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Ordovician “sphinctozoan” sponges from Prince of Wales Island, southeastern Alaska

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

J. Keith Rigby ,
Susan M. Karl ,
Robert B. Blodgett  and
James F. Baichtal
J. Keith Rigby
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602-4606,
Susan M. Karl
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, BR Alaskan Geology, 4200 University Drive, Anchorage, Alaska 99508-4667,
Robert B. Blodgett
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis 97331,
James F. Baichtal
Affiliation:
U.S. Forest Service, Tongass National Forest, P.O. Box 19515, Thorne Bay, Alaska 99919,
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Abstract

A faunule of silicified hypercalcified “sphinctozoan” sponges has been recovered from a clast of Upper Ordovician limestone out of the Early Devonian Karheen Formation on Prince of Wales Island in southeastern Alaska. Included in the faunule are abundant examples of the new genus Girtyocoeliana, represented by Girtyocoeliana epiporata (Rigby and Potter), and Corymbospongia adnata Rigby and Potter, along with rare Corymbospongia amplia n. sp., and Girtyocoelia(?) sp., plus common Amblysiphonella sp. 1 and rare Amblysiphonella(?) sp. 2. The assemblage is similar to that from Ordovician clasts from the eastern Klamath Mountains of northern California. This indicates that the Alexander terrane of southeastern Alaska is related paleogeographically to the lithologically and paleontologically similar terrane of the eastern Klamath Mountains.

This lithology and fossil assemblage of the clast cannot be tied to any currently known local rock units on Prince of Wales Island. Other clasts in the conglomerate appear to have been locally derived, so it is inferred that the limestone clasts were also locally derived, indicating the presence of a previously undocumented Ordovician limestone unit on northern Prince of Wales Island.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 79 , Issue 5 , September 2005 , pp. 862 - 870
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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