A fusuline fauna from the basal part of the Sakamotozawa Formation in the Kamiyasse area, South Kitakami Belt, Northeast Japan

This paper describes schwagerinid fusulines from a sandstone bed in the basal part of the Sakamotozawa Formation distributed in the Kamiyasse area of Kesennuma, South Kitakami Belt, Northeast Japan. The fauna includes Dutkevitchia? hindukushiensis, Pseudofusulina cf. callosa, Pseudochusenella ex gr. cushmani, Nipponitella sp., Eoparafusulina sp., and others, and is referable to the Sakmarian of the Early Permian. Thus, this study first clarified the age of the basal part of the Permian succession in the Kamiyasse area with solid paleontological evidence. It also suggests that the basal part of the Sakamotozawa Formation in this area is almost coeval with that in the type locality of the Nagaiwa-Sakamotozawa area farther to the northeast in the South Kitakami Mountains although the faunal compositions are essentially different in these two areas