Carnian Foraminifera from the Kucler quarry at Lesno Brdo (Slovenia) Karnijske foraminifere iz Kuclerjevega kamnoloma na Lesnem Brdu Katarina OBLAK NTF, Oddelek za geologijo, Aškerčeva 12, 1000 Ljubljana Key words: Micropaleontology, Foraminifera, Carnian, Lesno Brdo, Slovenia Ključne besede: Mikropaleontologija, foraminifere (luknjičarke), karnij, Lesno Brdo Abstract The Carnian platy limestone of the Kucler quarry at Lesno Brdo yields a rich assemblage of Foraminifera and other microfossils. Eight foraminiferan genera have been determined, of them the following three are the most abundant; Lamelliconus, Aulotortus and Triadodiscus. Genera Gandinella, ? Meandrospira and Gsollbergella are less abundant, but still frequent, while Foraminifera from genera Trochammina and Nodosaria occur sparsely. Kratka vsebina Karnijski ploščasti apnenec iz Kuclerjevega kamnoloma na Lesnem Brdu je s foraminiferami kot tudi z ostalimi mikrofosili zelo bogat. Določenih je osem luknjičarskih rodov, med katerimi so številčno najmočneje zastopani trije; Lamelliconus, Aulotortus in Triadodiscus. Pogoste so še luknjičarke iz rodov Gandinella, ? Meandrospira in Gsollbergella, medtem ko so luknjičarke iz rodov Trochammina in Nodosaria maloštevilne. Introduction This paper presents Carnian (Julian) Foraminifera from the Kucler quarry by Lesno Brdo (Vrhnika, Slovenia; Fig.l). Lithologically, the Kucler quarry consists of dark grey to black micritic strata interbed-ded with thin strata of shaly and marly mudstone (Fig.2). Sedimentation of these beds occurred in a shallow lagoon. As the results of the geochemical analysis indicate, the water was brackish and warm (21-34°C) (Dolenec & Jelen,1987). The Kucler quarry is very interesting in a paleontological view due to its bivalve assemblage, which has been studied by many paleontologists, such asKossmat (1902), Waagen (1907), R a k o v e c (1955), Gr ad & F e r j a n c i c (1976) and J e 1 e n (1982). To my knowledge, the microfossils have not been studied in detail untill now. There are recorded microgastropods, bivalve debris, ostracoda shells, algae Clypeina besici and pellets of Parafavrenia thoronetensis (Crustacean) in J el en (1982). Among Foraminifera, two genera were listed; Invo-lutina and Trocholina. The presence of foraminiferan genera Glomospira and Nodosaria is also reported (Grad & F e r j a n -cic, 1976). For a more detailed study of foraminiferan assemblage I have sampled mudstone and micritic strata I was able to reach. The stratimetric column of the collecting site VCK (Jelen, 1982, p. 24; note: named by author) was used for this purpose. From mi-critic samples, I prepared 45 slides that were studied later. On the other hand, isolated Foraminifera from mudstone remain unclassified due to their bed preservation. Paleontological part I found out that almost all of the sampled micritic strata yield a rich microfossils' assemblage (Fig. 2). According to slides, Foraminifera are numerous already in the lowest (3) stratum. They are even more abundant upward but become sparse in the highest (45) stratum. The reason could be a great recrystallization rate and subsequently, an obliteration of fossils in that stratum. Contrary to the high abundance, the fora-miniferan diversity in the quarry