Facies variation in Waulsortian buildups. Part 2; Mid‐Dinantian buildups from Europe and North America

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Abstract
Using detailed petrographic analysis and a new method of handling similarity coefficients, samples from over 30 Mid‐Dinantian (Upper Tournaisian‐Lower Viséan) carbonate buildups from Europe and North America are compared with the Waulsortian facies of Belgium. The same component types are present and they bear very similar relationships to. one another. This is very significant because the assemblages of components in Belgium have recently been interpreted in terms of water depth (Lees et al. 1985).Four Waulsortian Phases are recognized, corresponding to the Belgian depth‐related assemblages. They represent growth in a range of marine environments from fairly deep, aphotic (probably more than 300 m) through to the photic zone (less than 120 m).Logging and mapping of phases allows growth patterns of individual buildups and buildup complexes to be interpreted as products of changing depositional environments. The very existence of the phases provides new information on the origin of the buildups. It also reveals that there was a fundamental growth mechanism independent of the preserved biota.