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Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology

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Foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the Bei’anFormation (Visean–Serpukhovian) in thePengchong area of Liuzhou, Guangxi, South China

Yang Shen & Xun-Lian Wang

To cite this article: Yang Shen & Xun-Lian Wang (2015) Foraminiferal biostratigraphy ofthe Bei’an Formation (Visean–Serpukhovian) in the Pengchong area of Liuzhou, Guangxi,South China, Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology, 39:4, 559-572, DOI:10.1080/03115518.2015.1066579

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03115518.2015.1066579

Published online: 25 Aug 2015.

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Foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the Bei’an Formation(Visean–Serpukhovian) in the Pengchong area of Liuzhou,Guangxi, South China

YANG SHEN and XUN-LIAN WANG

SHEN, Y. & WANG, X.L., 24.6.2015. Foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the Bei’an Formation (Visean–Serpukhovian) in the Pengchong area of Liuz-hou, Guangxi, South China. Alcheringa 39, 559–572. ISSN 0311-5518

The type section of the Mississippian Bei’an Formation is well exposed on both sides of the Beihuan expressway at Liuzhou in Guangxi, SouthChina, about 700 m east of the Pengchong GSSP (Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point) for the base of the Visean Stage. Foraminifers areabundant and diverse (at least 59 species and 39 genera) in this section, and five foraminiferal zones are recognizable in the Bei’an Formation. Inascending order, these are the Pojarkovella nibelis, Koskinotextularia, Bradyina, Janischewskina and ‘Millerella’ tortula zones. Based on theforaminifers, the Bei’an Formation is regarded as being of middle Visean to Serpukhovian age, i.e., equivalent to biozones MFZ12–MFZ15 from thestratotypes of Europe, and the Visean–Serpukhovian boundary is placed at the base of the ‘Millerella’ tortula Zone.

Yang Shen [shenybj@126.com] (Corresponding author) and Xun-Lian Wang [wxl@cugb.edu.cn], School of Earth Sciences and Resources, ChinaUniversity of Geosciences (Beijing), 29 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, PR China. Received 22.1.2015; revised 4.6.2015; accepted 24.6.2015.

Key words: foraminifers, Bei’an Formation, biozone, Mississippian, Carboniferous, Pengchong, South China.

THE PENGCHONG section of South China has beendefined as the Global Boundary Stratotype Section andPoint (GSSP) for the base of the Visean Stage(Carboniferous). The Tournaisian–Visean boundary fallswithin the Pengchong Member of the Luzhai Formation,which has been studied and described extensively(Hance et al. 1997, 2011, Devuyst et al. 2003, Devuyst2006, Hou & Zhou 2008, Hou et al. 2013). The LuzhaiFormation is overlain by the carbonate Bei’an Forma-tion (Shen & Tan 2009). The type section of the Bei’anFormation is about 700 m east of the GSSP. The sectioncontains abundant and diverse foraminifers. Recently,Hance et al. (2011) published an important monograph onthe Mississippian foraminifers from South China; how-ever, the late Visean foraminifers were still poorly knownat that time by these authors. This paper addresses mainlythe foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the Bei’an Formationwith the aim of resolving the foraminiferal successionthrough the middle–upper Visean and identifying theVisean–Serpukhovian boundary in the Pengchong area.

Geographical and geological settingThe type section of the Bei’an Formation is well exposedalong the Beihuan expressway in Liuzhou. This has beentermed the upper part of the Pengchong section but is

also called the Bei’an section in order to distinguish itfrom the Pengchong GSSP. The section is near the vil-lage of Pengchong (24°26′N, 109°27′E), 15 km NNE ofLiuzhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region(Fig. 1). A milestone marked ‘19 km’ on the Beihuanexpressway is a point of reference for the section.

During the Mississippian, the Pengchong area waslocated near the northern margin of the Tethys and in asubequatorial position (Golonka et al. 1994, Scotese2002). Regionally, the Pengchong area was located inan intraplatform basin or in the basin slope (Kuanget al. 1999).

