Article: Reworked acritarchs from the type section of the Ordovician Caradoc Series, Shropshire

Thirty-seven acritarch species in the type Caradoc rocks of south Shropshire are recognized as reworked from strata of Tremadoc and Arenig/Llanvirn age, their distribution reflecting an inverted stratigraphy. These microfossils yield valuable palaeoenvironmental data, their excellent preservation indicating a source on, or adjacent to, the Midland Platform; erosion of the relatively unconsolidated parent sediments occurred in a marine environment. Acritarchs were eroded and redeposited as discrete particles and wave and current action are considered the most likely erosive agents. The rate of release of microfossils is linked to a shallowing of the water-body; this resulted in a shift to a high energy environment with storm surges influencing the erosion and redeposition of sedimentary particles.