The Age of the Devonian Barzas Formation of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin Based on Palynological Data

Barzas liptobiolitic coals are the first transformation of primitive plants into something like coal in the history of the Earth. On the basis of palynological data, the Early Devonian age of the Barzas suite was determined in the stratotype section (Barzas settlement, Berezovsky district, Kemerovo oblast). A palynological complex dominated by various taxa of spores with a thin membranous perispore (Calyptosporites, Diaphanospora, Grandispora, etc.) was established. In addition, the palynological Diaphanospora inassueta Zone was defined, which characterizes the Koyvensky Horizon and the lower part of the Biysky Horizon (upper part of the Emsian Stage, Lower Devonian) in the eastern regions of the Russian platform and the Urals. For the first time, documentary evidence of the age of the Barzas suite has been published—photographs of spores from terrigenous rocks of barzasites.