Medial Lower Cambrian strata from continental shelf deposits of western Laurentia yield abundant, low diversity trilobite faunas. New faunas from the Cranbrook and Eager formations (southeastern British Columbia) and the upper Campito, Poleta, Harkless and Saline Valley formations (southwestern Great Basin, California and Nevada) have yielded: 33 species of Olenellina (20 new); 2 new species of Edelsteinaspidae (Redlichiina); 13 species of Corynexochida (5 new); 4 species of Ptychopariina (1 new); 1 new species of Eodiscina; 1 species of Oryctocephalidae; 1 new species of Protypidae; and 1 possible species of Cheiruroideidae. One new genus, Wannerellus, is established and tentatively assigned to the Wanneriidae. Systematic studies emphasize the importance of early ontogenetic features and ventral morphology in determining supraspecific relationships. Major changes are made to the suprageneric classification of the Olenelloidea: the Wanneriidae is recognized as a family separate from the Olenellidae; the Laudoniinae and Gabriellinae are abandoned and their type genera assigned to the Wanneriidae; the Mesonacinae is characterized as a peramorphic subfamily of the Olenellidae; and the Bristoliinae is synonymized with the Biceratopsinae (Olenellidae). The Corynexochidae is also changed in membership to include the Dorypyginae (=Ogygopsidae). Heterochrony is a major pattern of evolutionary change in Lower Cambrian trilobites. Biostratigraphic division of the medial lower Cambrian comprises 10 new subzones of 4 zones and is the first species-based trilobite zonation for Laurentia. It replaces previous genus-based zonations that are imprecise and questionable in recognition. In ascending order, the zonation includes: the Nevadia weeksi and Nevadia palmeri subzones of the Nevadia Zone; the Nevadella parvoconica and Nevadella eiicharis subzones of the Nevadella Zone; the Elliptocephala stewarti, Gabriellus poletensis and Wannerellus alcatrazensis subzones of the Elliptocephala Zone; and the Wanneria logani, Wanneria dunnae and Proliostracus buelnaensis subzones of the Olenellus transitans Zone. These zones and subzones can be correlated with other successions in western and eastern Laurentia. Biofacies differentiation of restricted shelf deposits is poorly developed in the Nevadella though Elliptocephala Zones. For this interval, the Nevadella and Wanneriid biofacies are successive biofacies of restricted shelf deposits and the Labradoria and Ekwipagetia biofacies are successive biofacies of open shelf deposits. Biofacies differentiation is well developed in the Olenellus transitans Zone, with an Olenellus Biofacies in elastics; a Wanneriid Biofacies in silty and oolitic carbonates; a Bonnia Biofacies in pure carbonates; and an Ogygopsis Biofacies in open shelf deposits. / Graduate

This study establishes the stratigraphic framework and conodont biostratigraphy of Lower Paleozoic strata of the Northern Canadian Cordilleran Miogeocline, which document a non-passive tectonic evolution of the rifted margin of Laurentia. Only a few reconnaissance stratigraphic studies have been conducted previously in the study area. Nine key sections span an east-west transect from the Macdonald Platform to the Kechika Trough (platform-miogeocline-basin) and 3 key sections comprise a transect across the parautochthonous Cassiar Terrane. Over 12 000 m of strata from the Kechika and Skoki formations and Road River Group in northeastern British Columbia were measured and described, from which a total of 405 conodont samples (4-5 kg each) were taken. A total of 39 526 conodonts have been used to refine the Upper Cambrian to Lower Silurian conodont biostratigraphy across the transect. The stratigraphy is revised to divide the Kechika Formation (late Cambrian to early Arenig in age) into 5 formal members: Lloyd George, Quentin, Grey Peak. Haworth and Mount Sheffield members. The Skoki Formation (early to late Arenig in age) comprises 3 new formal members defined as: Sikanni Chief. Keily and Redfern members. The Road River Group is divided into 3 new formations: Ospika (early Arenig to Llanvim in age), Pesika (Lower Silurian in age) and Kwadacha (formerly the Silurian Siltstone). The Ospika Formation is further subdivided into 5 formal members: Cloudmaker, Finlay Limestone, Chesterfield, Finbow Shale and Ware. Conodonts of Late Cambrian to Early Silurian age are described taxonomically from the Kechika, Skoki, Ospika and Pesika formations across the transect. A total of 39 526 identifiable conodonts recovered from 142 productive samples indicate high species diversity and abundance in shallow water facies and less diversity and abundance with in deeper water facies. Elements are moderately to well preserved, typically with a colour alteration