Ordovician chitinozoans and acritarchs from southern and southeastern Turkey

Revision of the lithostratigraphy of Ordovician deposits in southern and southeastern Turkey led to a re-evaluation of the age assignments of formations identified in the subsurface and at outcrop. Previous datings were based on macrofauna (mainly trilobites and graptolites). The present paper focuses exclusively on organic-walled microfossils (chitinozoans and acritarchs), which provide numerous chronostratigraphical improvements, especially in barren or poor fossil successions. Close to 200 samples were collected in the Taurus chain and Border Folds regions. The study identifies several Ordovician chitinozoan biozones and diagnostic acritarch assemblages. These formations align with new global stages of the Ordovician chronostratigraphical scale.