Uppermost Cambrian Research Articles

Re-Os geochronology and geochemical evolution of late Cambrian to Middle Ordovician Alum and Tøyen shales, Sweden

The limited number of accurate and precise radiometric ages through the ∼100 Myr span of the Cambrian and Ordovician impedes reliable age determinations for stage boundaries in these periods. Here, we fill significant gaps in the early Paleozoic chronostratigraphy by providing precise Re-Os time-pins. Sample selection is linked to a firm biostratigraphic framework built on the appearance and distribution of trilobites, graptolites, and conodonts. A Furongian (upper Cambrian) Alum Shale section (Andrarum-3 drill core, Scania, Sweden) at the onset of the Steptoean Positive Carbon Isotopic Excursion (SPICE) yields highly non-isochronous Re-Os isotopic data from a section with wildly fluctuating δ13Corg; however, selected data from a narrow sediment band with steady carbon isotope stratigraphy provides an imprecise Re-Os age of 497 ± 28 Ma (2σ; Model 3; n = 3), with an initial 187Os/188Os ratio (Osi) of 0.74 ± 0.05. Organic-rich Alum Shale (Tomten-1 drill core, Västergötland, Sweden) from ∼120 cm below the Cambrian-Ordovician boundary yields a Model 1 age of 488.6 ± 5.1 Ma (2σ; MSWD = 1.5; n = 25) and an Osi of 0.82 ± 0.04 for Stage 10, uppermost Cambrian. Biostratigraphic data indicate the dated Alum Shale is from an interval slightly below the Top Of Cambrian Excursion (TOCE) and slightly above the First Appearance Datum (FAD) of the agnostoid Lotagnostus americanus. Organic-rich Tøyen Shale (Lerhamn drill core, Scania, Sweden) yields a precise Model 1 Re-Os age of 469.7 ± 1.4 Ma (2σ; MSWD = 1.0; n = 10) and Osi of 0.802 ± 0.002 for the maximum age of the Floian–Dapingian stage boundary (Lower–Middle Ordovician boundary). The Os isotopic composition of seawater from the latest Ediacaran through the Cambrian to Early-Middle Ordovician hovers around 0.8 but falls to 0.54 by early Silurian. This significant decrease in seawater 187Os/188Os is consistent with reduced chemical weathering and cooler seawater temperatures through the Middle–Late Ordovician. Overall, Redox Sensitive Element (RSE; Re, Os, Mo, U) abundances correlate positively with Total Organic Carbon (TOC), suggesting efficient removal of these elements from an anoxic water column by organic matter. However, these relationships break down for high TOC (>10%) shales depositing under euxinic conditions. The RSE-TOC relationship breakdown supports enhanced metal drawdown from the water column with local pyrite accumulation. Geochemical data suggest the deposition of Alum and Tøyen shales under hydrographically restricted settings with increased primary productivity along the Baltica's margin during the latest Cambrian to Early-Middle Ordovician.

Discussion of ‘Reply to “Uppermost Cambrian carbon chemostratigraphy: the HERB and undocumented TOCE events are not synonymous”’

AbstractNo basis for controversy exists in the naming of a global, strongly negative, uppermost Cambrian carbon isotope (δ13C) excursion. The HERB Event (HERB) has met the standards for chemostratigraphic units (i.e. consistent biostratigraphic brackets, content and concept) since 1992. By comparison, the TOCE excursion morphed through four temporally distinct δ13C events with spike-like nadirs that shifted temporally through the uppermost Cambrian until its synonymization with HERB (2006–12). In 2018, TOCE became a prolonged interval with very early onset and enveloped HERB – meaning five TOCE homonyms have been unambiguously defined and figured. HERB lies in the high-diversity ptychaspid biomere (trilobites) and below the ptychaspid extinction. But, data on it were used in TOCE’s 2006 proposal and in later iterations (2008, 2012) to show it (1) higher, both at and above the ptychaspid extinction; (2) at the level of HERB (2012, 2018); and (3) even extending well below HERB (2018). TOCE fails the recommendations for a formal chemostratigraphic unit. Its relationship to latest Cambrian biotic turnover includes equation with extinction and high-diversity intervals. One TOCE homonym is a synonym, albeit junior, of HERB.

