Devonian deposits of the Baruunhuurai Terrane, western Mongolia (IGCP 596 Field Workshop)

Abstract

IGCP 596 (2011-2015) has a primary focus on climate change and biodiversity patterns in the Mid-Paleozoic (Early Devonian to Late Carboniferous). As a part of this project, we conducted a field workshop in western Mongolia in the summer of 2012. The goal was to locate fossiliferous sections that expose the stage boundaries from the Eifelian / Givetian boundary (Middle Devonian) to the Devonian / Carboniferous boundary to expand our knowledge of the key Devonian biotic and geochemical events such as the Frasnian / Famennian extinction event and the Kacák, Kellwasser and Hangenberg oceanographic events. During the field workshop, we examined sections in the Nariinhar Formation, Baruunhuurai Formation and Samnuuruul Formation from the Baruunhuurai Terrane.