A Review of Early Carboniferous Stratigraphy and Correlations in the northern Tamworth Belt, New South Wales ARTHURJ. MORY MORY, A. J. A review of Early Carboniferous stratigraphy and correlations in the northern Tamworth Belt, New South Wales. Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S. W. 105 (3). (1980) 1981 : 213-236. In reviewing the Early Carboniferous stratigraphy of the northern Tamworth Belt two stratigraphic units are amended. First, in the vicinity of Caroda, the Eungai Mudstone of McKelvey and White (1964) is regarded as a junior partial synonym of the Mandowa Mudstone with the rudite unit between, which they referred to as the Keepit Conglomerate, here recognized as the Kingsland Conglomerate Member (new name). Second, the Tangaratta Formation of White (1964a) is now included within the Goonoo Goonoo Mudstone of Crook (1961). Correlations based on conodont faunas suggest the following modifications to the correlation offered by Jones and Roberts (1976) for the northern Tamworth Belt: (i) the Mandowa Mudstone ranges into the Carboniferous on the eastern limbs of the Werrie and Belvue Synclines, (ii) the break in sedimentation at the base of the Carboniferous (the Onus Creek Unconformity of White, 1964a) cannot be detected on the eastern limbs of the Werrie and Belvue Syclines, and (iii) the Luton and Namoi Formations have diachronous upper and lower contacts. ArthurJ. Mory, Geological Survey of Western Austrah'a, 66 Adelaide Terrace, Perth, Austrah'a 6000 (formerly Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Sydney) ; manuscript received 4 November 1980, accepted in revised form 22 April 1981. INTRODUCTION The Tamworth Belt (Harrington, 1974; Korsch, 1977), a NNW-trending structural unit on the western margin of the New England Fold Belt in northern New South Wales, contains rocks ranging in age from Cambrian to Permian (Leitch, 1974; Cawood, 1976). The belt is divided into two by Tertiary basalts forming the Liverpool Ranges and it is the Early Carboniferous succession in the northern half with which this paper is concerned (see Fig. 1). The Early Carboniferous succession in the northern Tamworth Belt has been the subject of a number of papers since the 1850s; prior to the 1910s, however, this work was largely on fossil faunas from isolated localities with little mention of the relevant stratigraphy (e.g., W. B. Clarke, 1852-53; S. Stutchbury, 1853; L. G. de Koninck, 1876; E. F. Pittman, 1881; G. A. Stonier, 1871-95; R. Etheridge jun., 1887-1921; W. S. Dun, 1891-1920; andH. I.Jensen, 1907). The first major survey of Carboniferous rocks in New England was that of W. N. Benson (1913-1920) as part of his study on the 'Great Serpentine Belt'. This survey was followed by those of S. W. Carey (1934, 1937) on the Werrie Basin and A. H. Voisey (1934-1942) on parts of the eastern half of the New England Fold Belt. Not until the 1950s did interest in the Carboniferous of the northern Tamworth Belt revive with the work of staff and students from the University of New England at Armidale, especially Engel, 1954; Williams, 1954; Voisey, 1958, 1959, 1964; Voisey and PROC. LINN. SOC. N.S.W., 105 (3), (1980) 1981