is low. Some paleoecological parameters of lagoon could have influenced that; for instance, shallow brackish water, high nutrition and reducing condition within the fine-grained sediment. Microgastropods are the most frequent between the (7) and (19) stratum. The shell debris is present with more or less constant density throughout the whole section while the ostracodes are more typical in the lower strata. A lot of their shells remained connected after their death. In slides of the (9) stratum, there are some holothurian sclerits of the genus Theelia. Among fossil algae, Clypeina is the most distinctive. It is numerous in (13) and (27) stratum, but occurs sparsely in slides of other strata. Algae that could belong to genera Macroporella and Griphoporella were also found (O b 1 a k , 1999). Taxonomy of Carnian Foraminifera from Lesno Brdo and their description (referring toLoeblich & Tappan, 1987) Ordo FORAMINIFERA E i c h w a 1 d , 1830 Subordo TEXTULARIINA Del age & Herouard, 1896 Superfamilia AMMODISCACEA Reuss , 1862 Familia AMMODISCIDAE Reuss, 1862 Subfamilia AMMOVERTELLININAE Saidova, 1981 Genus Gandinella Ciarapica and Zaninetti, 1985 Gandinella falsofriedli (Salaj,Borza & Samuel, 1983) (PI. 2., fig. 1, 2) 1966 Glomospirella friedli Kristan-Tollmann - Broennimann & Page, pl.l, fig.9-12. 1970 Glomospirella aff. G. friedli Kris-tan-Tollmann - J e n d r e j a k o v a , pl.l, fig.5. 1983 Glomospirella friedli Ho - Gazd-zicki,p. 133, pi.32, fig.1-6. 1983 Pilamminella falsofriedli n.sp. -Salaj etal.,p. 67., pl.XV, fig.7-11. 1985 Gandinella apenninica n.sp. -Ciarapica & Zaninetti,p. 307, pl.l, fig.1-14. 1986 Glomospirella friedli Kristan-Tollmann - Sudar, pl.XXIV, fig.4, 5. 1987 Gandinella apenninica Ciarapica & Zaninetti -Loeblich &Tap-p a n , p. 50, pi.61, fig.4-6. 1988 Gandinella apenninica Ciarapica & Zaninetti -Peybernes et al., pl.VI, fig.1-5. 1990 Gandinella falsofriedli (Salaj, Borza & Samuel) - Vachard et al., p. 526, pi.2, fig.15, pi.3, fig.l, 2,10-14. 1995 Gandinella falsofriedli (Salaj, Borza & Samuel) -Zamparelli et al., p. 402, pl.l, fig.1-15. Material: Frequent sections in slides. Description: The test is made of a proloculus and of a tubular undivided second chamber. The earliest coils are strep-tospiral, the following three to five whorls are sigmoidal and the late stage is planispi-ral. The wall is agglutinated of fine particles. Size: Diameters of the tests are up to 0.35 mm, mostly about 0.3mm. Occurrence of the genus: Carnian - Rhaetian; Italy, Spain, Slovakia, Turkey, China. In Slovenia, Foraminifera of this genus have been found at least in two locations; in Log pod Mangartom and in Belca. They were classified into the species Gandinella kuthani (Salaj), (described as Pilamminella kuthani) (O b 1 a k , 1998). Superfamilia TROCHAMMINACEA Schwager, 1877 Familia TROCHAMMINIDAE Schwager, 1877 Subfamilia TROCHAMMININAE Schwager, 1877 Genus Trochammina Parker & Jones, 1859 Trochammina cf. almtalensis Koehn-Zaninetti, 1968 (PL 1, fig. 6) 1971 Trochammina cf. almtalensis Koehn-Zaninetti - Urosevic, pl.8, fig.4, 6. 1983 Trochammina almtalensis Koehn-Zaninetti -Salaj etal.,p. 77.,pi.XXII, fig.1-12. 1986 Trochammina almtalensis Koehn-Zaninetti -Sudar, pl.XVIII, fig.l, 2, pl.XXI, fig. 3. 