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Recycled acritarchs as provenance indicators: implications for Caledonian terrane reconstruction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

W. D. Mccaffrey
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, U.K.
H. F. Barron
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, U.K.
S. G. Molyneux
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, U.K.
B. C. Kneller
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, The University, Liverpool L69 3BX, U.K.

Abstract

Silurian successions deposited on the margins of the Iapetus Ocean in the English Lake District, Southern Uplands of Scotland and Ireland contain recycled Ordovician acritarchs. These include taxa known only from Avalonia and Gondwana, with other recycled acritarchs possibly derived from Baltica. There is no palynological evidence to indicate that Laurentiaconstituted a source area. The data presented herein suggest that provinciality in derived microfossils may be profitably exploited in provenance studies.

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Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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