Biostratigraphy and paleoenvironment of Morrowan (Zone 2) brachiopoda, Bird Spring Group, Arrow Canyon, Clark County, Nevada
Comprehensive study of the Morrowan brachiopod faunas of the Bird Spring Group at Arrow Canyon, Clark County, Nevada, is important because the section has been suggested as a stratotype for the base and top of the Pennsylvanian Subsystem and for the Atoka Series. Twenty-three species of brachiopods belonging to 17 genera occur in zone 20 at Arrow Canyon. Many of these also occur in described Morrowan faunas in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico; but similarities with the Mid-Continent and Appalachian assemblages are less. However, no striking regional differences are evident, and it appears that the North American Morrowan fauna is more or less homogeneous. In contrast to the exotic South American and Arctic elements known from Atokan, Missourian, and Virgilian rocks at Arrow Canyon, no foreign taxa have been noted in zone 20. Microfacies and faunal association indicate four distinct brachiopod-bearing environments; (1) relatively deep water below turbulence with few brachiopods on a soft substrate; (2) somewhat shallower, more turbulent water with many species, of which only a few are represented by large populations, living on a more firm substrate; (3) environments just below the zone of turbulence in which many species of brachiopods are represented by substantial populations on a calcarenitic substrate; and (4) crinoidal bars in the zone of turbulence with a few species represented by relatively few individuals.
- Research Organization:
- Illinois State Geological Survey, Champaign
- OSTI ID:
- 5624695
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-850322-
- Journal Information:
- Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States), Vol. 69:2; Conference: American Association of Petroleum Geologists annual meeting, New Orleans, LA, USA, 25 Mar 1985
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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