In the Pengchong area, the Mississippian Subsystemencompassed the Luzhai, Bei’an and ‘Simen’ forma-tions. The Luzhai Formation is subdivided into threemembers. The lower and upper members consist ofthin-bedded dark siliceous mudstone interbedded withthin-bedded chert. The middle member, called the Peng-chong Member, is composed of dark grey limestonebeds of various thicknesses with subordinate thin- tomedium-bedded dark calcareous shale (Devuyst et al.2003). The Bei’an Formation consists mainly of grey todark grey thin- to thick-bedded limestone interbeddedwith siliceous rocks, mudstone and sandstone (Shen &Tan 2009). The ‘Simen Formation’ is composed of greyto dark grey thin-bedded mudstone, siltstone andgrey-white medium-bedded quartz sandstone.

The ‘Bei’an Formation’ was previously mapped asthe ‘Huangjin Formation’ in the Liuzhou area, Guangxi.© 2015 Association of Australasian Palaeontologists

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Fig. 1. Geographical and geological maps of the studied area. A, Map of China; B, Map of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region; C, Map ofLiuzhou; D, Geological map of the Pengchong area (modified from Group of Petroleum Geology of Guangxi, 1988); E, Aerial photograph showingthe locations of the Pengchong sections.

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In fact, the two formations are markedly different intheir type sections in terms of lithology, lithofacies andpalaeogeographic position.

The Bei’an Formation contains both shallow-waterforaminifers and crinoids, and deep-water conodontsand sponge spicules, and was deposited in a platformmargin environment. These environments are the sameas those represented by the Pengchong Member of theLuzhai Formation.

The Bei’an Formation is approximately 150 mthick in the Bei’an section. The lowest beds areexposed on the north side of the expressway and arecomposed of a few metres of thick-bedded limestone.The main parts (beds 1 to 36) of the formation areexposed on the south side of the expressway (Figs 1, 2).The formation can be subdivided into three parts. Thelower part (beds 0 to 6) is composed mainly of darkgrey thick-bedded bioclastic limestones containing crinoidstem fragments and foraminifers. The middle part (beds 7to 22) consists of yellowish-gray thin-bedded mudstonesand siltstones interbedded with dark grey thin- to medium-bedded limestones containing thin-bedded chert bands,crinoid stem fragments, sponge spicules, conodonts andforaminifers. The upper part (beds 23 to 36) consists ofdark grey thin- to thick-bedded limestones with chertnodules and foraminifers. The formation has conformablecontacts with the underlying Luzhai Formation and theoverlying ‘Simen Formation’.

Foraminiferal faunaThe Bei’an Formation contains abundant and diverseforaminifers. The assemblage includes at least 59 spe-cies and 39 genera (Table 1, Fig. 3). Representativespecimens are illustrated herein (Figs 4–8).

The more abundant genera in the Bei’an Formationinclude Viseidiscus, Planoarchaediscus, Paraarcha-ediscus,Archaediscus, Consobrinellopsis, Koskino-textularia,Koskinobigenerina, Pojarkovella, Omphalotis, Tetrataxis,Brunsia, Mediocris, Endothyra and Eostaffella.

The primitive archaediscids are well represented inthe lower part of the Bei’an Formation, includingViseidiscus unbogmaensis, V. monstratus, Viseidiscus sp.and Planoarchaediscus spirillinoides, whereas moreadvanced archaediscids have been identified in themiddle and upper parts of the formation, includingParaarchaediscus stilus, P. pauxillus, Archaediscuskrestovnikovi, A. karreri, A. moelleri, Neoarchaediscusspp. and Asteroarchaediscus spp. Textulariid foramini-fers are diverse in the formation, including Consobrinel-lopsis, Koskinotextularia, Koskinobigenerina andClimacammina.

