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Late Ordovician conodont fauna from allochthonous limestones in the Wairuna Formation of the Broken River Province, north Queensland, contains 23 species typical of the deeper water Protopanderodus biofacies. Many of these species also occur in allochthonous limestones in the Malongulli Formation and correlative units of the Macquarie Volcanic Province in central New South Wales, and are also recognized in North and South China, which supports assignment of the Wairuna Formation conodont fauna to the Taoqupognathus tumidus-Protopanderodus insculptus Biozone of middle Katian age. Associated linguliformean brachiopods include species of Acrosaccus, Atansoria, Biernatia, Conotreta, Elliptoglossa, Hisingerella, Nushbiella, Paterula and Scaphelasma, which are identical to those known from the Malongulli Formation. Subtle paleoecological differences between faunas of the Malongulli Formation limestones (interpreted as forming in a deeper water peri-platform and upper slope environment) and those of the Wairuna Formation limestones imply that the latter were likely originally deposited on the shelf edge and subsequently reworked downslope. This study provides compelling paleontological evidence of strong affinity between Late Ordovician limestones of the Macquarie Volcanic Province and the Broken River Province, suggesting these regions (today separated by 1600 km) were linked by a volcanic island chain characterized by identical geochemical signatures in volcanic rocks associated with the limestones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The argument that temperature change and biological change during the Ordovician are correlated and, perhaps, causally related has been advanced by measurements of δ18Ophos values on conodont apatite, a phase more resistant to diagenetic alteration than carbonates. However, the available conodont δ18Ophos records are discontinuous and are biased towards North American samples. To test the generality of global patterns and to expand the geographical range of studied regions, we document δ18Ophos values from conodont apatite as well as δ13C and δ18Ocalcite values from bulk carbonate from New South Wales, Australia. New results span most of the Ordovician and include the first Late Ordovician phosphate δ18Ophos values from the Australian continent. The data from New South Wales show an ~1. 5‰VSMOW increase in δ18Ophos values during the Early and Middle Ordovician. This pattern matches previously documented trends from Laurentia and central Australia, but values in New South Wales are consistently ~2. 5‰VSMOW lower than those from other regions. We attribute these low δ18Ophos values to local paleoceanographic effects on the seawater δ18O value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forty-four conodont species are documented from the Dawangou section in the Tarim Basin, which spans the Darriwilian to Sandbian interval and is the global auxiliary stratotype for the base of the Upper Ordovician. Five conodont zones are recognized in this section, including the Yangtzeplacognathus crassus, Histiodella holodentata and H. kristinae zones in the upper part of the Dawangou Formation, the Pygodus anserinus Zone from the upper part of the Saergan Formation to the lower part of the Kanling Formation, and the Baltoniodus alobatus Zone in the upper part of the Kanling Formation. Presence of the P. serra Zone is based on occurrences of this species on shale bedding planes in the lower and middle Saergan Formation, but could not be confirmed in acid-leached samples studied from this interval. The Middle/Upper Ordovician boundary occurs within graptolitic black shale of the upper Saergan Formation. Although the boundary interval was intensively sampled, conodonts were very rare, probably due to stagnant or stratified basinal environments. This documentation of the conodont faunas and biostratigraphy of the Dawangou section is considered preliminary and more detailed conodont studies are required, but the remoteness of the site hinders the further extensive sample collection needed for this purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Six species of syringostromatid stromatoporoids are described from the biostratigraphically well-constrained carbonate successions of the Broken River region, North Queensland; the various occurrences range from earliest Devonian (early Lochkovian) to Mid-Devonian (late Eifelian). Included are three new Lochkovian species, Atopostroma stearni from the uppermost part of the Jack Formation and the Martins Well Limestone Member of the succeeding Shield Creek Formation, A. protentum and Habrostroma alternum also from the Martins Well Limestone Member. Transitional forms between the species of Atopostroma and Habrostroma are recorded from the Martins Well fauna. In addition Atopostroma distans (Ripper, 1937) is found in the Lomandra Limestone (late Emsian), and is present in reworked pebbles of the Dip Creek and the Chinaman Creek limestones of possible late Emsian-Eifelian. Sparse records of Columnostroma sp. in the Mid-Devonian (late Eifelian) Dosey Limestone, and reworked clasts of Parallelopora sp. in the Chinaman Creek Limestone, also occur. Characteristic structural elements of syringostromatid fauna are described including pachysteles, pachystromes and microlaminae, and microreticulate (acosmoreticular and clinoreticular) microstructures in the best preserved specimens. Also aspects of the evolutionary development of the fauna and the nature of the preservation of certain structural elements are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The septimembrate conodonts Acodus triangularis (Ding in Wang, 1993) and Prioniodus honghuayuanensis n.sp., are described and illustrated from Guizhou, South China where both species are widely distributed in Lower Ordovician strata. The adenticulate A. triangularis, which ranges through the middle and upper parts of the Honghuayuan Formation, is morphologically more primitive than the denticulate P. honghuayuanensis, which is present from the uppermost Honghuayuan Formation into the lower part of the succeeding Dawan Formation. Prioniodus honghuayuanensis, elements of which were previously ascribed to Oepikodus communis (Ethington & Clark, 1964), appears to be closely related to a species of Prioniodus from the basal Whiterockian of Utah, North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Review of the traditional separation of global Ordovician conodont distribution into the North American Midcontinent Province (NAMP) and North Atlantic Province (NAP) reveals a confusing variety of concepts and definitions that hinder biogeographic analysis. Use of this twofold scheme and its subsequent variants should be­discontinued in favour of the more detailed divisions proposed here. Major biogeographical entities of the Shallow-Sea and Open-Sea Realms, separated by the shelf-slope break, are both further subdivisible into Tropical, Temperate and Cold Domains. In the Cold domains, faunal differences between the two Realms and their subdivisions are not easily discernible, since biofacies zones and different habitats were highly condensed. Faunal differences are amplified in the tropical regions, where the North American Midcontinent Province and North Atlantic Province were originally defined. Recognition of endemic taxa is essential for finer classification within domains of the Shallow-Sea Realm (SSR). Our preliminary analysis of Early Ordovician conodont distribution identifies the Laurentian Province (in the Tropical Domain), Australian­(Tropical Domain), North China (Tropical Domain), South China (Temperate Domain), Argentine Precordillera (Temperate Domain) and Balto-Scandian Province (in the Cold Domain). The Open-Sea Realm (OSR) is dominated by cosmopolitan and widespread taxa, and formal subdivision at provincial level is yet to be achieved. The North Atlantic Province encompasses both the Open-Sea Realm and the Temperate and Cold Domains of the Shallow-Sea Realm. The North American Midcontinent Province sensu stricto is more or less equivalent to the Laurentian Province, representing shallow-water regions fringing Laurentia; in a broader sense the North American Midcontinent Province includes all provinces of the Tropical Domain within the Shallow-Sea Realm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study conducted by Yeongju Oh, Tae-Yoon S. Park, and their colleagues, published in the journal "Geology". It mentions that the researchers present an alternative interpretation of potential evidence for microbial mediation of silicification found in Cambrian trilobites and biofilm from the Weeks Formation in Utah.