Ceratopea and the correlation of the Wandel Valley Formation, eastern North Greenland

Abstract

The presence of heavily calcified, horn-shaped opercula of the gastropod Ceratopea Ulrich, 1911 (fig. 7) in the Wandel Valley Formation was first noted by Troelsen (1949) in his description of the Lower Palaeozoic sequence of southern Peary Land, eastern North Greenland. Silicified faunas collected by Troelsen are dominated by gastropods, with rare cephalopods, rare bivalves, and some echinoderm debris. As a result, Troelsen (1949, p. 18) suggested a Late or possibly Middle Canadian (Early Ordovician) age for the formation on the basis of the occurrence of Ceratopea. The specimens have not been further described although Peel et al. (1974) commented on the occurrence.