Some taxa are not abundant but are important forbiostratigraphy, such as Bradyina, Janischewskina,Endothyranopsis, Biseriella, ‘Millerella’ and Howchinia.Other genera present are Valvulinella, Vissariotaxis,Cribrospira, Plectogyranopsis, Brunsia, Forschiella,Forschia, Diplosphaerina, Eotuberitina and Earlandia.

Fig. 2. Photographs of outcrops of the Bei’an Formation at the Bei’an section. A, Lower and middle parts of the Bei’an Formation (beds 1–22); B,Thick-bedded limestone in the lower part of the Bei’an Formation (beds 1–3); C, Upper part of the Bei’an Formation (beds 23–37); D, Medium-bedded limestone in the upper part of the Bei’an Formation (bed 32; 11a and 11b indicate the sample numbers).

ALCHERINGA MISSISSIPPIAN FORAMINIFERAL BIOSTRATIGRAPHY 561

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Tax

a/samples

P0

P1

P2

P3a

P4a

P6c

P7f

B4

B8-2

B17

B19

B27

B29

B32

2a3a

4a5a

6a8d

9a11a

11b

13a

14a

15a

Viseidiscusum

bogm

aensis

●●

●●

Plano

archaediscus

spirillinoides

●●

●●

●●

●Con

sobrinellopsisspp.

●●

●●

●●

●●

Pojarkovella

nibelis

●●

●●

●●

●Pojarkovella

spp.

●●

●●

●●

●Omph

alotisspp.

●●

●●

●●

●Mediocrisex

gr.mediocris

●●

●●

●●

Brunsia

spp.

●●

●●

●Tetrataxisspp.

●●

●●

●●

●●

●Eostaffella

spp.

●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

●●

●Paralysella

spp.

●●

●●

●Viseidiscusmon

stratus

●●

●Nud

archaediscus

sp.

●Glomod

iscusspp.

●●

●Koskino

textularia

spp.

●●

●●

●●

●End

othyra

spp.

●●

●●

●●

Viseidiscusspp.

●●

●●

Paraa

rcha

ediscusstilu

s●

●●

●●

●●

Paraa

rcha

ediscusspp.

●●

●●

●●

●●

Omph

alotispa

rvula

●●

●Forschiaspp.

●●

●●

Diplospha

erinainaequ

alis

●Earland

iavulgaris

●●

Paraa

rcha

ediscussp.cf.P.

pauxillus

●●

Koskino

bigenerina

spp.

●●

●Paralysella

primitiva

●Archa

ediscusmoelleri

●●

Archa

ediscusspp.

●●

●●

●●

●●

End

othyrano

psiscrassa

●●

Mediocrisex

gr.breviscula

●●

●●

Neoarchaediscus

akchimensis

●●

Vissariotaxis?sp.

●Bradyinaspp.

●●

●●

●Neoarchaediscus

spp.

●●

●●

●●

Cribrospira

pand

eri

●●

●●

Plectog

yran

opsisregu

laris

●●

End

othyrano

psisspp.

●●

●Archa

ediscuskrestovnikovi

●●

●●

Cribrostomum

?sp.

●Valvulinella

lata

●Plectog

yran

opsisspp.

●●

End

othyrano

psisspha

erica

●Eotub

eritina

reitlingerae

●●

●Omph

alotisom

phalota

●●

Asteroa

rcha

ediscus?spp.

●●

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Foraminiferal biostratigraphy andcorrelationFive foraminiferal zones are recognized in the Bei’anFormation at the Bei’an section: successively, the ViseanPojarkovella nibelis, Koskinotextularia, Bradyina andJanischewskina zones, and the Serpukhovian ‘Millerella’tortula Zone.

