Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous foraminifera of the Upper Silesian Block (Kraków Region, southern Poland)

Abstract

Forty foraminifera taxa belonging to the class Fusulinata are described from Upper Devonian to Lower Carboniferous carbonates of the Dębnik anticline (Upper Silesian Block, southern Poland). Twenty-three species of foraminifera within the subclasses Afusulinana and Fusulinana have been recognized in thin sections. They belong to the three orders: Archaediscida, Endothyrida and Fusulinida. The order Archaediscida contains two superfamilies Archaediscoidea and Tournayelloidea, whereas the order Endothyrida encompasses three suborders (Lituotubellina, Endothyrina, Palaeotextulariina) with eight superfamilies: Lituotubelloidea, Septabrunsiinoidea, Quasiendothyroidea, Endothyroidea, Bradyinoidea, Loeblichioidea, Palaeotextularioidea and Tetrataxoidea. However, the order Fusulinida (sensu Vachard et al., 2010) contains the superfamily Ozawainelloidea restricted to the Ozawainellidae and Eostaffellidae. The foraminiferal assemblages represent the late Famennian, middle Tournaisian, and the later part of the middle Visean. The foraminifers described are also known from Famennian–Visean carbonate platforms of the Dinant Region, the Moravian Karst, various regions of Russia, and the Dębnik anticline. These significant microfossils supplement data on foraminifera from the Upper Silesian Block.