The significance of Cambro-Ordovician trilobites from the Kalladeina 1 drill hole, Warburton Basin, South Australia

ABSTRACT

The significance of trilobites described from six cores from the Kalladeina 1 drillhole from the Warburton Basin, northeastern South Australia is discussed. The oldest are from a dark grey shale of Core 16 from a depth of 3453.7–3455.8 m; they are of possible early Drumian (Cambrian Series 3, middle Cambrian) age. The youngest come from a dark grey shale of Core 4 at a depth of 2017.2–2022.04 m. This fauna contains the trilobites Asaphellus? sp., Yosimuraspis sp., Conophrys sp. and Protopliomerops? sp. thus indicating a Tremadoc (earliest Ordovician) age. These are the youngest known trilobites from the Warburton Basin and the youngest known in South Australia.

KEYWORDS:

• Trilobites
• Drumian
• Tremadoc
• Kalladeina 1
• Warburton Basin
• South Australia

Acknowledgements

This paper is dedicated to the late Colin Gatehouse, who first suggested to Xiaowen Sun that she should study the Cambro-Ordovician fossils of the Warburton Basin for her PhD. This paper is based on part of the PhD thesis completed by Xiaowen Sun at the National Centre for Petroleum Geology and Geophysics (now the Australian School of Petroleum) at the University of Adelaide. Xiaowen Sun was supported by a scholarship from the Overseas Postgraduate research scheme. Drs J. K. Warren, W. J. Stuart and R. J. F. Jenkins supervised the thesis. The late Dr D. I. Gravestock and the late Mr C. G. Gatehouse (Mines and Energy, South Australia) gave continuing support. A short visit to Dr Shanchi Peng (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology) to use his facilities and references was supported by funding from the Chinese Natural Science Foundation (nos. 41330101, 41521061 and 41290260). Carice Holland and Elinor Alexander (SA Department of State Development) provided the original of Figure 3. Access to the fossils was facilitated by Dr M. A. Binnie, Collection Manager in Palaeontology at the South Australian Museum. Ronda Atkinson, South Australian Museum, provided technical assistance. Constructive reviews by Shanchi Peng and Elinor Alexander improved the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.