Geoscience Canada Volume 13 Number 3 Artic PALEOSCENE #3. Dual Biostratigraphy: Zones and biofacies Rolf Ludvigsen, Stophen R. Westrop' ‘Bran R. Prat, Pamela A, Titel? ‘and Graham A. Young? Department of Geology Unversity of Toronto Toronto, Ontario MES 1A7 present addresses: * Department of Earth Scioncos ‘Memorial University of Newfoundland ‘St. John’s, Newfoundland A1B 3X5 ® Dopertment of Geology University of Alberta Ecimonton, Alberta T6G 2E1 2 Department of Geology Unwersity of New Brunswick Fradeneton, New Brunswick E38 5A3 Introduetion ‘The passage of time can be determined according to varous dating tectrques and crdenng cntera in geology. OF these, be- siuatigraphic study of fossts in rock 1 the ‘mast practical, mast economical, and argu bly the most accurate means of measuring gecioge ime, The fssi record extends back to the early Archean (Schopl, 1983), but be- stratigraphy is effectively applicable only to Phanerozoic strata where abuedant skelotonzed fossis permit a finely divided relative time scale (Harland et a, 1962), Blostatigapty has its roots in te classic ‘ompirieal work of Smith, Cuvior, and Brongniart in tho first docedo of the 1th S century (Rudwick, 1972) which demonstrated that uns of strata could be characterized and corrolsted on the basis of fossils (Berry, 1968), Recognition that a welkiferentited {and non-repeating fossil cord was the prod: ct of, and indeed confirmation of, organic evolution folowed half @ century later as stratigraphic paleontology was re-nterpoted in light of Charles Darwin's revolutionary theory (Bretsky, 1975). vary geologist involved in correlating and mapping Phanerozoic rocks has had lo 25- sass biosvatigrapne information proviced by {2 paleontologst. Such data are most com- ‘many in the form of age determinations of {ossil collections — Early Ordovician, ‘Aronigin,ofTeragraptus ruticosus Zone — ‘he precision depencing on the sie, nature, _and preservation ofthe collections. Natural most geologists have assumed that bio- ‘stratigraphy is concerned only wih the tem poral significance of fossils in rocks: that i, withthe age of rock units, with the drawing of time lines in strata, and vith the establish ‘ment of relative time scales, The spatial sig: ‘ileance of fossis in rocks has seldom been ‘salisfactoly Integrated into biotratigraphic ‘analyses, but this aspect is potentially 25 ‘Signticant as the traditional temporal aspoct (Goinpot, 1998, p. 32) The concept of facies is fundamental to both biostatigraphy and lthostratigraphy and forms a strong undying theme, Blo- Stratigraphic units (zones, biolaces), ke lithostratigraphic units (formations. litnolaces), are tree-dimensional mappabia Ln wese cistnbution in strata is inuenced ‘by environmental factors. Both bots and lithotacies were clear identitedin Gressiy’s (6838) onginal formulation ofthe Tacies con- cept and in Walter's seminal Principle of Correlation of Facies (see Hancock, 1977, ‘iddleton, 1973). Lithofacies studies have been central tothe recent resurgence ofinte- tn siratigraphic models and syntheses — for example, in the development of facies ‘models (Walker, 1984) and for basin analysis (ial, 1984) — but biotacios havo rarely been fuly utiized in stratigraphic contexts, Indeed, techniques such as “index fossil” bic: stratigraphy, graphic correlation, and chrono- sratigcaphy, atfompt nothing less than 19 expurgate facies from biostratigraphy. 