Sedimentary environment and bryozoans (Permian, Svalbard)

Bryozoans are abundant faunal constituents in the shallow water, subtropical through cooler, more open marine Permian succession of Spitsbergen. Trends in preferred habitat for delicate and robust vinculariiform and reteporiform bryozoans, as well as generic distribution through a series of well- known sedimentary facies types are recorded. The early Permian quiet shallow marine environment contained thin branched vinculariiform trepostomes and cryptostomes, and varied delicate pinnate and fenestrate bryozoans, but only rare colonies in the palaeoaplysinid bioherms. Overlying nearshore high energy bioclastic barrier deposits contained the richest faunas with thick ramose and encrusting trepostomes and cystoporates and robust fenestrates. More offshore platform spiculitic shales also contained robust trepostomes and delicate fenestrates, whereas open platform carbonates contained varied delicate and robust trepostomes and robust fenestrates. These environmental distributions are generally in accord with previously published patterns.