index (CAl) of 3-5. A total of 197 species, representing 73 genera are identified and illustrated among which 6 new genera and 39 new species are described. Fifteen of the 39 new species had too little material and were described in open nomenclature. The new genera are Graciloconus, Kallidontus, Planusodus and 3 new genera (A, B, C) treated in open nomenclature. The new species are Acodus kechikaensis n. sp., A. quentinensis n. sp., A. warenesis n. sp., Cordylodus delicatus n. sp., Colaptoconus greypeakensis n. sp., ?Diaphorodus n. sp., Drepanoistodus minutus n. sp., Graciloconus concinnus n. gen. n. sp., Kallidontus serratus n. gen. n. sp., K. nodosus n. gen. n. sp., K. princeps n. gen. n. sp., Laurentoscandodus sinuosus n. sp., Macerodus cristatus n. sp., M lunatus n. sp., Microzarkodina n. sp., Oepikodus n. sp., Oistodus n. sp., Paroistodus n. sp., Planusodus gradus n. gen. n. sp., ?Prioniodus n. sp., Protoprioniodus n. sp., Rossodus kwadachaensis n. sp., R. muskwaensis n. sp., R. sheffieldensis n. sp.. R. subtilis n. sp., Scolopodus amplus n. sp., Striatodontus strigatus n. sp., Triangulodus akiensis n. sp., Tricostatus infundibulum n. sp., T. terilinguis n. sp., 3 unnamed new genera and 3 new species and 5 new species of Drepanoistodus (A, B. C, D, E). The conodont zonation for Upper Cambrian to Lower Silurian strata is refined, using Sections 4, 5, 13 and Grey Peak as reference sections. It allows close dating of stratigraphic boundaries. The oldest zones in the Kechika are cosmopolitan and include the Eoconodontus Zone (upper Cambrian), Cordylodus proavus and Cordylodus lindstromi zones (uppermost Cambrian) and lapetognathus Zone (base of Tremadoc). Ten higher zones are recognized and redefined for shallow water platform facies containing faunas of the Midcontinent Realm. Four of these are new (Polycostatus falsioneotensis, Rossodus tenuis, Scolopodus subrex and Acodus emanualensis zones) and 10 new subzones are established. Those for the Kechika Formation include, in ascending order, the Polycostatus falsioneotensis Zone (lower Tremadoc). Rossodus tenuis Zone (lower Tremadoc); Rossodus manitouensis Zone with R. muskwaenesis and R. sheffieldensis subzones (middle Tremadoc), Low diversity interval (upper Tremadoc), Scolopodus subrex Zone with Graciloconus concinnus and Colaptoconus bolites subzones (lower Arenig) and Acodus kechikaensis Zone with Kallidontus serratus. Diaphorodus russoi and Kallidontus nodosus subzones (lower Arenig). Those for the Skoki Formation include the Oepikodus communis Zone with Tropodus sweeti, Bergstroemognathus extensus and Juanognathus variabilis subzones (middle Arenig). The O. communis Zone spans the Kechika-Skoki boundary and the uppermost Kechika lies within the lowermost part of the O. communis zone underlying the T. sweeti Subzone. The Skoki Formation also contains the Jumudontus gananda Zone (middle Arenig) and Tripodus laevis Zone (upper Arenig). The Phragmodus undatus Zone (Upper Ordovician) lies within the Road River Group in the Cassiar Terrane. Thirteen deep water zones are recognized for basinal facies containing faunas of predominantly the North Atlantic Realm. Five new zones are established (Drepanoistodus nowlani, Acodus deltatus, Paracordylodus gracilis, Paroistodus horridus and Dzikodus tableheadensis zones) and one new subzone within the P. gracilis Zone is proposed. Those within the Kechika Formation include Cordylodus angulatus Zone (lower Tremadoc), Paltodus deltifer Zone (middle Tremadoc), Drepanoistodus nowlani Zone (middle Tremadoc), Acodus deltatus Zone, (middle Tremadoc), Paroistodus proteus Zone (upper Tremadoc), Paracordylodus gracilis Zone with Oelandodus elongatus Subzone (upper Tremadoc) and Prioniodus elegans Zone (base of Arenig). Those within the Skoki and Ospika formations include Oepikodus evae Zone (Skoki Formation, middle Arenig), Paroistodus originalis Zone (Skoki and Ospika formations, upper Arenig), Paroistodus horridus and Dzikodus tableheadensis zones (both within the Ospika Formation, lower Llanvim). The Amorphognathus tvaerensis Zone lies within the Road River of the Cassiar Terrane (Upper Ordovician). The Distomodus staurognathoides Zone lies within the Pesika Formation (middle Llandovery). The conodont faunas therefore provide detailed temporal constraints for the stratigraphic framework. Some evolutionary remarks are made for selected species involved in radiations, especially in the Tremadoc and Arenig, that are useful in further refining the standard Midcontinent Realm zonation. The Midcontinent Realm conodont faunas are used for regional correlations within North America and those of the Atlantic Realm provide calibration on an interregional scale, for example, with Baltica. / Graduate

No description available.

