64 



PENNSYLVANIAN SPORES OF ILLINOIS 



Palzo and Isabel sandstones in southern and 

 western Illinois: Cady (1942) and Weller, 

 Henbest, and Dunbar (1942). The base 

 of the group in southern Illinois, according 

 to Weller, Henbest, and Dunbar (1942), 

 is at the bottom of the Grindstaff sandstone. 

 In western Illinois the Tradewater group 

 has been included in the Pottsville forma- 

 tion by Moore, Wanless, Weller, et al., 

 (1944); and Cooper (p. 16, 1946) in- 

 cludes the beds from the Tarter to the base 

 of the Carbondale in this group. The 

 Tradewater group is thought to compare 

 with the Lampasas series of the Mid- 

 continent region, the upper Pottsville of 

 eastern United States, and with the upper 

 half of the Namurian C and all of the 

 Westphalian A and B of Europe. 



The maximum thickness of Tradewater 

 strata in southern Illinois, according to 

 Weller (1945) is 445 feet, in western 

 Illinois 100 feet, and in central Illinois it 

 is thought to be possibly as much as 600 

 feet. This group includes a number of 

 sandstones, shales, coal beds, and two 

 marine limestones, the Curlew and Stone- 

 fort in southern Illinois, and the Seville 

 and Seahorne limestones in western Illi- 

 nois. 



"Sub-Babylon" Coal Bed 



The oldest Pennsylvanian coal bed of 

 western Illinois is termed the "Sub-Baby- 

 lon," as is mentioned earlier in this report. 

 It lies below the Babylon coal bed and 

 above the Mississippian strata. A collec- 

 tion and maceration by Schopf and an- 

 other collection at the same locality and 

 maceration by the author have provided 

 -numerous spores. Ten genera and 13 

 species have been identified. Three are new 

 species described in this report. 



The coal bed appears to be characterized 

 by Reticulati-sporites irregularis sp. nov. 

 and Denso-sporites glandulosus sp. nov., 

 since they appear restricted to this bed. 

 Furthermore, other species appear for the 

 first time in this coal bed, as shown on the 

 spore distribution chart (pocket). 



The following species have been identi- 

 fied from the "Sub-Babylon" coal bed, 

 maceration 144, NE. \/ A NE. \/ A SE. \/ A 



sec. 2, T. 5 N., R. 1 E., Fulton County, 

 Illinois: 



1. Granulati-sporites pallidus sp. nov. 



2. Reticulati-sporites irregularis sp. nov. 



3. Laevigato-sporites desmoinensis (Wilson 

 and Coe) S. W. and B., 1944 



4. L. minutus (Ibrahim) S. W. and B., 1944 



5. Denso-sporites glandulosus sp. nov. 



6. D. granulosus sp. nov. 



7. D. triangularis sp. nov. 



8. Triquitrites priscus sp. nov. 



9. Calamospora mutabilis (Loose) S. W. and 

 B., 1944 



10. Lycospora punctata sp. nov. 



11. L. granulata sp. nov. 



12. L. pseudoannidata sp. nov. 



13. Raistrickia prise a sp. nov. 



In addition to the above listed species, 

 undescribed species of Endosporites, Granu- 

 lati-sporites, and Calamospora are present 

 in very limited number. A single fragment 

 of a spore coat indicates the presence of the 

 genus Punctati-sporites. Important genera 

 not present include Alati-sporites, Cirra- 

 triradites, Reinschospora, and Florinites. 



The "Sub-Babylon" coal bed is believed 

 to be early Tradewater in age because of 

 the presence of species of the genus Laevi- 

 gato-sporites and because of the general 

 spore content listed above and illustrated on 

 the spore distribution chart (in pocket). 

 The spore content of this bed differs from 

 the Caseyville coal beds. 



Babylon Coal Bed 



The spores of the Babylon coal bed in- 

 dicate a vast change in the flora when com- 

 pared with those of the Caseyville coal beds. 

 Twelve genera are known to be present and 

 18 species have been identified. The Baby- 

 lon coal bed can be readily differentiated 

 by plant spores from the coal beds above 

 and below. Eight species appear for the 

 first time in the Babylon coal bed as do two 

 genera. Laevigato-sporites is the dominant 

 genus for the first time in the Pennsylvanian 

 of Illinois. Granulati-sporites is subdomi- 

 nant with 18 percent of the total spore 

 content belonging to this genus, the largest 

 percentage this genus attains in the 

 Pennsylvanian in Illinois. Cirratriradites 

 appears for the first time and makes up 10 

 percent of the total spore content. 



The Babylon coal bed exposed along 

 Spoon River north of Babylon in Fulton 

 County was for one reason or another as- 



