Lise Meitner Program M 446
The paleogeographic position of the Alps during the Paleozoic is not well constrained by paleomagnetic data. The
fauna and floral evidence as well as the lithofacies analysis are the only appropriate data to reconstruct the
geological history for this area.
Previous research on the distribution of the Ordovician cephalopods being well documented in deposits of Baltics,
Siberia, China, Australia and Laurentia has been successful in opening on the way to the paleogeographical and
paleoclimatological reconstructions. Ordovician cephalopods of the Alps are not studied in this area in terms of
taxonomy and distribution. The oldest yet not described nautiloids occur in the Ashgillian Uggwa Limestone of the
Carnic Alps. A thorough investigation of this area is needed and will be the main focus of the practical side of the
work. The objectives of the project are:
- to do the monographic study of the cephalopods from the Carnic Alps - to establish the paleogeographical
distribution of the taxa
- to investigate their potential as paleoclimatic indicators
- to analyze main features of the cephalopod associations in other gondwanic localities with regard to the
paleographical setting of the Carnic Alps during the Late Ordovician.
The project will commence with an examination of the Austrian material collected by the applicant in the Carnic
Alps and the information from other areas can be included. The idea is to bring knowledge and material of
Ordovician nautiloids from the Alps here to gather data for a large synthesis. Added information from the
Armorican Massif, Anti-Atlas Belt, in comparison with the data from Laurentia, China, Siberia, Baltoscandia,
Kazakhstan and Australia, and Studies of the Alps cephalopods by the applicant will be the foundation to build on.
It is planned to publish the results to conclude the Project.