Article: Conodonts, goniatites and the biostratigraphy of the earlier Carboniferous from the Cantabrian Mountains, Spain

Six conodont zones, including one new one, the Paragnathodus multinodosus Zone, are represented in the Lower Carboniferous of the Cantabrian Mountains. The absence of conodont zones known to occur in north-west Europe points to four major stratigraphic gaps in the Spanish sequence, three in the Tournaisian and one in the Visean. High conodont abundances, indicating a low rate of sedimentation in the Tournaisian rocks, and the numerous gaps in the stratigraphic record point to a slow initial Carboniferous transgression. The patchy distribution of earliest Tournaisian sediments contrasts with the widespread distribution of the latest (anchoralis Zone) Tournaisian sediments when the transgression reached its culmination. Lower conodont abundances and thicker successions coincide with a more complete Visean/early Namurian sequence in which only one major break is detectable. A goniatite fauna from the lower Visean is described including one new genus, Pseudogirtyoceras and two new species P. villabellacoi and Winchelloceras palentinus. This fauna confirms the early Visean age of the typicus Zone. One new species of conodont, Scaliognathus angustilateralis sp. nov., is also named.