Early Katian, Late Ordovician, heliolitine corals from southern Kuruktag in northeastern Tarim Basin of China

Abstract

Heliolitines are a major tabulate coral group, which experienced their early diversification in the Katian (Late Ordovician). Fossils of this group are well represented in the Kuruktag area of northeastern Tarim Basin, Northwest China, but detailed studies of corals from this area are still lacking. Here, we systematically describe early Katian heliolitines of the Tarim Block based on new material from the lower Katian Yuanbaoshan Formation of southern Kuruktag, which include the plasmoporellids Plasmoporella xinjiangensis and Plasmoporella grandis, the sibiriolitids Mongoliolites obliterans and Mongoliolites sp., the protoheliolitid Wormsipora sp., the proporid Acdalopora sokolovi, the pseudoplasmoporid Navoites irregularis, and the heliolitid Apekinella zeravshanica. A faunal comparison indicates that the biogeographic connections of Tarim Block are closest to Chu-Ili and South Tienshan, but relatively weaker with Qilian and North China.

Keywords

• tabulata
• heliolitida
• biogeography
• katian
• ordovician
• tarim
• china