U-Pb zircon age from the base of the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation in the Yangtze Gorges, South China: constraint on the age of Marinoan glaciation

Abstract

The reported new U-Pb age by sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP II) on zircon was obtained from a tuff sample at the basal Doushantuo Formation in the Jiuqunao section, which situated at the western limb of the Huangling anticline in the Yangtze Gorges in Zigui, Hubei, South China. Eighteen spots of zircons were analyzed and they form two clusters: one includes three spots, with an inherited age of 784±15 Ma (MSWD=0.05); the other consists of 15 spots and gives a weighted mean 206Pb/238U age of 628.3±5.8 Ma (MSWD=0.86). It is the first SHRIMP U-Pb zircon age obtained nearly the base of the Doushantuo Formation of Ediacaran and represents a maximum age of the Doushantuo Formation It also forms an age constraint on the upper limit age of the Nantuo (Marinoantype) glaciation.