The Ediacara Biota is a distinct group of soft-bodied organisms that flourished in late Precambrian (Ediacaran) oceans. The succession at Mistaken Point, Newfoundland, contains the most extensive collection of Ediacaran fronds in the world, with hundreds of complete specimens spanning at least 10 million years. The goals of the completed thesis were to investigate the growth strategies, preservational biases, function, and taxonomy of Ediacaran fronds through the use of qualitative morphological descriptions and quantitative morphometrics. Several of these mathematical techniques had not been previously applied to the Ediacara Biota, and strengthen traditional descriptive techniques through mathematical scrutiny. The second chapter applies standard biometric and principal components analyses to the cosmopolitan frond Charniodiscus from Newfoundland, which allowed for rigorous definition of two new closely related species that evolved differently shaped petalodiums to extract nutrients from different levels in the water column. The third chapter utilizes "landmark morphometrics" to interpret the original 3D shape of Charnia. These techniques suggest that traditional descriptions of Ediacaran fronds as sheet-like organisms are incorrect, and are a direct result of preservational processes. It was demonstrated that branch rigidity is species specific, resulting in the description of a new species of ancestral Charnia. The fourth chapter describes a new species of multifoliate rangeomorph frond that was preserved in four unique taphonomic settings. Only through comparison of specimens from all four preservational regimes was it possible to reconstruct the original morphology of this frond, and isolate taphonomically based features from true morphological characters. The final chapter reviews the biological significance of the frond morphoshape, and proposes that the present emphasis on overall shape in Ediacaran taxonomy is inherently flawed. It is recommended that a new system be erected to classify Ediacaran fronds based on branching architecture, as frond morphology most likely represents a common need to extract nutrients from the water column, and therefore represents a shared ecology, not ancestry. / Thesis (Ph.D, Geological Sciences & Geological Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2007-10-09 15:06:08.885

The Ediacaran, particularly the late Ediacaran-Cambrian (E-") boundary (551-541 Ma), has been noted as a major time of biological and biochemical transition, including: the rise of predators, the emergence of skeletons, the radiation of bioturbators, and large fluctuations in oceanic chemical conditions (e.g. anoxia/euxinia/ferruginia) with emerging data  suggesting that it is not until the late Ediacaran Period (551-542 Ma) when pervasive oxidation of the deep oceans occurred. In addition, the study of Ediacaran paleobiology involves numerous factors, including but not limited to, restricted amount of outcrops, taphonomic biases, metamorphism, enigmatic phylogenetic affinities, non-actualistic atmospheric and oceanic conditions, and unusual taphonomic windows, making it difficult to assign order to the myriad types of fossils (both body and trace) found during this time . It is with these problems in mind that my dissertation focuses on taphonomic questions in the late Ediacaran. We observe fossil through the taphonomic window and thereby colors all aspects of the study of that organism. By understanding how an organism was preserved we can learn about other factors affecting it, such as their taxonomic affinities, paleoecology, and morphology. All of these factors were examined through taphonomic investigations and this can be seen in the analytical path through my chapters. In chapter two I examined the preservation of trace fossils in the late Ediacaran. In chapter three I analyzed the taphonomy of an exceptionally preserved Ediacaran fossil to solve its affinity, tubular trace or tubular soft-bodied fossil. In chapter four, understanding the nature of exceptional preservation, I investigated the taphonomy of an Ediacara fossil in coarse grained sediments. In chapter five, I combined the findings of the previous chapters and applied that knowledge to analyze the in situ three dimensional morphology of an Ediacara fossil. Each of the projects presented pairs new technologic methodologies (SEM, BSE-Z, EDS, Raman, microCT) with traditional paleontological and petrologic investigations (field work, hand sample, and petrographic thin-section analysis). The result of this union of Old and New are findings that expand our understanding of these earliest multicellular organisms, their modes of life, and their biological affinities. / Ph. D.

Submitted by Danielle Karla Martins Silva (danielle.martins@ufpe.br) on 2015-03-11T18:23:27Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação completa (Reparado)..pdf: 5653679 bytes, checksum: 9607f3c3b609ddf91ad0bc0e5e92a79a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-11T18:23:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação completa (Reparado)..pdf: 5653679 bytes, checksum: 9607f3c3b609ddf91ad0bc0e5e92a79a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / CNPq / Este trabalho apresenta a primeira ocorrência da fauna de Ediacara no Nordeste do Brasil, localizada no Município de Pacujá, região noroeste do Estado do Ceará e interpretações preliminares sobre seu significado. Por correlação regional, os fósseis estão incluídos na Bacia Jaibaras, possivelmente numa nova unidade estratigráfica. O ambiente deposicional foi atribuído a um sistema fluvio-deltaico com ingressão marinha. Dez espécies Ediacaranas puderam ser identificadas, incluindo grupos pandêmicos, como Charniodiscus arboreus, Charniodiscus concentricus, Cyclomedusa davidi, Ediacaria flindersi e Medusinites asteroides, e grupos endêmicos, tais como Kimberalla quadrata, Palaeoghragmodictyon reticulata, Parvancorina minchami, Parvancorina saggita? e Pectinifrons abyssalis. Além disso, três icnogêneros foram observados: Arenicolites sp., Palaeophycus sp. e Planolites sp. A idade relativa dos depósitos foi sugerida em, pelo menos, 560 Ma e o conjunto de fósseis se assemelha à Assembléia White Sea. A bioturbação apresenta icnogêneros típicos do Ediacarano, sem ramificações e com pouca profundidade nos substratos. Portanto, aqui surge mais um evidência de que as relações ecológicas complexas e os verdadeiros bilaterianos já estavam presentes no Neoproteozoico e que sua ocorrência inédita no Ceará ascende esse Estado no cenário da paleontologia brasileira e mundial.

