Studies of conodonts from the ribbon-banded radiolarian cherts and siliceous siltstones in the Burubaital Formation in the Buruntau area (SW Balkhash region, Kazakhstan) made it possible to characterize the conodont fauna from deep-water environments in the Ordovician. The conodont assemblages from chert successions at times of high diversity document at least 53 taxa (39 species and 14 taxa identified in open nomenclature) for the entire Ordovician. Conodont biodiversity in the Floian and lower Darriwilian is comparable to the diversity of conodonts inhabiting the neritic zone of epicontinental basins and continental shelves. In the Dapingian and from the middle Darriwilian to the end of the Ordovician, the taxonomic diversity of deep-water conodonts in Kazakhstan is lower and comprises no more than five–six species in total. Stratigraphic distribution of conodonts in the Burubaital Formation sections along with their distribution in the previously studied chert localities in Kazakhstan were used as a base to estimate the succession of conodont zones in deep-water siliceous deposits. The resulting conodont zonation is based on cosmopolitan conodont species and allows broad correlation with deposits of several other paleocontinents.

The pelagic habitat of the Early Ordovician oceans is subdivided into two latitudinal biogeographical units - tropical, recorded in Siberia, Laurentia and adjacent terranes, and temperate to cold climate zone, recorded in Baltoscandia, Avalonia and Western Gondwana. The low gradient between the climate of high and low latitudes confirms that the climate in the Early Ordovician was warmer than in the Middle Ordovician.

对 Buruntau 地区（哈萨克斯坦西南巴尔喀什地区）Burubaital 组中带状放射虫燧石和硅质粉砂岩的牙形石进行研究，可以表征奥陶纪深水环境中的牙形石动物群。来自高多样性时期燧石系列的牙形石组合记录了整个奥陶纪至少 53 个分类群（开放命名法中确定的 39 个物种和 14 个分类群）。Floian 和下 Darriwilian 的牙形石生物多样性与栖息在陆上盆地和大陆架浅海区的牙形石类动物的多样性相当。在大坪阶和中达里维阶至奥陶纪末期，哈萨克斯坦深水牙形石类的分类多样性较低，总共不超过5-6种。Burubaital 组剖面中牙形石的地层分布及其在先前研究的哈萨克斯坦燧石地区的分布被用作估计深水硅质沉积物中牙形石带序列的基础。由此产生的牙形石分带基于世界性牙形石物种，并允许与其他几个古大陆的沉积物有广泛的相关性。

早奥陶世海洋的远洋栖息地被细分为两个纬度生物地理单位 - 热带，记录在西伯利亚、劳伦大陆和邻近的地体，以及温带至寒冷气候区，记录在巴尔托斯坎迪亚、阿瓦隆尼亚和西部冈瓦纳。高低纬度气候之间的低梯度证实早奥陶世气候比中奥陶世温暖。