Department of Mineral Resource, Rama VI Road, Bangkok 10400, Thailand 4

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1 North Thailand 1-Very Fossiliferous Limestone Belonging to the End of the Permian (Upper Changhsingian) in Wiang Sa Area 2- Another Upper Permian Limestone in Phrae Area Original Fontaine Henri 1*, Hoang Thi Than 2, Kavinate Sathaporn 3,4*, Suteethorn Varavudh 5, Vachard Daniel 6 Received : 20 June 2011 ; Accepted : 13 September 2011 Abstract Upper Permian limestone was known in Thailand for more than twenty years, but without information on the precise range of this Upper Permian. Recently in Wiang Sa area, the upper part of the Upper Permian has been found; this new discovery is interesting because it shows that Upper Permian was marine up to its top in Wiang Sa area. To the east in Loei and Luang Prabang areas, the top of the Permian is continental. In Phrae area south of Wiang Sa area, a few collected samples contain Upper Permian fossils, but there is a need to collect more samples for a better knowledge of this Upper Permian. Keywords: Wiang Sa area, Marine sediments, Colaniella, Palaeofusulina, Upper Permian (Changhsingian). Introduction In North Thailand, Permian and Triassic limestones are well exposed from Nan area in the north down to the south to Rong Kwang and Phrae areas. In the past, some localities of these areas have been the subject of short publications (for instance, see Fontaine 1,2, with some new information). The Triassic limestone exposures of Rong Kwong and Phrae areas are extending to the west 3 In 1982 west of Wiang Sa, Hahn and Siebenhuner 4 had mentioned the occurrence of Colaniella cf. ussuriensis Sosnina and?palaeofusulina sp. These fossils suggest an Upper Permian age. In the same area, but not exactly at the same place, a small limestone hill is very rich in fossils and is studied in this paper; it contains Colaniella in a great abundance, associated with some Palaeofusulina. North of Nan, a poorly preserved foraminifer has been found in a small limestone lens in shale exposed in Chiang Klang area, north of Tha Wang Pha. This foraminifer has been considered as belonging perhaps to Colaniella 2. In addition to the foraminifers, a brachiopod (Permianella) has been mentioned north of Nan in Tha Wang Pha area 5,6. This fossil is common in Rue de Bac, Paris, France 2 11 Rue Bourgeot L Hay Les Roses, Paris, France 3 Department of Mineral Resource, Rama VI Road, Bangkok 10400, Thailand 4 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Mahasarakham University, Mahasarakham, 44150, Thailand 5 Palaeontological Research and Education Centre, Mahasarakham University, Mahasarakham, 44150, Thailand 6 Paléontologie, Sciences de la Terre, Université des Sciences et Technologies, Bâtiment SN5, Villeneuve d Ascq cedex, France * Corresponding author : s.kavinate@gmail.com

2 52 Fontaine H. J Sci Technol MSU Wuchiapingian and ranges up to Early Changhsingian. West of Phrae in the 1:50,000 Geological Map published in 1992, a limestone has been considered Permian in age because some fusulinidae were observed and considered as belonging to Palaeofusulina and Colaniella. Limestone samples have been collected twice from Doi Pha Phlung in Lampang District southwest of the area concerned by this paper. 1: At first, limestone samples were collected from the eastern foot of Doi Pha Phlung and a Palaeofusulina-Colaniella fauna was reported 7. 2: Later on, samples were collected from two localities north of the summit of Doi Pha Phlung: 2a- a locality 1.5 km north of the summit; 2b another locality 750 m southwest of the first locality where a more diverse fauna was found and consisted of Colaniella, Palaeofusulina, Reichelina, Gallowayinella and other genera 8. In conclusion, Upper Permian was not unknown in North Thailand, but with the exception of Lampang district, the information was based on few localities containing a poor material. In contrast, Middle Permian has been better known in Thailand since a longer time. It displays diverse fossils which are commonly easy to notice in the field at many localities. It has been observed at several localities of North Thailand and is very well known at many localities of Northwest and Northeast Thailand. Wiang Sa area West of Wiang Sa, Pha Dang Khwai is an important limestone hill; it reaches up to 597 m in elevation above sea level. It is located near Ban Wang Tup. During a very short visit of this area, Pha Dang Khwai has been seen from the road; it is not very easy of access. It is built up by a massive limestone. No sample was collected. Photograph 1 A small limestone hill west of Pha Dang Khwai hill. In this area, a small limestone hill on the northern side of the road from Wiang Sa to Phrae (Photograph 1) ( N, ,3 E, figure 1; samples T10724 to T10726; pl. 1, figs. 1a to 1c; pl. 2, figs. 2b to 2e; pl. 3, figs. 3a to 3f; pl. 4, figs. 4a to 4e; pl. 5, figs. 5a to 5g; pl. 6, figs 6a to 6h) is very rich in fossils belonging mainly to diverse foraminifers: Colaniella lepida Wang , Palaeofusulina cf. fusiformis Sheng , Pseudobaisalina? sp., Pachyphloia ex gr. schwageri Sellier de Civrieux and Dessauvagie , Paraglobivalvulinoides piyasini Sakagami and Hatta , Paraglobivalvulinoides sp., Protonodosaria cf. sagitta Miklukho-Maklay ). Rare fragments of algae (Gymnocodium sp.), Tubiphytes and calcisponges occur locally. The limestone is packstone. The foraminifers indicate a Late Changhsingian age, corresponding to the extreme top of the Permian. This discovery gives hope to find, in North Thailand, a section showing the transition from Permian to Triassic in shallow marine sediments. In northeast Thailand, Upper Permian appears to be only continental 13.

