Original paper
Preliminary statement on Mississippian calcareous foraminiferal successions of the Midcontinent (U.S.A.) and their correlation to western Europe
Baxter, James W.; Brenckle, Paul L.
published: 12/28/1982
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ArtNo.: ESP026001103004
Abstract
A comprehensive understanding of Mississippian calcareous foraminiferal successions within the Midcontinent awaits completion of studies in progress. Nevertheless, preliminary statements can be made about occurrences of selected assemblages relative to serial boundaries. The oldest abundant faunas occur in the Gilmore City Limestone and Humboldt Oolite of north-central Iowa, which contain, respectively, Palaeospiroplectammina-Septaglomospiranella and Tuberendothyra-Septaglomospiranella assemblages. The appearance of the latter may mark the base of the Valmeyeran (Osagean) series as well as approximate the boundary between the middle and late Tournaisian in the Dinant region of Belgium. The Keokuk Limestone of early Valmeyeran (late Osagean) age in the Mississippi River Valley contains a middle Visean biota including Eoendothyranopsis spiroides, E. scitula, Globoendothyra of the group G. tomiliensis, Viseidiscus and the non-foraminiferal species Koninckopora tenuiramosa. Archaediscus, Nodosarchaediscus, Globoendothyra baileyi and other species of Eoendothyranopsis and Koninckopora appear at various horizons in the Salem and St. Louis Limestones. These formations, deposited during the middle Valmeyeran (early and middle Meramecian), correlate to part of the middle and late Visean. The disappearance of Eoendothyranopsis in the upper St. Louis Limestone is followed by the introduction of late Visean asteroarchaediscins, Neoarchaediscus and Asteroarchaediscus, in the late Valmeyeran (late Meramecian) type Ste. Genevieve Limestone. "Millerella" tortula and "M." designata appear in the middle Chesterian Glen Dean Limestone and are succeeded by eosigmoilinids at the base of the upper Chesterian Menard Limestone in southern Illinois and at the top of the Batesville Sandstone in north-central Arkansas. The latter occurrences may mark the transition from Visean to Namurian faunas. Primitive Millerella and "Millerella" cooperi appear in the upper Chesterian Pitkin Limestone of northwestern Arkansas and in the Kinkaid Limestone of southern Illinois. The microfossil ranges outlined in this paper differ in many respects from those reported by others. The data suggest that most previously published calcareous foraminiferal zonations do not accurately reflect the stratigraphic succession and need readjustment so that individual zones correlate to older positions within the type Mississippian sequence.