Spore assemblages from the Lower Devonian ‘Lower Old Red Sandstone’ deposits of the Northern Highlands of Scotland: the Berriedale Outlier

Abstract

ABSTRACTAssemblages of well-preserved dispersed spores have been recovered from the ‘Lower Old Red Sandstone’ deposits of the Berriedale Outlier in the Northern Highlands of Scotland. They belong to the annulatus–sextantii Spore Assemblage Biozone (AS SAB), in the spore zonation of Richardson & McGregor (1986), indicating an Early Devonian Emsian (but not earliest Emsian or latest Emsian) age. Comparison with the spore zonation of Streel et al. (1987) suggests they may be confined to the annulatus–bellatulus Oppel Zone (AB OZ), further constraining the age to early Emsian. This new biostratigraphical datum provides an age constraint for the onset of ‘Lower Old Red Sandstone’ sedimentation in the Orcadian Basin and, in particular, northwest of the Great Glen Fault System on the Northern Highlands. In the Orcadian Basin, there is a gap between ‘Lower Old Red Sandstone’ and ‘Middle Old Red Sandstone’ sedimentation, represented by either unconformity or disconformity, which appears to be variable in duration. In the Berriedale Outlier, it is estimated to represent up to 16 million years, but with an unknown thickness of ‘Lower Old Red Sandstone’ sequence removed at the unconformity. However, this basin-wide unconformity/disconformity is likely due to minor, local rather than large-scale, regional tectonism, and the evidence suggests little, if any, syn-depositional strike-slip movement along the Great Glen Fault System during Devonian ‘Old Red Sandstone’ deposition. The described spore assemblage is the most diverse AS SAB/AB OZ assemblage described from the British Isles. However, compared to contemporary spore assemblages from elsewhere on the Old Red Sandstone continent, the Scottish material is rather depauperate, with certain key taxa absent. This probably reflects subtle ecological effects, with the Scottish material representing restricted floras of the inland intermontaine basins.