ORDOVICIAN RADIOLARIA FROM BEDDED CHERTS OF THE SOUTHERN UPLANDS

Dilute hydrofluoric acid leaching of radiolarian cherts has yielded th e first identifiable radiolaria from the Northern Belt of the Southern Uplands. The radiolaria are abundant, as are sponge spicules, and occ ur with spindle-shape hollow biomorphs of unknown affinity. The red-br own chert sequence at Hawkwood Burn may be correlated with the upper L lanvirn (Llandeilian)-Caradoc Haplentactinia juncta - Inanigutta unica assemblage in Nazarov's (1988) biozonation. The presence of Protocera toiciskum sp. and the absence of typical Arenig morphotypes indicates that the greenish-grey cherts near Crawford can also be tentatively re garded as of Llanvirn-Caradoc age (sensu Fortey ed al. 1995).