Pojarkovella nibelis Zone

According to Devuyst et al. (2003), the lower boundary ofthe Pojarkovella nibelis Zone is drawn at bed 182 in theupper part of the Pengchong Member of the LuzhaiFormation at the Pengchong section, on the basis of thefirst appearance of Pojarkovella nibelis. This zone extendsupward to the lowermost part of the Bei’an Formation(beds 0–1), which contains Pojarkovella nibelis, Conso-brinellopsis spp., Paralysella spp., Eostaffella sp.,Tetrataxis sp., Brunsia sp. and primitive archaediscids,such as Viseidiscus unbogmaensis, V. monstratus andPlanoarchaediscus spirillinoides. This association seemsto be similar to that of the upper part of the Baping Forma-tion at the Yajiao section, Xiangzhou (Hance et al. 2011).This zone can be correlated with the lower part of theMFZ 12–Pojarkovella nibelis Zone in Western Europe(Devuyst et al. 2003, Poty et al. 2006, Hance et al. 2011)and the Pojarkovella nibelis Zone in Moravia (Kalvoda2002) based on the first appearance of Pojarkovella nibelis.

Koskinotextularia Zone

The lower boundary of the Koskinotextularia Zone ismarked by the first appearance of Koskinotextularia; itsupper boundary coincides with the first appearance ofBradyina. The characteristic taxa of this zone includeKoskinotextularia sp., Pojarkovella nibelis, Conso-brinellopsis spp., Paralysella spp. and primitivearchaediscids, such as Glomodiscus spp., Viseidiscusunbogmaensis, V. monstratus, Viseidiscus sp. andPlanoarchaediscus spirillinoides. Paraarchaediscus sti-lus, P. pauxillus and Koskinobigenerina? spp. appear inthe upper part of the zone. This zone ranges from bed 2to bed 12 of the lower part of the Bei’an Formation.

In Belgium, Koskinotextularia is a secondary markerfor the MFZ12 (Poty et al. 2006), and was used as anindicator of the Pojarkovella nibelis–KoskinotextulariaZone in the Dinant and Namur Synclinorium (Conilet al. 1976, 1991, Poty et al. 2006). The stratigraphicdistributions of Pojarkovella nibelis and Koskinotextu-laria need further resolution, especially in South China.In South China, the first appearance of Koskinotextu-laria is recorded far above the base of the Pojarkovellanibelis Zone in the Bei’an Formation at Pengchong,Guangxi, and in the Yashui Member of the Jiusi Forma-tion at Yashui, Guizhou. Koskinotextularia is distinc-tive, abundant, and easy to identify. Thus, theKoskinotextularia Zone is proposed here and is distin-guished from the Pojarkovella nibelis Zone.

Biseriella

spp.

●●

●●

Biseriella

paramod

erata

●●

Pseud

otaxiseominima

●●

How

chinia

spp.

●●

●●

Archa

ediscuskarreri

●●

●Neoarchaediscus

perm

odiscoides

●Permod

iscusvetustus

●Eostaffella

proikensis

●Eostaffella

ikensis

●●

Forschiella

prisca

●Janischewskinasp.

●●

‘Millerella’tortula

●●

Clim

acam

minasp.

●‘Pseud

oglomospira’mltivoluta

●

Table1.

Distributionof

foraminifersin

theBei’anFormationat

theBei’ansection.

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The Koskinotextularia Zone can be correlated withthe upper part of the MFZ 12–Pojarkovella nibelisZone in Western Europe (Poty et al. 2006). TheMFZ13–Neoarchaediscus Zone was not identified at theBei’an section, because the local first occurrence ofNeoarchaediscus is in bed 13 (sample B8-2), which isalready the base of the Bradyina Zone.

Bradyina Zone

The base of the Bradyina Zone is marked by thefirst appearance of Bradyina; its upper boundary coin-cides with the first appearance of Janischewskina. Thesuccessive appearances of Neoarchaediscus spp., Cri-brospira panderi, Plectogyranopsis regularis, Archaedis-cus krestovnikovi, Cribrostomum? sp., Endothyranopsis

Fig. 3. Ranges of the most significant foraminiferal taxa in the Bei’an Formation at the Bei’an section.

