Organic Geochemical and tectonic evolution of the Midcontinent Rift system. Final report

Abstract

The older assemblages stand in contrast with the ca. 1000 Ma old Hunting Formation, Arctic Canada, which contains what may be the oldest evidence for modem algae - red algal fossils that compare closely with members of the extant family Bangiophyceae (Butterfield et al., 1990). Taken together the Nonesuch, Shaler, Hunting and other assemblages support the hypothesis of a major episode of eukaryotic diversification ca. 1000 Ma ago. Prior to this time, eukaryotic primary producers must have been physiologically primitive (and now extinct) algae whose abundance in ecosystems is poorly constrained by analogies with the present oceans. Cyanobacteria were major primary producers in a wide range of marine environments. After 1000 Ma, diversifying red green and chromophyte algae contributed significantly to primary production in all save microbial mat communities in restricted environments. It bears mention that such mat communities remained significant potential sources of buried organic matter until the end of the Proterozoic, necessitating exploration strategies that differ from those commonly employed for younger rocks (Knoll, in press). As in Phanerozoic basins, petroleum exploration in Proterozoic rocks requires tools for stratigraphic correlation. In Neoproterozoic (<1000 Ma) rocks, biostratigraphy is possible, and it is aided significantly by C and Sr isotopic chemostratigraphy. New data from the Shaler Group contribute to the construction of C and Sr isotopic curves for Neoproterozoic time, making possible much improved chronostratigraphy for this time interval. (Asmerom et al., 1991; Hayes et al., ms. in preparation).