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Research carried out in the Ediacaran of eastern Newfoundland focused on two projects: sedimentology of the Conception and St. John’s groups exposed on the Bonavista Peninsula; and taxonomic descriptions of the small, stemmed frondose fossils at Mistaken Point on the Avalon Peninsula. Sedimentological study of the upper Conception and lower St. John's groups at Catalina Dome on Bonavista Peninsula extends our understanding of the Conception Basin, in which the oldest known complex, deep marine organisms lived, by a factor of two. Mudstone-rich turbidites dominate the succession, and a lack of wave-generated structures or other shallow-water indicators support the interpretation that the depositional environment was deep-marine. The basal part of the succession contains seismoturbidites that show no evidence of horizontal translation, implying that deposition occurred on a flat basin plain. Strata higher in the succession exhibit horizontally slumped beds, implying a transition into slope deposition. Turbidite ripple marks show a change in paleocurrent direction from eastward to southward in the Trepassey Formation, consistent with a change from convergent to strike-slip tectonics that occurred diachronously across the basin. Volcanic ash beds are more common in the Catalina Dome succession than on the Avalon Peninsula, reflecting deposition closer to the volcanic source. These volcanic beds are associated with diverse fossil assemblages rich in rangeomorphs that locally persist into the Fermeuse Formation, in contrast with the Avalon Peninsula where the Fermeuse Formation contains only simple discoid fossils. This taphonomic window lends support to the hypothesis that the form genus Aspidella represents the holdfasts of Ediacaran fronds. Stemmed small frond fossils from Mistaken Point, Avalon Peninsula, have often been informally referred to as “featherdusters”, but due to their small size and consequent poor preservation, they have not until now been formally described. The small, stemmed fronds are more diverse than previously realized, and include representatives of taxa described from elsewhere in Newfoundland, juveniles of other Mistaken Point fronds, and two new monospecific genera. This biodiversity suggests that the basal elevated tier that the small fronds occupied was competitive, with convergent evolution of frondose taxa showing distinct architecture and constructions, but broadly similar size and shape. / Thesis (Master, Geological Sciences & Geological Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2013-10-30 12:12:23.297

The Ediacaran Period, stretching from 635–542 million years ago, is one of the most dynamic intervals in the history of life. It witnessed the rapid transition from a microbially-dominated world, which had existed undisturbed for almost three billion years, to a Phanerozoic biosphere that is greatly modified by the interactions between macro-organisms and Earth surface systems. Ediacaran successions worldwide contain enigmatic assemblages of fossilised soft-bodied organisms. Determining the biological affinities of these fossils represents one of the major challenges in modern palaeontology. This thesis addresses some of the fundamental questions surrounding the Ediacara biota of the Avalon region from taphonomic, ontogenetic and palaeoenvironmental perspectives. Up-to-date stratigraphic ranges are produced for Avalonian macro-organisms, documenting spatial and temporal trends in their occurrence. New fossil assemblages are described, which include populations of juvenile rangeomorphs, and one of the earliest examples of community succession in the fossil record. The previously unexplained fossil Ivesheadia Boynton and Ford 1996 is re-described as a taphomorph, preserving the remains of Ediacaran macro-organisms that had died and undergone microbial decay on the seafloor prior to burial. This hypothesis implies considerable time-averaging of Avalonian palaeocommunities, and consequently suggests that the preserved fossil assemblages do not represent census populations of living organisms at the time of burial. Microbial decay is experimentally demonstrated to replicate aspects of Ivesheadia-type morphology, supporting the arguments presented herein for the preservation of microbially-induced taphomorphs during the Ediacaran. Finally, the discovery of the oldest evidence for metazoan locomotion, from 565Ma horizons at Mistaken Point in Newfoundland, suggests that motile macro-organisms were present amongst the Ediacara biota, ~20Myrs before the Cambrian boundary. This portrayal of Ediacaran palaeobiology views the deep-marine Avalonian ecosystems as diverse assemblages of both macro- and micro-organisms. Such palaeoenvironments preserve rare evidence of organisms capable of locomotion, and are likely to have included metazoans.