139 Hore, we omphasize biostratraghy as a dual stratigraphic eiscipie that is equivalent tolthosraigraphy in both scope and applica: ‘ton. Brostraligraphy may be defined as that ‘branch of stratigraphy that is concerned with recognition and mapping of fossil units in rock, and with their temporal and spatial sig nificance. From tis perspective, a major task ‘of biostratigraphy isto separate, as clearly as possible, he temporal and spatial contals on the detrbution of fossils in rock. This is best ‘done with separate units — zones and Diotacies, respectively Zones aro best defined by species range ‘ata, simply bocause species have the short ‘temporal durations necessary for the estab- lshmentot fine diisions. For Dostatirapty, biofacies shous be defines at genenc or higher levels in order to produce units with significant stratigraphic ranges which may, in umn, be used to gauge the degree of environ- ‘menial association of biota, Thus, sogrega- tion of the spatial and temporal components is based on analyses of fossil collections at different taxonomic levels — genera for biofacies and species for zones. Watthe's Principle enetges ao an essantia i= Sot up within a lihofacios framework and successions of zones are cetabliched forthe biolacios belts (Figure 1). ‘Que examples are drawn largely from tlo- bites in Lower Paleozoi rocks, but the dual Diostratigrannie method we propose is equal ly applicable to other benthic or nekto-benthic cexganisms in Phaneroz0% rocks, “Index Fossil” Blostravgraphy ‘The “index fossi” concept represents the ta- ‘tional approach to isolation of the temporal ‘component of biosraigraty. Text books of historical gotogy invariably make a distinction between wo kinds offossis— those wih short vertical ranges occurring in a vanety of lihotacies ere given the accolade “excelent index fossils” wheroas those with ong vertical Stanley, 1985, p. 15-16). The ‘approach implies that some groups of organ Jams are immune to eavicnmentalinfuencos,wo 0 that time is the only important control on thei distrbuion, Such "index fossis” are supposedly sfelible guides 10 the age of stata, Groups whose dietnbution indicates control by environmental factors are regarded as poor sources of biostatigraphic dala and, accordingly. they tend to be avoided. “Index fossil” biostratigeaphy misses @ vast source of fossil distnbutional data by emphasizing temporal ranges at the ‘expense of spatial ranges. “The approach 10 earth history inherent in index tess” bistraigraphy bears acurious imiaity to that shown by Abraham Werner's lobal itnostratigraptic system of the late 1B century (see Bory. 1968). In both sys- tems, the historcal products (fossils and rock types) are arranged, ike layerso an onion, in a single, worlwide, non-repeating ternporal ‘sequence uch that the identticaion of a Unique element of either sequence provides fan age determination. Werner's global litostratgraphic sysiem collapsed when it ‘was demonstrated nats lnologic unts are ‘ot world-wide in extent, but insteaa are the products of local envionmental conditions {thats facies). “Index loss” bostatigraphy |s compromised for the same reason, as iS any other biostratgraphic technique based ‘onthe promise that tme alone governs the vertical order of fossils (for example, Shaw's, 1964, graphic correlation mathod) ‘By caling for the dome of “index fossil” bestratigraphy, we are not ceaying that some fossil speces have very wise distibutons. that encompass many continents; merely that such species are rare. Evidence from fossil and recent manne invertebrates ind ‘cates an inverse relationship between geo ‘grape and environmental ranges and ries ‘of speciation and extinction Jackson, 1977; Hansen, 1980). Geographicaly wdesoread species usually have long stratigraphic ranges whereas thosa of goographicallyre- siveted species are invanably short — tho “pyestraligrapher's paradox” of Scheltoma 1977 p. 106), Moreover, many of the time: honoured groups of "excellent indox tossis hhave now been shown to be intuenced by facies — graptotes (Finney, 984; Lenz and Chen, 1985), ammonites (Ziegler, 1981; Bayer ‘and MeGhee, 1985) and conadonts (Cark, 1984). Biostratigraphic Units A scientifle discipine is, in largo measure, dolined by the nature and classification ofits tunis, Thus, the concept of bostatigrahy asa ‘dual discipline is exompliied by a nasied ‘lassification of two types of unis, Temporal ‘and spatial unis serve to partition, to moa- ‘ewe, and to name diferent aspects of biotic ppaterns in rock. Both are necessary for full Diostratigraphic analysis. ‘The relatonship of temporal