Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T01:02:11.078Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The palaeogeographic position of the Lake District in the early Ordovician

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

R. A. Fortey ,
R. M. Owens  and
A. W. A. Rushton
R. A. Fortey
Affiliation:
British Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, U.K.
R. M. Owens
Affiliation:
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff CF1 3NP, U.K.
A. W. A. Rushton
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Notts NG12 5GG, U.K.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The early Ordovician was a time of maximum continental separation and hence a time when faunal evidence can be used to assess palaeogeography in a critical way. We summarize the known trilobite occurrences (18 genera) from the Arenig–Llanvirn of the Lake District, and record some genera for the first time. Maps of the distribution of some of these forms are given. All genera except Cyclopyge were confined to the Gondwana continent at the time, and some are known from many localities; and two species are widespread in England, Wales, France, Iberia and Bohemia. The fauna is entirely distinct from those of Scandinavia and North America. All the palaeontological evidence points to the Lake District being adjacent to Ordovician Gondwana. In the earlier Ordovician it is not reasonable to suggest that the Iapetus Ocean lay to the south of the Lake District as did Allen (1987).

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 126 , Issue 1 , January 1989 , pp. 9 - 17
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, P. M. 1987. The Solway line is not the Iapetus suture. Geological Magazine 124, 485–6.Google Scholar
Allen, P. M. & Cooper, D. C. 1986. The stratigraphy and composition of the Latterbarrow and Redmain sandstones, Lake District, England. Geological Journal 21, 59–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berard, P. 1986. Trilobites de l'ordovicien inférieur des Monts de Cabriéres (Montagne Noire-France). Mémoires du centre d études et de recherches géologiques et hydrologiques. Université des Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc 24, vi + 220 pp., 15 pls.Google Scholar
Burgess, J. C. & Holliday, D. W. 1979. Geology of the country around Brough-under-Stainmore. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain Sheet 31, 131 pp.Google Scholar
Cocks, L. R. M. & Fortey, R. A. 1982. Faunal evidence for oceanic separations in the Palaeozoic of Britain. Journal of the Geological Society of London 139, 465–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cocks, L. R. M. & Fortey, R. A. 1988. Lower Palaeozoic facies and faunas around Gondwana. Geological Society Special Publications 37, 183–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dean, W. T. 1966. The Lower Ordovician stratigraphy and trilobites of the Landeyran Valley and the neighbouring district of the Montagne Noire, south-west France. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Geology 12, 245–353, 21 pls.Google Scholar
Destombes, J. 1971. L'ordovicien au Maroc, Essai de synthèse stratigraphique. Mémoires du Bureau de recherches Géologiques et Minières 173, 237–63.Google Scholar
Etheridge, R. 1876. Appendix A, pp. 108–112, pls 12, 13, in Ward, J. C., q. v.Google Scholar
Fortey, R. A. 1985. Pelagic trilobites as an example of deducing the life habits of extinct arthropods. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Earth Sciences 76, 219–30.Google Scholar
Fortey, R. A. & Cocks, L. R. M. 1986. Marginal faunal belts and their structural implications, with examples from the Lower Palaeozoic. Journal of the Geological Society of London 123, 151–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fortey, R. A. & Morris, S. F. 1982. The Ordovician trilobite Neseuretus from Saudi Arabia, and the palaeogeography of the Neseuretus fauna related to Gondwana in the earlier Ordovician. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Geology 36, 63–75.Google Scholar
Fortey, R. A. & Owens, R. M. 1978. Early Ordovician (Arenig) stratigraphy and faunas of the Carmarthen district, south-west Wales. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Geology 30, 225–94, 11 pls.Google Scholar
Fortey, R. A. & Owens, R. M. 1987. The Arenig Series in South Wales. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Geology 41, 69–307.Google Scholar
