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This is the first of several reports on this large shipmnet of 55 collections. Because first priority was set by the transmittor for the collections from the Siksikpuk Formation and related beds, this report covers 15 collection from those rocks. Five of these collections contain almost identical faunas and probably represent the same key shell bed in the Cobblestone Creek-Atigun Gorge area (field numbers 83AMu77-2, 86; 83ASK447, 470, 504). All these collections contain elements of the fauna, known for more than 30 years from this formation, that is considered of early Permian age. The fauna contains relatively few taxa, probably the most prevasive being the smooth-shelled brachiopod MARTINIA which occurs abundantly in shelly accumulations, in some places. Another characteristic form is the small gastropod STRAPAROLLUS (EUOMPHALUS) ALASKENSIS Yochelson and Dutro. Also included in this assemblage are ATTENUATELLA, ANIDANTHUS and SPIRIFERELLA. Occasionally, small horn corals are found including UFIMIA, SOCHKINEOPHYLLUM and TACHYLASMA (Rowett, 1975). Faunas similar to these were reported from the Jungle Creek Fm. in the Yukon by Bamber and Waterhouse (1971) where they were referred to as Fauna E (various zones) of Asselian through Sakmarian age. The Siksikpuk fauna also contains elements of the faunas reported in Asselian and Sakmarian strata in northeast USSR (Zavodovskiy et al, 1970). REFERENCES Bamber, E.W., and Waterhouse, J.B., 1971, Carboniferous and Permian stratigraphy and paleontology, northern Yukon Territory, Canada: Bull. Canadian Petroleum Geology, vol. 19, no. 1, p. 29-250. Rowett, C.L., 1975, Stratigraphic distribution of Permian corals in Alaska: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 823-D, p. 59-75. Yochelson, E.L., and Dutro, J.T., Jr., 1960, Late Paleozoic Gastropoda from northern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Prof. Paper 334-D, p. 111-147. Zavokovskiy, V.M., et al., 1970, Field Atlas--Permian faunas and floras of northeastern SSSR: Magadan, 407 p. |