Early Permian solitary rugose corals from Kruseryggen (Treskelodden Fm., Hornsund area, southern Spitsbergen)

Abstract

A collection of solitary rugose corals collected from the Treskelodden Formation of the Kruseryggen Hill, Hornsund area, south Spitsbergen, consists of 30 specimens representing the Bothrophyllidae family with the genera Bothrophyllum, Caninophyllum, Hornsundia, and Timania (5 species), and an indeterminate family with the genus Svalbardphyllum (one species). These large, dissepimental forms, dating from the Early Sakmarian (Tastubian), indicate a warm-water environment. The lithology, the thickness of the succession, the reddish hue and the abrasion of the fossils indicate that the area of the inner Hornsund showed a relief that enabled considerable erosion of the elevated areas and redeposition of the fossils at remote locations. The changing morphology of this area during the Early Permian was probably influenced by synsedimentary block tectonics.