Located in the south of the Moroccan Sahara, the Adrar Souttouf Massif is the northern continuation of the Mauritanides at the western margin of the West African Craton. The massif itself exhibits a complex polyphase geologic history and contains four geologically different, SSW-NNE trending main units named from west to east: Oued Togba, Sebkha Gezmayet, Dayet Lawda, Sebkha Matallah. They are thrusted over each other in thin-skinned nappes with local windows of the discordantly overlain Archaean Reguibat basement. The eastern margin of the massif is bordered by the Tiris and Tasiast-Tijirit areas of the Reguibat Shield as well as its (par-) autochthonous Palaeozoic cover sequence, termed Dhloat Ensour unit. More than 5.500 U-Th-Pb age determinations and over 1.000 Hf isotopic measurements on single zircon grains from igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks of all the massifs units and its vicinity have yet been obtained. Most of the zircons were studied with respect to their morphological features. This method improves the accuracy of provenance studies by detecting varying zircon morphologies in space and time. These data are accompanied by U-Th-Pb age determinations on apatite as well as rutile. Together, they allow proposing a model of the geologic evolution of this poorly mapped area for the last 635 Ma. A combination of the obtained data with extensive zircon age databases of the surrounding cratons and terranes facilitates continental-scaled palaeogeographic reconstructions. Regarding the geologic evolution of the Adrar Souttouf Massif, the assembly of the first units began prior to 635 Ma. Although containing all the major zircon age and Hf-isotope populations of the West African Craton as well as some Mesoproterozoic grains, the Sebkha Gezmayet unit lies to the west of the Dayet Lawda unit of oceanic island arc composition. Hence, the Sebkha Gezmayet unit must have been rifted away from the craton prior to the formation of the oceanic unit within the West African Neoproterozoic Ocean at about 635 Ma. Recently published Hf and zircon age data of this unit suggest that the island arc was derived from a juvenile mantle source. Subsequently, the accretion of precursors of the Oued Togba and Sebkha Gezmayet units as well as a partial obduction of the oceanic Dayet Lawda unit and the Neoproterozoic sediments of a foreland basin (Sebkha Matallah unit) onto the Reguibat Shield took place. Peak metamorphism in the obducted oceanic rocks was reached at about 605 Ma. Magmatism in the western units between 610 and 570 Ma suggests on-going tectonic activity. The Early and Middle Cambrian is characterised by the erosion of the Ediacaran orogen and deposition of thick sedimentary sequences at the Sebkha Matallah unit, which acted as foreland basin. These sediments show a mostly West African zircon record with only some Mesoproterozoic grains provided by the westernmost parts of the massif. Initial rifting of the Oued Togba and Sebkha Gezmayet units from the remaining areas presumably occurred during the Late Cambrian. Coeval granitoid intrusions occurred on both sides of the rift. The two rifted units were likely involved to the polyphased Appalachian orogenies, which is emphasised by Devonian magmatism. Thus, and with respect to the isotopic data, the Oued Togba unit is interpreted to be of Avalonia affinity, while the Sebkha Gezmayet unit can likely be linked to Meguma. The units which remained at the West African Craton underwent intense sediment recycling during the entire Ordovician to Devonian times. Final accretion of all units and formation of the current massif was achieved during the Variscan-Alleghanian orogeny. This was accompanied by magmatism in the Sebkha Gezmayet unit and intense metamorphism of the Reguibat basement, whose zircons often show lower discordia intercepts of Carboniferous or Permian age. The post-Variscan period is characterised by erosion of the orogen and subjacent alternating cycles of sedimentation and deflation. The Adrar Souttouf Massifs importance for palaeogeographic reconstructions is given by the striking differences in the zircon age and Hf-isotope record of its westernmost Oued Togba unit and the remaining area. The results obtained from the Oued Togba unit resemble the published data of the Avalonia type terranes including prominent Mesoproterozoic, Ediacaran-Early Cambrian, as well as Early Devonian age populations. Many Mesoproterozoic zircons, which are exotic for the West African Craton prior to 635 Ma, form a ca. 1.20 to 1.25 Ga age peak that is an excellent tracer for detrital provenance studies and source craton identification of the sedimentary rocks. This is also valid for some sedimentary samples that do not show ages younger than 700 Ma, but large quantities of Mesoproterozoic zircon. These rocks can be correlated to similar sediments in Mauritania and W-Avalonia and are thought to be of pre-pan-African", i.e. pre-Ediacaran or even pre-Cryogenian age. They may give direct insights to the source area in Early to Mid Neoproterozoic times. Accordingly, comparison with published data of Amazonia and Baltica, allows setting up new hypotheses for the pre-Ediacaran history of the Avalonian type terranes. Lacking of magmatism in Amazonia between ca. 1200 and ca. 1300 Ma favours Baltica as source craton for the Avalonian terranes and requires a new point of view for the Neoproterozoic palaeogeography.

