ALBERT

Description: The Carboniferous succession in Adarouch (Central Morocco, north of the Atlas Transform Fault) contains thick carbonate beds including upper Visean, Serpukhovian and basal Bashkirian rocks. Foraminifers enable precise recognition of the Visean/Serpukhovian (V/S), early/late Serpukhovian (eS/lS) and Serpukhovian/Bashkirian (S/B) boundaries. Insolentitheca horrida, Loeblichia ukrainica, "Millerella" spp. and Endostaffella? sp. 2 are regarded as regionally useful indices to the V/S boundary, whereas Eostaffellina spp., Eostaffella pseudostruvei and some evolved species of Archaediscus exhibit greater reliability for worldwide correlation of this level. Similarly, the eS/lS boundary is marked locally by Brenckleina rugosa, Eosigmoilina sp., and Monotaxinoides spp. and globally by Loeblichia minima, Bradyina cribrostomata, Plectostaffella spp., Eostaffellina "protvae" and "Turrispiroides", and the S/B boundary is marked locally by Globivalulina bulloides and globally by Seminovella elegantula, and Novella?. Occurrences of these taxa in Morocco allow correlations with the Moscow Basin, the Urals, the Donetz Basin and North America. The Moroccan assemblages share few taxa in common with Saharan basins south of the Atlas Transform Fault. Correlations with western European basins are difficult because of the paucity in the latter of foraminiferal-bearing carbonate strata.

Description: The Carboniferous succession in Adarouch (Central Morocco, north of the Atlas Transform Fault) contains thick carbonate beds including upper Visean, Serpukhovian and basal Bashkirian rocks. Foraminifers enable precise recognition of the Visean/Serpukhovian (V/S), early/late Serpukhovian (eS/lS) and Serpukhovian/Bashkirian (S/B) boundaries.Insolentitheca horrida, Loeblichia ukrainica, “Millerella”spp. andEndostaffella? sp. 2 are regarded as regionally useful indices to the V/S boundary, whereasEostaffellinaspp.,Eostaffella pseudostruveiand some evolved species ofArchaediscusexhibit greater reliability for worldwide correlation of this level. Similarly, the eS/lS boundary is marked locally byBrenckleina rugosa, Eosigmoilinasp., andMonotaxinoidesspp. and globally byLoeblichia minima, Bradyina cribrostomata, Plectostaffellaspp.,Eostaffellina “protvae”and“Turrispiroides”, and the S/B boundary is marked locally byGlobivalulina bulloidesand globally bySeminovella elegantula, andNovella?. Occurrences of these taxa in Morocco allow correlations with the Moscow Basin, the Urals, the Donetz Basin and North America. The Moroccan assemblages share few taxa in common with Saharan basins south of the Atlas Transform Fault. Correlations with western European basins are difficult because of the paucity in the latter of foraminiferal-bearing carbonate strata.

Description: The biostratigraphy of the upper part of the Mississippian Lower Limestone Formation in the Midland Valley, Scotland is revised using foraminiferal assemblages. This formation was previously assigned exclusively to the upper part of the Brigantian Substage (upper Cf6δ, P2 or latest Visean), whereas the succeeding Limestone Coal Formation (barren of foraminifers and conodonts) was assigned to the Pendleian Substage (lower Cf7, E1 or early Serpukhovian). The foraminifers, in particular those recorded from the Second Hosie and Top Hosie limestones and their lateral equivalents (Anvil and MacDonald limestones), are comparable to Serpukhovian assemblages from the Ukraine and Russia. Consequently, the Visean/Serpukhovian stage boundary is repositioned at the base of the Second Hosie Limestone. This assignment of the Second Hosie Limestone to the Pendleian is reinforced by the first occurrence of the ammonoid Emstites (Cravenoceras), although it occurs 1 m below the Top Hosie Limestone. Pendleian foraminiferal assemblages from northern England, its geographically closest equivalent, are similar but not well enough known for a detailed comparison. A few similarities are found between the foraminiferal assemblages from the Midland Valley and those from southwest Spain and North African basins. Faunas from the Second and Top Hosie limestones and their lateral equivalents allow us to propose an assemblage zone, valid for regional correlations within the British Isles, and the faunas can be potentially used as Serpukhovian markers for western Paleotethyan basins. Two new genera and species are described, Praeplectostaffella anvilensis n. gen. n. sp. and Praeostaffellina macdonaldensis n. gen. n. sp., and two new species, Tubispirodiscus hosiensis n. sp. and Euxinita pendleiensis n. sp.

Description: In this study, middle to late Mississippian microfossil assemblages from the Maritimes Basin of eastern Canada (Nova Scotia, SW Newfoundland, and New Brunswick) are closely compared to those from Western Paleotethys basins. The comparison is focused mainly on foraminifers and calcareous algae. Most foraminifers and algae described from the Maritimes Basin are considered cosmopolitan, and the occurrence in western Europe and northern Africa of taxa previously considered endemic to the North America Realm suggests a close paleobiogeographic relationship. This European/African correlation is further supported by other foraminiferal/algal taxa, the importance of which were previously overlooked, including: Plectogyranopsis ex gr. P. hirosei (Okimura, 1965), Mikhailovella Ganelina, 1956, Koktjubina windsorensis (Mamet, 1970), Polysphaerinella bulla Mamet, 1973, Mstinia Dain in Dain and Grozdilova, 1953, Haplophragmina Reitlinger, 1950, Omphalotis Shlykova, 1969, Pseudolituotuba Vdovenko, 1971, Pseudoendothyra Mikhailov, 1939, Saccamminopsis (Sollas, 1921) Vachard and Cózar, 2003, Kamaenella Mamet and Roux, 1974, and Anthracoporellopsis Maslov, 1956. Some species recorded in the Maritimes Basin have been typically recorded in Britain and Ireland in the southern platform of Laurussia. This implies a connection via the Rhenohercynian Ocean, whereas statistical analyses suggest that Maritimes Basin assemblages are closer to those of the Gondwana platform, which could have been established via the Paleotethys Ocean, and also with terranes northwest of the Variscan Front, in which its most logical connection should be with a still-open Rheic Ocean during the Visean and early Serpukhovian. Those taxa demonstrate a more-or-less continuous faunal and microfloral interchange between the Maritimes Basin and the Western Paleotethys paleobiogeographic realm. Furthermore, the width of the Paleotethys and Rheic oceans separating these regions is not considered excessive, particularly during the late Visean and early Serpukhovian.