Abstract
The Lower Ordovician Bjørkåsholmen Formation at Flagabro, Scania, southern Sweden, consists of a 0.8 m thick succession of carbonates with three siliciclastic mudstones, 5, 1 and 100 mm thick, intercalated in the central part of the unit. Carbonate and siliciclastic mudstone beds show both normal and inverse grading. The carbonates are mud-rich and subdivided into a mudstone, a wackestone and a packstone facies. Grain types in the carbonates are mostly shells and shell fragments of brachiopods and trilobites. The carbonate rocks are strongly bioturbated seen as in roundish burrows filled with mud and a clear cement; additionally, bioturbation is reflected in the random orientation of shells. The siliciclastic mudstones are subdivided into two facies; one contains large amounts of shells and is in part grain-supported, the other is matrix-dominated and laminated to massive. The succession reflects sedimentation on a low-inclined shelf equivalent to a mid-ramp to basinal setting. Most mud- and wackestones (facies 3 and 4) represent fair-weather sedimentation, and the intercalated wacke- and packstones (facies 4 and 5) represent concentration of shell debris during high-energy storm. The siliciclastic mudstones in the central part of the succession reflect deposition in a basinal setting. The entire Bjørkåsholmen Formation at Flagabro is equivalent to a lowstand of third (?) order without a well-developed internal cyclicity and is in that respect similar to the Bjørkåsholmen Formation of Öland, but different from the age-equivalent Norwegian sections.
Acknowledgements
We thank the donors of the American Chemical Society Research fund for their support of this research (Grant PRF 49633 to Egenhoff). Many thanks to Olle Hints and Arne Nielsen for their reviews that significantly improved the quality of this work. Thank you also to Christian Skovsted for his input, and him being patient with us during the review process.