Silurian and Devonian strata on the Severnaya Zemlya and Sedov archipelagos (Russia)

Silurian and Devonian strata are widely distributed on the islands of the Severnaya Zemlya and Sedov archipelagos. The Silurian is represented by fossiliferous shallow-water carbonates underlain by variegated sandstones and siltstones of Ordovician age. The Devonian consists mainly of various red sandstones, siltstones and argillites, with carbonates only in some intervals. The best sections available for study are located in the river valleys, and in the cliffs along the coastline of islands. Type sections of most of the stratigraphical units identified are located on the Matusevich River, October Revolution Island. As the Quaternary cover is poorly developed on Severnaya Zemlya, the Palaeozoic strata can be easily traced also outside the sections.