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ACTA UNIVERSITATIS LATVIENSIS, 2004, Vol. 679, pp. 148-157
Evidence of biostratigraphic correlations within
the Wood Bay Formation (Lower Devonian,
Spitsbergen)
Some paleontological results of the 1969 french expedition with
geological considerations
VINCENT NOËL PERNEGRE and VINCENT G. DUPRET
Vincent Noël Pernegre and Vincent G. Dupret,, USM 0203, Département Histoire de la Terre,
Laboratoire de Paléontologie, 8, rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France; pernegre@hotmail.com,
dupret@mnhn.fr
Until now, geologists and paleontologists who study the Wood Bay Formation (Lower Devonian,
Spitsbergen) have been using different stratigraphic tables. The geological works are based on a
lithostratigraphic scale defined in the Dicksonfjord–Austfjord area while paleontological works
are based on a biostratigraphic scale established in the Woodfjord area.
A large amount of palaeontological material was collected in both cited regions during the
1969 French mission (CNRS-MNHN). This material is here used to establish the first correlation
between the palaeontological divisions and the geological ones. Finally equivalencies are proposed
as follows: the Sigurdfjellet and Kapp Kjeldsen faunal divisions are lateral equivalents of the
Austfjord Member, while the Keltiefjellet and Stjørdalen divisions are equivalent to the
Dicksonfjord Member at the Dicksonfjord-Austfjord area.
Introduction
The Wood Bay Formation (Lower Devonian, Spitsbergen) is commonly divided, for
palaeontologists, into four faunal divisions: Sigurdfjellet, Kapp Kjeldsen, Keltiefjellet
and Stjørdalen (Føyn and Heintz 1943; Friend et al. 1966; Goujet 1984; Fig. 1). These
divisions are characterised by vertebrate associations, mainly pteraspidiform
heterostracans (Friend et al. 1966). Recent works have increased our knowledge of the
Wood Bay Formation biodiversity (Blieck et al. 1987; Pernegre 2002, 2003, 2004; and a
still unpublished revision of the genus Gigantaspis).
An extensive study of material collected during the 1969 French expedition (CNRS-MNHN),
makes it possible to establish biostratigraphic interpretations and correlations between the field
localities. We establish here that two localities (from Mount Sigurd) bracket the Sigurdfjellet –
Kapp Kjeldsen boundary. Some others (from Mount Wagner) characterise the boundary between
the Kapp Kjeldsen - Keltiefjellet faunal divisions.
From these preceding data, a new scheme of correlation is proposed between the
Woodfjord area, divided into biostratigraphic units (Blieck and Cloutier 2000), and the
Dicksonfjord-Austfjord area, divided into stratigraphic units (Blieck and Cloutier 2000).