OnCallavia(Trilobita) from the Cambrian Series 2 of Iberia with systematic status of the genus

AbstractOlenellid trilobites from the lower Cambrian of the Iberian Peninsula are very scarce and poorly studied, making them difficult to compare with defined species and to include in biostratigraphic and paleobiogeographic analyses. Based on newly collected specimens, we revise the species ‘Callavia?lotzei’ Richter and Richter, 1941 from the ‘Cumbres beds’ of Cumbres de San Bartolomé and the ‘Herrerías shale’ of Cañaveral de León, Sierra del Bujo, and Hinojales (Huelva, Spain), and ‘Paradoxides choffati’ Delgado, 1904 from the Vila Boim Formation of Elvas (Portugal). The new material indicates thatCallavia?lotzeiis a junior synonym of ‘P. choffati.’ The Iberian species are here assigned toCallaviaMatthew, 1897, for which morphological characters are reassessed, offering a valuable opportunity to discuss characters previously misinterpreted for this genus. Traditionally assigned to the Olenelloidea Walcott, 1890,Callavialacks some of the diagnostic characters of this superfamily and is here assigned to Judomioidea Repina, 1979. A new diagnosis for this genus is provided, andSdzuyomiaLieberman, 2001 is considered to represent a junior synonym ofCallavia. The genusCallaviais distributed across the western margin of Gondwana, from the western Mediterranean region (Iberia and Morocco) throughout all the Avalonia sectors (UK, eastern Newfoundland, and Massachusetts). Its presence in Iberia supports the faunal links between the West Gondwana domain and Avalonia during Cambrian Series 2. The Iberian records ofCallavia choffatiare assigned to the middle part of the regional Marianian Stage (uppermost Cambrian Stage 3 to the lowermost Cambrian Stage 4) and correlates with theCallaviaBiozone of Avalonia (lower Branchian Series).

Possible drill holes and pseudoborings in obolid shells from the Cambrian/Ordovician boundary beds of Estonia and the uppermost Cambrian of NW Russia

ABSTRACT Rare Oichnus simplex drill holes occur in mature obolid shells from the Cambrian/Ordovician boundary beds of northern Estonia (Iru and Ülgase) and the uppermost Cambrian of NW Russia (Lava River). The drill holes are significantly more common in the central rather than the marginal regions of the obolid valves. Drilling predators attacked Ungula ingrica in the Kallavere Formation and Ungula convexa in the Ladoga Formation. Failed predatory attacks on obolids were relatively common in the latest Cambrian-earliest Tremadocian of Estonia. Presumably drilling predators at Lava River and Iru differed from those at the Ülgase as indicated by significant differences in drill hole sizes at these locations. Most likely some types of worms preyed on obolids in the latest Cambrian-earliest Tremadocian of Estonia and latest Cambrian of NW Russia. The predation rate (6% to 9%) of studied obolids indicates that they likely had an epibenthic life mode. In addition to Oichnus drill holes in the obolids, there are also common pseudoborings caused by mineral dissolution.

Reply to ‘Uppermost Cambrian carbon chemostratigraphy: the HERB and undocumented TOCE events are not synonymous’

AbstractIn a recent communication on carbon isotope chemostratigraphy of the uppermost Cambrian strata, it was claimed that the Top of Cambrian Excursion (TOCE) is (1) an undocumented negative δ13Ccarb excursion; (2) ambiguously defined; (3) deliberately fictitious or, in the authors’ words, a ‘nihilartikel’; and (4) not synonymous with the Hellnmaria–Red Tops Boundary (HERB) Event. As the authors who have been involved in much of the discussion surrounding the TOCE since its introduction and in subsequent clarification, we wish to emphasize that the recent communication overlooks the fact that the TOCE is in fact a well-documented and clearly defined negative δ13Ccarb excursion, and that the term ‘HERB Event’ was originally used informally, without definition or reference data, for a negative δ13Ccarb peak, a peak later shown to occur within the TOCE excursion. Nearly a decade after the TOCE was named, the concept of the HERB Event was modified from a negative δ13Ccarb peak to a negative δ13Ccarb excursion, making it conceptually synonymous with the TOCE excursion. The recently published commentary is misleading and replete with misconceptions, as we discuss here.

Uppermost Cambrian carbon chemostratigraphy: the HERB and undocumented TOCE events are not synonymous

AbstractChemostratigraphic units require consistent definitions and unambiguous names. So-called TOCE (Top of Cambrian Excursion) is used as an uppermost Cambrian δ13Ccarb negative excursion although it was proposed without documentation, is ambiguously defined, and variably correlated into four Laurentian trilobite zones. TOCE, a nihilartikel, is regularly substituted to the exclusion of the earlier named, precisely documented and geochronologically older HERB (Hellnmaria-Red Tops Boundary) Event. HERB allows late Cambrian global correlation; its onset is close to the lowest occurrence of the conodont Eoconodontus notchpeakensis at the base of a proposed replacement (Lawsonian Stage) of Cambrian Stage 10. TOCE must be retired from use and abandoned as a synonym of the HERB Event.

