Carboniferous and Permian Rugosochonetidae (Brachiopoda) from West Spitsbergen

The rugosochonetid brachiopod species Lissochonetes geinitzianus from the Kazimovian of the Nordenskioldbreen Formation, and Dyoros (Dyoros) mucronata sp. nov., Dyoros (Dyoros) spitzbergianus and Lissochonetes superba from the Artinskian to latest Permian Kapp Starostin Formation in West Spitsbergen are described and figured. Dyoros is generally restricted to the Boreal Realm, whereas Lissochonetes is mostly distributed in the Boreal Realm, but occasionally present in the Palaeoequatorial and Gondwanan Realms<br /

A storm-related origin for the Jurassic Brentskardhaugen Bed of Spitsbergen, Norway

The laterally persistent but thin, Jurassic age (Bathonian-Callovian) Brentskardhaugen bed is poorly sorted (often with mud to cobble size), and is crudely normally and/or reversely graded without internal discontinuities. These traits may indicate a short-lived depositional event, and are inconsistent with an origin as a basal, transgressive gravel lag formed in a terrestrial or shoreline setting. Mega-storm events on a shallow marine shelf with an underlying condensed section may account for the poor sorting, grading, stratigraphic position and remanie character of the bed

The middle Smithian (Early Triassic) ammonoid Arctoceras blomstrandi

The ammonoid genus Arctoceras (Hyatt) occurs across all palaeolatitudes, and is a key genus for middle Smithian biostratigraphical correlations globally. In this study, intraspecific variations in conch morphology, ornamentation and allometry are examined in relation to stratigraphic position. Arctoceras is the most abundant ammonoid genus in the middle Smithian of Svalbard. Originally, seven Arctoceras species were described from Svalbard. Later, as the importance of intraspecific variation was recognized, six of the Arctoceras species from Svalbard were treated as junior synonyms of Arctoceras blomstrandi (Lindström). Yet, the variations in A. blomstrandi conch morphology remain poorly quantified and the dependence on stratigraphic position, unknown. We quantify the intraspecific variation in conch morphology, ornamentation and allometry in relation to stratigraphy of the Svalbard Arctoceras. The results support the assignment of all Arctoceras morphotypes from Svalbard to a single species A. blomstrandi. The new data allow for an updated species description and open the way for the use in biostratigraphy of the endmember morphology A. blomstrandi var. costatus. We document consistent changes in conch morphology and ornamentation in the studied stratigraphic interval, with a distinct shift towards more evolute and ornate conchs in the top of the interval. The trends in the strength of ornamentation are partly explained by covariation with conch morphology (Buckman's law). The most marked shift in the conch morphology and allometric development of A. blomstrandi coincides with the onset of the positive carbon isotope excursion at the end of the middle Smithian, but pre‐dates the mid–late Smithian cooling of the sea surface