Pliocene Fossil Diatoms from the Shide Area in Shiga Prefecture, Central Japan

Abstract

The Shide Members, which is of the late Pliocene age, is distributed in the Koto areas southeast of Lake Biwa, Shiga prefecture. This Members are composed of clays, silts and sands, deposited in Lake Shide, and contains diatoms, molluscus, freshwater sponges, tortoises, elephant and deer, and is conformably lying in the Game Formation of the Kobiwako Group. The fossil diatoms from the six localities consist of 29 genera that included 80 species and varieties. The dominant and subdominant taxa in the assemblages are Aulacoseira granulata, Navicula hasta, Tetracyclus glans, Stauroneis phoenicenteron, and Asterionella formosa.