1987 Trochammina almtalensis Koehn-Zaninetti - O r a v e c z - S c h e f f e r , pl.XLI, fig.9, 10, pl.LIV, fig.3. 1994 Trochammina almtalensis Koehn-Zaninetti -Flügel et al., pl.2, fig.12. Material: Five sections in slides. Description: Chambers are arranged trochospirally. They are rounded at the periphery and enlarge gradually. The agglutinated test is smooth. The aperture is inte-riomarginal. Size: Diameters of the umbilical side of the tests are 0.12-0.14mm, the heights of the tests are about 0.7mm. Occurrence of the genus: Carbon - Holocene; cosmopolitan. In Slovenia, the genus Trochammina has been found in the northern part of the Julian Alps (Oblak, 1998). Subordo INVOLUTININA Hohenegger &Piller,1977 Familia INVOLUTINIDAE Buetschli, 1880 Subfamilia TRIADODISCINAE Zaninetti, 1984 Genus Lamelliconus Piller, 1978 Lamelliconus procerus (L i e b u s , 1942) (PI. 1, fig. 1, 2a) 1978 Trocholina? procera Lieb us -Trifonova, pi.5, fig.7, 8. 1983 Lamelliconus procerus (L i e b u s ) -Salaj et al., p. 148., pl.CXXV, fig.2-5. 1988 Lamelliconus procerus (L i e b u s ) -Santorio & V e n t u r i n i , p. 47. Material: Numerous sections in slides. Desc r i p t i o n : The elongate test consists of a globular proloculus and a tubular undivided second chamber that coils trochospirally. The tube might be complete or it lacks the part of the wall where it fits the previous whorl. When each new whorl is formed, the outer surface gets covered with one additional lamella on the spiral side and more additional lamellae on the umbilical side of the test. A circular aperture is terminal. Size: Diameters of the umbilical side of the tests are 0.15-0.2, by two specimens 0.25. The heights of the tests are 0.6-0.9mm. Occurrence of the genus: Ladi-nian - Carnian; Austria, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Croatia. Five species have been already recorded in Slovenia; Trocholina biconvexa Oberhauser (= Lamelliconus biconvexus (Oberhauser)) in the Julian Alps area, Trebuša, Idrija, Logatec and Mežica, T. procera multispiroides Djurdjanovic (= L. procerus multispiroides (D j u r d j a n o v i c )) in Trebuša, Idrija, Logatec and Mežica, T multispira Oberhauser (= L. multispirus (Oberhauser)) in Trebuša, Idrija and Logatec, T cordevoli-ca Oberhauser (= L. cordevolicus (Oberhäuser)) in Logatec and T. permodiscoides Oberhauser in the Idrija area (Oblak, 1998). Genus Triadodiscus P i 11 e r , 1983 Triadodiscus eomesozoicus (Oberhauser, 1957) (PI. 1, fig. 3, 4) 1983 Permodiscus eomesozoicus (Oberhäuser) - Salaj et al., p. 138., pl.LXXXVII, fig.1-7, pl.LXXXVIII, fig.1-5, pi. LXXXIX, fig. 1-8. 1984 a Triadodiscus eomesozoicus (Oberhauser)-Ciarapica & Z a n i -n e 11 i, pl.III, fig.1-13, 1984 b Triadodiscus eomesozoicus (Oberhauser)-Ciarapica & Z a n i -netti.pl.I, fig.11,12. 1987 Triadodiscus eomesozoicus (Ober-hauser)- Loeblich & Tappan, p. 295, pi.309, fig.9. 1987 Triadodiscus eomesozoicus (Ober-hauser) - O r a v e c z - S c h e f f e r , pl.XLIII, fig.2. 1989 Triadodiscus eomesozoicus (Ober-hauser) - Martini et al., pl.2, fig. 1,2. 