Events & Courses

Ian will be talking about the results of some of his fieldwork in South America. Detailed age dating and correlation is now well established for marine Devonian sections using conodont and goniatite biostratigraphy. Correlations based on these groups have been used to underpin studies in geochemistry, sedimentology, palaeontology, and palaeoecology that have allowed a hierarchy of Devonian ‘events’ to be established. These events encompass sea-level changes, extinctions, anoxia and climatic perturbations. 

The accurate global recognition of such events is problematic due to the general scarcity of conodonts and goniatites in the Devonian of South America. Moreover, the remoteness of many excellent Devonian sections in countries such as Bolivia, Brazil and Chile has proved to be an additional complication. This means that the Devonian sea-level curve has never been rigorously tested in areas such as Bolivia which occupied higher palaeolatitudes (>45°S) during this period. Fortunately, a calibration of the Devonian sea-level curve is now possible using palynology and this presentation will explain how it is now possible to identify some important changes in sea-level based on data obtained through extensive fieldwork in South America since 2002.

Speaker

Ian Troth

Time

19.00