Abstract
The Neoproterozoic Era was characterized by rapidly changing paleogeography, global climate changes and especially by the rise and fall of the Ediacaran macro-biota. The correlation between disparate Ediacaran fossil-bearing localities and the tentative reconstruction of their paleoenvironmental and paleogeographic contexts are usually complicated by the lack of precise and accurate age data. For this reason, Neoproterozoic sedimentary sections associating Ediacaran biota fossils and fresh volcanic material are especially valuable for radioisotopic dating. Our research in the Podolya Basin, southwestern Ukraine, revealed the presence of four Neoproterozoic volcanic ash deposits (potassium-bentonite layers) within Ediacaran fossil-bearing siliciclastic rocks of the Mohyliv-Podilskyi Group. We used zircon U-Pb LA-ICPMS and CA-ID-TIMS methods to date two of those layers. The results indicate that a diverse assemblage of body and trace Ediacaran fossils occurred as early as 556.78 ± 0.18 million years (Ma) ago. By combining morphological evidence and new age determinations, we suggest a closer paleobiogeographical relationship between the Ukrainian Ediacaran assemblage and the Avalon paleocontinent than previously estimated.
Highlights
Several species forming the Ediacaran biota - e.g., Charnia (575–545 million years (Ma)), Dickinsonia (560–541 Ma), Onegia (558–543 Ma), Rangea (558–545 Ma), Palaeopascichnus and Tribrachidium (558–541 Ma) - are long-lived taxa without substantial morphological change[10], and their presence/absence does not represent a useful indicator for reliable biostratigraphical assessment
By using LA-ICPMS and ID-TIMS dating methods, here we report U-Pb ages of two ash beds of the Mohyliv-Podilskyi Group interlayered with siliciclastic deposits where nearly the totality of the Ediacaran remains are embedded
The Neoproterozoic siliciclastic deposits represent the main part of the sedimentary column, while the considerably thinner Paleozoic (Cambrian-Silurian) strata are restricted to the southwestern part of the Podolya Basin
Summary
Several species forming the Ediacaran biota - e.g., Charnia (575–545 Ma), Dickinsonia (560–541 Ma), Onegia (558–543 Ma), Rangea (558–545 Ma), Palaeopascichnus and Tribrachidium (558–541 Ma) - are long-lived taxa without substantial morphological change[10], and their presence/absence does not represent a useful indicator for reliable biostratigraphical assessment. The Podolya Basin (Fig. 1) is located at the southwestern margin of the East European Platform, on the western flank of the Archean Ukrainian Shield[27,29] It drains the hydrological basin of the Dniester River that cuts the Quaternary deposits overlaying the Neoproterozoic strata with an angular unconformity. The Neoproterozoic siliciclastic deposits represent the main part of the sedimentary column, while the considerably thinner Paleozoic (Cambrian-Silurian) strata are restricted to the southwestern part of the Podolya Basin.
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