Compositional variations and diversity patterns of brachiopods and bivalves along the Late Paleozoic carbonate platform of western South America: a preliminary study

HALPERN, KAREN; CISTERNA, G.; STERREN, A.F.; BALSEIRO, DIEGO

Concepción

Congreso; XV Congreso Geológico Chileno; 2018

The widespread distribution of the Late Paleozoic carbonate successions along the western margin of South America suggests an extensive shallow marine platform developed during a climatic amelioration period. Important invertebrate faunal assemblages have been recorded at different latitudes of this platform in the Pennsylvanian-Cisuralian interval. Although there are few recent taxonomic studies focusing on these faunas, the available databases seemed to suggest significant variations, in terms of composition and diversity of brachiopods and bivalves, from low-latitude basins (Copacabana Formation in Amazonas region in Peru, Palmarito Formation in Venezuela and Chochal Formation in Guatemala) to relatively intermediate (Copacabana Formation in Bolivia, Juan de Morales, Cerros de Cuevitas and Cerro El Arbol formations in northern Chile, Taciba Formation in southern Brazil and Arizaro Formation in northern Argentina), and the southernmost records in central Chile (Huentelauquén Formation). However, at the present, there are no quantitative studies to understand the diversity patterns along the latitude gradient in this carbonate platform.