Acritarchs from the Lower Palaeozoic succession on the south County Wexford coast, Ireland: new age constraints for the Cullenstown Formation and the Cahore and Ribband Groups

Abstract Lower Palaeozoic sediments crop out on the southern coast of County Wexford, Ireland, comprising three distinctive lithostratigraphical units: from west to east the Cahore Group, the Blackhall Formation of the Ribband Group and the Cullenstown Formation. The three units are largely devoid of macrofossils and thus their ages have to date been uncertain and, in the case of the Cullenstown Formation, speculative. In the Cahore Group, a diverse assemblage of acritarchs composed of seventeen species has been recorded indicating a middle Early Cambrian age. This is similar to the age of the lithologically identical Bray Group to the north, in County Wicklow. In the Ribband Group, two very distinct assemblages have been noted. Both are poorly preserved, but diagnostic species have been determined giving a biostratigrapical range of early Mid‐Cambrian to Llanvirn. Palynomorphs have been recorded for the first time from the Cullenstown Formation allowing comparison with eastern Newfoundland where a similar, less diverse assemblage has been recorded. The age indicated is latest Mid‐Cambrian to early Late Cambrian. Overall, despite generally poor preservation of the organic matter, some 45 acritarch species have been distinguished, among which one new combination is proposed: Retisphaeridium postae instead of Cymatiosphaera postae. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.