North Thailand 1-Very Fossiliferous Limestone Belonging to the End of the Permian (Upper

Jun-Feb 2012 Amphoe Amphoe Wiang Wiang Sa Sa Sheet Sheet (5146 (5146 III) III) Amphoe Wiang Sa

Wang Tup Tup T10722-3 T10722-3 Map Map 11 Location Location ofof limestone limestone specimens

3 North Thailand 1-Very Fossiliferous Limestone Belonging to the End of the Permian (Upper Changhsingian) in Wiang Sa Area 2- Another Upper Permian Limestone in Phrae Area Vol 31, No 1, Jun-Feb 2012 Amphoe Amphoe Wiang Wiang Sa Sa Sheet Sheet (5146 (5146 III) III) Amphoe Wiang Sa Sheet (5146 III) * Pha Pha Dang Dang Khwai Khwai T T T10727 T10727 Ban Ban Wang Wang Tup Tup T T Map Map 11 Location Location ofof limestone limestone specimens specimens ofof Wiang Wiang Sa Sa area. area. Figure 1 Location of limestone specimen of Wiang Sa area. 53

Sheet (5045 III) * T10656-658 '''' Doi Tham Pha Klong ''''

4 54 Fontaine H. J Sci Technol MSU Chang Phrae Sheet (5045 III) Chang Phrae Sheet (5045 III) * T '''' Doi Tham Pha Klong '''' '''' '''' T T T10641 Long - - Phare Road Figure 2 Location of limestones of Doi Tham Pha Klong area.