The origin of many lophotrochozoan groups can be traced to “small shelly fossil” (SSF) faunas of the Early Cambrian. Antarctica is a key region of study, due to the continent’s known close geographical proximity to well-studied Australian and Indian basins in in the Cambrian. Few studies have focused on this region however, due to a paucity of data. Re-examination of camenellan sclerites from the Early Cambrian Shackleton Limestone of the Churchill Mountains of Antarctica has revealed a previously unidentified species of Dailyatia in the formation, co-occurring alongside previously described Dailyatia odyssei Evans and Rowell, 1990, as in the Arrowie Basin of Australia. Re-examination of material previously described as Kennardia sp. A and Kennardia sp. B has indicated that these taxa can likely be synonymized as a second species of Dailyatia. Dailyatia sclerites were also found in the temporally equivalent “Schneider Hills Limestone” formation, which cropsout in the Argentina Range of Antarctica. These specimens appear to belongto a third species of Dailyatia, suggesting that the spatial distribution of tommotiids in the Early Cambrian was more complex than previously recognized, and that the group may be useful in future biostratigraphic studies. A study ofthe Middle Cambrian (Drumian Stage) Nelson Limestone Formation of the Neptune Range, Antarctica has revealed a moderately diverse brachiopod and trilobite fauna. The brachiopods have strong faunal links to taxa from South Australia and India, as well as other parts of the Antarctic province, fitting independent strong evidence for a united East Gondwanan region in the Middle Cambrian. An unidentified camenellan tommotiid sclerite is also described from the Nelson Limestone. This extends the worldwide temporal range of the tommotiid clade into the Drumian Stage, and suggests that more basal members of the brachiopod stem-group survived to form part of a more diverse Middle Cambrian fauna.

<p>The architecture, distribution and facies of sandstone bodies in the Gog Group of the southern Rocky Mountains of western Canada record the dynamics of sand movement on the broad continental shelf of West Laurentia during the Early Cambrian phase of worldwide transgression. This study focuses on the stratigraphy, sedimentology and ichnology in the Bow Valley region, specifically the sector from Mount Assiniboine northwest to the North Saskatchewan River. The objectives of this project were several-fold: (1) revise the existing stratigraphic nomenclature; (2) document the sedimentary facies; (3) identify facies assemblages and interpret them in terms of sedimentary processes and environments; (4) characterize sandstone body geometries; (5) develop a sequence-stratigraphic framework; (6) document trace-fossil occurrences; and (7) characterize different trace-fossil assemblages in terms of colonization trends and prevailing paleoenvironmental conditions.</p> <p>The Gog Group in this area has historically comprised four units, the Fort Mountain, Lake Louise, St. Piran and Peyto formations. North of Bow Pass an additional unit, the Jasper Formation, occurs below the Fort Mountain Formation and is related to accommodation created by active rift-faulting during the latest Neoproterozoic. In the Lake Louise and Lake O'Hara area, four new formal subdivisions within the St. Piran Formation are proposed: Lake O'Hara, Lake Oesa, Lake Moraine and Wiwaxy Peaks members.</p> <p>The sequence stratigraphy of tide-dominated setting has yet not been fully explored. The stratal architecture of the Lake O'Hara and Lake Oesa members reveals a new mechanism for the formation of the regressive surface of marine erosion landward of the lever point of balance between sedimentation and erosion in the subtidal environment. As the shoreline is forced to regress with falling sea level, the laterally continuous tidal flats advance and the preexisting shallow-subtidal compound dunes are scoured by strong tidal currents that carve gradually a new equilibrium profile. We argue that the accretion of intertidal flats on top of subtidal sands is an overlooked yet predictable component of falling-stage systems tracts in tide-dominated settings.</p> <p>The Gog Group also offers an opportunity to explore animal-sediment relationships in a high-energy setting, during the early phase of Phanerozoic diversification. The presence of constrasting ichnofabrics within a single Early Cambrian sand-sheet complex illuminates how the colonisation trends of suspension and detritus feeders were controlled by factors specific to the various subenvironments.