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Fig. 4. Foraminifers from the Bei’an Formation at the Bei’an section. A, C, Viseidiscus monstratus (Grozdilova & Lebedeva, 1954): A(sample P1), C (sample P2); B, Nudarchaediscus sp. (sample P2); D, E, J, Viseidiscus umbogmaensis (Omara & Conil, 1965): D (sample P0), E(sample P6), J (sample P2); F, G, Viseidiscus sp.: F (sample B17), G (sample B19); H, Paraarchaediscus sp. (sample P7f); I, Glomodiscussp. (sample P4a); K–M, Planoarchaediscus spirillinoides (Rauzer-Chernousova, 1948a) (sample P1); N–P, Paraarchaediscus sp. cf. P. pauxillus(Shlykova, 1951): N, O (sample B4), P (sample P7f); Q–T, Paraarchaediscus stilus (Grozdilova & Lebedeva in Grozdilova, 1953): Q (sampleP6c), R (sample P7f), S (sample B17), T (sample 13a).

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Fig. 5. Foraminifers from the Bei’an Formation at the Bei’an section. A, B, E, Archaediscus karreri Brady, 1873 (sample 4a); C, D,Archaediscus moelleri Rauzer-Chernousova, 1948b (sample B4); F, Archaediscus krestovnikovi Rauzer-Chernousova, 1948a (sample B17); G–K,Archaediscus spp., G–J (sample B32), K (sample B8-2); L, M, Neoarchaediscus? akchimensis (Grozdilova & Lebedeva, 1954): L (sample B17),M (sample B8-2); N, O, Neoarchaediscus permodiscoides (Reitlinger, 1950) (sample 4a); P, Q, Asteroarchaediscus? spp.: P (sample B32), Q(sample 2a); R, Permodiscus vetustus Dutkevich in Chernysheva, 1948 (sample 4a); S–U, ‘Pseudoglomospira’ multivoluta Hance, Hou & Vachard,2011 (sample 11a).

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Fig. 6. Foraminifers from the Bei’an Formation at the Bei’an section. A–I, Consobrinellopsis spp.: A, B (sample P0), C (sample B8-2), D (sample4a), E (sample P6c), F (sample B8-2), G (sample B4), H, I (sample B8-2); J–L, Koskinotextularia sp.: J (sample B8-2), K (sample 4a), L (sampleB8-2); M, N, Koskinobigenerina sp. (sample 4a); O, Climacammina sp. (sample 9a); P–U, X–Z, Tetrataxis spp.: P (sample B4), Q (sample B8-2),R (sample B17), S (sample P7f), T (sample B4), U (sample B21), X (sample B17), Y (sample 4a), Z (sample B4); V, W, Pseudotaxiseominima (Rauzer-Chernousova, 1948c): V (sample B32), W (sample 13a); AA, Earlandia vulgaris (Rauzer-Chernousova & Reitlinger inRauzer-Chernousova & Fursenko, 1937) (sample P6c); AB, Valvulinella lata Grozdilova & Lebedeva, 1954 (sample B17); AC–AH, Howchiniaspp. (sample 4a); AI, Vissariotaxis? sp. (sample B8-2).

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Fig. 7. Foraminifers from the Bei’an Formation at the Bei’an section. A–N, S, Eostaffella spp.: A (sample P6c), B (sample P2), C (sample P6c), D(sample B8-2), E (sample B32), F (sample P7f), G (sample P6c), H (sample P7f), I–K (sample P6c), L, M (sample P7f), N (sample 4a), S (sample9a); O, Eostaffella proikensis Rauser-Chernousova, 1948a (sample 4a); P–R, Eostaffella ikensis Vissarionova, 1948 (sample 4a); T, U, Mediocrisex gr. mediocris (Vissarionova, 1948) (sample B8-2); V–X, Mediocris ex gr. breviscula (Ganelina, 1951): V, W (sample 2a), X (sample B32);Y, Z, AD, Endothyra spp.: Y (sample P3a), Z (sample P6c), AD (sample P7f); AA, AB, Pojarkovella nibelis (Durkina, 1959) (sample P7f); AC,‘Millerella’ tortula Zeller, 1953 (sample 13a); AE, Paralysella primitiva Hance, Hou & Vachard, 2011 (sample P7f).

