Mississippian (Tournaisian–Viséan) carbonate mounds in the Compton and Pierson limestones, Ozark region, North America, have been called Waulsortian. However, European Waulsortian mounds contain features such as geopetals with multigenerations of carbonate mud (polymuds) and stromatactis cavity systems that are rare to absent in Ozark mounds. To determine similarities and differences, examine their origins, and clarify nomenclature, mounds in the Compton and Pierson limestones are compared with Waulsortian mounds in the Feltrim Limestone, Ireland. Features considered included mound size, geometry, style of aggradation, composition, depositional setting, and diagenetic history.

Mounds in the Compton and Pierson limestones are <10 m (33...