Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T18:14:19.638Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Middle Ordovician (Whiterockian) trilobites from the Sunblood Formation, District of Mackenzie, Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

James V. Tremblay
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M1
Stephen R. Westrop
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Science, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario L2S 3A1

Abstract

In the South Nahanni River area of the District of Mackenzie, the Middle Ordovician Sunblood Formation comprises mainly limestones and dolostones of intertidal and shallow-subtidal origin, as indicated by the presence of desiccation polygons, fenestral fabric, and oncolites. Faunas of well-preserved, silicified trilobites from a low-diversity, nearshore, Bathyurus-dominated biofacies are compositionally distinct from faunas in correlative strata around North America that represent different shelf to upperslope biofacies. A temporal biostratigraphy applicable to nearshore biofacies through much of the Whiterockian Series consists of five zones, in ascending order: Bathyurus mackenziensis, B. sunbloodensis, B. margareti, B. nevadensis, and B. granulosus. Twenty-six species are assigned to 18 genera, of which Ludvigsenella is new. Three new species of Bathyurus are B. mackenziensis, B. sunbloodensis, and B. margareti.

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

Angelin, N. P. 1854. Palaeontologica Scandinavia. Lund, 92 p.Google Scholar
Billings, E. 1859. Fossils of the Calciferous sandrock, including those of a white limestone at Mingan supposed to belong to the formation. Canadian Naturalist and Zoologist, 4:345367.Google Scholar
Billings, E. 1865. Palaeozoic Fossils. Volume 1. Containing descriptions and figures of new or little known species of organic remains from the Silurian rocks, p. 169426. Geological Survey of Canada, Montreal.Google Scholar
Burmeister, H. 1843. Die Organasation der Trilobiten aus ihren lebenden Verwandten entwickelt; nebst einer systematischen Ubersicht aller zeither beschriebenen Arten. Berlin, 147 p.Google Scholar
Chatterton, B. D. E. 1980. Ontogenetic studies of Middle Ordovician trilobites from the Esbataottine Formation, Mackenzie Mountains. Palaeontographica (A), 171:174.Google Scholar
Chatterton, B. D. E., and Ludvigsen, R. 1976. Silicified Middle Ordovician trilobites from the South Nahanni River area, District of Mackenzie, Canada. Palaeontographica (A), 154:1106.Google Scholar
Chugaeva, M. N. 1962. A new Early Ordovician genus of the subfamily Hystricurinae from the Kolyma basin. Paleontology Zhurnal, 3:6164.Google Scholar
Chugaeva, M. N. 1973. Trilobites, p. 43122. In Trilobite, ostracod, brachiopod and conodont faunas of the lower part of the Ordovician in Elgenehask Mountains. In Keller, B. M. (ed.), Biostratigraphy of the Lower Part of the Ordovician in the North-East of the U.S.S.R. and Biogeography of the Uppermost Lower Ordovician. Trudy Geological Institute, Moscow, Transactions, 213.Google Scholar
Clark, T. H. 1935. A new Ordovician graptolite locality in Utah. Journal of Paleontology, 9:239246.Google Scholar
Cooper, B. N. 1953. Trilobites from the Lower Champlainian formations of the Appalachian Valley. Geological Society of America, Memoir 55, 69 p.Google Scholar
Cooper, G. A. 1930. Upper Ordovician and Lower Devonian stratigraphy and paleontology of Percé, Quebec. Part II. New species from the Upper Ordovician of Percé. American Journal of Science, 20:365392.Google Scholar
Copeland, M. J., 1974. Middle Ordovician Ostracoda from southwestern District of Mackenzie. Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 244, 55 p.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Copeland, M. J. 1977. Early Paleozoic Ostracoda from the southwestern District of Mackenzie and Yukon Territory. Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 275, 88 p.Google Scholar
Copeland, M. J. 1978. Early Paleozoic ostracode assemblages, northwestern Canada, p. 93111. In Stelck, C. R., and Chatterton, B. D. E. (eds.), Western and Arctic Canadian Biostratigraphy. Geological Association of Canada Special Paper 18.Google Scholar
Cullison, J. S. 1944. The stratigraphy of some Lower Ordovician formations of the Ozark uplift. University of Missouri School of Mines Bulletin, 15:1112.Google Scholar