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Fig. 8. Foraminifers from the Bei’an Formation at the Bei’an section. A, Bradyina sp. (sample B17); B, Janischewskina sp. (sample 5a); C,Endothyranopsis crassa Brady, 1870 emend. Cummings, 1955 (sample B4); D, E, Cribrospira panderi Möller, 1878 (sample B8-2); F, Endothyra-nopsis sphaerica (Rauzer-Chernousova & Reitlinger in Rauzer-Chernousova, Belyaev & Reitlinger, 1936) (sample B17); G, Forschiella priscaMikhailov, 1935 (sample 4a); H–J, Forschia spp.: H (sample P7f), I (sample B4), J (sample P7f); K, L, Plectogyranopsis spp.: K (sample 4a), L(sample B17); M, N, AC, Plectogyranopsis regularis (Rauzer-Chernousova, 1948d): M (sample B8-2), N (sample 4a), AC (sample B8-2); OBiseriella paramoderata Cozar & Somerville, 2012a (sample B32); P, Q, Biseriella spp., P (sample B32), Q (sample 4a); R, S, Eotuberitinareitlingerae Miklukho-Maklay, 1958: R (sample 2a), S (sample B17); T, Diplosphaerina inaequalis (Derville, 1931) (sample P6c); U–X, Brunsiaspp. (sample P6c); Y, AD, AE, Omphalotis spp.: Y (sample 4a), AD (sample B8-2), AE (sample B4); Z–AB, Omphalotis parvula (Bozorgnia,1973): Z (sample 4a), AA (sample P6c), AB (sample P7f); AF, Omphalotis omphalota (Rauzer-Chernousova & Reitlinger in Rauzer-Chernousova,Belyaev & Reitlinger, 1936) (sample B27).

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sphaerica and Omphalotis omphalota complete this richassociation. Asteroarchaediscus? spp., Biseriella spp.and Howchinia spp. appear in the upper part of the zone.This zone includes beds 13 to 24 of the Bei’anFormation.

The first appearance of Bradyina rotula is slightlyabove that of Howchinia bradyana (Laloux 1988, Potyet al. 2006, Cózar & Somerville 2012b). The BradyinaZone can be broadly correlated with the MFZ 14–Howchinia bradyana Zone in Western Europe (Potyet al. 2006). Rich associations of foraminifers attributableto this zone are relatively homogeneous across Europeand northern Africa (Conil & Lys 1964, Vachard 1977,Laloux 1988, Conil et al. 1991, Vachard & Berkhli 1992,Cózar & Somerville 2005, Poty et al. 2006, Cózar et al.2006, 2008, 2013, Krainer & Vachard 2015).

Janischewskina Zone

The base of the Janischewskina Zone is marked by thefirst appearance of Janischewskina, and its upperboundary by the first appearance of ‘Millerella’ tortula.This zone is the uppermost foraminiferal zone in theVisean Stage. Archaediscus karreri and Neoarchaedis-cus permodiscoides appear at the same level as Janis-chewskina. This zone spans beds 25 and 26 in theBei’an Formation.

The first occurrence of Janischewskina is consideredan excellent marker for the biozonation andbiostratigraphic correlation of the late Visean (Cózar &Somerville 2006). Janischewskina typica is the markertaxon for the MFZ 15–Janischewskina typica Zone inWestern Europe (Poty et al. 2006) and the Eostaffellatenebrosa Subzone of the Endothyranopsis crassa–Archaediscus gigas Zone in Russia (Kulagina et al.2003). The Janischewskina Zone can be broadlycorrelated with the lower part of the MFZ 15 or theEostaffella tenebrosa Subzone.

