Abstract

The Remnev beds, the oldest beds of the Lower Devonian of the Mountain Altai, contain an assemblage of brachiopods which is close to that of the Tom-Chumysh beds of Salair and which includes forms known elsewhere from reef limestones of the Carnic Alps and from the Helderbergian of North America.

The upper half of the Altai Lower Devonian includes an assemblage with a varied composition close to that of the Malyi Bachat beds of Salair, the Coblenzian of the Urals and Middle Asia, the Pragian of Czechoslovakia and the Carnic Alps and the Erbrey Limestone of France.

The brachiopod assemblage from the Kireev beds, correlative with the Salairka beds of Salair, is typical of the lower part of the Eifelian. An assemblage of brachiopods of Middle Eifelian is present in the Kuvash beds, which is close to those occurring in Salair, the Minusinsk Basin, and in parts of the Far East. The brachiopod assemblage from the Schiverta Beds resembles such Upper Eifelian assemblages as those of Salair and Middle Asia, as well as Europe.

The Givetain brachiopod assemblage with Rensselandia johanni and Athyris spiriferoides has the elements characteristic of the North American province.

In the deposits of the Late Givetian-Early Frasnian transgression which penetrated into the Mountain Altai, a fauna widely distributed in the Altai-Sayany region, Kazakhstan, the Far East, Mongolia and South China includes brachiopods identical with those of North America.

The Famennian brachiopod association of the Mountain Altai is close to that of Kazakhstan, Kuzbass and Middle Asia.