Palynological dating (acritarchs and chitinozoans) of Lower Paleozoic phyllites from the Black Forest/southwestern Germany

The Black Forest (southwestern Germany) comprises two phyllite-bearing low-grade metasedimentary units, which are separated by the Central Schwarzwald Gneiss Complex. Both zones have been subjected to palynological investigation. In the north, the phyllites of the zone of Baden-Baden–Gaggenau, until now believed to be unfossiliferous, yielded a poorly preserved acritarch assemblage, indicating an age ranging from the Upper Cambrian to the Lower Ordovician. These phyllites may be equivalent to the Villé slates of the Vosges mountains (eastern France). In the south, the phyllites of the zone of Badenweiler–Lenzkirch contain chitinozoans of Silurian age.