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School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria, PO Box 3055, Victoria, B.C. V8W 3P6, Canada crbarnes{at}uvic.ca
Twelve conodont communities and assemblages in the Cambrian-Ordovician interval of western Newfoundland are recognized by four cluster analyses, which include 18 468 identifiable conodont specimens recovered from 230 conodont-bearing samples from four stratigraphic sections. Each section represents a different facies: platform, upper proximal slope, lower proximal slope, and distal slope. The 12 conodont communities and assemblages were differentiated into pelagic and nektobenthic communities as well as both the assemblages with a mixture of pelagic and nektobenthic communities and transported assemblage. The distribution of conodont communities along the platform-to-slope environmental gradient shows some gradational relationships. Relative sea-level curves derived in part from the distribution pattern of conodont communities reveal a major sea-level drop in the latest Cordylodus proavus Zone time, and two major sea-level rises in the early Iapetognathus fluctivagus Zone time and early Cordylodus angulatus Zone time, respectively.
