A Global Synthesis of the Ordovician System: Part 2
CONTAINS OPEN ACCESS

The Ordovician is one of the longest and geologically most active periods in Phanerozoic history. The unique Ordovician biodiversifications established modern marine ecosystems, whereas the first plants originated on land. The two volumes cover all key topics on Ordovician research and provide a review of Ordovician successions across the globe.
Ordovician stratigraphy and biota of Mexico Available to Purchase
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Published:May 17, 2023
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CiteCitation
Francisco Javier Cuen-Romero, Blanca Estela Buitrón-Sánchez, Matilde S. Beresi, Juan J. Palafox-Reyes, Rogelio Monreal, 2023. "Ordovician stratigraphy and biota of Mexico", A Global Synthesis of the Ordovician System: Part 2, T. Servais, D. A. T. Harper, B. Lefebvre, I. G. Percival
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Abstract
In Mexico, Ordovician sedimentary rocks are exposed in the states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua and Oaxaca, comprising approximately 30 stratigraphic successions ranging from Lower to Upper Ordovician. The ages of the sequences have been established primarily by utilizing conodonts and graptolites, which have also allowed us to differentiate between platform and oceanic basin environments. The State of Sonora has the most complete Ordovician stratigraphic sequences, ranging from Tremadocian to Hirnantian. The deposits in Baja California are Floian in age, while the sequences of Chihuahua range from Sandbian to Katian, and the deposits in Oaxaca are Tremadocian. The Ordovician deposits of northern Mexico (Baja California, Sonora, and Chihuahua) present a palaeogeographic relationship to the North American craton, mainly owing to faunal interspecific affinities, while the southern deposits (Oaxaca) are controversial owing to the high degree of endemism of the faunas; however, they show affinity with Gondwana, Baltica and Avalonia, with a possible insular origin. The biotic assemblages of the Ordovician of Mexico include a variety of taxa, including algae, poriferans, corals, bryozoans, brachiopods, molluscs, trilobites, echinoderms, graptolites and conodonts as predominant elements. Despite many years of field studies in Mexican Ordovician localities, biostratigraphic correlations are as yet insufficient and incomplete or are based on limited interpretations. Thus, the Ordovician biostratigraphic data from Mexico compiled in the present paper have great potential and significant value. The advancement in the knowledge of the Ordovician biostratigraphy of Mexico will contribute to a major understanding of the relationships with the Ordovician System to a continental scale. Future advances will come mainly through increasing the amount and quality of data as well as improving biocorrelations among the Ordovician sequences of Mexico.
- Baja California
- biostratigraphy
- biota
- black shale
- Chihuahua Mexico
- Chordata
- clastic rocks
- Conodonta
- Graptolithina
- Hemichordata
- marine sediments
- Mexico
- microfossils
- Oaxaca Mexico
- Ordovician
- paleogeography
- Paleozoic
- Pterobranchia
- sandstone
- sedimentary rocks
- sediments
- Sonora Mexico
- stratigraphic units
- succession
- Vertebrata