Ediacaran events: boundary relationships and correlation of key sections, especially in ‘Armorica’

1984 ◽  
Vol 121 (6) ◽  
pp. 635-643 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. F. Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
Southern Africa ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Trace Fossils ◽  
Faecal Pellets ◽  
Late Precambrian ◽  
Flinders Ranges ◽  
Northern Russia ◽  
Body Fossil ◽  
Radiometric Data

AbstractThe transitional interval between the Adelaidean and Ediacaran systems in the central Flinders Ranges, South Australia, comprises mainly basinal sediments, with some tuff beds (Bunyeroo Formation) and a widespread thin dolomite bed which apparently evidences a brief regressive episode (base of Wonoka Formation). Body imprints of metazoans, trace fossils and probable faecal pellets are present at various levels in the Ediacaran succession. Comparable assemblages occurring in key successions in southern Africa, northern Russia, Siberia, Newfoundland and England promise a global biostratigraphy. One Ediacaran body fossil occurs in the Yangtze Gorges section, China. Analysis of abundant late Precambrian radiometric data for the present North Atlantic margins suggests that the Ediacaran may be dated between about 590 Ma and ~ 545–540 Ma.

scholarly journals Solar Affinity of Sedimentary Cycles in the Late Precambrian Elatina Formation

1985 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 1027 ◽  
Author(s):  
GE Williams
Keyword(s):  
Solar Physics ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Planetary Science ◽  
Solar Variability ◽  
Rock Outcrop ◽  
Sedimentary Cycles ◽  
Late Precambrian ◽  
Climatic Cycles ◽  
Flinders Ranges ◽  
Drill Cores

Climatic cyclicity is recorded by regular variations in the thickness of siltstone-fine sandstone laminae interpreted as annual deposits (varves) within the Elatina Formation, a late Precambrian ( - 680 million years old) periglacial lake deposit in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia. Earlier conclusions, based on the study of limited rock outcrop, that the climatic cycles reflect solar variability are strongly supported by a complexity of periods revealed through study of drill cores of the - 10 m thick varved sequence. The wealth of new data generated by the drilling program, which was CSIRO-sponsored largely because of the support of R. G. Giovanelli, has application to solar physics and solar-planetary science.

Problematica, trace fossils, and tubes within the Ediacara Member (South Australia): redefining the ediacaran trace fossil record one tube at a time

2011 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
pp. 256-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Sappenfield ◽  
Mary L. Droser ◽  
James G. Gehling
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Trace Fossils ◽  
Information Structures ◽  
Common Component ◽  
The Past ◽  
Morphological Criteria ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Body Fossil ◽  
Hand Sample

Ediacaran trace fossils are becoming an increasingly less common component of the total Precambrian fossil record as structures previously interpreted as trace fossils are reinterpreted as body fossils by utilizing qualitative criteria. Two morphotypes, Form E and Form F of Glaessner (1969), interpreted as trace fossils from the Ediacara Member of the Rawnsley Quartzite in South Australia are shown here to be body fossils of a single, previously unidentified tubular constructional morphology formally described herein as Somatohelix sinuosus n. gen. n. sp. S. sinuosus is 2-7 mm wide and 3-14 cm long and is preserved as sinusoidal casts and molds on the base of beds. Well-preserved examples of this fossil preserve distinct body fossil traits such as folding, current alignment, and potential attachment to holdfasts. Nearly 200 specimens of this fossil have been documented from reconstructed bedding surfaces within the Ediacara Member. When viewed in isolated hand sample, many of these specimens resemble ichnofossils. However, the ability to view large quantities of reassembled and successive bedding surfaces within specific outcrops of the Ediacara Member provides a new perspective, revealing that isolated specimens of rectilinear grooves on bed bases are not trace fossils but are poorly preserved specimens of S. sinuosus. Variation in the quality and style of preservation of S. sinuosus on a single surface and the few distinct characteristics preserved within this relatively indistinct fossil also provides the necessary data required to define a taphonomic gradient for this fossil. Armed with this information, structures which have been problematic in the past can now be confidently identified as S. sinuosus based on morphological criteria. This suggests that the original organism that produced this fossil was a widespread and abundant component of the Ediacaran ecosystem.

