Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-nr4z6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-08T14:42:16.527Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Late Ordovician solitary rugose corals of the St. Lawrence Lowland, Québec

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Robert J. Elias ,
Danita S. Brandt  and
T. H. Clark
Robert J. Elias
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2, Canada
Danita S. Brandt
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Geology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti 48197
T. H. Clark
Affiliation:
Redpath Museum, McGill University, Montréal, Québec H3A 2K6, Canada
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Two species of solitary rugose corals occur in Late Ordovician strata of the St. Lawrence Lowland. Grewingkia canadensis (Billings, 1862) appears in the upper part of the Nicolet River Formation (upper St. Hilaire Member) and is far more common in the overlying Pontgravé River Formation. A single specimen of Streptelasma divaricans (Nicholson, 1875) is known from the Pontgravé River. Their presence confirms that this area is situated within the Richmond Province and that the upper Nicolet River, as well as the Pontgravé River, is Richmondian in age. Solitary Rugosa were introduced to this biogeographic province during an early Richmondian transgression, marked in the upper Nicolet River Formation by a coarser clastic interval. That event permits correlation between the St. Lawrence Lowland in the eastern part of the Richmond Province and the North American type Upper Ordovician (Cincinnatian Series) of the Cincinnati Arch region in the western part of the province.

A comparative morphologic, paleoecologic, and biostratinomic analysis of solitary corals indicates that normal, low-energy conditions were interrupted occasionally by high-energy events (probably storms) during deposition of the upper Nicolet River and Pontgravé River Formations. Water depth increased northwestward in the St. Lawrence Lowland area. Deposition of these siliciclastic prodelta to delta front sediments was generally continuous and the sedimentation rate was usually high because of rapid basin subsidence and comparatively close proximity to the Taconic Mountains. In the western part of the Richmond Province, farther from the source area, carbonate as well as clastic sediments accumulated, periods of nondeposition were more frequent, and the sedimentation rate was relatively low. Corals disappeared from the St. Lawrence Lowland area during the Richmondian, when delta top facies of the Bécancour River Formation succeeded the Pontgravé River Formation due to a glacio-eustatic regression and progradation of the Queenston Delta.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 64 , Issue 3 , May 1990 , pp. 340 - 352
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

Bassler, R. S. 1932. The stratigraphy of the central basin of Tennessee. Tennessee Division of Geology, Bulletin 38, 268 p.Google Scholar
Beaulieu, J., Lajoie, J., and Hubert, C. 1980. Provenance et modèle de dépǒt de la Formation de la Rivière Nicolet: flysch taconique du Domaine autochtone et du Domaine externe des Appalaches du Québec. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 17:855–865.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belt, E. S., Riva, J., and Bussières, L. 1979. Revision and correlation of late Middle Ordovician stratigraphy northeast of Quebec City. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 16:1467–1483.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bergström, S. M., and Mitchell, C. E. 1986. The graptolite correlation of the North American Upper Ordovician standard. Lethaia, 19:247–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Billings, E. 1858. Report for the year 1857. Geological Survey of Canada, Report of Progress (1857):147–192.Google Scholar
Billings, E. 1862. New species of fossils from different parts of the Lower, Middle, and Upper Silurian rocks of Canada. Geological Survey of Canada, Palaeozoic Fossils, 1(4):96–185.Google Scholar
Bolton, T. E., and Copeland, M. J. 1972. Manitoulin Island region—Ordovician and Silurian fossils, Pls. A-D, p. 54–61. In Robertson, J. A. and Card, K. D., Geology and Scenery, North Shore of Lake Huron Region. Ontario Division of Mines, Geology Guidebook 4.Google Scholar
Brandt, D. S. 1985. Stratigraphic resolution in the Nicolet Formation (Upper Ordovician), Quebec, Canada. Unpubl. Ph.D. dissertation, Yale University, New Haven, 378 p.Google Scholar
