The late Ordovician diamictic formations from southwestern Europe: North-Gondwana glaciomarine deposits

This paper presents a review and a discussion of the clast-bearing formations (diamicts) which occur in the uppermost part of the Ordovician succession of numerous regions in Southwestern Europe. Lithology, facies, stratigraphic setting and age are discussed. The strong similarities of these formations with contemporaneous glaciomarine deposits of the northern and northwestern margins of the African ice sheet and the Late Ordovician paleogeographic pattern based upon paleomagnetic data lead to the conclusion that the south European clast-bearing formations are glaciomarine deposits supplied with clasts by floating icebergs released from the African ice sheet. The proposed paleogeographic model confirms the close connection between southwestern Europe and Gondwana during Early Palaeozoic times.