The lithology, fauna and stratigraphy of two drill cores from the Upper Wenlock in western Skåne, southern Sweden

Abstract

Two cores drilled through late Wenlockian rocks in the Östra Odarslöv area of Skåne are described. They consist of grey shale intercalated with yellowishgrey laminae and thin beds of dark, dense, silicified limestone. There are also thin beds of dense, non-stratified, silicified shale. The shale contains a meagre fauna, consisting mainly of poorly preserved graptolites.

Core No. 1 is characterized by Pristiograptus dubius (Suess) and Gothograptus nassa (Holm). No other determinable graptolites have been found. The fauna is considered to be an equivalent to the nassa/dubius Interregnum of Jaeger (1959), belonging to the uppermost Wenlock.

In core No. 2, P. dubius predominates. Monograptus cf. flemingii (Salter) and M. testis cf. inornatus Elles occur sparsely. Cyrtograptus lundgreni Tullberg is relatively common, and a fragmentary specimen of C. radians Törnquist has been found. Some species of inarticulate brachiopods, Cardiola interrupta (Sowerby), two specimens of hyolithids and some flattened fragments of small orthoconic nautiloids are also represented in the fauna. The graptolite fauna shows that core No. 2 embraces the zone of C. lundgreni and, possibly, the lower part of the nassa/dubius Interregnum.