This thesis makes several contributions to improve our understanding of the Neoproterozoic Paleobiology. In chapter 1, a comprehensive quantitative analysis of the Ediacara fossils indicates that the oldest Ediacara assemblage "the Avalon assemblage" already encompassed the full range of Ediacara morphospace. A comparable morphospace range was occupied by the subsequent White Sea and Nama assemblages, although it was populated differently. In contrast, taxonomic richness increased in the White Sea assemblage and declined in the Nama assemblage. The Avalon morphospace expansion mirrors the Cambrian explosion, and both may reflect similar underlying mechanisms. Chapter 2 describes problematic macrofossils collected from the Neoproterozoic slate of the upper Zhengmuguan Formation in North China and sandstone of the Zhoujieshan Formation in Chaidam. Some of these fossils were previously interpreted as animal traces. Our study of these fossils recognizes four genera and five species. None of these taxa can be interpreted as animal traces. Instead, they are problematic body fossils of unresolved phylogenetic affinities. Chapter 3 reports stable isotopes of the Zhamoketi cap dolostone atop the Tereeken diamictite in the Quruqtagh area, eastern Chinese Tianshan. Our new data indicate that carbonate associated sulfate (CAS) abundance decreases rapidly in the basal cap dolostone and δ34SCAS composition varies between +9â ° and +15â ° in the lower 2.5 m. In the overlying interval, CAS abundance remains low while δ34SCAS rises ~5â ° and varies more widely between +10â ° and +21â °. δ34Spy is typically greater than δ34SCAS measured from the same samples. We propose that CAS and pyrite were derived from two isotopically distinct reservoirs in a chemically stratified basin. Chapter 4 studies δ13C, δ18O, δ34SCAS, and δ34Spy of the Zhoujieshan cap carbonate that overlies the Ediacaran Hongtiegou glaciation. The Zhoujieshan cap dolostone shows positive δ13C values (0 â 1.7â °). δ34SCAS shows rapid stratigraphic variations from +13.9 to +24.1â °, probably due to relatively low oceanic sulfate concentrations. δ34Spy shows a steady stratigraphic trend. Thus, the δ34SCAS and δ34Spy trends are decoupled from each other. The decoupling of δ34SCAS and δ34Spy trends suggests that CAS and pyrite were derived from different sulfur pools, which were probably due to the postglacial basin stratification. / Ph. D.

Sur la Plate-forme Est Européenne (PEE), des sédiments silicoclastiques néoprotérozoïques ont livré une faune animale édiacarienne type dans le bassin de Podolya. Sa géologie montre un domaine marin littoral et indiquent que cette faune vivait dans la zone euphotique. Situé en bordure du Bouclier Ukrainien, le bassin est resté à l'abri des événements tectoniques et sa subsidence a été faible, ce qui explique l’absence de métamorphisme et de processus liés à la diagenèse d’enfouissement. Ces conditions ont permis la préservation des fossiles d’animaux et des minéraux argileux. Ainsi, quatre couches riches minéraux interstratifiés (IS) ont permis d’identifier des bentonites i.e. des produits pyroclastiques altérés. Les zircons de la bentonite la plus récente, qui coiffe les niveaux fossilifères, ont été datés (238U/206Pb) à 557-555 Ma ; le macrobiota édiacarien de Podolya est donc plus âgé. De plus, les variations de teneurs en kaolinite dans la pile sédimentaire indiquent que le continent Baltica voisin (actuelle PEE), source du détritisme, a connu une succession de climats tempéré-chaud-tempéré. En accord avec les données paléomagnétiques, Baltica a donc migré depuis les hautes vers les basses latitudes avant d’amorcer un mouvement rétrograde. Les strates fossiles pauvres en kaolinite peuvent être corrélées avec une position de Baltica en latitude élevée, près de la bordure nord de Rodinia et du continent Avalon.Nos résultats permettent de situer les fossiles édiacariens de l'Ukraine sur l'échelle biochronostratigraphique mondiale, et de mieux comprendre les relations spatio-temporelles du biote de Podolya par rapport aux autres macrofaunes situées à proximité de Baltica à cette époque. Les nouvelles données et les morphologies primitives des fossiles de Podolya – d’ordinaire uniquement comparées à celles de la Mer Blanche (Russie) pourraient expliquer la ressemblance phylogénique entre le biote édiacarien d’Ukraine et certains macrofossiles d'Avalon. / On the East European Platform (EEP), Neoproterozoic siliciclastic sediments have revealed a typical animal fauna of Ediacaran in the Podolya basin. The geological data are typical of marine tidal domain and suggest that this fauna lived under a water depth that did not exceed the euphotic zone. After this period, the basin, located on the edge of the Ukrainian Shield, has remained safe from tectonic events and its subsidence was low, which explain that these deposits are unmetamorphosed and unaffected by processes of burial diagenesis. These conditions allowed both the preservation of animal fossils and argillaceous minerals. Thus, four levels rich in IS mixed-layers could be identified as bentonites, altered pyroclastic products. Zircons of the youngest bentonite, which caps the fossiliferous levels, have been dated (238U/206Pb ratio) to 556±1 Ma, so Podolya's ediacaran macrobiota is of older age. Moreover, the variations of the kaolinite content in sedimentary pile indicates the neighboring mainland of the Baltica micro-continent (current EEP), source of the detritism, has been subjected to temperate-warm-temperate climate cycle. According to the paleomagnetic data, this shows that Baltica migrated from high to low latitudes and followed a retrograde motion. The kaolinite-poor fossil stratas can be correlated with high latitude position of Baltica, close to the northern border of Rodinia and of Avalon micro-continent. Our results make it possible to better situate the Ediacarian fossils of Ukraine in relation to the global biochronostratigraphic scale, but also to better understand the spatial and temporal relationships of Podolya’s ediacaran biota compared to other faunas located in the vicinity of Baltica at this time. The new data and primitive morphologies of Podolya's fossils – usually compared to the only fossils of White Sea (Russia) might explain why Ediacaran biota from Podolya Basin has more phylogenic resemblance to some Avalon’s macrofossils.