Dalman, J. W. 1827. Om Palaeaderna eller de så kallade Trilobiterna. Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsacademiens Handlingar, 1826:113115, 226–294.Google Scholar
Dekay, J. E. 1824. Observations on the structure of trilobites, and descriptions of an apparently new genus. With notes on the geology of Trenton Falls by James Renwick. Annals of the Museum of Natural History of New York, 1:174189.Google Scholar
DeMott, L. L., Sloan, R. E., Shaw, F. C., and Tripp, R. P. 1987. Platteville and Decorah trilobites from Illinois and Wisconsin, p. 6398. In Sloan, R. E. (ed.), Middle and Late Ordovician Lithostratigraphy and Biostratigraphy of the Upper Mississippi Valley. Minnesota Geological Survey Report of Investigations 35.Google Scholar
Fortey, R. A. 1975. Early Ordovician trilobite communities. Fossils and Strata, 4:339360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fortey, R. A. 1979. Lower Ordovician trilobites from the Catoche Formation (St. George Group), western Newfoundland. Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin, 321:61114.Google Scholar
Fortey, R. A. 1980a. Basilicus tyranus (Murchison) and the glabellar furrows of asaphid trilobites. Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History (Geology Series), 34:255264.Google Scholar
Fortey, R. A. 1980b. The Ordovician trilobites of Spitsbergen. III. Remaining trilobites of the Valhallfonna Formation. Norsk Polarinstitutt Skrifter, 171, 163 p.Google Scholar
Gabrielse, H., Blusson, H. L., and Roddick, J. A., 1973. Geology of the Flat Lake, Glacier Lake and Wrigley Lake map areas, District of Mackenzie and Yukon Territory. Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 366, 268 p.Google Scholar
Gürich, G. 1901. Über eine neue Lichas-Art aus dem Devon von Neu-Súd-Wales und über die Gattung Lichas überhaupt. Neues Jarbach für Mineralogie, Geologie und Paläontologie, Beilagebände, 14:519539.Google Scholar
Hall, J., 1847. Paleontology of New York, Volume 1. Natural History of New York, Albany, New York, 338 p.Google Scholar
Hawle, I., and Corda, A. J. C. 1847. Prodrom einer Monographie der böhemischen Trilobiten. Prague, 176 p.Google Scholar
Hayes, B. R. G. 1980. A cluster analysis interpretation of Middle Ordovician biofacies, southern Mackenzie Mountains. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 17:13771388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hintze, L. F. 1953. Lower Ordovician trilobites from western Utah and eastern Nevada. Utah Geological and Mineralogical Survey, Bulletin 48, 249 p.Google Scholar
Holliday, S. 1942. Ordovician trilobites from Nevada. Journal of Paleontology, 16:471478.Google Scholar
James, N. P., and Stevens, R. K. 1986. Stratigraphy and correlation of the Cow Head Group (Cambro-Ordovician), western Newfoundland. Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 366, 143 p.Google Scholar
Logan, B. W., Rezak, R., and Ginsberg, R. N. 1964. Classification and environmental significance of algal stromatolites. Journal of Geology, 72:6883.Google Scholar
Yanhao, Lu, Chaoling, Chu, Yiyuan, Chien, and Leewen, Hsiang. 1965. Trilobites of China. Science Press, Beijing, 766 p.Google Scholar
Ludvigsen, R. 1975a. Ordovician formations and faunas, southern Mackenzie Mountains. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 12:663697.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ludvigsen, R. 1975b. Middle Ordovician trilobites, southern District of Mackenzie. Unpub. Ph.D. thesis, University of Western Ontario, 524 p.Google Scholar
Ludvigsen, R. 1978a. The trilobites Bathyurus and Eomonorachus from the Middle Ordovician of Oklahoma and their biofacies significance. Life Sciences Contributions, Royal Ontario Museum, 114:118.Google Scholar
Ludvigsen, R. 1978b. Middle Ordovician trilobite biofacies, southern Mackenzie Mountains, p. 137. In Stelk, C. R. and Chatterton, B. D. E. (eds.), Western and Arctic Canadian Biostratigraphy. Geological Association of Canada Special Paper 18.Google Scholar
Ludvigsen, R. 1979a. A trilobite zonation of Middle Ordovician rocks, southwestern District of Mackenzie. Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 312, 99 p.Google Scholar
Ludvigsen, R. 1979b. Fossils of Ontario. Part 1: the Trilobites. Royal Ontario Museum Miscellaneous Papers, 96 p.Google Scholar
Ludvigsen, R., and Westrop, S. R. 1983. Trilobite biofacies of the Cambrian-Ordovician boundary interval in northern North America. Alcheringa, 7:301319.Google Scholar