scholarly journals Phyllozoon and Aulozoon: key components of a novel Ediacaran death assemblage in Bathtub Gorge, Heysen Range, South Australia

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
James G. Gehling ◽  
Bruce Runnegar
Keyword(s):  
South Australia ◽  
Taxonomic Status ◽  
Widespread Species ◽  
Flinders Ranges ◽  
Small Window ◽  
Storm Wave ◽  
Tubular Body ◽  
Phylogenetic Affinities ◽  
Body Fossil

Abstract The recognition of fossiliferous horizons both below and above the classical Ediacara levels of the Flinders Ranges, South Australia, significantly expands the potential of this candidate World Heritage succession. Here we document a small window into the biology and taphonomy of the late Ediacaran seafloor within the new Nilpena Sandstone Member of the Rawnsley Quartzite in Bathtub Gorge, northern Heysen Range. A 1 m2 slab extracted from the gorge, now on permanent display at the South Australian Museum, has a death assemblage dominated by the erniettomorph Phyllozoon hanseni Jenkins and Gehling 1978 and a newly named macroscopic tubular body fossil – Aulozoon soliorum gen. et sp. nov. – on its fine sandstone bed sole. The orientations and juxtaposition of these taxa suggest overprinting of an in situ benthic Phyllozoon community by sand-filled tubes of Aulozoon carried in by a storm wave-base surge. Phyllozoon hanseni is a widespread species that is restricted to the Nilpena Sandstone Member of the Rawnsley Quartzite, whereas Dickinsonia costata ranges from the underlying Ediacara Sandstone Member into the Nilpena Sandstone Member. Fundamental differences in the ways these two vendobiont taxa are constructed and preserved may provide insights into their biology and phylogenetic affinities. In the Nilpena Sandstone Member, D. costata is joined by Dickinsonia rex Jenkins 1992, which appears to be confined to the member, and is here re-described to clarify its taxonomic status and stratigraphic distribution.

RETRACTED—Eldonioids with associated trace fossils from the lower Cambrian Emu Bay Shale Konservat-Lagerstätte of South Australia

2017 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie I. Schroeder ◽  
John R. Paterson ◽  
Glenn A. Brock
Keyword(s):  
Lower Cambrian ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Dorsal Surface ◽  
First Record ◽  
Trace Fossils ◽  
The Body ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Stage 4 ◽  
Secondary Bifurcations ◽  
Body Fossil

Abstract Rare specimens of eldonioids recovered from the lower Cambrian (Series 2, Stage 4) Emu Bay Shale (EBS) Konservat-Lagerstätte represent the first record of the group for the Cambrian of East Gondwana. The disc-shaped body of the EBS taxon bears fine concentric corrugations on the dorsal surface and, ventrally, a series of internal lobes that have primary and secondary bifurcations, as well as a coiled sac. It appears to be most similar to Rotadiscus and Pararotadiscus of the Cambrian Chengjiang and Kaili biotas of South China, respectively. While the structure of the internal lobes would indicate that this occurrence in the EBS represents a new taxon within the Rotadiscidae, lack of detail regarding the precise number of internal lobes and the condition of the circumoral tentacles warrants a more conservative approach in leaving the genus and species under open nomenclature. The EBS specimens also host trace fossils, including the remains of a burrow, which are generally lacking in the body-fossil-bearing layers of the Konservat-Lagerstätte interval. These traces appear to have been made by small organisms and are similar to traces associated with the discs of Pararotadiscus guizhouensis Zhao and Zhu, 1994 from the Kaili Biota. The available taphonomic, paleoenvironmental, and ichnological evidence indicates that the EBS eldonioids are most likely vagrants that were transported or settled into the ‘preservational trap’ and subsequently exposed on the substrate for a brief period before burial, thereby allowing organisms to exploit their carcasses for nutrients or other purposes.