5 Vol 31, No 1, Jun-Feb 2012 North Thailand 1-Very Fossiliferous Limestone Belonging to the End of the Permian (Upper Changhsingian) in Wiang Sa Area 2- Another Upper Permian Limestone in Phrae Area 55 Limestone hill west of Phrae: Doi Tham Pha Klong Doi Tham Pha Klong, also locally called Khao Hin Plakarang (= coral hill), is a well known hill with a cave, in the Doi Pha Klong National Park officially opened in It reaches up to 638 m in elevation above sea level. It is built up by a thickly bedded limestone ( N, 100 OO 15.8 E; sample T10641). The collected sample is a wackestone containing small fragments of Tubiphytes, a few calcispheres and fragments of other fossils which are difficult to be identified. Because this hill is an important part of the national park, it is difficult to collect several samples when, before arriving at this park, permission has not been officially obtained. In a small river very near Doi Tham Pha Klong, a thinly bedded limestone (18 O N, 100 OO 20.7 E, figure 2; samples T10642 to T10652; pl. 2, fig. 2a) is well exposed; beds are 5 to 50 cm thick, dipping towards west. This limestone is wackestone to packstone containing fragments of algae, rare foraminifers which are not diverse (samples T10643, 10646, T10648 and T10652: Colaniella lepida Wang ) and fragments of other fossils, especially calcisponges. At another place 100 m upstream of the same river, limestone is dark grey and massive (samples T10653 to T10655); it appears to be older than the previous one by its position in the field. It is a wackestone very poor in fossils. It contains a poorly preserved fossil which appears to be a fasciculate Tabulata (sample T10653; diameter of the corallites is 1 to 1.5 mm), fragments of algae (sample T10654) and a few fragments of other fossils. No foraminifer has been found in the thin sections. In conclusion, the limestone of Doi Tham Pha Klong appears to belong to Upper Permian, at least partly; in the small river near the hill, a collected sample contains Colaniella lepida Wang (Pl. 2, fig. 2a). There is a need to collect more samples in order to get better information. Between Doi Tham Pha Klong and Phrae, 11 km far from Phrae over the road, a black thickly bedded limestone ( ,6 N, E; samples T10656 to T10658) is very poor in fossils according to the few collected samples which cannot bring new information interesting for stratigraphy. References 1. Fontaine H, Salyapongse S, Vachard D. Widespread occurrence of Triassic limestones in the Nan region, northern Thailand, and their constraints on age of the associated volcanic rocks. Journ. Geol. Soc. Thailand 2001; 1: Fontaine H, Salyapongse S, Nguyen DT, Vachard D. Permian fossils recently collected from limestones of Nan area. Proc. Symposium on Geology of Thailand, Bangkok 2002; Chonglakmani C, Grant-Mackie JA. Biostratri -graphy and facies variation of the marine Triassic sequence in Thailand. Internat. Symposium on Biostratrigraphy of Mainland Southeast Asia: Facies and palaeontology, Chiang Mai 1993; Hahn L, Siebenhuner M. Explanatory notes (Paleontology) on the Geological Maps of Northern and western Thailand, 1:250,000 (Sheets Nan, Chiang Rai, Phayao, Chiang Dao, Chiang Mai, Li, Thong Pha Phum), B. G. R., Hannover 1982; Meesook A, Wanapeera A. The stratigraphic correlation of Permian to Triassic sequences, northwestern Nan region. Geological Survey, Bangkok, unpublished report 1983; 18 p., 4 pl. 6. Yanagida J, research group. Biostratigraphic study of Paleozoic and Mesozoic groups in central and northern Thailand. An interim report. Geological Survey, Bangkok 1988; 28 p., 33pl. 7. Sakagami S, Hatta A. On the Upper Permian Palaeofusulina-Colaniella fauna from Khao Doi Pha Phlung, north Thailand. Geol. Paleont. Southeast Asia 1982; 24: Ueno K, Sakagami S. Late Permian fusulinacean fauna of Doi Pha Phlung, North Thailand. Trans. Proc. Palaeont. Soc. Japan, n. s. 1991; 164:

6 56 Fontaine H. J Sci Technol MSU 9. Wang K. On Colaniella and its two allied new genera. Acta Paleontologica Sinica 1966; 14(2): (in Chinese). 10. Sheng JC. Some fusulinids from Changhsing Limestone. Acta Paleontologica Sinica 1955; 3(4): Sellier de Civrieux JM, Dessauvagie TFJ. Reclassification de quelques Nodosariidae, particulièrement du Permien au Lias. Maden Tetkik ve Arama EnstitusuYayinlarindan (MTA) 1965; 124: Miklukho-Maklay KV. Foraminifers of the Late Permian deposits of the northern Caucasus. Trudy VSEGEI, Gosgeoltekhizdat 1954; 1: (in Russian). 13. Fontaine H, Salyapongse S, Suteethorn V, Tian P, Vachard D. Sedimentary rocks of the Loei region, Northeast Thailand: stratigraphy, paleontology, sedimentology. Publication of the Department of Mineral Resources, Bangkok 2005; 165 p. with 30 pl.

Vol 31, No 1, Jun-Feb 2012 North Thailand 1-Very Fossiliferous Limestone Belonging to the End of the Permian (Upper Changhsingian) in Wiang Sa Area 2- Another Upper Permian

7 Vol 31, No 1, Jun-Feb 2012 North Thailand 1-Very Fossiliferous Limestone Belonging to the End of the Permian (Upper Changhsingian) in Wiang Sa Area 2- Another Upper Permian Limestone in Phrae Area 57 Plate 1 Small hill near Pha Dang Khwai; Figures 1a and 1b Colaniella lepida Wang Sample T Figure 1c Colaniella lepida Wang Sample T10725.

58 Fontaine H. J Sci Technol MSU Plate 2 Doi Tham Pha Klong; Figure 2a Colaniella lepida Wang 1966 9. Sample T10648. Small hill near Pha Dang Khwai; Figure 2b Pachyphloia ex gr.