Geochronology, stratigraphy and geochemistry of Cambro-Ordovician, Silurian and Devonian volcanic rocks of the Saxothuringian Zone in NE Bavaria (Germany)—new constraints for Gondwana break up and ocean–island magmatism

Stratigraphically well-defined volcanic rocks in Palaeozoic volcano-sedimentary units of the Frankenwald area (Saxothuringian Zone, Variscan Orogen) were sampled for geochemical characterisation and U–Pb zircon dating. The oldest rock suite comprises quartz keratophyre, brecciated keratophyre, quartz keratophyre tuff and basalt, formed in Upper Cambrian to Tremadocian time (c. 497–478 Ma). Basaltic volcanism continued until the Silurian. Quartz keratophyre shows post-collisional calc-alkaline signature, the Ordovician–Silurian basalt has alkaline signature typical of continental rift environments. The combined datasets provide evidence of Cambro-Ordovician bimodal volcanism and successive rifting until the Silurian. This evolution very likely resulted from break-up of the northern Gondwana margin, as recorded in many terranes throughout Europe. The position at the northern Gondwana margin is supported by detrital zircon grains in some tuffs, with typical Gondwana-derived age spectra mostly recording ages of 550–750 Ma and minor age populations of 950–1100 and 1700–2700 Ma. The absence of N-MORB basalt in the Frankenwald area points to a retarded break-off of the Saxothuringian terrane along a continental rift system from Uppermost Cambrian to Middle Silurian time. Geochemical data for a second suite of Upper Devonian basalt provide evidence of emplacement in a hot spot-related ocean-island setting south of the Rheic Ocean. Our results also require partial revision of the lithostratigraphy of the Frankenwald area. The basal volcanic unit of the Randschiefer Formation yielded a Tremadocian age and, therefore, should be attributed to the Vogtendorf Formation. Keratophyre of the Vogtendorf Formation, previously assigned to the Tremadoc, is most likely of Upper Devonian age.

Terminal Cambrian and Early Ordovician (Tremadocian) conodonts from Eastern Alborz, north-central Iran

Hadi Jahangir, Mansoureh Ghobadi Pour, Alireza Ashuri & Arash Amini, December 2015. Terminal Cambrian and Early Ordovician (Tremadocian) conodonts from Eastern Alborz, north-central Iran. Alcheringa ##, ###-###. ISSN 0311-5518.Uppermost Cambrian (Furongian) and Lower Ordovician (Tremadocian) deposits of eastern Alborz in northern Iran contain several successive low- to moderate-diversity conodont associations including 13 genera and 19 species of euconodonts, paraconodonts and protoconodonts, which define six biozones: 1, the Proconodontus muelleri; 2, Eoconodontus notchpeakensis; 3, Cordylodus andresi; 4, Cordylodus proavus; 5, Paltodus deltifer; and 6, Paroistodus proteus zones. With the exception of Cordylodus andresi, which is otherwise known from Baltoscandia and from the Oaxaquia terrane (Mexico), all index-taxa are geographically widespread, allowing long-range correlation within the Cold Domain or the North Atlantic Province, and in particular with Baltica. Invasion of euconodonts in the Alborz region, defined by the first occurrence of Proconodontus muelleri, coincides closely with a steady rise in sea level and termination of carbonate sedimentation, whereas the transition from the Proconodontus muelleri to Eoconodontus notchpeakensis zones occurs during a highstand interval unlike in Laurentian sequences. The interval corresponding to the Cordylodus andresi and Cordylodus proavus zones, and the transition from the Paltodus deltifer to Paroistodus proteus zones coincided with unstable sea levels and the formation of shoal complexes. The lower boundary of the Floian Stage can be provisionally placed slightly below the first documented occurrence of Acodus sp. cf. A. kechikaensis, somewhat below the second unit of andesitic lava flows in the Simeh-Kuh section.Hadi Jahangir [jahangir.hadi@gmail.com] and Alireza Ashuri [ashouri2001@yahoo.com] Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences, Ferdowsi University, Azadi Square, Mashhad 91775-1436, Iran; Mansoureh Ghobadi Pour* [mghobadipour@yahoo.co.uk; m.ghobadipour@gu.ac.ir] and Arash Amini [a.amini@gu.ac.ir], Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences, Golestan University, Gorgan 49138-15739, Iran. *Also affiliated with Department of Geology, National Museum of Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NP, UK.

