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Stratigraphy and depositional environments of the Late Famennian (Late Devonian) of Southern Belgium and characterization of the Strud locality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 July 2015

JULIEN DENAYER ,
CYRILLE PRESTIANNI ,
PIERRE GUERIAU ,
SÉBASTIEN OLIVE  and
GAËL CLÉMENT
JULIEN DENAYER*
Affiliation:
Evolution and Diversity Dynamics Lab, Geology Department, University of Liège, Allée du Six-Août, B18, Sart Tilman, Liège, B-4000, Belgium School of Earth Science, the University of Queensland, St-Lucia, QLD 4068, Australia
CYRILLE PRESTIANNI
Affiliation:
Evolution and Diversity Dynamics Lab, Geology Department, University of Liège, Allée du Six-Août, B18, Sart Tilman, Liège, B-4000, Belgium Palaeontology Department, Earth and Life History O.D., Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, 29 Rue Vautier, Brussels B-1000, Belgium
PIERRE GUERIAU
Affiliation:
CR2P, UMR 7207 CNRS/MNHN/UPMC, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CP 38, 57 rue Cuvier, F-75231 Paris cedex 05, France IPANEMA CNRS, MCC, USR 3461, Site du Synchrotron SOLEIL, BP48 Saint-Aubin, F-91192 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
SÉBASTIEN OLIVE
Affiliation:
Evolution and Diversity Dynamics Lab, Geology Department, University of Liège, Allée du Six-Août, B18, Sart Tilman, Liège, B-4000, Belgium Palaeontology Department, Earth and Life History O.D., Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, 29 Rue Vautier, Brussels B-1000, Belgium
GAËL CLÉMENT
Affiliation:
CR2P, UMR 7207 CNRS/MNHN/UPMC, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CP 38, 57 rue Cuvier, F-75231 Paris cedex 05, France
*
†Author for correspondence: julien.denayer@ulg.ac.be
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Abstract

The Famennian (Upper Devonian, c. 372 to 359 Ma) strata of Belgium have recently received much attention after the discoveries of early tetrapod remains and outstandingly preserved continental arthropods. The Strud locality has yielded a diverse flora and fauna including seed-plants, tetrapods, various placoderm, actinopterygian, acanthodian and sarcopterygian fishes, crustaceans (anostracans, notostracans, conchostracans and decapods) and a putative complete insect. This fossil assemblage is one of the oldest continental – probably fresh-water – ecosystems with a considerable vertebrate and invertebrate diversity. The study of the palaeoenvironment of the Strud locality is crucial because it records one of the earliest and most important phases of tetrapod evolution that took place after their emergence but before their terrestrialization. It raises the question of environmental and ecological conditions for the Devonian aquatic ecosystem and the selection pressures occurring at the onset of tetrapod terrestrialization. The present study characterized the fluvial facies of the Upper Famennian sedimentary rocks of Strud and the surrounding areas. The exceptional preservation of arthropods and plants in the main fossiliferous layers is explained by rapid burial in the fine-grained sediment of the quiet and confined flood plain environment. Newly investigated fossiliferous sections in the Meuse–Samson area led to the description and correlation of key sections (Strud, Wierde and Jausse sections, complemented by the less continuous Haltinne, Huy and Coutisse sections). Moreover, the investigated sections allowed a review of the age of the fossiliferous horizon, which is now definitely considered to be Late Famennian in age.

Keywords

DevonianFamennianarthropodstetrapodslithostratigraphyfluvial environment
Type
Original Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 153 , Issue 1 , January 2016 , pp. 112 - 127
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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