1994 Triadodiscus eomesozoicus (Oberhauser) -diBari & Laghi,p. 116, pl.III, fig.4, pi.4, fig. 1,2. Material: Numerous sections in slides. Description: The flattened test is made up of a globular proloculus and a tubular undivided second chamber. The latter coils planispirally to very low trochospiral-ly and involutely. Size: Diameters of the tests are 0.2-0.4mm, heights of the tests probably do not exceed 0.1mm. Occurrence of the genus: Scythian - Carnian, ?Rhaetian; Austria, Bulgaria, Poland, ex -USSR, Iran, Turkey, Slovakia, Italy. In Slovenia, these Fora-minifera have been found in the South Alps area. They were described as Involutina eomesozoica (Oberhauser) (O b 1 a k , 1998). Triadodiscus inceptus diBari & Laghi, 1994 (PI. 1, fig. 5) 1994 Triadodiscus inceptus n.sp. -di B a r i & L a g h i , p.116, Pl.III, fig.3-8. Material: Few sections in slides. Description: A rounded proloculus is followed by a tubular undivided second chamber. The latter coils planispirally to very low trochospirally and involutely. The periphery is narrowed. Size: Diameters of the tests are about 0.4mm, heights of the tests are about 0.15mm. Occurrence of the genus: The same as T. eomesozoicus. Subfamilia AULOTORTINAE Zaninetti, 1984 Genus Aulotortus Weynschenk, 1956 Aulotortus sinuosus Weynschenk, 1956 (PI. 1, fig. 2b) 1970 Involutina sinuosa sinuosa (Weyn-schenk) -Jendrejakova, pl.3, fig.3. 1971 Involutina sinuosa sinuosa (Weynschenk) - Hohenegger & Lobit-zer , pl.3, fig.2. 1971 Involutina pragsoides (Oberhauser) - Hohenegger & Lobit-zer , pl.3, fig.5. 1972 Involutina sinuosa sinuosa (Weyn-schenk)-Pantic, pl.5, fig.6. 1975 Involutina (Aulotortus) sinuosa sinuosa (Weynschenk) - Gusic, p.16, pl.3, fig. 1-8. 1975 Involutina (Aulotortus) sinuosa pragsoides (Oberhauser) - Gusic, p.16, pi.4, fig.5. 1983 Aulotortus cf. pragsoides (Ober-hauser)-Gazdzicki, pi.34, fig.l. 1983 Aulotortus sinuosus Weynschenk - Gazdzicki, pl.34, fig.2, 3, 5, 7-12. 1985 Aulotortus sinuosus Weynschenk -Ramovs, fig.27-2. 1986 Aulotortus pragsoides (Ober-hauser)-Sudar,pl. XXI, fig.6. 1987 Aulotortus cf. sinuosus Weynschenk -Oravecz-Scheffer, pl.LXII, fig.1-3. 1987 Aulotortus sinuosus Weynschenk -Oravecz-Scheffer, pl.LXX, fig. 10. 1988 Aulotortus sinuosus Weynschenk-Fazzuoli et al., pl.66, fig. 13,18. 1988 Aulotortus gr. sinuosus Weynschenk -Santorio & Venturini,p. 48. 1989 Aulotortus sinuosus Weynschenk -Jadoul et al., pl.38, fig.4, 13. Material: Numerous sections in slides. Description: The flattened test consists of a globular proloculus and of a tubular undivided second chamber that coils usually oscillately. The aperture is at the end of the second chamber. Size: Diameter of the tests is 0.3-0.5mm, the height of the tests is 0.2-0.35mm. Occurrence of the genus: Anisian - M. Jurassic; Austria, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia, Turkey, China, India and Nevada. Four species of this genus have been already listed in Slovenia. Involutina pragsoides oscilens Oberhäuser (= A. sinuosus Weynschenk), I communis (Kristan) (= A. communis (Kristan)) and I tumida (Kristan-Tollmann) (= A. tumidus (Kris tan-To lima nn)) were found in the Golica area, and Involutina sinuosa pragsoides (Weynschenk) (= A. sinuosus Weynschenk) in the Golica area and near Mežica. Foraminifera that were determined as Involutina sp., have been also noticed at Idrija, Logatec and Vojsko. In view of their Carnian age they probably belong to the genus Aulotortus (Oblak, 1998). Subordo MILIOLINA D e 1 a g e & Herouard, 1896 Superfamilia CORNUSPIRACEA Schultze, 1854 Familia CORNUSPIRIDAE Schultze, 1854 Subfamilia MEANDROSPIRINAE Saidova, 1981 Genus Meandrospira Loeblich & Tapp an, 1946 ? Meandrospira sp. L o e b 1 i c h & Tapp an, 1946 (PL 2, fig. 3) 1968 Meandrospira iulia (Premoli Silva) - Ramovš, pl.8, fig.1-4. 