Early Ordovician (Skullrockian) Trilobites of the Antiklinalbugt Formation, Northeast Greenland, and their Biostratigraphic Significance

The Antiklinalbugt Formation of northeast Greenland comprises peritidal to subtidal carbonate sediments, deposited in shallow shelf settings during an early Tremadocian transgressive-regressive megacycle. The succession of shales and microbial, muddy and grainy limestone, with minor dolostone at the base and top, terminates at the cryptic Fimbulfjeld disconformity. The formation has yielded trilobites collected on Ella Ø, Albert Heim Bjerge, and Kap Weber by C. Poulsen (1920s and 1930s), J. W. Cowie and P. J. Adams (1950s), and during recent field studies in 2000 and 2001. The fauna includes dimeropygids Tulepyge cowiei and T. tesella n. spp., hystricurids Millardicurus and Hystricurus, and several species of Symphysurina. Micragnostus chiushuensis (Kobayashi, 1931) is rare, as are Chasbellus sp., Clelandia sp., and Lunacrania?. The presence of several Symphysurina species places the Antiklinalbugt Formation within the Symphysurina Zone. Chasbellus indicates the upper (lower Ordovician) part of the Symphysurina Zone for the lower upper Antiklinalbugt Formation. Conodonts place the middle lower formation in the Cordylodus intermedius conodont Biozone, the lower upper part in the Cordylodus angulatus conodont Biozone and the uppermost part in the Rossodus manitouensis conodont Biozone. This combined fauna is characteristic of the upper Skullrockian Stage of the Ibexian Series, with the lower part of the Antiklinalbugt Formation lying within the uppermost Cambrian of North America, and the upper part within the lower Ordovician. The entire formation lies within the global Tremadocian Stage of the early Ordovician.

Early Ordovician (Skullrockian) Trilobites of the Antiklinalbugt Formation, Northeast Greenland, and their Biostratigraphic Significance

The Antiklinalbugt Formation of northeast Greenland comprises peritidal to subtidal carbonate sediments, deposited in shallow shelf settings during an early Tremadocian transgressive-regressive megacycle. The succession of shales and microbial, muddy and grainy limestone, with minor dolostone at the base and top, terminates at the cryptic Fimbulfjeld disconformity. The formation has yielded trilobites collected on Ella Ø, Albert Heim Bjerge, and Kap Weber by C. Poulsen (1920s and 1930s), J. W. Cowie and P. J. Adams (1950s), and during recent field studies in 2000 and 2001. The fauna includes dimeropygids Tulepyge cowiei and T. tesella n. spp., hystricurids Millardicurus and Hystricurus, and several species of Symphysurina. Micragnostus chiushuensis (Kobayashi, 1931) is rare, as are Chasbellus sp., Clelandia sp., and Lunacrania?. The presence of several Symphysurina species places the Antiklinalbugt Formation within the Symphysurina Zone. Chasbellus indicates the upper (lower Ordovician) part of the Symphysurina Zone for the lower upper Antiklinalbugt Formation. Conodonts place the middle lower formation in the Cordylodus intermedius conodont Biozone, the lower upper part in the Cordylodus angulatus conodont Biozone and the uppermost part in the Rossodus manitouensis conodont Biozone. This combined fauna is characteristic of the upper Skullrockian Stage of the Ibexian Series, with the lower part of the Antiklinalbugt Formation lying within the uppermost Cambrian of North America, and the upper part within the lower Ordovician. The entire formation lies within the global Tremadocian Stage of the early Ordovician.

Carbon isotope (δ13Ccarb) stratigraphy of the Lower–Middle Ordovician (Tremadocian–Darriwilian) in the Great Basin, western United States: Implications for global correlation

New stable carbon isotope data (δ13Ccarb) from Lower–Middle Ordovician (Tremadocian to Darriwilian) carbonate mudstone and wackestone rocks of the Pogonip Group are presented from two sections in the Great Basin region (USA) — Shingle Pass (east-central Nevada) and the Ibex area (western Utah). The Pogonip Group is a succession of mixed carbonate and siliciclastic rocks that accumulated on a carbonate ramp under normal marine conditions during the Late Cambrian (Furongian) to Middle Ordovician (Darriwilian). The Shingle Pass and Ibex area sections have been previously studied for their conodont biostratigraphy and contain a North American Midcontinent conodont fauna that range from the Cordylodus intermedius Zone (uppermost Cambrian) to the Phragmodus polonicus Zone (Darriwilian). The δ13C trend has four distinct characteristics recognized in both Great Basin sections: 1) a drop in δ13C from +1‰ at the base of the Ordovician (Tremadocian) to −0.7‰, 2) a 1 to 2‰ positive δ13C shift in the uppermost Rossodus manitouensis Zone during the late Tremadocian, 3) a gradual δ13C increase from −2‰ to ca. 0‰ during the end of the Early Ordovician (Floian), and 4) a steady δ13C decrease from 0‰ to −4 to −5‰ during Middle Ordovician (Dapingian–Darriwilian).In the Lower Ordovician, δ13C trends reported here from the Great Basin are not consistent with a causal mechanism involving sea level change and the migration of isotopically distinct water bodies. Instead, these Lower Ordovician isotope data most likely reflect primary seawater chemistry and changes in δ13C on a global scale. This interpretation is supported by the excellent correlation of δ13C in the Lower Ordovician to other δ13C trends reported from the sections in the Argentine Precordillera (La Silla and San Juan formations) and in western Newfoundland (St. George and Table Head groups). These correlations using δ13C are consistent with published biostratigraphic data and provide an integrated and high-resolution chemo-biostratigraphic framework for the Lower Ordovician sedimentary record of the Laurentian margin. The Middle Ordovician portion of the δ13C curves in the Great Basin represented by the Kanosh and Lehman formations shows significant isotopic depletion relative to the section in Argentina. Thus, although there is some indication that minima and maxima in the Middle Ordovician curves can be correlated, the Great Basin sections show clear evidence of overprinting by local variables related to both diagenesis (dolomitization) and platform restriction.