biosratigrahy ‘and eviutionary paleobiology on one hand, ‘and spatial biostratigraphy and paleogcology ‘on the other, equires explanation. Elredge land Gould (1877) noted that the estabish ment of @ zonal scheme (temporal bio: straigraphy) is a purely empirical procedure that oes nct depend on an understanding of the processes of spaces ongin. Simiary, the festablchment of 2 sequence of biotacies (spatial bistraigrapy) is @ procedure wich ‘demands no prior knowledge of he varous ‘physical and biological factors responsble for limting te estioutionof taxa. Inather words, there exisis a pattern-process linkage betwoan the pais of cscipines: wih tem- oral an spatial biostrtigraphy datning the Vertical and lateral distributional patterns, ‘and evolutionary paleobiology and paleo: ‘ecology dealing with the underlying provesses. Temporal biostratigraphle units. The zone, the traditional uit of biostratgraphy. was lst concewed by Albert Oppel (1856 for 2 sequence of strata characterized by ' unique association of species. Oppor's Walther's Principle lithostratigraphy Spatial BIOFACIE: biostratigraphy BIOFACIES Wh ae Mines temporal _ ZONE 3 Wily ie Zone elds ZONE 1 ee Figure 1 Ovalblosratgrapny sts with iostaigraphic analysis using Waters rnc ane proceeds to he spatal and temporal Dostatgraonc components. Bafaces are deine by abundance of genera zones by species presenceGeoscience Canada Volume 13 Number 3 biostratigraphic mothod was remarkably rmadern and involved documentation of the vertical ranges ofall specie in a umber of sections, Zones wore defined to include per- Sstent and exclusive cooccutrence of the ‘same species in dfferent sections. Oppel set {up 33 Jurassic zones in western Europe and ‘aimed that each was the same age at al locales, AS Hancock (1977) noted, Oppa’s S tweecimersare! ostatgrhe landscape Nom seovorssaitenciowand ENVIRONMENT ———= correlation chartGeoscience Canada Volume 13 Number 3 vr — TYPICAL TRILOBITES OF EACH BIOFACIES ZONES |s:senvie S|} ‘Lona iunia 65% Olenidae & Agnostinae Loganellidae . Wil: mmr Plethopeltidae I a Natt BIOFACIES Caer peer (Foo FT] LITHOFACIES 2 Uj LAtainstoner Yori PLATFORM L Figure 11 Meny zones are ithotacas specie. Five carbonate laholacios n Sunweptan (Upper Cembvian| stata of Laurens support lve dierent triode ‘elec. The distoution of ichvauals belonging to diferent families ncicates that @ numberof zone! successions are required 10 capture the spat ferentoton of theso niodtes, and ha each Zonal succession wil bo inked fo a separate lhotaces, (Data om Ludvasen and Westrep. 1983)Most zones andi biotacos are estabishad or, ‘and are applicable wihin, one or, al most. a {ow ithofacies on a portion of a biotic provinee, A stage is typically applicable ony to 2 single province, subprovince. oF Cont rent whore lt may incorporate ciferent zonal successions for separate regions and for var ‘us fossi groups. Figure 121s @ cortelation chart of ragional Upper Cambran stages established on five separate continents, Each of these tnlobte- ‘based stages comprises a diferent stack of zones as an expression ofthe unique stra ‘graphic succession and faunas of each of these Cambran provinces (Ludvigsen and ‘westrop, 1985), Blackwelder’ 1981, Textig. 3) correlation chart of regional Upper ‘Cenazoe moltuscan-based stages for diferent Provinces provides @ comparable example. ‘The international Commission on Sira tigraphy has been dealing much differently with global biostetigraprc nomenclature With the laudabse intent of improving com ‘munication between geologist. tis now pro- ‘motinga "common language” in siatgraphy (Besser, 1985) — thats, the development ofa ‘ingle global chronaetraigraphic scale of stages and eevee to replace all prowl romenciatures, Docssions are coming down {at an impressive rate, For the Silurian Sys: tem, boundary delintions and statolypes o! feur global series anc seven global stages have alteacy been rated (Holand, 1985) and, for the Devonian, seven global stage ‘names have been agraed upon and