51 



spore assemblages with those of approxi- 

 mately the same stratigraphic interval from 

 Macoupin County. As the Macoupin County 

 samples of strata below the No. 8 Coal had 

 proved barren of spores (except for the sam- 

 ple from the top of the underclay — macera- 

 tion 1 1 28-F ) , only the spore assemblages of 

 the coal and overlying strata from Franklin 

 County could be compared. 



All 16 samples from Franklin County 

 (maceration 1175, text fig. 14) yielded spores 

 of sufficient number and preservation to be 

 used in this study. Preservation of spores in 

 the coal and underlying strata generally was 

 good, but in the shale above the coal preser- 

 vation was so poor that only generic identifi- 

 cation could be made of most of the spores. 

 Direct comparison of spore assemblages of 

 the section of the Trivoli Cyclothem in 

 Macoupin County and the section in Frank- 

 lin County is therefore of limited value. The 

 greatest diversity in genera and species was 

 found in the shale and silty shale (macera- 

 tions 1175-A through 1175-D) below the 

 coal. The smallest number of spore taxa was 

 found in the gray, fossiliferous shale (macera- 

 tions 1175-K through 1175-P) above the coal, 

 probably largely due to lack of preservation 

 of many spores present at the time of depo- 

 sition. 



The distribution of small spore genera in 

 the silty shale (macerations 1175-A through 

 1175-C) showed little variation. Punctati- 

 sporites was the dominant genus, making up 

 about 50 percent of the total distribution. 

 Florinites was second in abundance and var- 

 ied from 8 percent at the base of the section 

 (maceration 1175-A) to 21.7 percent in the 

 sample above and then decreased to 10.7 

 percent in maceration 1175-C. Wilsonites 

 was almost as abundant (11.7 to 13 percent) 

 and showed little variation in the three mac- 

 erations. Calamospora decreased from 9 per- 

 cent in maceration 1175-A to 3 percent in 

 maceration 1175-C. The occurrence of Gra- 

 nulatis pontes (10.3 to 4.3 percent), Triqui- 

 trites (3.3 to 1.7 percent), and Endosporites 

 (1 to 2 percent) fluctuated somewhat. Lyco- 

 spora, Laevigatos pontes, and Crassispora in- 

 creased slightly toward the top of the silty 

 shale. Other genera observed in the three 

 samples included Gravis pontes, Raistrickia, 

 Latipulvinites, Cirratriradites, Indospora, 

 Dictyotriletes? , Lundbladispora, Columinispo- 



rites, Convolutispora, Savitris pontes, Trivo- 

 lites, Secarisporites, and Illinites. 



Punctatisporites (36.3 percent) decreased 

 in abundance in the gray, carbonaceous 

 shale samples (macerations 1175-D, E) . 

 Florinites increased from 10.7 percent in 

 maceration 1175-C to 24 percent in mac- 

 eration 1175-D. Granulatisporites and Cala- 

 mospora, both at 10.7 percent, were fourth 

 and fifth in relative abundance in mac- 

 eration 1175-D. Lycospora (5.3 percent), 

 Laevigatos pontes (1.0 percent), and Denso- 

 sporites (1.0 percent) showed a slight in- 

 crease, whereas Wilsonites decreased to only 

 1.7 percent of the assemblage. Triquitrites 

 (3.7 percent), Endosporites (1.7 percent), 

 Crassispora (1.3 percent), and Gravisporites 

 ( < 1 percent) maintained about the same 

 relative abundance as in the lower samples. 

 Reticulatis pontes, Lundbladispora, and Lati- 

 pulvinites, were present but were not ob- 

 served on the slide used in the statistical 

 count. 



Farther up in the same gray shale sequence 

 (maceration 1175-E), Punctatisporites (26 

 percent) decreased while Lycospora increased 

 to its maximum abundance for the cyclothem 

 — 17.3 percent. Endosporites increased sharp- 

 ly to 16.3 percent to become the fourth most 

 plentiful genus. Granulatisporites (11 per- 

 cent), Calamospora (10.3 percent), Laevi- 

 gatosporites (2.3 percent), Wilsonites (1.7 

 percent) , Triquitrites ( 1 percent) , and Gra- 

 visporites ( < 1 percent) showed no signifi- 

 cant change in relative abundance. Crassi- 

 spora, with 8 percent of the total spore popu- 

 lation, was at its maximum for the cyclothem. 

 Florinites took a sharp dip to 3.3 percent. 

 The presence of Densosporites (1.3 percent) 

 was again noted, but the genus was not a 

 major constituent. Trivolites and Dictyotri- 

 letes also were present. 



At the base of the underclay, in macera- 

 tion 1175-F, Endosporites (30.3 percent) and 

 Calamospora (26 percent) reached their 

 peaks and were followed by Punctatisporites 

 (17.3 percent), which was at its lowest per- 

 centage for the cyclothem. Lycospora and 

 Crassispora decreased considerably to 9.7 per- 

 cent and < 1 percent, respectively. Granulati- 

 sporites (6.3 percent) showed a slight de- 

 crease, while Laevigatos pontes (3.3 percent), 

 Florinites (2.3 percent), Triquitrites (1.7 