<p> <p>The variety of sandbody types in the Gog Group reflects varying sediment supply and location on the inner continental shelf. Five types of compound cross-stratified sandstone are distinguished based on foreset geometry, sedimentary structures and internal heterogeneity. These represent five broad categories of subtidal sandbodies: (1) compound-dune fields; (2) sand sheets; (3) sand ridges; and (4) patchy dunes. Trace-fossil distribution in these tide-dominated sand bodies and adjacent sediments is mostly controlled by an interplay of substrate mobility, grain size, turbidity, water-column productivity, and sediment organic matter. Salinity is a critical factor in marginal-marine locations but played no role in this region of the shelf.</p>

<p>The architecture, distribution and facies of sandstone bodies in the Gog Group of the southern Rocky Mountains of western Canada record the dynamics of sand movement on the broad continental shelf of West Laurentia during the Early Cambrian phase of worldwide transgression. This study focuses on the stratigraphy, sedimentology and ichnology in the Bow Valley region, specifically the sector from Mount Assiniboine northwest to the North Saskatchewan River. The objectives of this project were several-fold: (1) revise the existing stratigraphic nomenclature; (2) document the sedimentary facies; (3) identify facies assemblages and interpret them in terms of sedimentary processes and environments; (4) characterize sandstone body geometries; (5) develop a sequence-stratigraphic framework; (6) document trace-fossil occurrences; and (7) characterize different trace-fossil assemblages in terms of colonization trends and prevailing paleoenvironmental conditions.</p> <p>The Gog Group in this area has historically comprised four units, the Fort Mountain, Lake Louise, St. Piran and Peyto formations. North of Bow Pass an additional unit, the Jasper Formation, occurs below the Fort Mountain Formation and is related to accommodation created by active rift-faulting during the latest Neoproterozoic. In the Lake Louise and Lake O'Hara area, four new formal subdivisions within the St. Piran Formation are proposed: Lake O'Hara, Lake Oesa, Lake Moraine and Wiwaxy Peaks members.</p> <p>The sequence stratigraphy of tide-dominated setting has yet not been fully explored. The stratal architecture of the Lake O'Hara and Lake Oesa members reveals a new mechanism for the formation of the regressive surface of marine erosion landward of the lever point of balance between sedimentation and erosion in the subtidal environment. As the shoreline is forced to regress with falling sea level, the laterally continuous tidal flats advance and the preexisting shallow-subtidal compound dunes are scoured by strong tidal currents that carve gradually a new equilibrium profile. We argue that the accretion of intertidal flats on top of subtidal sands is an overlooked yet predictable component of falling-stage systems tracts in tide-dominated settings.</p> <p>The Gog Group also offers an opportunity to explore animal-sediment relationships in a high-energy setting, during the early phase of Phanerozoic diversification. The presence of constrasting ichnofabrics within a single Early Cambrian sand-sheet complex illuminates how the colonisation trends of suspension and detritus feeders were controlled by factors specific to the various subenvironments.<p> <p>The variety of sandbody types in the Gog Group reflects varying sediment supply and location on the inner continental shelf. Five types of compound cross-stratified sandstone are distinguished based on foreset geometry, sedimentary structures and internal heterogeneity. These represent five broad categories of subtidal sandbodies: (1) compound-dune fields; (2) sand sheets; (3) sand ridges; and (4) patchy dunes. Trace-fossil distribution in these tide-dominated sand bodies and adjacent sediments is mostly controlled by an interplay of substrate mobility, grain size, turbidity, water-column productivity, and sediment organic matter. Salinity is a critical factor in marginal-marine locations but played no role in this region of the shelf.</p>