8 58 Fontaine H. J Sci Technol MSU Plate 2 Doi Tham Pha Klong; Figure 2a Colaniella lepida Wang Sample T Small hill near Pha Dang Khwai; Figure 2b Pachyphloia ex gr. schwageri Sellier de Civrieux and Dessauvagie Sample T Figure 2c Colaniella lepida Wang 1966 and Pachyphloia ex gr. schwageri Sellier de Civrieux and Dessauvagie (left). Sample T Figures 2d and 2e Colaniella lepida Wang Sample T10725.

9 Vol 31, No 1, Jun-Feb 2012 North Thailand 1-Very Fossiliferous Limestone Belonging to the End of the Permian (Upper Changhsingian) in Wiang Sa Area 2- Another Upper Permian Limestone in Phrae Area 59 Plate 3 Small hill near Pha Dang Khwai; Figures 3a to 3e Colaniella lepida Wang Sample T Figure 3f Colaniella lepida Wang Sample T10725.

60 Fontaine H. J Sci Technol MSU Plate 4 Small hill near Pha Dang Khwai; Figure 4a Colaniella lepida Wang 1966 9. Sample T10725.

10 60 Fontaine H. J Sci Technol MSU Plate 4 Small hill near Pha Dang Khwai; Figure 4a Colaniella lepida Wang Sample T Figure 4b Colaniella lepida Wang and Paraglobivalvulinoides piyasini Sakagami and Hatta 1982 (bottom right). Sample T Figures 4c to 4e Colaniella lepida Wang Sample T10725.

11 Vol 31, No 1, Jun-Feb 2012 North Thailand 1-Very Fossiliferous Limestone Belonging to the End of the Permian (Upper Changhsingian) in Wiang Sa Area 2- Another Upper Permian Limestone in Phrae Area 61 Plate 5 Small hill near Pha Dang Khwai; Figure 5a Paraglobivalvulinoides piyasini Sakagami and Hatta , and Colaniella lepida Wang Sample T Figure 5b Protonodosaria cf. sagitta Miklukho-Maklay Sample T Figure 5c Paraglobivalvulinoides sp. Sample T Figure 5d Pachyphloia ex gr. schwageri Sellier de Civrieux and Dessauvagie (bottom left) and Colaniella lepida Wang Sample T Figure 5e - Colaniella lepida Wang (left) and gen. indet. (bottom right). Sample T Figure 5f Protonodosaria cf. sagitta Mikluko-Maklay (bottom left) and Colaniella lepida Wang (top right). Sample T Figure 5g Gymnocodium sp. (left) and Colaniella lepida Wang (poorly preserved, right). Sample T10725.

62 Fontaine H. J Sci Technol MSU Plate 6 Small hill near Pha Dang Khwai; Figure 6a Colaniella lepida Wang 1966 (bottom) and Palaeofusulina cf. fusifornis Sheng 1955 10. Sample T10724.

12 62 Fontaine H. J Sci Technol MSU Plate 6 Small hill near Pha Dang Khwai; Figure 6a Colaniella lepida Wang 1966 (bottom) and Palaeofusulina cf. fusifornis Sheng Sample T Figure 6b Palaeofusulina cf. fusiformis Sheng Sample T Figure 6c Calcisponge (left) and Palaeofusulina cf. fusiformis Sheng Sample T Figure 6d Palaeofusulina cf. fusiformis Sheng Sample T Figure 6e - Colaniella lepida Wang (bottom) and Palaeofusulina cf. fusiformis Sheng Sample T Figure 6f Pseudobaisalina? sp. (left) and Palaeofusulina cf. fusiformis Sheng Sample T Figure 6g Palaeofusulina cf. fusiformis Sheng Sample T Figure 6h Palaeofusulina cf. fusiformis Sheng Sample T10724.

PERMIAN LIMESTONE OF PENINSULAR AND WESTERN THAILAND IN KHAO YOI, CHA-AM AND THONG PHA PHUM AREAS

NAT. HIST. BULL. SIAM. SOC. 58: 39 47, 2012 PERMIAN LIMESTONE OF PENINSULAR AND WESTERN THAILAND IN KHAO YOI, CHA-AM AND THONG PHA PHUM AREAS Henri Fontaine 1, Sathaporn Kavinate 2, Thi Than Hoang 3 and