Abstract Rugose corals are one of the major fossil groups in shallow-water environments. They played an important role in dividing and correlating Carboniferous strata during the last century, when regional biostratigraphic schemes were established, and may be useful for long-distance correlation. Carboniferous rugose corals document two evolutionary events. One is the Tournaisian recovery event, with abundant occurrences of typical Carboniferous rugose corals such as columellate taxa and a significant diversification of large, dissepimented corals. The other is the changeover of rugose coral composition at the mid-Carboniferous boundary, which is represented by the disappearance of many large dissepimented taxa with complex axial structures and the appearance of typical Pennsylvanian taxa characterized by compound rugose taxa. The biostratigraphic scales for rugose corals show a finer temporal resolution in the Mississippian than in the Pennsylvanian, which was probably caused by the Late Paleozoic Ice Age that resulted in glacial–eustatic changes and a lack of continuous Pennsylvanian carbonate strata. The Pennsylvanian rugose corals are totally missing in the Cimmerian Continent. High-resolution biostratigraphy of rugose corals has so far only been achieved in few regions for the Mississippian timescale. In most regions, more detailed taxonomic work and precise correlations between different fossil groups are needed.

Abstract The term Carboniferous was created as a stratigraphical term by Conybeare & Phillips (1822) for strata present in England and Wales and was first referred to as a system by Phillips (1835). The original definition of the Carboniferous included the Old Red Sandstone. With the establishment of the Devonian system in 1839 the Old Red Sandstone was removed from the Carboniferous and placed in the Devonian. Broad similarities within the successions of Britain and Ireland with the rest of Western Europe have allowed development of a regionally applicable chronostratigraphy. Munier-Chalmas & de Lapparent (1893) originally divided the Carboniferous of Western Europe into the Dinantian, Westphalian and Stephanian. Later, the lower part of the Westphalian was redefined as the Namurian and both were identified as stages (Jongmans 1928). The Namurian, Westphalian and Stephanian stages do not represent global faunal or fioral events, but were chosen to represent prominent facies variations and palaeogeographic separations in Western Europe. The Dinantian subsequently became a subsystem, with two component series, the Tournaisian and Visean (George & Wagner 1972), whereas the Namurian, Westphalian and Stephanian became series of a Silesian Subsystem. However, George et al. (1976) were not prepared to use the terms Tournaisian and Visean in their review of British chronostratigraphy.

Abstract The correlation of Tournaisian and Visean platform carbonate successions of Britain and Ireland initially relied upon the development of coral and brachiopod zonations. However, such zones are strongly facies-controlled and are only of local to regional significance. Over recent years, emphasis has been placed upon the use of foraminifers, and notably conodonts, to define international stages. They have been studied increasingly within the Tournaisian and Visean successions of Britain and Ireland, but are of limited stratigraphical value in younger Carboniferous strata. Ammonoids (goniatites) provide the greatest biostratigraphical resolution for the late Visean, Namurian and early Westphalian stages. Some ammonoid biozones can be recognized across Western Europe and some biozones are applicable globally. However, the marine bands that contain these ammonoids may be absent towards basin margins and marine influence is lost entirely throughout late Westphalian and Stephanian times. Within strata lacking ammonoids, biostratigraphical correlation initially relied upon the recognition of non-marine bivalve zonation, but over recent decades palynomorphs (miospores) and plant macrofioras have assumed greater importance.

Abstract The South Central Ireland region extends from the South Munster Basin north to the southern margin of the Dublin Basin and from Wexford in the SE to the Burren in the NW (Fig. 59). The region is dominated by strata of Mississippian age, with Pennsylvanian strata preserved in boreholes in south Co. Wexford and in the upper part of the Leinster and Kanturk coalfields. Throughout the South Central region, the Tournaisian strata present below the Waulsortian mud-bank limestones, which form a continuous thick unit of massive pale grey limestone across most of the region, are represented by the Lower Limestone Shale and Ballysteen Limestone groups (Brück 1985) of the Limerick Province (see Philcox 1984; Sevastopulo & Wyse Jackson 2009). The Lower Limestone Shale Group is related to a northward-directed marine transgressive event across the North Munster shelf. The deepening trend, which started during the deposition of the Ballysteen Limestone Group, continued with the Waulsortian facies on the distal part of a ramp. From the latest Tournaisian time and throughout the Visean there is widespread development of shallow-water marine carbonate platform sediments with only localized deeper-water ramp and basinal facies (mostly in the Shannon Basin) (Somerville et al. 1992b; Strogen et al. 1996; Sevastopulo & Wyse Jackson 2009). The greatest areal extent and stratigraphic thickness (c. 2 km) of Namurian rocks occurs in the Shannon Basin, centred on counties Clare and Limerick.