Ludvigsen, R., Pratt, B. R., Tuffnell, P. A., and Young, G. A. 1986. Paleoscene #3. Dual biostratigraphy: zones and biofacies. Geoscience Canada, 13:139154.Google Scholar
Marek, L. 1952. Priskevek ke stratigrafi a faune nejvyssi casti bridlic kralodvorskytch. Sbornik Ustredniho Ustavu Geologickeho, 19:429455.Google Scholar
Miller, A. K., Yongquist, W., and Collinson, C. 1954. Ordovician cephalopod fauna of Baffin Island. Geological Society of America, Memoir 62, 118 p.Google Scholar
Mitchell, C. E., and Sweet, W. C. 1989. Upper Ordovician conodonts, brachiopods, and chronostratigraphy of the Whittaker Formation, southwestern District of Mackenzie, N.W.T., Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 26:7487.Google Scholar
Morrow, D. W., and Cook, D. G. 1987. The Prairie Creek Embayment and lower Paleozoic strata of the southern Mackenzie Mountains. Geological Survey of Canada Memoir 412, 195 p.Google Scholar
Öpik, A. 1937. Trilobiten aus Estland. Acta et Commentationes Universitatis Tartuensis, 32:1163.Google Scholar
Phleger, F. B. 1936. Lichadian trilobites. Journal of Paleontology, 10:593615.Google Scholar
Poulsen, C. 1927. The Cambrian, Ozarkian and Canadian faunas of northwest Greenland. Meddelelser om Gr⊘nland, 70:233243.Google Scholar
Poulsen, C. 1937. On the Lower Ordovician faunas of East Greenland. Meddelelser om Gr⊘nland, 119:172.Google Scholar
Raymond, P. E. 1905. The trilobites of the Chazy Limestone. Annals of the Carnegie Museum, 3:328386.Google Scholar
Raymond, P. E. 1910. On two new trilobites from the Chazy near Ottawa. Ottawa Naturalist, 24:129134.Google Scholar
Raymond, P. E. 1913. A revision of the species which have been referred to the genus Bathyurus. Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir of the Victoria Museum, 1:5169.Google Scholar
Raymond, P. E. 1916. New and old Silurian trilobites from southeastern Wisconsin, with notes on the genera of the Illaenidae. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 60:111.Google Scholar
Raymond, P. E. 1920. On some new Ordovician trilobites. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 64:273296.Google Scholar
Raymond, P. E. 1925. Some trilobites of the lower Middle Ordovician of eastern North America. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 67:1180.Google Scholar
Reed, F. R. C. 1902. Notes on the genus Lichas. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, 58:5982.Google Scholar
Reed, F. R. C. 1905. The classification of the Phacopidae. Geological Magazine (5), 2:172178, 224–228.Google Scholar
Reed, F. R. C. 1931. The Lower Paleozoic trilobites of the Girvan area Ayrshire. Palaeontographical Society Monograph, 30 p.Google Scholar
Robison, R. A. 1976. Middle Cambrian biostratigraphy of the Great Basin. Brigham Young University Geological Studies, 23:93109.Google Scholar
Ross, R. J. Jr. 1951. Stratigraphy of the Garden City Formation in northeastern Utah and its trilobite faunas. Peabody Museum of Natural History Bulletin 6, 161 p.Google Scholar
Ross, R. J. Jr. 1967. Some Middle Ordovician brachiopods and trilobites from the Basin Ranges, western United States. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 523-D, 43 p.Google Scholar
Ross, R. J. Jr. 1970. Ordovician brachiopods, trilobites and stratigraphy in eastern and central Nevada. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 639, 95 p.Google Scholar
Ross, R. J. Jr. 1972. Fossils from the Ordovician bioherm at Meiklejohn Peak, Nevada. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 685, 43 p.Google Scholar
Ross, R. J. Jr., and James, N. P. 1987. Brachiopod biostratigraphy of the Middle Ordovician Cow Head and Table Head groups, western Newfoundland. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 24:7095.Google Scholar
Ross, R. J. Jr., Alder, F. J., Amsden, T. W., Bergstrom, D., Bergstrom, S. M., Carter, C., Churkin, M., Cressman, E. A., Derby, J. R., Dutro, J. T., Ethington, R. L., Finney, S. C., Fisher, D. W., Fisher, J. H., Harris, A. G., Hintze, L. F., Ketner, K. B., Kolata, D., Landing, E., Neuman, R. B., Sweet, W. C., Pojeta, J. Jr., Potter, A. W., Rader, E. K., Repetski, J. E., Shaver, J. H., Thomson, T. L., and Webers, G. F. 1982. The Ordovician System in the United States, correlation chart and explanatory notes. International Union of the Geological Sciences Publication 12, 73 p.Google Scholar
