Palynological characteristics of Kazakhstan Province of Carboniferous Euramerican Region

The paper presents results of palynological studies of the coal-bearing Carboniferous in Central Kazakhstan. A quantitative dynamics of major genera of miospores reflects an overall succession of the Carboniferous miospore assemblages. Visean Serpukhovian assemblages are dominanted by Lophozonotriletes fuscatus, Acanthozonotriletes cristifer, A. inclusus, Punctatisporites glabratus, Crassispora ignorata, C. scrupea, Cyclobaculisporites trichacanthus, Lycospora breviapiculata, L. echinata and Vallatisporites decrescens. Rare Punctatisporites bertschoguriensis , Stenozonotriletes marginellus , Vallatisporites appilicatus , Verrucosisporites serobiculatus , Retieulatisporites caneellatus, Granulatisporites areuatus are recorded, which are not found in assemblages from overlying sediments. Bashkirian-Moseovian assemblages are dominated by Lyeospora subtriquetra, L. pusilla, Vallatisporites ciliaris, Apiculatisporis mollis, Cyelogranisporites testieulatus, Calamospora mierorugosa, Sehopfipollenites principalis, Psilohyrnena psiloptera, Florinites grandis and Granulatisporites piroformis miospores. Cristatisporites latispinus, Angulisporites didymus, Thymospora obseura and Torispora securis are also present, as well as single Apieulatisporis eurvispinus, Raistriekia inordinata, Marsupipollenites retroflexus, Entylissa eaperata, Potonieisporites grandis and Cordaitina sp. A similar succession of miospore assemblages is recorded in the Carboniferous deposits of Europe and North America, which allows carrying out correlations, despite an endemic characters of many species of Paleozoic miospores from the coal-bearing Carboniferous of the Kazakhstan Province in the Euramerian Paleofloristic Region.

Palynostratigraphy of the Zorritas Formation, Antofagasta region, Chile： Insights on the Devonian]Carboniferous boundary in western Gondwana

The Middle Member of the Zorritas Formation in the Antofagasta region of northern Chile, yielded terrestrial and marine palynomorph assemblages which span the Devonian/Carboniferous boundary. The assemblages show a clear predominance of terrestrial palynomorphs with 70 miospore species, 18 marine phytoplankton species, two non-marine algae and one chitinozoan species, all coming from 15 productive levels. Palynomorphs are poorly preserved and most of them are reworked. Three palyno- logical associations are recognized based on miospores. These are assigned to the Tournaisian-Visean, Tournaisian and probable latest Famennian. Age assignments are discussed in the frame of the spore zonal schemes established for Euramerica and western Gondwana. The stratigraphical distribution of spores allows the identification of the probable position of the Devonian/Carboniferous boundary within the Zorritas Formation. This system boundary is proposed for the first time in Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks of northern Chile. The presence of Gondwanan typical miospore species indicates affinities with this palaeocontinent even though the Tournaisian and Tournaisian-Viseao miospore associations sup- port the cosmopolitanism already suggested for the early Carboniferous flora. The significant number of reworked palynomorphs together with the sedimentological analysis of the studied sections, suggest that these deposits were severely impacted by the climatic change and major sea level fluctuations. Similar conditions were recorded in coeval western Gondwana basins.