Paleontological Features of Mississippian Rocks in North America and Europe
Paleontological Features of Mississippian Rocks in North America and Europe
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DOI：
10.1086/625535
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发表时间：
1948-07
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影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
R. Moore
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文献类型：
--
作者：
R. Moore
通过对北美和欧洲密西西比纪沉积物中已知的海洋化石组合进行比较，发现它们在动物群的性质和分布上有许多惊人的相似之处，但也显示出一些截然不同的特征。在相当狭窄的区域中，在相应排列的序列中，出现了相同或几乎相同类型的高度组织化的无脊椎动物，特别是棘皮动物和头足类动物，这为在两大洲识别近似的地层等价物提供了良好的基础。然而，欧洲矿床的分带比北美密西西比纪的大多数部分更详细，更明确。一个重要的结论是，大西洋两岸密西西比期的沉积物可以用类似的方式分为两个主要部分，可划分为系列。北美洲的下密西西比期岩石，包括Kinderhookian和Osagian层，被称为“Waverlyan系列”，对应于欧洲的Tournaisian地层。上密西西比统地层，被归类为属于美洲继承的Meramecian和Chestrian部分，统称为“田纳西系列”，根据古生物学的理由被判定为代表欧洲大陆的Viséan和下Namurian沉积。在北美，无论是在最年轻的密西西比纪还是最古老的宾夕法尼亚纪地层中，都没有发现明显的上纳穆里阶海洋生物化石;因为纳穆里阶似乎到处都是一个基本上整合的序列，所以在欧洲密西西比纪沉积物的顶峰，没有发现明显的沉积间断，例如在北美大部分地区，密西西比纪-宾夕法尼亚纪的边界。
Comparison of marine fossil assemblages known from deposits of Mississippian age in North America and Europe shows many striking similarities in the nature and distribution of faunas but also brings out some strongly divergent characters. The occurrence of identical or nearly identical types of highly organized invertebrates, especially among the echinoderms and cephalopods, in correspondingly arranged successions of rather narrowly restricted zones affords a good basis for recognizing approximate stratigraphic equivalents in the two continents. Zonation of the European deposits is more detailed and better defined, however, than in most Mississippian sections of North America. A conclusion of chief importance is that Mississippian deposits on both sides of the Atlantic are divisible in a similar manner into two main parts, classifiable as series. The Lower Mississippian rocks of North America, comprising Kinderhookian and Osagian beds, which have been called the "Waverlyan Series," correspond to the Tournaisian strata of Europe. Upper Mississippian formations, which are classed as belonging to the Meramecian and Chesterian portions of the American succession, collectively named the "Tennesseean Series," are judged on paleontological grounds to represent Viséan and lower Namurian deposits of the European continent. Distinctive upper Namurian marine fossils are unknown from North America, either in youngest Mississippian or in oldest Pennsylvanian beds; inasmuch as the Namurian seems everywhere to be an essentially conformable succession, no strongly marked break in sedimentation, such as marks the Mississippian-Pennsylvanian boundary in most parts of North America, is found at the summit of deposits of Mississippian age in Europe.