Bretsky, P. W. 1977. Macroinvertebrate teilzones and episodic faunal changes from an Upper Ordovician flysch in Quebec. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 14:1674–1686.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bretsky, P. W., and Bretsky, S. S. 1975. Succession and repetition of Late Ordovician fossil assemblages from the Nicolet River Valley, Quebec. Paleobiology, 1:225–237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, T. C. 1909. Studies on the morphology and development of certain rugose corals. Annals New York Academy of Sciences, 19:45–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buttler, C. J., Elias, R. J., and Norford, B. S. 1988. Upper Ordovician to lowermost Silurian solitary rugose corals from the Beaverfoot Formation, southern Rocky Mountains, British Columbia and Alberta. Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 379, Contributions to Canadian Paleontology:47–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, T. H. 1947. Summary report on the St. Lawrence Lowlands south of the St. Lawrence River. Quebec, Department of Mines, Preliminary Report, P.R. No. 204, 18 p. [a larger format edition comprising 10 p. was also printed].Google Scholar
Clark, T. H. 1955. St. Jean-Beloeil area: Iberville, St. Jean, Napierville-Laprairie, Rouville, Chambly, St. Hyacinthe and Verchères Counties. Quebec, Department of Mines, Geological Report 66, 83 p.Google Scholar
Clark, T. H. 1964. Yamaska-Aston area: Nicolet, Yamaska, Berthier, Richelieu and Drummond Counties. Quebec, Department of Natural Resources, Geological Report 102, 192 p.Google Scholar
Clark, T. H. 1972. Stratigraphy and structure of the St. Lawrence Lowland of Quebec. XXIV International Geological Congress, Montreal, Quebec, 1972, Guidebook, Excursion C52, 82 p.Google Scholar
Clark, T. H., and Globensky, Y. 1976a. Trois-Rivières area. Québec, Ministère des Richesses naturelles, Geological Report 164, 87 p.Google Scholar
Clark, T. H., and Globensky, Y. 1976b. Bécancour area and northeastern part of Aston area. Québec, Ministère des Richesses naturelles, Geological Report 165, 66 p.Google Scholar
Copper, P. 1978. Paleoenvironments and paleocommunities in the Ordovician-Silurian sequence of Manitoulin Island, p. 47–61. In Sanford, J. T. and Mosher, R. E. (eds.), Geology of the Manitoulin Area, Including the Road Log to the Michigan Basin Geological Society Field Trip, September 29, 30 and October 1, 1978. Michigan Basin Geological Society, Special Papers No. 3.Google Scholar
Cox, I. 1937. Arctic and some other species of Streptelasma. Geological Magazine, 74:1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cumings, E. R. 1908. The stratigraphy and paleontology of the Cincinnati Series of Indiana. Indiana Department of Geology and Natural Resources, Annual report, 32:605–1188.Google Scholar
Dean, R. S., and Webber, G. R. 1961. Subdivision of Lorraine and Richmond Groups of Quebec by elemental analyses of calcareous strata. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Bulletin, 45:1731–1745.Google Scholar
Dybowski, W. 1873. Monographie der Zoantharia sclerodermata rugosa aus der Silurformation Estlands, Nord-Livlands und der Insel Gotland. Archiv für die Naturkunde Liv-, Ehst- und Kurlands, series 1, 5:257–414.Google Scholar
Elias, R. J. 1982. Latest Ordovician solitary rugose corals of eastern North America. Bulletins of American Paleontology, 81(314), 116 p.Google Scholar
Elias, R. J. 1983. Middle and Late Ordovician solitary rugose corals of the Cincinnati Arch region. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1066-N, 13 p.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elias, R. J. 1985. Solitary rugose corals of the Upper Ordovician Montoya Group, southern New Mexico and westernmost Texas. Paleontological Society, Memoir 16 [Journal of Paleontology, 59(5), supplement], 58 p.Google Scholar
Elias, R. J. 1986. Symbiotic relationships between worms and solitary rugose corals in the Late Ordovician. Paleobiology, 12:32–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elias, R. J. In press. Extinctions and origins of solitary rugose corals, latest Ordovician to earliest Silurian in North America. In Jell, P. A. and Pickett, J. W. (eds.), Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium on Fossil Cnidaria. Association of Australasian Palaeontologists, Memoir 8.Google Scholar
Elias, R. J., Zeilstra, R. G., and Bayer, T. N. 1988. Paleoenvironmental reconstruction based on horn corals, with an example from the Late Ordovician of North America. Palaios, 3:22–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foerste, A. F. 1909. Preliminary notes on Cincinnatian and Lexington fossils. Denison University Science Laboratory Bulletin, 14:289–333.Google Scholar
Foerste, A. F. 1916. Upper Ordovician formations in Ontario and Quebec. Canada, Geological Survey, Memoir 83 (No. 70, Geological Series), 279 p.Google Scholar
Foerste, A. F. 1917-1918. The Richmond faunas of Little Bay de Noquette, in northern Michigan. Ottawa Naturalist, 31(9):97–103 [1917], 31 (10): 121–127 [1918].Google Scholar
Foerste, A. F. 1924. Upper Ordovician faunas of Ontario and Quebec. Canada, Geological Survey, Memoir 138 (No. 121, Geological Series), 255 p.Google Scholar
