Ordovician–Silurian boundary in the Bardo Syncline, Holy Cross Mountains, Poland—new data on fossil assemblages and sedimentary succession

A gradual transition from sandy through silty to clayey strata occurs near the Ordovician–Silurian (O/S) boundary in the southern part of Holy Cross Mountains, in the Bardo Syncline. Three graptolite biozones are distinguished for the O/S boundary interval deposits: ?persculptus, ascensus-acuminatus and vesiculosus. The first, rare graptolites appear below “graptolitic shales” in the ?persculptus Biozone. The diversity of the assemblage increases in the next two biozones. An analysis of acritarch frequency shows a decrease of acritarch frequency at the O/S boundary and then a gradual increase in the lower part of the ascensus-acuminatus biozone with a maximum in the vesiculosus Biozone. The taxonomic diversity of the acritarch assemblage shows a similar trend although the maximum of acritarch frequency observed in the vesiculosus Biozone do not coincide the maximum of acritarch taxonomic diversity.