Ediacaran macrofossils prior to the ~580 Ma Gaskiers glaciation in Newfoundland, Canada

2020/09/23 by Alexander G. Liu, Alexander Liu, Benjamin H. Tindal
Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Geological and Geochemical Analysis

paper · doi:10.1111/let.12401

Abstract

Macrofossils of the inferred protist‐grade organism Palaeopascichnus linearis occur stratigraphically beneath glacial diamictites of the ~580 Ma, Gaskiers‐equivalent, Trinity ‘facies’ of the Rocky Harbour Formation on the Bonavista Peninsula of Newfoundland, Canada. These fossils significantly pre‐date previously reported macrofossils from Avalonia and extend the taphonomic window for moldic preservation of macroscopic organisms beyond the Gaskiers glacial event into the middle Ediacaran Period. This finding confirms the long stratigraphical range of palaeopascichnid fossils worldwide and informs discussions surrounding both the age of poorly time‐constrained stratigraphical units in Norway and Australia, and formal sub‐division of the Ediacaran System.

Citations

• The Proterozoic and Earliest Cambrian Trace Fossil Record; Patterns, Problems and Perspectives

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