arenow [awaiting ratiication of boundary stratotyDes (Giogler ans Ktapper, 1985). Other portons of the Phanecczos are curently beng prepared for Semlar“ehronostratigraphic” atenton, ‘Such nomenclature cannot be applied rea: ‘steally on a global scale and 10 all faces Zones and stages are temporal bio ‘Satigraphe units naturally tinted in thee ap- Dication by the finte distribution of their charactenstic fossils, Nomenclature be: ‘comes artifical and misleading it those unis {are extended beyond the range ofthe fossis into different facies and provinces (Watson land Wnght, 1980, p. 159). Two examples wil sufice The Llandovery Soties (Lower Silurian) is divided into tree global stages on the basis Of graptolie zonal bostratgraphy at bound: ary atratotypes 19 Wales (Holland, 1985) ‘These stage names ace clearly applicable to many successions in Europe, Asia, and even to basinal shals flanking Laurentian which the definitive graptotte zones are developed (Lenz, 1982). They have no relevance, however for Lower Sinan carbonate rocks: ol for example, Anticosti Ista (Lespérance. 1981) that lack characters: graptoltes and which should be classifies biostrati jtaphealy sto regional stages of the Ant cost) Senes (Barnes and McCracken, 196%) accorsing to prevalent bictic elements such ‘as conodom's, tnlobtes, brachiopods. 0: ostracodes. ‘Almest all biostatigaphers have treated te dozen stages af te Cretaceous System as i mey were global units. However, exam ination of the stadia boundary criteria re cently proposed by a group of Cretaceous ‘speciaisis (Bkkelund ef al. 1864) reveals that, of the eleven stages above the Beniasian, rine are defined basally by zones established for species of cephalopods that are found ia either the Boreal Realm or the Tethyan Reaim; notin both, Thus, the Albian Stage of Boreal North Ameria, for example, ‘cennot be corsigered the samo unt asthe ‘Avian Stage of Tethyan France, regardless ff how heir boundaries are thought to corre fate, bocause they are defined by diferent boundary ofteria and characterzod by di ferent fossils in wholly different ones (soe Kaufman, 1979, fg. 3), Not all Cretaceous biostratigraphers have accepted tase godal ‘stages a¢ applicable to all faces. For some years, verabrate paloontobgiss nave used aperoprately a soquence of regional stages based on mammalian faunas in western North Amanca Russell, 1975: For, 1976). “The slages ofthe Llandovery Series and ot the Cretaceous Sysiem are acceptable re- ional bostraigraphic unis but. Conary 1 the International Commission on Stra ‘igraphy. they are neither global units nor Cchronostatigcahic unts. We do not need an aril “common language” in order to com- rmuneate with ofher sraigraphers, What needed are accurate twoway “interpreters ‘of blostatigraptic data trom diferent regions = that's, correlaton charts of zones. ard stages. Such charis provide detailed infor ‘mation on composition and sequence of ilerent sets of regional biosiratigraphic Units and indicate fevels of confidence of correlations. A single chronostratigraphic nomenclature shows nosher. Biostratigraphic units form a hierarchy. ‘The temporal bistatigaphic unis ofa sin- dle province compnee a herarchic arrange. ment thal rest upon the fist occurrence of a Single species at tho base of a zone. Ths {zone then detinas the base of a stage. Both Units are best standardized by objective TAURENTIA mastmacia—] [wont cniwa] [KAZAKHSTAN BALTIOA exam oarsoman YEHU raewaooe PayNTONIAN Fewostan sunwarran potcettian z feng MALYKARATAUIAN i ‘CHANGSHAN 2 3] sterroran aa sackian rs maewTwnocian i MINDYALLAN = AJUSOCKANIAN wansuman BOOMERANGIAN omen canna waANIAN van FLORAN "7 AMGINIAN T TEMPLETONIAN HSveHuAnG! SouvaN igure 12 Bustatigraphie ort ae agonal unde A stadia name's typical apphcable othe fossis and strate ofa single prownce. The afrent ramus and ‘Dounders of Uppor Cambrian stage o lve separate continents and provces rect the unique sragrapic Mstory andthe cshnct fan o! each area (rom Lutigeen and isto. 1985),