Salter, J. W. 1848. Palaeontological Appendix to Professor John Phillips' Memoir, p. 331386. In Phillips, J., The Malvern Hills compared with the Palaeozoic districts of Abberley. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, 2.Google Scholar
Schmidt, F. 1885. Revision der ostbaltischen Silurischen Trilobiten nebst geognostischer Übersicht der ostbaltischen Silurgebiets, 2, Acidaspiden und Lichiden. Mémoires de l'Académie Impériale des Sciences de St. Pétersbourg, 33(1), 127 p.Google Scholar
Shaw, F. C. 1968. Early Middle Ordovician Chazy trilobites of New York. New York State Museum Memoir 17, 163 p.Google Scholar
Shaw, F. C. 1974. Simpson Group (Middle Ordovician) trilobites of Oklahoma. Paleonotological Society Memoir 6, 54 p.Google Scholar
Shaw, F. C. 1980. Shallow-water lithofacies and trilobite biofacies of the Mingan Formation (Ordovician), eastern Quebec. Le Naturaliste Canadien, 107:227242.Google Scholar
Shinn, E. A. 1983. Birdseyes, fenestrae, shrinkage pores and loeferites. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 53:619628.Google Scholar
Sinclair, G. W. 1944. Some Ordovician trilobites from Ontario. Transactions Royal Canadian Institute, 25:1520.Google Scholar
Sweet, W. C., Ethington, R. L., and Barnes, C. R. 1971. North American Middle and Upper Ordovician conodont faunas. Geological Society of America, Special Paper 127:163193.Google Scholar
Thomas, A. T. 1979. Trilobite associations in the British Wenlock, p. 447451. In Harris, A. L., Holland, C. H., and Leake, B. E. (eds.), The Calidonides of the British Isles—Reviewed. Geological Society of London, Special Paper 8.Google Scholar
Tipnis, R. S., Chatterton, B. D. E., and Ludvigsen, R. 1978. Ordovician conodont biostratigraphy of the southern District of Mackenzie, Canada, p. 3991. In Stelck, C. R. and Chatterton, B. D. E. (eds.), Western and Arctic Canadian Biostratigraphy. Geological Association of Canada, Special Paper 18.Google Scholar
Tremblay, J. V. 1990. Middle Ordovician trilobites from the Sunblood Formation, District of Mackenzie. Unpubl. M.Sc. thesis, Brock University, 130 p.Google Scholar
Tripp, R. P. 1957. The classification and evolution of the superfamily Lichacea (Trilobita). Geological Magazine, 94:104122.Google Scholar
Twenhofel, W. H. 1938. Geology and paleontology of the Mingan Islands, Quebec. Geological Society of America, Special Paper 11.Google Scholar
Wahlenberg, G. 1821. Petrificata Telluris Svecanae. Nova Acta Regiae Societatis Upsaliensis, 8:1116.Google Scholar
Walcott, C. D. 1877. Descriptions of new species of fossils from the Chazy and Trenton Limestone. New York State Museum, 31st Annual Report:6871.Google Scholar
Walcott, C. D. 1886. Second contribution to the studies on the Cambrian faunas of North America. U.S. Geological Survey, Bulletin 30, 369 p.Google Scholar
Walker, K. R. 1972. Community ecology of the Middle Ordovician Black River Group of New York State. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 88:24992524.Google Scholar
Westrop, S. R. 1983. The life habits of the Ordovician illaenine trilobite Bumastoides. Lethaia, 16:1524.Google Scholar
Westrop, S. R. 1986. Trilobites of the Upper Cambrian Sunwaptan Stage, southern Canadian Rocky Mountains, Alberta. Palaeontographica Canadiana 3, 179 p.Google Scholar
Whitfield, R. P. 1890. Observations of the fauna of the rocks at Fort Cassin, Vermont, with descriptions of a few new species. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 3:2539.Google Scholar
Whittington, H. B. 1953. North American Bathyuridae and Leiostegiidae (Trilobita). Journal of Paleontology, 27:647678.Google Scholar
Whittington, H. B. 1961. Middle Ordovican Pliomeridae (Trilobita) from Nevada, New York, Quebec and Newfoundland. Journal of Paleontology, 35:911922.Google Scholar
Whittington, H. B. 1963. Middle Ordovician trilobites from Lower Head, western Newfoundland. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 129:1118.Google Scholar
Whittington, H. B. 1965. Trilobites of the Ordovician Table Head Formation, western Newfoundland. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 132:275441.Google Scholar
Whittington, H. B., and Evitt, W. R. II. 1954. Silicified Middle Ordovician trilobites. Geological Society of America, Memoir 59, 137 p.Google Scholar
Wilson, A. E. 1947. Trilobites of the Ottawa Formation of the St. Lawrence Lowland. Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 9, 85 p.Google Scholar