PENNSYLFANIAN SPORES OF ILLINOIS 



Shoal Creek Coal Bed 



The name Shoal Creek coal bed is here 

 applied to the 2 to 3-inch coal bed exposed 

 at the locality where the Shoal Creek lime- 

 stone was originally described in the SW. ]4 

 sec. 2, T. 3 N., R. 4W, Clinton County. 

 The coal bed is lenticular and lies imme- 

 diately below black shale. The coal bed 

 as observed elsewhere is usually at least 10 

 feet below the black shale. 7 This relation- 

 ship has posed the question as to whether or 

 not there might exist two coal beds, one 

 immediately below and one 10 feet or so 

 below the black shale. Present evidence 

 indicates that there is but one coal bed be- 

 tween the Macoupin and the Shoal Creek 

 limestones. 



Samples from near the type locality in the 

 SE. 1/4 SW. y 4 SE. i/ 4 sec. 28, T. 4 N., R. 

 4 W., Bond County contained the follow- 

 ing genera and species : 



1. Punctati-sporites setulosus sp. nov. 



2. P. obliquus sp. nov. 



3. P. orbicularis sp. nov. 



4. P. sp. 



5. Granulati-sporites levis sp. nov. 



6. Reticulati-sporites scrobiculatus sp. nov. 



7. Laevigato-sporites oralis sp. nov. 



8. L. robustus sp. nov. 



9. L. obscurus sp. nov. 



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



11. L. desmoinensis (Wilson and Coe) S. W. 

 and B., 1944 



12. Endosporites formosus sp. nov. 



13. E. plicatus sp. nov. 



14. Triquitrites crassus sp. nov. 



15. T. discoideus sp. nov. 



16. Calamospora liquida sp. nov. 



17. C. hartungiana Schopf, 1944 



18. C. mutabilis (Loose) S. W. and B., 1944 



19. Raistrickia aculeata sp. nov. 



20. R. rubida sp. nov. 



21. Florinites similis sp. nov. 



22. F. triletus sp. nov. 



23. Illinites unicus sp. nov. 



Laevigato-sporites minutus (Ibrahim) 

 S. W. and B., 1944, is the dominant small 

 spore representing 38 to 40 percent of the 

 spore population and the total percentage 

 of the genus varies from 45 to 48 percent. 

 Endosporites, Punctati-sporites, Illinites 

 gen. nov., Florinites, and Raistrickia repre- 

 sent 10, 9, 8, 8, and 7 percent of the total 

 spore population. The remaining genera 

 listed above are rare in occurrence. 



There is evidence from the fossil spores 

 that the Shoal Creek coal bed may correlate 



7 Personal communication, J. A. Simon. 



with coal beds encountered in certain 

 diamond-drill holes as follows: coal bed at 

 284 feet 8 inches to 285 feet 10 inches, lo- 

 cated near the center of the SE. Yl sec 4, 

 T. 4 S., R. 1 E., Jefferson County (macera- 

 tion 538-C) ; coal bed at 84 feet 6 inches 

 to 85 feet in the SE. \/ A NW. ]4 NE. \/ A 

 sec. 27, T. 6 S., R. 2 E., Franklin County 

 (maceration 536-A). It is also possible 

 that this same bed is present in a rotary 

 well at 227 feet to 228 feet in the NW. \/ A 

 NW. J4 SW. 14 sec. 26, T. 1 N., R. 13 

 W., Wabash County (maceration 500-C). 

 The presence of six specimens of Reinscho- 

 spora magnified sp. nov. in maceration 

 536-A remains unexplained. Reticulati- 

 sporites scrobiculatus sp. nov., Florinites 

 triletus sp. nov., and Illinites unicus sp. nov. 

 appear to be restricted to this bed. 



New Haven Coal Bed 



The name New Haven is used here to 

 designate the ll/2 -m ch coal bed which lies 

 below the New Haven limestone at the 

 exposure in the NW. \/ A sec. 19, T. 7 S., R. 

 10 E., at New Haven, Gallatin County, 

 Illinois. 



The spore content of this bed is rather 

 significant because the presence of many 

 specimens of Reticulati-sporites muricatus 

 sp. nov. suggests a relationship with the La- 

 Salle coal bed while the presence of Laevi- 

 gato-sporites obscurus sp. nov. suggests a 

 relationship with the Shoal Creek coal bed. 

 Reinschospora triangularis sp. nov. and 

 Alati-sporites punctatus sp. nov. present in 

 this bed are not known to occur in either the 

 LaSalle or Shoal Creek coal beds. Alati- 

 sporiies punctatus sp. nov. is known only 

 from this bed in the McLeansboro group. 



The New Haven limestone has been 

 identified as the equivalent of the Shoal 

 Creek limestone of western Illinois by 

 Wanless (1939), Moore, Wanless, and 

 Weller, et ah (1944), and others. Present 

 spore studies do not definitely either prove 

 or fail to prove the accuracy of these corre- 

 lations. The spore content may represent 

 marginal flora of one or both of these beds 

 or represent an intermediate bed with a 

 transitional flora. 



The limestone in the New Haven dia- 



