Upper Permian bryozoans of central East Greenland

The bryozoan fauna in the Upper Permian Wegener Halvø, Ravnefjeld and Schuchert Dal formations, central East Greenland is of modest diversity, with only 15 genera identified. Bryozoans are most abundant in the Wegener Halvø Formation where they are important in the formation of carbonate buildups. Robust, rigidly erect colony types dominate in buildup cores whereas delicate erect types characterize the distal parts of the buildups. Cement-dominated bryozoan buildups are found in East Greenland and in the Zechstein Basin but are not known from the contemporaneous cool-water successions of North Greenland and Svalbard. The buildups are probably formed by seawater chemistry facilitating syn-depositional cement rather than a difference in the composition of the bryozoan fauna.