Publications

Chitinozoan assemblages encountered in three Ordovician subsurface sequences in northern Canada are described. Two of the studied successions are located on the Arctic Platform and are from oil wells, one drilled on Rowley Island (Aquitaine et al. Rowley MO-4) and the other on Somerset Island (Panarctic Deminex Garnier O21). The analysis of 40 core samples from the sequence on Rowley Island has enabled the distinction of 5 chitinozoan assemblages. Data from the Somerset sequence are very poor. Of 24 cutting samples processed, only 2 yielded chitinozoans. The third studied sequence belongs to the Franklinian miogeosyncline. The study of 69 core samples from 7 mining exploration wells (R-4, R-10, P85-8, P85-20, P88-32, E-57, T-10) on Cornwallis and Truro islands has enabled the recognition of 6 chitinozoan assemblages.

Ordovician chitinozoans of the Arctic Platform and the Franklinian miogeosyncline show strong similarities with chitinozoan microfaunas of eastern Canada. The presence of Armoricochitina sp. aff. nigerica in the sixth assemblage of the Franklinian sequence is, however, worth mentioning. This species known to be typical of the upper Ashgill of North Gondwana is, indeed, documented for the first time in North America.