1971 Meandrospira dinarica Kochany-Devide & Pantic -Uroševic, pl4 fig.2-5. 1972 Meandrospira dinarica Kochany-Devide & Pantic - Ramovš, pl.l, fig.l. 1973 Meandrospira pusilla (Ho)-Bro-e n n i m a n n et al., p. 16, pl.4, fig.1-17. 1983 Meandrospira dinarica Kochany-Devide & Pantic - Salaj et al., p. 99, pl.LI, fig.l, 8, pl.LII, fig.1-8. 1983 Meandrospira insolita (H o ) - S a 1 a j et al., p. 100, pl.LIV, fig.7-9. 1983 Meandrospira pusilla (H o ) - S a 1 a j et al., p.101, pl.LV, fig.1-18. 1983 Meandrospira cheni (H o ) - S a 1 a j et al., p. 99, pl.LVI, fig.1-19. 1985 Meandrospira pusilla (Ho) - Rani o v s, fig.4-1. 1986 Meandrospira dinarica Kochany-Devide & Pantic - Sudar, pl.XIX, fig.1-5, pi.28, fig.4. 1990 Meandrospira pusilla (Ho)-Baroz et al., pl.4, fig. 1-6, 11, 12. 1990 Meandrospira cheni (Ho)-Baroz et al., pl.4, fig.13-18. 1990 Meandrospira dinarica Kochany-Devide & Pantic - Baroz et al., pi.5, fig.4-9. Material: Frequent indistinct sections in slides. Description: The test is small and globular, made up of a globular proloculus and a tubular undivided second chamber. The latter coils planispirally in a zigzag pattern and involutely. The rounded aperture is terminal. Size: Diameters of the tests are about 0.1mm. Occurrence of the genus: L. Permian - Holocene; N. America, Europe, N. Africa, Australia. In Slovenia, the Carnian Foraminifera of the genus Meandrospira have been found in the Dinara Mountains (Oblak, 1998). Remark: All microfossils sections that could belong to the genus Meandrospira are indistinct and thus, difficult to study. However, they are frequent and more or less uniform so I have decided to classify them into this genus. Familia OPHTHALMIDIIDAE W i e s n e r , 1920 Genus Gsollbergella Z a n i n e 11 i , 1979 Gsollbergella spiroloculiformis (Oravecz Scheffer, 1968) (PI. 2, fig. 4, 5) 1983 Agathamminoides spiroloculiformis (Oravecz Scheffer)-Salajetal.,p. 113, pl.LXXII, fig.7-10 1987 Gsollbergella spiroloculiformis (Oravecz Scheffer) - Oravecz-S c h e f f e r , p. 115, pl.XXXII, fig.4, 1- 4, 7-10, pl.LII, fig.4. Material: Frequent sections in slides. Description: A globular proloculus, one coil long second chamber and half of coil long further chambers make up the test. The Jfl^F Chambers are arranged cjuincjuelocu- linely. Septa are not completely formed; there are only thickenings of the wall instead of them. The rounded aperture is terminal. Size: Diameters of the tests are 0.25-0.4mm. Occurrence of the genus: Carman; Austria, Hungary, Italy, Czech Republic. To my knowledge, Gsollbergella has not been evidented in Slovenia before. Subordo LAGENINA D e 1 a g e & Herouard, 1896 Superfamilia NODOSARIACEA Ehrenberg, 1838 Familia NODOSARIIDAE Ehrenberg, 1838 Subfamilia NODOSARIINAE Ehrenberg, 1838 Genus Nodosaria Lamarck, 1812 Nodosaria sp. (PI. 2, fig. 6) 1978 Nodosaria ordinata Trifonova -Trifonova, pl.4, fig.6. 1983 Nodosaria schablensis Trifonova -Salaj et al., p 119, pl.CXLIV, fig.7. 