. In Fortier, Y. O., et al. (eds.), Geology of the North-central Part of the Arctic Archipelago, Northwest Territories (Operation Franklin). Geological Survey of Canada Memoir, 320:129135.Google Scholar
Miall, A. D., and Gibling, M. R. 1978. The Siluro-Devonian clastic wedge of Somerset Island, Arctic Canada, and some regional paleogeographic implications. Sedimentary Geology, 21:85127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milne-Edwards, H., and Haime, J. 1849. Mémoire sur les polypiers appartenant aux groupes naturels des Zoanthaires perforés et des Zoanthaires tabulés. Académie des Sciences de Paris, Comptes Rendues, 29:257263.Google Scholar
Milne-Edwards, H., and Haime, J. 1851. Monographie des polypiers fossiles des terrains paléozoïques. Musée nationale d'histoire naturelle de Paris, Archive 5, 502 p.Google Scholar
Milne-Edwards, H., and Haime, J. 1855. A Monograph of the British Fossil Corals, Pt. 5, Corals from the Silurian Formation. Palaeontographical Society, London, 8:245299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mironova, N. V. 1961. Tabulyaty i geliolitidy tom'chumyshskich (ostrakodovikh) sloev Salaira. Sibirskii nauchno-issledovatel'skii institut (geologii, geofiziki i mineral'nogo syr'ja), Trudy, 15:148163 (Tabulates and heliolitids from the Tom'chumysh (ostracode) beds of Salair).Google Scholar
Narbonne, G. M. 1981. Stratigraphy, reef development and trace fossils of the Upper Silurian Douro Formation in the southeastern Canadian Arctic Islands. Unpublished , , 259 p.Google Scholar
Narbonne, G. M., and Dixon, O. A. 1984. Upper Silurian lithistid sponge reefs on Somerset Island, Arctic Canada. Sedimentology, 31:2550.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noble, J. P. A., and Young, G. A. 1984. The Llandovery-Wenlock heliolitid corals from New Brunswick, Canada. Journal of Paleontology, 58:867884.Google Scholar
Powell, J. 1980. Palaeoecology and taxonomy of some Wenlock tabulate corals and stromatoporoids. Unpublished , , 363 p.Google Scholar
Sardeson, F. W. 1896. Über die Beziehungen der fossilen Tabulaten zu den Alcyonarien. Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geologie und Paläontologie, Beilage-Band 10:249362.Google Scholar
Scrutton, C. T. 1989. Intracolonial and intraspecific variation in tabulate corals. Association of Australasian Palaeontologists, Memoir 8:3343.Google Scholar
Scrutton, C. T. 1993. Growth-form variation and control in two British Silurian species of Propora. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, 164:273281.Google Scholar
Scrutton, C. T. 1997. Growth stages and colonial form in tabulate corals. Boletín de la Real Sociedad Española de Historia Natural (Sección Geológica), 91:179191.Google Scholar
Sokolov, B. S. 1949. Tabulata i Heliolitida, p. 7598. In Atlas rukovodyashchikh form iskopaemykh faun SSSR, II: Siluriyskaya Sistema. Gosgeoltekhizdat, Moscow.Google Scholar
Spjeldnaes, N. 1964. Two compound corals from the Tretaspis Beds of the Oslo-Asker District. Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift, 44(1):110.Google Scholar
Sweet, N. L. 1995. Paleoecology and sedimentology of Late Silurian biogenic structures in the Douro and Devon Island formations on western Devon and southwestern Ellesmere islands, Arctic Canada. Unpublished , , xx + 170 p.Google Scholar
Tchi, Y.-Y. 1976. Tabulata, p. 101129. In Paleontological Atlas of North China, Volume 1, Paleozoic, Fossils of Inner Mongolia. Geological Publishing House, Peking.Google Scholar
Tchi, Y.-Y. 1980. Tabulata, p. 153188. In Paleontological Atlas of Northeast China, Volume 1, Paleozoic. Geological Publishing House, Beijing.Google Scholar
Trettin, H. P., Mayr, U., Long, G. D. F., and Packard, J. J. 1991. Cambrian to Early Devonian basin development, sedimentation, and volcanism, Arctic Islands, Chapter 8, p. 165238. In Trettin, H. P. (ed.), Geology of the Innuitian Orogen and Arctic Platform of Canada and Greenland. Geological Survey of Canada, Geology of Canada, Number 3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Veron, J. E. N. 1995. Corals in Space and Time: The Biogeography and Evolution of the Scleractinia. UNSW Press, Sydney.Google Scholar
Wentzel, J. 1895. Zur Kenntnis der Zoantharia Tabulata. Denckschriften Österreichische Akademie Wissenschaften (mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Klasse), 62:479516.Google Scholar
Young, G. A., and Elias, R. J. 1995. Latest Ordovician to earliest Silurian colonial corals of the east-central United States. Bulletins of American Paleontology, 108:1148.Google Scholar
Young, G. A., and Noble, J. P. A. 1990a. Silurian Heliolitidae (Anthozoa, Tabulata) from the Chaleurs Bay region, Canada. Journal of Paleontology, 64:4460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, G. A., and Noble, J. P. A. 1990b. Silurian Proporidae and Plasmoporidae (Anthozoa, Tabulata) from the Chaleurs Bay region, Canada. Journal of Paleontology, 64:184199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, G. A., and Scrutton, C. T. 1991. Growth form in Silurian heliolitid corals: the influence of genetics and environment. Paleobiology, 17:369387.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, C.-M. 1956. Some Silurian corals from the Chiuchüan Basin, western Kansu. Acta Palaeontontologica Sinica, 4(4):599620.Google Scholar