Early Ordovician reefs from the Taebaek Group, Korea: constituents, types, and geological implications

Abstract

The Early Ordovician (early to middle Floian) bioherms of the Dumugol Formation, Korea, are compiled and their paleoenvironmental and paleogeographic implications are discussed. These reefs are mostly made up of microbialite (stromatolite and thrombolite) and lithistid sponge Archaeoscyphia, with subordinate "receptaculitid" calathids. Three types of reefs are identified based on biotic association and texture: 1) lithistid sponge-microbialite, 2) microbialite (thrombolite) with minor lithistid sponge, and 3) lithistid sponge-microbialite-calathid. The first and third type reefs are surrounded by intraclastic-skeletal packstone to grainstone and overlain by lime mudstone, whereas the second type reefs are surrounded and overlain by bioturbated wackestone and nodulebearing shale. These relationships appear to reflect varying depositional conditions during development of the reefs. The constituents of the Dumugol reefs are roughly comparable to coeval structures of Laurentia and South China with the exception of the absence of incorporated sessile organisms (i.e., Lichenaria, Pulchrilamina, and bryozoan) and delayed arrival (more than 10 myr) of calathids in the Sino-Korean Craton. This temporal disparity of biotic appearance is probably related to differential dispersal rates and patterns of sessile organisms which are largely controlled by the relative position of landmasses, epicontinental seas and major oceans. Further discovery and study of the Early Ordovician reefs from the Sino-Korean Craton will provide crucial information for understanding migration pathways of sessile organisms and paleogeographic reconstruction of the western margin of Gondwana in the Early Paleozoic.