LATE PALEOZOIC (CARBONIFEROUS) VESTIMENTI FERA (OBTURATA, POGONOPHORA) OF THE NORTHEAST ASIA

New burials of the Vestimentifera (Obturata, Pogonophora), unique in f orms, preservation and abundance, have been found in the Taimyr and Ve rkhoyansk regions of the North-East-Siberian area of the Carboniferous paleocean. The animals resembled most closely the largest living repr esentatives of the subtype. Riftia pachiptila. The results obtained re quire to make the present concept of the North-East-Siberian area of t he Carboniferous ocean as a passive periphery of the ocean inactive in the geo- and hydrothermal respect more precise. It is quite likely th at a sufficiently active, high and middle temperature, hydrothermal sy stem could have been developed within the limits of the region under s tudy. Highly productive bacteriochemotrophic communities with dense po pulations of vestimentifers could be formed around foci of such system s, just as in the modern near-hydrothermal communities. It is also pos sible, although less likely that the regime of habitats of Carbonifero us vestimentifers was colder and non-hydrothermal like in the modern s ulfide-hydrocarbon and gasohydrate seeps and sources. The results of a lready performed analyses favor the first viewpoint.