Late Jurassic bivalves from Ellsworth Land, Antarctica: Their systematics and paleogeographic implicationS

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Abstract
Late Jurassic bivalves are described from several localities in eastern Ellsworth Land. Forty-one taxa are recorded of which seven are previously described species, seven (Grammatodon laudoni, Entolium lackeyi, Astarte marwicki, A. behrendtensis, A. ellsworthensis, Opis stevensi and Corbicellopsis otwayi) are described as new, four are compared with known species and 23 are left in informal nomenclature. All seven previously described species are well known in New Zealand as are many of the forms left in informal nomenclature. The affinities of the fauna are overwhelmingly with coeval New Zealand faunas and New Zealand stratigraphic nomenclature is used except where ammonite control allows correlation with the worldwide stage terminology. The shallow water faunas are dominated by Inoceramus spp. and robust astartids. A brief tectonic analysis suggests that before continental breakup began, Africa and South America formed a single unit, the southern apex of which was located east of the Antarctic Peninsula in the area of the present Weddell Sea and that the Antarctic Peninsula was to its west. Alternative reconstructions and geological histories are presented and discussed.

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