Geological Survey of Canada. 1863. Geology of Canada. Geological Survey of Canada, Report of Progress, 983 p.Google Scholar
Globensky, Y. 1985. Géologie des régions de Saint-Jean (partie nord) et de Beloeil. Québec, Ministère de l'Énergie et des Ressources, MM 84-03, 99 p.Google Scholar
Globensky, Y. 1987. Géologie des Basses-Terres du Saint-Laurent. Québec, Ministère de l'Énergie et de Ressources, MM 85-02, 63 p.Google Scholar
Globensky, Y., and Riva, J. 1982. Guide for excursion C: Ordovician stratigraphy and paleontology of the St. Lawrence Lowlands and the frontal Appalachians near Quebec City, p. C1–C47. In Globensky, Y. (ed.), Field Trips Guidebook. North American Paleontological Convention, Montreal, Canada, Aug. 5, 6, 7, 1982.Google Scholar
Hall, J. 1847. Natural History of New York, Part 6: Palaeontology of New York, 1. C. van Benthuysen, Albany, 338 p.Google Scholar
Hill, D. 1961. On the Ordovician corals Palaeophyllum rugosum Billings and Nyctopora billingsii Nicholson. Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 80, Contributions to Canadian Palaeontology:1–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambe, L. M. 1901. A revision of the genera and species of Canadian Palaeozoic corals—the Madreporaria Aporosa and the Madreporaria Rugosa. Geological Survey of Canada, Contributions to Canadian Paleontology, 4:97–197.Google Scholar
Liberty, B. A. 1964. Upper Ordovician stratigraphy of the Toronto area, p. 43–53. In Geology of Central Ontario, American Association of Petroleum Geologists and Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Guidebook, May 1964, Toronto. Geological Association of Canada.Google Scholar
Ma, T. Y. H. 1956. Climate and the relative positions of continents during the Ordovician. Research on the Past Climate and Continental Drift, 11, 29 p.Google Scholar
Mason, G. D. 1967. Depositional environments of the Lorraine and Richmond Groups in the St. Lawrence Lowlands of Quebec. Unpubl. , , 103 p.Google Scholar
Milne Edwards, H., and Haime, J. 1851. Monographie des polypiers fossiles des terrains palaeozoiques. Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Archives, Paris, 5, 502 p.Google Scholar
Nelson, S. J. 1981. Solitary streptelasmatid corals, Ordovician of northern Hudson Bay Lowland, Manitoba, Canada. Palaeontographica, Abteilung A, 172:1–71.Google Scholar
Nicholson, H. A. 1875a. Report upon the Palaeontology of the Province of Ontario. Hunter, Rose, and Company, Toronto, 96 p.Google Scholar
Nicholson, H. A. 1875b. Description of the corals of the Silurian and Devonian Systems. Ohio Geological Survey report, 2:181–242.Google Scholar
Nicholson, H. A. 1876. Notes on the Palaeozoic corals of the State of Ohio. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 4, 18(104):85–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rominger, C. L. 1876. Palaeontology—fossil corals. Geological Survey of Michigan, 3(2), 161 p.Google Scholar
Sardeson, F. W. 1897. On Streptelasma profundum (Owen), S. corniculum Hall. American Geologist, 20:277–292.Google Scholar
Scotese, C. R., Bambach, R. K., Barton, C., Van Der Voo, R., and Ziegler, A. M. 1979. Paleozoic base maps. Journal of Geology, 87:217–277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simmons, G. C., and Oliver, W. A. Jr. 1967. Otter Creek coral bed and its fauna, east-central Kentucky. United States Geological Survey, Bulletin 1244-F, 13 p.Google Scholar
Stumm, E. C. 1963. Ordovician streptelasmid rugose corals from Michigan. University of Michigan, Museum of Paleontology, Contributions, 18(2):23–31.Google Scholar
Sweet, W. C. 1979. Conodonts and conodont biostratigraphy of post-Tyrone Ordovician rocks of the Cincinnati region. U.S. Geological Survey, Professional Paper 1066-G, 26 p.Google Scholar
Velbel, D. Brandt. 1984. Sedimentology and taphonomy in a clastic Ordovician sea. Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, 16:204.Google Scholar
Walters, M., Lespérance, P. J., and Hubert, C. 1982. The biostratigraphy of the Nicolet River Formation in Quebec and intra-North American correlations in Middle and Upper Ordovician strata. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 19:571–588.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wedekind, R. 1927. Die Zoantharia rugosa von Gotland (besonders Nordgotland): Nebst Bemerkungen zur Biostratigraphie des Gotlandium. Sveriges Geologiska Undersökning, series Ca, 19, 94 p.Google Scholar
White, C. A. 1882. Van Cleve's fossil corals. Indiana Department of Geology and Natural History, Annual Report (1881), 11:376–401.Google Scholar
Wilson, C. W. Jr. 1948. The geology of Nashville, Tennessee. Tennessee Department of Conservation, Division of Geology, Bulletin 53, 172 p.Google Scholar
Wilson, C. W. Jr. 1949. Pre-Chattanooga stratigraphy in central Tennessee. Tennessee Department of Conservation, Division of Geology, Bulletin 56, 407 p.Google Scholar