Late Mississippian (Early Carboniferous) brachiopods from the western Daba Mountains, central China

Abstract

Qiao L. & Shen S.Z., September 2012. Late Mississippian (Early Carboniferous) brachiopods from the western Daba Mountains, central China. Alcheringa 36, 287–309. ISSN 0311–5518.

Fifteen brachiopod species in 12 genera are described for the first time from four intervals in the middle and upper parts of the Zhanpo Formation at the Huoyanxi section near Zhenba in the western Daba Mountains, southern Shaanxi, central China. The Zhenba brachiopod fauna is dominated by diverse and abundant species of Productida, together with some species of Athyridida, Orthida, Orthotetida and Spiriferida. It ranges from late Viséan to Serpukhovian in age based on the presence of Gigantoproductus species in association with diagnostic foraminifera and conodonts. This fauna generally shows palaeobiogeographical links with the palaeoequatorial realm, including Western Europe, the Moscow Basin, the Ural Mountains, Japan, eastern Tibet and South and North China. Its closest palaeobiogeographical affinity is with South China assemblages rather than those of North and Northwest China, therefore, indicating that the Zhenba area was palaeogeographically close to the South China Block and relatively far from the blocks in Northwest China (e.g., the Qilian Mountains and Qaidam Basin, Kunlun Mountains, Tarim Basin and Tianshan Mountains) during the late Viséan–Serpukhovian.

Key words:

• brachiopod
• Mississippian
• Carboniferous
• Daba Mountains
• central China

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their great appreciation to Cor Winkler Prins, Z.Q. Chen and Stephen McLoughlin for their constructive comments, which helped to improve the manuscript significantly. Zhou Zhiqiang from the Xi'an Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources is acknowledged for his kind guidance during the field trip. Thanks are also due to Wang Yue and Wang Weijie for identification of the foraminifers. The senior author also thanks Zheng Quanfeng and Mu Lin for helping with rock sectioning and access to Russian literature respectively. This work was supported by NSFC.