Authors / CoAuthors
Jones, M.J. | Truswell, E.M.
Abstract
Five new Carboniferous to Permian palynological Oppel-zones have been identified through detailed analyses of core samples taken from the Joe Joe Group sediments of the Galilee Basin. In ascending stratigraphic order, and in relation to their host formations , the Oppel-zones are: the Verrucosisporites basiliscutis Oppel-zone (A), spanning the Lake Galilee Sandstone and the basal Jericho Formation; the Brevitriletes leptoacaina Oppel-zone (B), in the mid-Jericho Formation ; the Diatomozonotriletes birkheadensis Oppel-zone (C), in the upper Jericho Formation; the Asperispora reticulatispinosus Oppel-zone (D), encompassing much of the Jochmus Formation and the uppermost part of Jericho Formation (including the Oakleigh Siltstone Member); and the Microbaculispora tentula Oppel-zone (E), in the upper part of the Jochmus Formation. The three oldest Oppel-zones are grouped to form the Carboniferous (Namurian A-upper Westphalian D) Spelaeotriletes queenslandensis Superzone, which correlates with the Spelaeotriletes ybertii Assemblage of earlier workers. The overlying Asperispora reticulatispinosus Oppel-zone (D) (upper Westphalian D-Upper Autunian, or early Asselian) mostly correlates with the Potonieisporites Assemblage. The uppermost Microbaculispora tentula Oppel-zone (E), late Autunian (late Carboniferous) to early Tastubian (Early Permian), correlates with the Upper Stage 2. Application of the Oppel-zones has clarified relationships between outcrop sections of the earlier defined Joe Joe Formation of the Galilee Basin and lithological units subsequently identified in the sub-surface. Stratigraphic interpretation of the Oppel-zones with their lithostratigraphic equivalents suggests that late Palaeozoic glaciation began in the Westphalian D and continued until the late Asselian/earliest Tastubian, when climatic warming resulted in sea level rise associated with continental glacial melting. The palynological record shows the impact of this glacial episode, which caused significant global compositional changes in palynofloras in the Late Carboniferous/Early Permian. These changes may allow correlations between Gondwana and Laurasia. Eleven new species of miospore are described.
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document
eCat Id
81315
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Keywords
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- GA PublicationJournal
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- QLD
- Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)
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- Earth Sciences
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- Published_External
Publication Date
1992-01-01T00:00:00
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geoscientificInformation
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BMR Journal of Australian Geology and Geophysics 13:2:143-185
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[-30.0, -18.5, 138.0, 154.0]
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