Palynological subdivision of the Dinantian to Westphalian deposits of Northwest Europe and the Donetz basin of the U.S.S.R.

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Abstract
During the last ten years the activities of the C.I.M.P. working group concerned with Stratigraphical Palynology have been in part directed to the compilation of data relating to the stratigraphical distribution of miospores within the Carboniferous. As a result, several local schemes for the palynological subdivision of parts of the system have been proposed by a number of workers, i.e., Neves et al (1972, 1973), Clayton et al (1974) and Becker et al (1974) for the Dinantian; Neves (1961), Owens et al (1977) and Jachowicz (1968) for the Namurian; and Smith and Butterworth (1967) and Loboziak (1974) for the Westphalian. During the same period comparable studies have been carried out in the U.S.S.R., in the area of the Donetz Basin by Teteriuk et al, and in the area west of the Urals by Byvsheva, Kedo et al, from which broadly comparable results have been obtained. The opportunity for a detailed comparison of these results was taken in 1975 during the C.I.M.P. meeting held in Moscow and the present paper is based on the conclusions reached at that meeting. The compilation of all available data allows for the recognition of a number of significant palynological events which appear to have a widespread geographical occurrence, i.e., the disappearance of Hymenoznotriletes lepidophytus within the lower part of the Tournaisian, the appearance of significant numbers of Lycospora spp. close to the Tournaisian‐Viseán boundary, the appearance of the Rotaspora‐Tripartites suite of spores in the upper Viseán and the disappearance of Schulzospora spp, at the top of Westphalian A. Finer subdivisions of the succession are readily recognizable but the criteria utilized for their establishment are frequently of a more local nature.