Document Type

Research

Abstract

Charophyta are a group of small plants of doubtful systematic position. They occur abundantly in quiet clear fresh and brackish waters and are widely distributed geographically. The part of the plant most commonly preserved as a fossil is the female reproductive organ, the oogina. The oogina may be calcified and these organs are at times major constituents in fresh water limestones. Oogina are widely distributed in the marine Middle and Upper Devonian of North America, occur sparsely in the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian, and are quite abundant in non-marine sediments from the Jurassic through the Tertiary. They are considered to be a good stratigraphic aid for the differentiation of non-marine Mesozoic and Tertiary sediments. Charophyta have been reported from the Devonian Lime Creek formation by Peck (1943) and are reported here from the Pennsylvanian of Iowa for the first time. The oogina were recovered from the Higginsville limestone member of the Ft. Scott formation exposed near Madrid in the N.E.¼, sec. 33, T. 82 N., R. 26 W. About 50 specimens of Chara moreyi (Peck) were discovered and they were associated with conodonts, ostracods, and fusulinids. This species has been reported from the Cherokee and Missouri series of Missouri and from the Virgil series of Kansas by Peck (1934).

Publication Date

1949

Journal Title

Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science

Volume

Issue

First Page

233

Last Page

233

Copyright

Language

File Format

application/pdf

Recommended Citation

Thomas, Leo A. (1949) "Pennsylvanian Charophyta in Iowa," Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, 56(1), 233-233.
Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol56/iss1/31

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Pennsylvanian Charophyta in Iowa

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