Located in the south of the Moroccan Sahara, the Adrar Souttouf Massif is the northern continuation of the Mauritanides at the western margin of the West African Craton. The massif itself exhibits a complex polyphase geologic history and contains four geologically different, SSW-NNE trending main units named from west to east: Oued Togba, Sebkha Gezmayet, Dayet Lawda, Sebkha Matallah. They are thrusted over each other in thin-skinned nappes with local windows of the discordantly overlain Archaean Reguibat basement. The eastern margin of the massif is bordered by the Tiris and Tasiast-Tijirit areas of the Reguibat Shield as well as its (par-) autochthonous Palaeozoic cover sequence, termed Dhloat Ensour unit. More than 5.500 U-Th-Pb age determinations and over 1.000 Hf isotopic measurements on single zircon grains from igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks of all the massifs units and its vicinity have yet been obtained. Most of the zircons were studied with respect to their morphological features. This method improves the accuracy of provenance studies by detecting varying zircon morphologies in space and time. These data are accompanied by U-Th-Pb age determinations on apatite as well as rutile. Together, they allow proposing a model of the geologic evolution of this poorly mapped area for the last 635 Ma. A combination of the obtained data with extensive zircon age databases of the surrounding cratons and terranes facilitates continental-scaled palaeogeographic reconstructions. Regarding the geologic evolution of the Adrar Souttouf Massif, the assembly of the first units began prior to 635 Ma. Although containing all the major zircon age and Hf-isotope populations of the West African Craton as well as some Mesoproterozoic grains, the Sebkha Gezmayet unit lies to the west of the Dayet Lawda unit of oceanic island arc composition. Hence, the Sebkha Gezmayet unit must have been rifted away from the craton prior to the formation of the oceanic unit within the West African Neoproterozoic Ocean at about 635 Ma. Recently published Hf and zircon age data of this unit suggest that the island arc was derived from a juvenile mantle source. Subsequently, the accretion of precursors of the Oued Togba and Sebkha Gezmayet units as well as a partial obduction of the oceanic Dayet Lawda unit and the Neoproterozoic sediments of a foreland basin (Sebkha Matallah unit) onto the Reguibat Shield took place. Peak metamorphism in the obducted oceanic rocks was reached at about 605 Ma. Magmatism in the western units between 610 and 570 Ma suggests on-going tectonic activity. The Early and Middle Cambrian is characterised by the erosion of the Ediacaran orogen and deposition of thick sedimentary sequences at the Sebkha Matallah unit, which acted as foreland basin. These sediments show a mostly West African zircon record with only some Mesoproterozoic grains provided by the westernmost parts of the massif. Initial rifting of the Oued Togba and Sebkha Gezmayet units from the remaining areas presumably occurred during the Late Cambrian. Coeval granitoid intrusions occurred on both sides of the rift. The two rifted units were likely involved to the polyphased Appalachian orogenies, which is emphasised by Devonian magmatism. Thus, and with respect to the isotopic data, the Oued Togba unit is interpreted to be of Avalonia affinity, while the Sebkha Gezmayet unit can likely be linked to Meguma. The units which remained at the West African Craton underwent intense sediment recycling during the entire Ordovician to Devonian times. Final accretion of all units and formation of the current massif was achieved during the Variscan-Alleghanian orogeny. This was accompanied by magmatism in the Sebkha Gezmayet unit and intense metamorphism of the Reguibat basement, whose zircons often show lower discordia intercepts of Carboniferous or Permian age. The post-Variscan period is characterised by erosion of the orogen and subjacent alternating cycles of sedimentation and deflation. The Adrar Souttouf Massifs importance for palaeogeographic reconstructions is given by the striking differences in the zircon age and Hf-isotope record of its westernmost Oued Togba unit and the remaining area. The results obtained from the Oued Togba unit resemble the published data of the Avalonia type terranes including prominent Mesoproterozoic, Ediacaran-Early Cambrian, as well as Early Devonian age populations. Many Mesoproterozoic zircons, which are exotic for the West African Craton prior to 635 Ma, form a ca. 1.20 to 1.25 Ga age peak that is an excellent tracer for detrital provenance studies and source craton identification of the sedimentary rocks. This is also valid for some sedimentary samples that do not show ages younger than 700 Ma, but large quantities of Mesoproterozoic zircon. These rocks can be correlated to similar sediments in Mauritania and W-Avalonia and are thought to be of pre-pan-African", i.e. pre-Ediacaran or even pre-Cryogenian age. They may give direct insights to the source area in Early to Mid Neoproterozoic times. Accordingly, comparison with published data of Amazonia and Baltica, allows setting up new hypotheses for the pre-Ediacaran history of the Avalonian type terranes. Lacking of magmatism in Amazonia between ca. 1200 and ca. 1300 Ma favours Baltica as source craton for the Avalonian terranes and requires a new point of view for the Neoproterozoic palaeogeography.