1987 Nodosaria ordinata Trifonova -Oravecz-Scheffer, pl.XXIIX, fig.7, pi.XL, fig.5, pl.LXXII, fig.l. 1987 Nodosaria primitiva Kuebler & Zwingli - Oravecz-Scheffer, pl.XXXIV, fig.6. 1987 Nodosaria guembeli - Oravecz-Scheffer, pl.LIII, fig.3. Material: Six sections in slides. Description: Test is made of ovate proloculus and uniserially rectilinearly arranged later chambers. Surface is smooth. Radiate or rounded aperture is placed on a neck. Size: The length of the test is about 0.35 mm, diameter of the last chamber is about 0.07 mm. Occurrence of the genus: L. Jurassic - Holocene (Note: In the literature, this genus is reported for Carnian beds, too); cosmopolitan. Only one species is listed from Slovene Carnian beds; N. ordinata Trifonova from the Julian Alps and the Western Karavanke Mountains. Foramini-fera of the genus Nodosaria have been found near Tolmin and Logatec (O b 1 a k , 1998). Conclusion According to my slides, the association of three foraminiferan genera, Lamelliconus, Aulotortus and Triadodiscus, is characteristic for beds of the Kucler quarry. These Foraminifera are numerous in almost all sampled strata. Their tests are small, flat- Fig. 1. The location map of Lesno Brdo in Slovene area SI. 1. Lega Lesnega Brda v slovenskem prostoru Geologic column 49 45 41 00 ee X3L 33 w. yi e ee 32 i —i— C Y> oo 29 28 • Vi 25 IE 19' 17 IE 13 cr^ 000 LEGEND 27 nicrite . marly/shaly 1 : mudstone o foraminifera (rare, frequent, abundant) rricrogastropods shell debris ostracods alga Clypeho besici For a m i n i f e r a n g e n e r a Gandinella Trochammina Lamelliconus Triadodiscus Aulotortus Meandrospira Gsollbergella Nodosaria X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X ______ X X X X X - ? X X X X X X X X X - - X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 1 X X X X X X X X X X ZJ X ? X X X 1 J - - ..I □ J X | X J _[ " f j . u - I - 1 « 1 * » 1 [ 1 Fig. 2. Distribution of Foraminifera and other microfossils in the Kucler quarry section (The stratimPtrir column is modified after Jelen, 1990, p.24; strata are numbered onthe^ffeld already) SI 2. Pojavljanje luknjičark in ostalih mikrofosilov vzdolž profila Kuclerjeveea kamnoloma (Stratimetricm stolpec je prirejen po Jelenu, 1990, str. 24; plasti so oštevilalnfže na tereZ) tened (Aulotortus, Triadodiscus) or elongat- eJluJiMwliMsiotymaiHiiioi tests was probably affected by brackish and eutrophic water of the former lagoon as well as by the fine sediment and low level of dissolved oxygen within the sediment. The fine sediment might also have selected for their flattened or elongated shape and absence of distinctive surface ornamentation. At the same time, genera Lamelliconus and Aulotortus are also the most frequently found foraminiferan genera in other Slovene outcrops of the same age and similar lithology. Mostly they are described with older synonyms within genera Trocholina (=Lamelliconus) and Involutina (=Aulotortus). In contrast to them, the genus Triadodiscus has been evidented rarely in the Slovene territory. Less abundant, but still frequent, are Foraminifera of genera Gandinella, (?) Meandrospira and Gsollbergella. The former two genera are disturbed through the whole section of the quarry while the genus osoittrs[!MiiioiiiEiSii4ente