Hicks, H. 1875. On the succession of the ancient rocks in the vicinity of St David's, Pembrokeshire, with special reference to those of the Arenig and Llandeilo Groups, and their fossil contents. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 31, 167–95, pls 8–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holub, K. 1912. Doplňky ku fauně Eulomového horizontu v okoli Rokycan. Rozpravy české Akademie, Prague (2), 21 (33), 1–12, 1 plate.Google Scholar
Horný, R. & Bastl, F. 1970. Trilobita. Type specimens of fossils in the National Museum, Prague 1, 354 pp., 20 pls. Prague.Google Scholar
Ingham, J. K., Curry, G. B. & Williams, A. 1986. Early Ordovician Dounans Limestone fauna, Highland Border Complex, Scotland. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Earth Sciences 76, 481–513 [dated 1985].Google Scholar
Jackson, D. E. 1978. The Skiddaw Group. In The Geology of the Lake District (ed. Moseley, F.), pp. 79–98, pls 6–9. Yorkshire Geological Society Occasional Publication 3, Leeds.Google Scholar
Mailleux, E. 1939. L'Ordovicien de Sart-Bernard. Mémoires de Musée Royal d'histoire naturelle de Belgique no. 861–59, pls 1–3.Google Scholar
McKerrow, W. S. & Soper, N. J. 1989. The Iapetus suture in the British Isles. Geological Magazine 126, 1–8.Google Scholar
McNamara, K. J. 1979. Trilobites from the Coniston Limestone Group (Ashgill Series) of the Lake District, England. Palaeontology 22, 53–92, pls 7–12.Google Scholar
Molyneux, S. G. & Rushton, A. W. A. 1985. Discovery of Tremadoc rocks in the Lake District. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 45, 123–7 [dated 1984].Google Scholar
Pek, I. 1977. Agnostid trilobites of the central Bohemian Ordovician. Sborník Geologickýck Ved, Praha, 1977 (19), 7–44, pls 1–12.Google Scholar
Postlethwaite, J. 1885. Trilobites of the Skiddaw Slates. Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Association for the Advancement of Literature and Science 10, 71–80, pls 1–4.Google Scholar
Postlethwaite, J. 1887. The Geology of the English Lake District with Notes on the Minerals 78 pp. Keswick.Google Scholar
Postlethwaite, J. & Goodchild, J. C. 1886. On some trilobites from the Skiddaw Slates. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association 9, 455–69, pls 6–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rushton, A. W. A. 1988. Tremadoc trilobites from the Lake District. Palaeontology 31, 677–98, pls 66–8.Google Scholar
Rushton, A. W. A. & Hughes, C. P. 1981. The Ordovician trilobite fauna of the Great Paxton Borehole, Cambridgeshire. Geological Magazine 118, 623–46, 6 pls.Google Scholar
Salter, J. W. 1859. In Siluria Murchison, R. I., 3rd ed., xix + 592 pp., 41 pls. London: Murray.Google Scholar
Salter, J. W. 1864. Trilobites (chiefly Silurian). Figures and descriptions illustrative of British organic remains. Decade 11. 10 pls. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom.Google Scholar
Salter, J. W. 1866. Additional observations on the geology of the Lake Country. In R. Harkness and H. A. Nicholson. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, 22, 480–86, figs a–d.Google Scholar
Shirley, J. 1936. Some British trilobites of the Family Calymenidae. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 92, 384–422, pls 29–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tripp, R. P. 1979. Trilobites from the Auchensoul and Stinchar limestones of the Girvan District, Strathclyde. Palaeontology 22, 339–61, pls 37–40.Google Scholar
Ward, J. C. 1876. The geology of the northern part of the English Lake District. Memoirs of the Geological Survey. England and Wales, xii + 132 pp, 13 pls.Google Scholar
Whittard, W. F. 1940. The Ordovician trilobites of the Shelve–Corndon district, west Shropshire. Part 1. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 11, 5, 153–72, pls 5, 6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whittard, W. F. 1955. The Ordovician trilobites of the Shelve Inlier, west Shropshire. Part 1, 1–40, pls 1–4. Monograph of the Palaeontographical Society, vol. 109 for 1955.Google Scholar
Whittard, W. F. 1958. The Ordovician trilobites of the Shelve Inlier, west Shropshire. Part 3, 71–116, pls 10–15. Monograph of the Palaeontographical Society, vol. 111 for 1957.Google Scholar
Whittard, W. F. 1960. The Ordovician trilobites of the Shelve Inlier, west Shropshire. Part 4, 117–62, pls 16–21. Monograph of the Palaeontographical Society, vol. 113 for 1959.Google Scholar
Whittard, W. F. 1961. The Ordovician trilobites of the Shelve Inlier, west Shropshire. Part 6, 197–228, pls 26–33. Monograph of the Palaeontographical Society, vol. 115 for 1961.Google Scholar
Whittington, H. B. & Hughes, C. P. 1972. Ordovician geography and faunal provinces deduced from trilobite distribution. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B 263 (no. 850), 235–78.Google Scholar