The Cambrian–Ordovician transition in dysoxic facies in Baltica — diverse faunas and carbon isotope anomalies

The Cambrian–Ordovician boundary interval in Scandinavia is characterized by largely endemic trilobite species and fossil-meager intervals within the Alum Shale Formation. Previous investigations of this interval in Scandinavia, based on drill cores, are rather sketchy. In order to characterize the faunal signature in a largely dysoxic setting during this time interval, as well as providing biostratigraphic and chemostratigraphic data valuable for intercontinental correlation, a small strip in the outskirts of the village Södra Sandby in Scania, southern Sweden, was excavated. Nearly 5m of the Cambrian–Ordovician boundary strata, largely represented by alum shale, were exposed and the profile was meticulously investigated for fossil content and lithological characteristics and sampled for δ13Corg analyses. The uppermost Cambrian in Sweden has previously been described as barren of fossils; however, the present study reveals a rather diverse fauna, including lingulid brachiopods, trilobites, protoconodonts, paraconodonts and euconodonts in the uppermost 1.6m of the Furongian. The first appearance datum of planktic graptolites is represented by a single shale surface covered by specimens of Rhabdinopora flabelliforme parabola at 1.74m above the base of the section and roughly corresponds to the Cambrian–Ordovician boundary. The conodont fauna includes several cordylodids important for intercontinental correlation. The Södra Sandby section δ13Corg data were coupled with isotope data from two Scanian drill cores, Håslöv-1 and Tosterup-2, in order to compile a composite isotope curve spanning the uppermost Ctenopyge linnarssoni Trilobite Zone in the Furongian to the upper R. flabelliforme parabola Graptolite Zone in the Lower Ordovician (Lower Tremadocian). Two isotope shifts from baseline values, observed at the base of the Peltura paradoxa Trilobite Zone and the lower part of the Peltura transiens Trilobite Zone, respectively, can be correlated with contemporaneous shifts in other parts of the world. The former, a negative shift of approximately 0.4–0.7‰, corresponds to the widely documented Top of Cambrian carbon isotope Excursion (TOCE) and the latter, a positive shift of approximately 1‰, corresponds to an as-yet-unnamed excursion at the base of the Cordylodus proavus Conodont Zone. In terms of faunal content and isotopic signals, the present study represents the first detailed description of the Cambrian–Ordovician boundary interval in Baltica. The relatively diverse fauna recorded suggests that the dysoxic environment was not a serious inhibitor for marine life. Globally, no isotope values significantly different from background values have been reported at the Cambrian–Ordovician boundary. This is confirmed by the present study; however, as the base of the Ordovician GSSP lacks meaningful isotope data, global correlation of this important boundary is problematic.

Left behind – delayed extinction and a relict trilobite fauna in the Cambrian–Ordovician boundary succession (east Laurentian platform, New York)

