Research paper
Fusulines from the Central Asturian Coalfield (Pennsylvanian, Cantabrian Zone, Spain) and their significance for biostratigraphic correlation
ELISA VILLA
Departamento de Geología, Universidad de Oviedo, c/ Jesús Arias de Velasco, s/n, 33005 Oviedo, Spain. evilla@geol.uniovi.es
Corresponding author
OSCAR MERINO-TOMÉ
Departamento de Geología, Universidad de Oviedo, c/ Jesús Arias de Velasco, s/n, 33005 Oviedo, Spain. omerino@geol.uniovi.es
JAIME MARTÍN LLANEZA
Departamento de Geología, Universidad de Oviedo, c/ Jesús Arias de Velasco, s/n, 33005 Oviedo, Spain. jmartin@geol.uniovi.es
ABSTRACT
The Central Asturian Coalfield of the Cantabrian Zone (NW Spain) exposes a Moscovian (Middle Pennsylvanian) succession, up to 5000-m thick, which records stratigraphically significant terrestrial and marine fossils such as fossil flora and fusulines. The present paper focuses on the fusulinebearing limestones of this succession, which cover a time span ranging from latest Bashkirian to early Myachkovian. 36 fusuline species are described and illustrated, among them the new species Schubertella luisorum Villa. This study reveals that the composition of the Kashirian to early Myachkovian fusuline assemblages is similar to that of the Beedeina-dominated assemblages of the Donets Basin, which were interpreted by Khodjanyazova et al. (2014) as occurring during early high-stands. In parallel with this, the absence of species representing the Fusulinella-dominated assemblages of the later authors is observed, while their Hemifusulina dominated assemblages are replaced in the Central Asturian Coalfield by monospecific associations of Hemifusulina. Biostratigraphic data inferred from these microfaunas allowed us to assign an age to several informal stratigraphic intervals known as ‘mining stratal packages’ and to propose a tentative correlation with some relevant horizons of the Donets Basin: 1) The Levinco package seems to correlate with the K interval and the lower part of the L interval; 2) the Tendeyon package fusulines are best compared with those of the upper L and lowermost M intervals; 3) the Caleras package is probably equivalent to the lower part of the M suite; and 4) the Entrerregueras Limestone (Entrerregueras package) could be roughly equivalent to or slightly older than the N1 limestone.
Key words: Fusulines, Central Asturian Coalfield, Cantabrian Zone, Pennsylvanian correlation.
How to cite: Villa, E., Merino-Tomé, O. & Martín Llaneza, J. 2018. Fusulines from the Central Asturian Coalfield (Pennsylvanian, Cantabrian Zone, Spain) and their significance for biostratigraphic correlation. Spanish Journal of Palaeontology, 33 (1), 231-260.
Received 26 October 2017, Accepted 16 April 2018, Published 30 June 2018
https://doi.org/10.7203/sjp.33.1.13252