Dietary adaptation of reintroduced yellow-footed rock-wallabies, Petrogale xanthopus xanthopus (Marsupialia : Macropodidae), in the northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia

2000 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven J. Lapidge
Keyword(s):  
South Australia ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Wild Populations ◽  
Comparison Site ◽  
Dietary Analysis ◽  
Faecal Pellets ◽  
Dietary Adaptation ◽  
Flinders Ranges ◽  
Dietary Components ◽  
Woody Shrubs

Adaptation in the diet of captive-bred yellow-footed rock-wallabies (Petrogale xanthopus xanthopus) was assessed following their release into Aroona Dam Sanctuary within the species’ former range in the northern Flinders Ranges. Dietary analysis by means of microscopic examination of fresh faecal pellets was carried out prior to the animals’ release in September 1996 and then at monthly intervals for three months. Concurrently, the diets of animals in the two closest extant colonies of P. x. xanthopus were examined for comparison. Site vegetation and dietary components were classified into five categories: grasses, forbs (herbaceous species), chenopods (both flat- and round-leaved), browse (woody shrubs and trees) and plants with stellate trichomes (including Ptilotus, Solanum, Sida, and Abutilon spp.). Grasses (61%) and forbs (33%) constituted 94% of the diet of the captive-bred animals prior to release. Grass consumption declined to 51% at one month after release, while intake of browse increased from 4% to 13%. Intake of grass and forbs continued to decline over the next three months as seasonal conditions became generally warmer and drier. Plants with stellate trichomes (mainly Sida petrophila and Ptilotus obovatus) appeared in the diet at a frequency well above their relative availability, constituting 20% of the dry-weight dietary intake two months after release. Similar selectivity for plants with stellate trichomes was also found among wild populations at the two occupied sites.

Eldonioids with associated trace fossils from the lower Cambrian Emu Bay Shale Konservat-Lagerstätte of South Australia

2018 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie I. Schroeder ◽  
John R. Paterson ◽  
Glenn A. Brock
Keyword(s):  
Lower Cambrian ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Dorsal Surface ◽  
First Record ◽  
Trace Fossils ◽  
The Body ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Stage 4 ◽  
Secondary Bifurcations ◽  
Body Fossil

AbstractRare specimens of eldonioids recovered from the lower Cambrian (Series 2, Stage 4) Emu Bay Shale (EBS) Konservat-Lagerstätte represent the first record of the group for the Cambrian of East Gondwana. The disc-shaped body of the EBS taxon bears fine concentric corrugations on the dorsal surface and, ventrally, a series of internal lobes that have primary and secondary bifurcations, as well as a coiled sac. It appears to be most similar toRotadiscusandPararotadiscusof the Cambrian Chengjiang and Kaili biotas of South China, respectively. While the structure of the internal lobes would indicate that this occurrence in the EBS represents a new taxon within the Rotadiscidae, lack of detail regarding the precise number of internal lobes and the condition of the circumoral tentacles warrants a more conservative approach in leaving the genus and species under open nomenclature. The EBS specimens also host trace fossils, including the remains of a burrow, which are generally lacking in the body-fossil-bearing layers of the Konservat-Lagerstätte interval. These traces appear to have been made by small organisms and are similar to traces associated with the discs ofPararotadiscus guizhouensis(Zhao and Zhu, 1994) from the Kaili Biota. The available taphonomic, paleoenvironmental, and ichnological evidence indicates that the EBS eldonioids are most likely vagrants that were transported or settled into the ‘preservational trap’ and subsequently exposed on the substrate for a brief period before burial, thereby allowing organisms to exploit their carcasses for nutrients or other purposes.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document