AbstractTwo completely dissimilar faunal changes occur between the Sunwaptan and Skullrockian Stages (Ptychaspid and Symphysurid ‘Biomeres’) in the uppermost Cambrian on the east Laurentian craton. An undolomitized section in the Little Falls Formation in Washington County, New York, shows a typical ‘biomere’ extinction, with highest Sunwaptan trilobites followed by the abrupt appearance ofCordylodus proavusZone conodonts and the lowest post-extinction trilobites (ParakoldinioidiaEndo) 5.0 m higher. This stage boundary interval is very condensed by comparison with coeval Great Basin and Texas sections. Approximately 70 km southwest, typical pre-extinction taxa (the catillicephalidAcheilopsUlrich and several dikelocephalid species) are shown for the first time to persist well beyond the extinction as they occur with middleC. proavusZone conodonts (Clavohamulus elongatusor, more likely,Hirsutodontus simplexSubzone). The Ritchie Limestone member of the uppermost Little Falls Formation yields a succession of conodont faunas that spans theC. elongatus–H. simplex–Clavohamulus hintzeiSubzones (middle–upperC. proavusZone). These data prove that the trilobites are a relict fauna that persisted into theSymphysurinaZone of the Skullrockian Stage. The massive (burrow-churned), mollusc-dominated Ritchie Limestone, with the second Upper Cambrian cephalopod locality in east Laurentia, represents an inner-shelf refugium for Sunwaptan trilobites that has not been previously encountered. Final extinction of typical Sunwaptan clades is at least locally diachronous, and a simple, genus-based approach to trilobite biostratigraphy in the Cambrian–Ordovician boundary interval is untenable. The relict fauna appears to be distinct at the species level, so it is likely that a viable, species-based biostratigraphy can be developed.Teridontus gallicusSerpagliet al. 2008 is a synonym ofT. nakamurai(Nogami, 1967), andT.?francisiLanding sp. nov., with a large base and tiny cusp, is a lowerC. proavusZone form. New trilobites areAcheilops olbermanniWestrop sp. nov. andParakoldinioidia maddowaeWestrop sp. nov. The lowest Ordovician ‘Gailor Dolomite’ is a junior synonym of the Tribes Hill Formation, and the Ritchie Limestone is assigned to the top of the terminal Cambrian Little Falls Formation.

Magmatism coeval with lower Paleozoic shelf basins in NW-Argentina (Tastil batholith): Constraints on current stratigraphic and tectonic interpretations

Abstract The Tastil batholith (Eastern Cordillera, NW Argentina) holds relevant keys for interpreting the tectonic evolution of the Central Andes basement since it has always been interpreted as the subcrop of the Cambrian and Lower Ordovician basins in the Eastern Cordillera. However, in the Angosto de la Quesera section, the batholith intrudes sandstones underlying a fossiliferous Lower Tremadocian conglomerate containing Tastil granite pebbles. The precise assignation of the sandstones intruded by the granite to Cambrian Meson Group or to the Uppermost Cambrian–Lower Tremadocian Santa Victoria Group is a key for refining the relationships between magmatic and sedimentary units. The ages of 526 Ma and 517 Ma (U/Pb, zircons) obtained from two facies of the batholith are coherent with the proposal of including these sandstones in the Meson Group. However, the lithologic features and fossil content point to an affinity with the basal units of the Santa Victoria Group according to sedimentologic and stratigraphic studies ruled out by other authors. The intrusive relationships between the Tastil batholith and the Lower Paleozoic sandstones indicates the batholith is coeval with the Meson and/or Santa Victoria groups basins instead of being its subcrop, which strongly contradicts previous proposals about basement evolution along the Lower Paleozoic margin of Gondwana. Therefore, the genesis and emplacement of the Tastil batholith must be related to the development of the Lower Paleozoic shelf basins rather than with the final stages of Puncoviscana-type basin evolution. The basement of central and northern Argentina records a wide spectrum of sedimentary, deformational, magmatic and metamorphic processes at a variety of crust levels during the Early Paleozoic. Tastil batholith emplacement and exhumation in the Eastern Cordillera represent shallower crustal expressions of the plutonic and high-T–low-P metamorphic events at deeper levels in the basement now exposed mainly in eastern Puna and Pampean Ranges.

Cambrian Fossil Embryos from Western Hunan, South China

Abstract:The exquisitely preserved fossil embryos of Markuelia recovered from the limestones of the Middle Cambrian Haoqiao Formation and Upper Cambrian Bitiao formation in western Hunan, South China are described and illustrated in detail for the first time. A new species Markuelia elegans sp. nov. is established based mainly on embryos from the Upper Cambrian. A few of animal's resting eggs, which are comparable with those of the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation, have been also found in the Upper Cambrian of western Hunan. The membrane of one egg from the uppermost Cambrian has been replaced by pyrite and the overgrowth of the pyrite crystals exhibits a unique inorganic pattern termed herein ‘Pseudoembryo’. The taphonomic setting in deeper water with possible strong reducing conditions promoted the excellent preservation for the Markuelia specimens. The study of Markuelia provides not only constraint on the anatomy, affinity, embryonic development and phylogenetic significance of this wormlike animal and but also opens a new window onto the evolution and development of the earliest animals.

