Late Mississippian–early Pennysylvanian (Serpukhovian–Bashkirian) miospore assemblages of the Bohemian part of the Upper Silesian Basin, Czech Republic

Palynological samples from thirty-four boreholes drilled in the Bohemian part of the Upper Silesian Basin in the Czech Republic during more than last fifty years were examined. Coal samples from the Ostrava (Jaklovec and Poruba members) and Karviná (Saddle, Lower and Upper Suchá members) formations of Serpukhovian to Bashkirian age (Arnsbergian–Langsettian) were palynologically studied. Fifty-six genera with two hundred and forty-seven species were recognised by four palynologists. A brief review of the history of geological, palaeobotanical and palynological research is given. The changes in the dominance of the two principal miospore groups, lycospores and densospores, are the most significant criteria for the determination and characterization of dispersed miospore assemblages. The reconstruction of coal-forming vegetation is suggested. The comparison with some other European, and American coal basins and Western Europe palynozonation is suggested.