The Digermulen Peninsula, Arctic Norway, offers a unique section of late Ediacaran to Cambrian sediments in an almost complete succession within the Vestertana Group. The proposed annelidan fossil Sabellidites cambriensis is found here, within the Lower Breidvika Member and is believed to exist also in the underlying Manndrapselva Member of the Stáhpogieddi Formation. Three cycles are recognized from the Manndrapselva Member, the uppermost being the third cycle, and the sediment interval of interest for this study ranges from the third cycle of the Manndrapselva Member to the Lower Breidvika Member where the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary is situated. The distribution of Sabellidites has been investigated in three different localities on the Digermulen Peninsula, and from two of these stratigraphical logs were made and the sections were documented with photographs. The logs were created over sediments from Locality 1: Bárdeluovttjohka and Locality 3: Manndrapselva in the interval of the top of the Manndrapselva Member and Lower Breidvika Member. Previous studies have shown that the stratigraphical distribution of Sabellidites is within the Lower Breidvika Member. New results presented in this study extended the temporal distribution downwards in the third cycle of the Manndrapselva Member and closer to the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary. The boundary is indicated by the trace fossil Treptichnus pedum. A few samples, collected from the logged sections, were found below the T. pedum level, indicating late Ediacaran origin. Three samples were collected even further down, close to the base of the Manndrapselva log, but these could only loosely be identified as Sabellidites and further analysis is required on these specimens. The Sabellidites distribution range from the Digermulen Peninsula was briefly compared to other locations and a global correlation is possible. The results here indicate that Sabellidites is an excellent reference taxon for the terminal Ediacaran and early Cambrian and that the succession on the Digermulen Peninsula may be one of the most important for global correlation across the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary. / På Digermulenhalvön i arktiska Norge finns en nästan helt oavbruten sektion av sediment från sen ediacara och tidig kambrium. Fossilet Sabellidites cambriensis, som tros tillhöra phylat Annelida, går att hitta här inuti sediment från det undre Breidvikaledet och det underliggande Manndrapselvaledet. De här två leden ingår i Vestertanagruppen. Tre cykler är identifierade från Manndrapselvaledet och den översta är den tredje cykeln. Distributionen av Sabellidites i de här sedimenten har undersökts i tre olika lokaler på Digermulenhalvön, och två biostratigrafiska loggar ritades och dokumenterades med foton. Tidigare har studier påvisat Sabellidites i det undre Breidvikaledet, men resultaten från den här studien visar att det går att hitta Sabellidites även i den tredje cykeln av Manndrapselvaledet vilket är längre ned i sedimentföljden, och således också äldre sediment som ligger nära gränsen mellan ediacara och kambrium, som är ett mycket intressant och omdiskuterat geologiskt tidsavsnitt. Gränsen indikeras av ett spårfossil vid namn Treptichnus pedum och resultat ifrån den här studien påvisar Sabellidites nedanför nivån för T. pedum. Det här förlänger spannet inom vilket man kan hitta Sabellidites och resultaten från Digermulenhalvön har jämförts med områden runt om i världen i ett försök att korrelera dem med varandra. Studien visar att en global korrelation är möjlig vilket gör Sabellidites till ett utmärkt referensfossil för undre kambrium och sektionen på Digermulenhalvön är exceptionellt bra för att undersöka förhållandena kring gränsen mellan ediacara och kambrium.

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