‘Millerella’ tortula Zone

The base of the ‘Millerella’ tortula Zone is marked by thefirst appearance of ‘Millerella’ tortula. This zone is the low-est foraminiferal zone in the Serpukhovian Stage. This zonecontains abundant foraminifers, such as Eostaffella ikensis,Howchinia spp., Biseriella spp., Omphalotis omphalota,Climacammina sp., Archaediscus krestovnikovi, A. karreri,A. moelleri, Cribrospira panderi, Bradyina spp. andParaarchaediscus stilus. This zone spans the interval frombed 27 upward until the uppermost exposure of the Bei’anFormation in this section.

‘Millerella’ tortula is the marker of the Neoar-chaediscus postrugosus Zone in Russia (Kulagina et al.2003), hence, the ‘Millerella’ tortula Zone can be corre-lated with the Neoarchaediscus postrugosus Zone. Italso can be correlated with the upper part of the MFZ15–Janischewskina typica Zone in Western Europe(Poty et al. 2006, Groves et al. 2012).

We placed the Visean–Serpukhovian boundary at thebase of the ‘Millerella’ tortula Zone in the Bei’an sec-tion owing to the occurrence of ‘Millerella’ tortula. TheVisean–Serpukhovian boundary is not yet defined by aGSSP, but it could be tentatively marked by the appear-ance of the conodont Lochriea ziegleri in the L.nodosa–L. ziegleri evolutionary lineage (Richards &Task Group 2014). This evolutionary lineage has beenwell documented in Western Europe, Russia and China(Nemirovskaya et al. 1994, Skompski et al. 1995, Qi &Wang 2005, Nemyrovska 2005, Nikolaeva et al. 2005,2009, Kulagina et al. 2006, Qi et al 2014). The occur-rence of ‘Millerella’ tortula in Russia has been con-firmed, approximately at equivalent levels to L. ziegleri(Gibshman et al. 2009), and ‘Millerella’ tortula hasbeen used as a foraminiferal marker for the lower Ser-pukhovian boundary (Gibshman 2001, 2003, Gibshmanet al. 2009, Kabanov et al. 2009). In the Yashui sectionof South China, this species is also proposed as themarker for the base of the Serpukhovian Stage (Groveset al. 2012). The Visean–Serpukhovian boundary, whichis based on the first appearance of L. ziegleri, should bemoved down to a lower level, approximately equivalentto the middle part of the Venevian Regional Substage(late Visean) of Russia or the early–late Brigantianboundary of Western Europe (e.g., Skompski et al.1995, Gibshman et al. 2009, Cózar et al. 2014).

ConclusionsIn the Bei’an section, the Bei’an Formation containsabundant and diverse foraminifers, including at least 59species and 39 genera. Five foraminiferal zones are pro-posed from the Bei’an Formation: the Pojarkovellanibelis, Koskinotextularia, Bradyina and Janischewskinazones in the Visean, and the ‘Millerella’ tortula Zone inthe Serpukhovian. On the basis of the foraminifers, theBei’an Formation is evidently middle Visean to earlySerpukhovian in age. The Visean–Serpukhovian bound-ary is placed at the base of the ‘Millerella’ tortulaZone, which is coincident with the base of bed 27 inthe Bei’an Formation. The sections in Pengchong notonly provide the GSSP for the base of the Visean Stage,but also contain a reference section for the Visean–Serpukhovian boundary.

AcknowledgementsThe authors thank Prof. Hou Hongfei, Jin Xiaochi, YinBaoan, Wu Xianghe, Tang Zhuanhong, Peng Zhan andDr Xi Dangpeng for their support and valuable sugges-tions. We thank Dr Stephen McLoughlin and the tworeviewers Dr Daniel Vachard and Pedro Cózar for theirvery useful comments, which significantly improvedthis paper. This research was supported by the ChinaGeological Survey (1212011120116).

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