Trilobites of thePseudokoldinioidiaFauna (Uppermost Cambrian) from the Taebaek Group, Taebaeksan Basin, Korea

ThePseudokoldinioidiaFauna is a newly documented uppermost Cambrian trilobite assemblage from the Dongjeom Formation of the Taebaek Group, Taebaeksan Basin, Korea. It is characterized by low species diversity comprising six trilobite taxa:Micragnostus chiushuensis, Koldinioidia typicalis, leiostegiid genus and species indeterminate,Pseudokoldinioidia perpetis, Onychopyge borealis, and pilekiid genus and species indeterminate. Of these, special attention has been paid toPseudokoldinioidia perpetis, which was originally assigned toMissisquoia, an index fossil for the uppermost Cambrian in Laurentia.Pseudokoldinioidiais restricted to eastern Asia, whereasMissisquoiais confined to Laurentia. The appearance of thePseudokoldinioidiaFauna is interpreted as contemporaneous with the base of the‘Missisquoia’ perpetisZone of North China, which in turn is correlated with the base of theMissisquoia typicalisSubzone of Laurentia. The associatedKoldinioidiaandOnychopygemake it possible to compare thePseudokoldinioidiaFauna of Korea and North China with the latest Cambrian trilobite assemblages of South China, Australia, South America, and Mexico, and also suggests an interesting biogeographic connection among these areas in the latest Cambrian.

Biostratigraphic significance of the latest Cambrian-earliest Ordovician agnostoid trilobites from Northwestern Argentina

The biostratigraphic significance of the latest Cambrian-earliest Ordovician trilobite agnostoids from northwestern Argentina is summarized. A characterization of the faunas recognized below and above the Cambrian-Ordovician boundary is presented on the bases of information from sierra de Cajas (Jujuy Province, Eastern Cordillera; Lampazar and Cardonal Formations), rio Volcancito (La Rioja Province, Famatina range; Volcancito Formation) and other localities assigned to the Parabolina frequens argentina Biozone. In addition, the stratigraphic meaning of each agnostoid species from the P. frequens argentina Zone is updated. The uppermost Cambrian is characterized by a distinctive agnostoid assemblage composed of Lotagnostus (Lotagnostus) sp., Lotagnostus (Semagnostus) zuninoi (HARRINGTON and LEANZA), Micragnostus vilonii HARRINGTON and LEANZA, M. calviformis HARRINGTON and LEANZA, Strictagnostus? micropeltis (HARRINGTON and LEANZA), Pseudorhaptagnostus (Machairagnostus) tmetus HARRINGTON and LEANZA, Pseudorhaptagnostus (Machairagnostus) cf. tmetus HARRINGTON and LEANZA, Pseudorhaptagnostus (Machairagnostus) sp., Gymnagnostus bolivianus (HOEK), Gymnagnostus perinflatus HARRINGTON and LEANZA, and Leiagnostus turgidulus HARRINGTON and LEANZA. This fauna is commonly recorded together with the polymeroid Beltella ulrichi (KAYSER), Onychopyge HARRINGTON, Plicatolina scalpta HARRINGTON and LEANZA, Parabolina frequens argentina (KAYSER), Parabolinella coelatifrons HARRINGTON and LEANZA, and Angelina hyeronimi (KAYSER). Based on this agnostoid-polymeroid fauna, a Pseudorhaptagnostus (Machairagnostus) - Gymnagnostus Assemblage Subzone (lower part of the P. frequens argentina Zone) is formally proposed. Agnostoid diversity drastically declines through the Cambrian-Ordovician boundary, probably as a consequence of a regional regressive-transgressive event. In the lowest Tremadoc the agnostoid records are mainly restricted to Trilobagnostus chiushuensis (KOBAYASHI) and some forms described under open nomenclature (Anglagnostus? sp., Micragnostus sp.). The upper part of the P. frequens argentina Zone is better defined by polymeroid trilobites. Jujuyaspis keideli KOBAYASHI is its most characteristic species.

Uppermost Cambrian and Lower Ordovician conodont biostratigraphy of the Survey Peak Formation (Ibexian/Tremadoc), Wilcox Pass, Alberta, Canada

The Survey Peak Formation (350 m thick) consists of calcareous shale, mudstone, siltstone, and limestone-pebble conglomerate, and is formally divided into four revised members, successively: Basal Silty Member, Putty Shale Member, Middle Carbonate Member, and Upper Carbonate Member. The Wilcox Pass section, Jasper National Park, Alberta, provides a standard stratigraphic section for the southern Canadian Rocky Mountains and yielded over 4,500 conodonts from 87 samples which are of high species diversity, moderately well preserved, with a conodont Color Alteration Index (CAI) value of 3. Over 50 multielement species representing some 20 genera are identified, and most are illustrated. Conodont zones recognized in the four members include: Basal Silty Member—Eoconodontus notchpeakensis, Cordylodus proavus, C. caboti, C. intermedins, and C. lindstromi; Putty Shale Member—lower C. angulatus; Middle Carbonate Member—upper C. angulatus and coeval Rossodus manitouensis, Colaptoconus priscus (new) and Scolopodus cf. S. rex; Upper Carbonate Member—Striatodontus lanceolatus-S. striatus. In total, ten conodont lineage and assemblage zones are recognized within the Survey Peak Formation. Most can now be precisely correlated with trilobite faunas and acritarch microfloras described from this section, and with conodont zones established for the Great Basin area, Utah-Nevada, and for western Newfoundland. The Survey Peak Formation is of uppermost Cambrian to lower Ibexian (Tremadoc) in age with the Cambrian-Ordovician boundary placed between 26 and 29 m above the base of the formation in the Basal Silty Member.

