Scleractinians from Salt Deposits in the Carpathians (Miocene of Poland)

Where: Poland (50.0° N, 20.1° E: paleocoordinates 49.4° N, 19.8° E)

• coordinate estimated from map

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Uvigerina costai Formation, Badenian (13.7 - 12.7 Ma)

• In the Wieliczka mine corals occur in conglomeratic saline deposits which constitute the upper portion of the so called "stratified salts". Localisation with in the Uvigerina costai foraminiferal zone. Bochnia: same age, similar state of preservation.

• formation-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: shallow subtidal; conglomerate and sandstone

• ahermatypic;life condition of these corals may be assigned to a wide range of temperature and depth but a narrow interval of salinity; rich fauna has been described from the Badenian deposits of Wieliczka, rich epifauna is to be found on corals;assemblage of organisms co-occuring suggests depth comparable to the neritic zone. Dark clayey sediment filling the coralla plus size and shape of caryophyliids that lived on clayey bottom evidence calm environment; more than ten ind. per square meter in the beds-> high original population density

•

•relatively shallow, low energy marine waters showing normal salinity

• collected from salt bearing conglomerates and breccia sediments, known as the "spiza salts", ... are composed of clastic material which may show graded bedding and cross-stratification. Sporadically there are also intercalations of marls and mudstones containing planktic foraminifera. Conglomerates and breccias inc.:blocks and pebbles from Miocene sandstones, marls and mudstones, fragments of flysh rocks, blocks and crystals of salt and sandy materials. All these clasts are enclosed in a saline-clayey matrix.

Size class: macrofossils

Preservation: original aragonite

Collection methods: 66 specimens from Wieliczka mine, more are still inserted, majority is incomplete due to their friability, most of the material is deposited in the Museum of the Wieliczka salt mine, few come from the collection of ing. J. Wiewiórka, and one from the collection of ing. T. Steindel (Bochnia salt mine).

Primary reference: E. Morycowa and E. Roniewicz. 1987. Scleractinian corals from the middle Miocene salt deposits in Carpathian Foredeep, Poland. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 32(1-2):105-119 [W. Kiessling/A. Girndt]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 78719: authorized by Wolfgang Kiessling, entered by Antje Girndt on 15.02.2008

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names
Anthozoa
 Scleractinia - Caryophylliidae
Vielicyathus zejszneri n. gen. n. sp., Caryophyllia salinaria
Vielicyathus zejszneri n. gen. n. sp. Morycowa and Roniewicz 1987 stony coral
Caryophyllia salinaria Reuss 1847 stony coral
endemic, Neotype