Bivalves Key Bed, Tarut Formation, Ash Shati area, N. flank of Murzuk Basin (Devonian of Libya)

Where: Libya (27.5° N, 14.0° E: paleocoordinates 40.8° S, 23.3° E)

• coordinate estimated from map

• local area-level geographic resolution

When: Tarut Formation, Famennian (372.2 - 358.9 Ma)

• "The age of the Tarut Fm. is only poorly documented by fossils...[pollen and conodonts discussed]"

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: marine; ferruginous claystone and sandstone

• "Extremely shallow-water environment is evident from the fact that truncated stems of lycophytes have been found standing upright, i.e. in-situ, in the ferruginous oolite (e.g., west of Quttah)."
• Formation as a whole: "The lower and middle parts...are prevalently...claystone with subordinate interbeds of siltstone. A prominent sst. layer, the so-called 'Bivalves key bed' is developed amidst the claystones. The upper part is mostly...ferruginous oolites and sst. which are connected with mutual lateral transitions. The total thickness of the Fm. varies between 45 and 10 m." This collection: sandstone

Primary reference: V. Havlicek and P. Rohlich. 1987. Devonian and Carboniferous brachiopods from the northern flank of the Murzug Basin (Libya). Sbornik Geologickych Ved: Paleontologie 28:117-177 [A. Miller/J. Sessa/J. Sessa]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 36828: authorized by Michael Foote, entered by Michael Foote on 17.02.2004

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names
Bivalvia
 Nuculida - Nuculidae
Nuculopsis sp.
Nuculopsis sp. Girty 1912 nut clam
 Ostreida - Pterineidae
Leptodesma sp., Actinopteria sp.
Leptodesma sp. Hall 1883 oyster
Actinopteria sp. Hall 1884 oyster
 Cardiidia - Grammysiidae
Sphenotus sp.
Sphenotus sp. Hall 1884 clam