Tournaisian

Carboniferous conodonts are reported for the first time fromMyanmar (Burma). Conodont faunas representative
of the Scaliognathus anchoralis and Gnathodus typicus–Protognathodus cordiformis conodont zones date the
sampled Taungnyo Group south of Loi Kaw, Kayah State as late Tournaisian confirming a Mississippian (Lower
Carboniferous) age for the sampled part of this stratigraphic unit. The dated strata are stratigraphically just
below the Tournaisian–Visean (T-V) boundary. Tournaisian strata are thus for the first time unequivocally
demonstrated in the Shan Plateau region of Myanmar. Similar conodont faunas from the T-V boundary interval
in SE Asia indicate a complete stratigraphic sequence at this level in shallow-marine sequences on intra-
Tethyan Cathaysian tectonic blocks (South China) and in deep-marine Palaeo-Tethyan sediments (cherts of the
Inthanon suture zone, Thailand). However, in shallow-marine sequences on the Sibumasu Block, located on
the NE margin of Gondwana in the Carboniferous, they demonstrate a non-sequence or unconformity at this
level, also seen elsewhere in Gondwana. Biogeographic links between upper Tournaisian and early Visean
conodonts on the Sibumasu Terrane and Laurentia and Eastern Australian Gondwana support a NW Australian
Gondwana margin position for Sibumasu in the Late Palaeozoic.

Petrophysical (gamma-ray spectrometry, magnetic susceptibility) and geochemical (X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and inorganic carbon isotope geochemistry) methods are used for stratigraphic correlations and palaeoenvironmental interpretations of the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary interval in the northern part of the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge, Germany. Sections at Oese, Oberrödinghausen and Drewer were studied in the stratigraphic range from the Famennian Upper expansa Zone to the Tournaisian Lower crenulata Zone. The Famennian Wocklum Limestone reveals distinctive cyclicity in the limestone and shale arrangement, whose primary origin has been supported by correlation with K/Al ratio changes. Lower-order K/Al cyclicity follow bundles of alternating layers. On the other hand, Zr/Al cyclicity is rather independent on facies and K/Al and duration of Zr/Al cycles was estimated to be 370 ka, which is close to 405 ka eccentricity. Correlations of the curve patterns of Computed Gamma Ray, U/ThGRS, bulk magnetic susceptibility, K/Al, Zr/Al, S, and Mn proxies have been employed for regional correlation. Our dataset confirms previous palaeoenvironmental interpretations of the Hangenberg Events and additionally provides information on gradual decrease in a bottom oxygenation just prior the events. Peaks in redox and palaeoproductivity proxies (U/Th, Cu+Ni+Zn+Pb) occur in the Hangenberg Black Shale in all studied sections. Although sedimentation of the Hangenberg Black Shale took place during the deepening step, the enhanced palaeoproductivity and hypoxia to anoxia were the main cause of its deposition. An interregional correlation of the Devonian-Carboniferous intervals from the northern Rhenish Massif, Moravian Karst and Carnic Alps was carried out and underlines the potential for further chronostratigraphic definitions.

The article presents new results of biostratigraphic and isotopic analyses for the Upper Famennian - Lower Tournaisian deep-water deposits of the Syvyu River section. Ostracode and conodont faunal changes, interpretation of lithological particularities and O and C isotopic variations enabled description of the boundary of the Systems, and identify stratigraphic equivalents of the Hangenberg Shale.

The ancient regime bishop of Tournai was not only a spiritual leader, but held also temporal powers in 'le Tournaisis'. One of the parishes in this region was Bossuit, today situated in West-Vlaanderen. This article gives an overview of the several temporal authorities in Bossuit: the local seigniories, the bishop, the abbey of Ename... For more than a century, the local viscount and the bishop had a quarrel on who had the right to plant trees along the 'royal' road from Tournai to Oudenaarde. To prove their rights of 'low, middle and high justice' , both parties refer to precedents, usages, testimonies etc.

The paper focuses on high-resolution multidisciplinary research on three Devonian–Carboniferous boundary sections in shallow-water carbonate rocks in the Namur–Dinant Basin (Belgium, France). The aim of the study is to provide palaeo-environmental reconstructions and correlations supported by several independent quantitative proxies. We describe several correlative horizons and provide their sequence-stratigraphic interpretation based on facies analysis, spectral gamma-ray data, element concentrations (XRF) and 13Ccarb, with foraminifer-biostratigraphy age control. The most prominent surface is a basal surface of forced regression, which is indicated by a sharp basinward facies shift and a drop in clay-gamma-ray values and Al concentrations at the base of the Hastière and Avesnelles formations in more distal settings. In proximal settings, this surface merges with a hiatus at the Devonian–Carboniferous boundary inferred from foraminifer biostratigraphy. This hiatus can be correlated with the global Hangenberg sandstone event, which indicates a glacioeustatic sea-level fall. Increasing values of Zr/Al, K/Al, Sr/Al and Mn/Al coincide with the proximal facies of the falling stage system tract (FSST) and lowstand system tract (LST) in the Hastière and Avesnelles formations as a consequence of the enhanced input of siliciclastics and nutrients during low sea levels. The top of the middle Hastière member is interpreted as the maximum regression surface, which is overlain by transgressive systems tract (TST) of the upper Hastière member. The patterns of gamma-ray, δ13Ccarb, Th/K, Al, Zr/Al, and Mn/Al curves are well correlated between the studied sections. The δ13Ccarb excursions are correlated with the unnamed excursion in the Upper expansa conodont zone (Carnic Alps) and with the global Hangenberg event s.l. excursion in the kockeli conodont zone. This sequence-stratigraphic framework is used for correlations with deltaic successions from the Tafilalt Basin, Morocco.
The basal surface of the forced regression equivalent to the Hangenberg sandstone event, which is typical for deeper-water settings, is easily recognisable and correlatable with gaps in more-shallow water settings. We suggest that it should be taken into account as a possible candidate for the “natural solution” of the Devonian–Carboniferous boundary in discussions concerning its redefinition.

Late Viséan brachiopods from the eastern Tafilalt (Morocco), and more precisely from the area comprised between the Jebel Begaa to the southwest, and Gara El Itima to the northeast (close to the Algerian border), are described systematically for the first time. Despite the limited material available, 18 species belonging to 17 genera have been recognized within the limestone beds of the Merdani and Zrigat formations, in which the productides (Productidina) and spiriferides are the most diverse. Representatives of the subfamily Gigantoproductidinae, which are close, if not conspecific, to those present in contemporaneous rocks of the nearby Béchar Basin (Algeria), occur in the late Viséan Zrigat Formation. Additional research based on more abundant material is necessary to investigate thoroughly the relationships existing between the Béchar Basin and the Tafilalt, which may have been part of the former during the Carboniferous. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The uppermost layers of the Ayineburnu member of the Buyukada Formation in the Istanbul-Gebze area are represented by Griotte-type pelagic nodular limestones. They yielded conodont elements (Bispathodus stabilis and Siphonodella lobata) that can iden- tify the interval from the upper part of the sandbergi Zone through the isosticha- Upper crenulata Zone - middle Tournaisian - Early Carbonif- erous. This is the first middle Tournaisian conodont record published from an autochthonous succession in the Istanbul Terrane, NW Tur- key. This level characterizes the very last carbonate deposition and is followed by lydites and black siliceous shales and finally by the accu- mulation of flysch-type deposits during the late Tournaisian and early Visean, that mark the onset of Variscan events to the north of the Is- tanbul Terrane. A correlation with the Lower Carboniferous succes- sions in the easterly-located Zonguldak area suggests that Istanbul and Zonguldak terranes were in quite differen...