Upper Ordovician-Upper Silurian conodont biostratigraphy, Devon Island and southern Ellesmere Island, Canadian Arctic Islands, with implications for regional stratigraphy, eustasy and thermal maturation

The conodont biostratigraphy for the Upper Ordovician-Upper Silurian carbonate shelf (Irene Bay and Allen Bay formations) and interfingering basinal (Cape Phillips Formation) facies is established for parts of Devon and Ellesmere Islands, central Canadian Arctic Islands. Revisions to the interpreted regional stratigraphic relationships and correlations are based on the stratigraphic distribution of the 51 conodont species representing 32 genera, identified from over 5 000 well-preserved conodonts recovered from 101 productive samples in nine stratigraphic sections. The six zones recognized are, in ascending order: Amorphognathus ordovicicus Local-Range Zone, Aspelundia fluegeli Interval Zone, Pterospathodus celloni Local-Range Zone, Pt. pennatus procerus Local-Range Zone, Kockelella patula Local-Range Zone and K. v. variabilis-Ozarkodina confluens Concurrent-Range Zone. These provided a more precise dating of the members and formations and, in particular, the range of hiatuses within this stratigraphic succession. The pattern of regional stratigraphy, facies changes, and hiatuses is interpreted as primarily related to the effects of glacio-eustasy associated with the terminal Ordovician glaciation and smaller Early Silurian glacial phases, the back-stepping of the Silurian shelf margin, and the geodynamic effects of the collision with Laurentia by Baltica to the east and Pearya to the north. Conodont Colour Alteration Index values (CAI 1â 6.5) from the nine sections complement earlier graptolite reflectance data in providing regional thermal maturation data of value in hydrocarbon exploration assessments.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author