Deposition of the uppermost Cambrian (Croixan) Jordan Sandstone, and the nature of the Cambrian-Ordovician boundary in the Upper Mississippi Valley

The Jordan Sandstone, of Late Cambrian (Croixan) age, is well known as one of several cratonic sheet sandstones in the Upper Mississippi Valley that are part of the classic Paleozoic orthoquartzite-carbonate suite. Evidence that the Jordan is an entirely marine, regressive sequence, rather than transgressive as commonly assumed, provides new insight into the origin of cratonic sheet sandstones. The lower half of the Jordan Sandstone is composed of two intercalated lithofacies: (1) extensively burrowed, very fine grained sand-stone interbedded with hummocky cross-stratified beds deposited on the offshore shelf and (2) fine-grained, burrowed, cross-stratified sandstone deposited on the lower shoreface during storms. The upper half of the Jordan consists of medium- to coarse-grained sand-stone deposited on the upper shoreface by tidal and storm-generated currents. This lithofacies is characterized by abundant scour surfaces, tidal inlet fills, and very large angular intra-clasts of sandstone derived from incised beach-rock on the foreshore. Lithofacies associations demonstrate that the Jordan Sandstone is a regressive sequence deposited as part of a shoreline system that prograded across the Hollandale embayment, a shallow depression on the cratonic shelf in the Upper Mississippi Valley region. Progradation was interrupted by transgressive episodes recorded as local tongues of offshore deposits that disconformably overlie shoreface deposits. This sedimentologic model contributes to the evaluation of depositional controls in Late Cambrian time, and to solving some long-standing enigmas associated with cratonic sheet sandstones. Contrary to the long-held view that the Cambrian-Ordovician boundary is conformable in this region, sedimentologic evidence indicates that a regional unconformity separates the Jordan Sandstone from the Early Ordovician Oneota Dolomite. Deep incision into the lowest Jordan lithofacies occurred near the Transcontinental Arch on the western margin of the embayment, and near the Wisconsin Arch on the eastern margin. This differential erosion marks the earliest known tectonic up-lift of the basin9s margins relative to the center.

Uppermost Cambrian slope deposits at Highgate Gorge, Vermont: a minor miscorrelation with major consequences for conodont- and trilobite-based chronocorrelation

Uppermost Cambrian and lowest Ordovician slope deposits in Highgate Gorge, northwestern Vermont, yield a succession of conodont faunas (and a few associated trilobite species) similar to that observed in coeval North American carbonate-platform sequences. Decimeter-scale sampling of a 15-m-interval in two sections comprising thin-bedded limestone–shale rhythmites alternating with thick-bedded debris flow conglomerates yielded 60 trilobite specimens and more than 5,000 conodont elements from 48 productive horizons. The new biostratigraphic control does not support earlier claims that the lowest occurrence ofCordylodus proavusin the Gorge Formation and presumably in other slope sequences is significantly older than the base of theC. proavusZone in platform deposits; rather, it demonstrates the isochronous persistence of this boundary across the North American (Laurentian) shelf margin into Iapetan slope deposits. The common occurrence of the deep, cool-water conodontEoconodontus alisonaeand the agnostoid trilobiteLotagnostus hediniin theEoconodontusZone at Highgate Gorge makes it possible to extend the correlation even farther from the Laurentian platform into uppermost Cambrian strata in Kazakhstan and China. This new information greatly strengthens arguments in favor of using this zonal boundary for defining the international boundary between the Cambrian and Ordovician Systems.In earlier studies of Highgate Gorge strata, composite treatment of biostratigraphic data from similar but non-correlative intervals (Zones 2 and 3) in two sections created an illusion of significant stratigraphic overlap ofC. proavuswith older faunas and direct association of some trilobite species for which overlap has never been established. Composite treatment of data from Zones 2 and 3 under designations such as “main zone’ or “upper zone’ should be discontinued and species that have been reported as occurring together in the “main zone’ should not be assumed (on the basis of that association alone) to have come from the same stratigraphic level.