The Cambrian Eriboll Formation exposed in the footwall of the Moine Thrust, NW Scotland, provides a suitable outcrop analog for naturally fractured tight-gas sandstone reservoirs. Previous studies distinguished five regional sets of quartz-lined or quartz-filled macrofractures (>10 m in opening displacement) that have the following strikes, from oldest to youngest, N, NW to WNE, NE, EW, and NNE (set A through set E), respectively (Laubach and Diaz-Tushman, 2009). Crosscutting relations among microfractures imaged by scanning electron microscope cathodoluminescence (SEM-CL) indicate that microfracture sets follow the same age sequence as macrofractures. Macrofractures >100 m wide are characterized by crack-seal textures interpreted to reflect multiple generations of fracture opening and cemention. In contrast, multiple stages of fracture opening and sealing are not observed in thinner microfractures. Microfractures in the Eriboll Formation are completely to partially filled with quartz cement. Microfractures contain trails of fluid inclusions trapped during fracture cement precipitation. Using microthermometry, I determined that set A microfractures have the highest range in trapping temperature of all sets, ranging from 175°C to 222°C. Fluid inclusion trapping temperatures in set B range between 181°C and 183°C, in set C between 132°C and 143°C, and in set D between 128°C to 188°C. Fluid inclusion assemblages (FIAs) of set E fluid inclusions recorded the lowest temperatures between 79°C and 91°C. Fluid inclusion microthermometric data shows a wide range of up to 46°C in homogenization temperatures for all fluid inclusion assemblages. I attribute this wide range to a combination of (1) partial re-equilibration of inclusions by later thermal events, (2) protracted sealing of microfractures under changing burial temperature conditions, and (3) repeated opening and sealing of microfractures without a recognizable textural record of crack-seal. I interpret the lowest temperature, after pressure correction in each FIA, to record the temperature of initial fracture opening and refer to this as the initial trapping temperature Ti. Initial trapping temperatures (Ti) of 22 fluid inclusion assemblages (FIAs) in different microfracture sets record an overall decrease in temperatures from set A to set E. Based on the fluid inclusion trapping temperatures, I determined the duration of microfracture opening and sealing in comparison with the reconstructed thermal history of the Eriboll Formation. This comparison suggests that microfracture sets A through set E formed between 445 Ma to 205 Ma. Set A formed before the emplacement of the Moine Thrust. Set B and set C formed shortly after the emplacement of the Moine Thrust during Early Silurian times, and set D and set E formed during the subsequent uplift and cooling. The wide range in initial trapping temperature Ti for sets A and D suggests that these fracture sets formed over periods spanning 25 Ma and 30 Ma, respectively. Shorter times are indicated for sets B, C, and E. Long periods of fracture formation are also consistent with a 4°C range in fluid inclusion ice melting temperatures, suggesting fluid inclusion trapping and thus repeated opening and sealing of microfractures as pore fluid composition changed over time. These findings indicate that microfractures could remain open in deep basin settings for geologically long periods of time providing potential pathways for fluids in otherwise poorly conductive sedimentary sequences. / text

Not available / text

Trilobites collected during the past twenty years from the Morgan Creek, Point Peak, and San Saba members of the Wilberns Formation constitute the material basis for this paleontologic and statistical investigation. Eighty-nine species assigned to forty-five genera belong to zones of the upper Franconian and Trempealeauan Stages of the Upper Cambrian Croixan Series. New zonal names are proposed in the interest of a regionally applicable nomenclature. Although none of the zonal nomenclature is identical to that of the Cambrian Correlation Chart, the four zones recognized in central Texas are equivalent to the eight highest zones of the Chart. Stratigraphically lowest is the Franconian Taenicephalus zone, with a locally recognized Parabolinoides subzone at its base; this is equivalent to the Conaspis zone of the Correlation Chart. The Franconian Idahoia zone, with a locally recognized Idahoia lirae subzone at its base, is equivalent to the Ptychaspis subzone of the Ptychaspis-Prosaukia zone of the Correlation Chart. The sparsely fossiliferous Ellipsocephaloides zone corresponds to the Prosaukia subzone of the Ptychaspis-Prosaukia zone of the Chart. Almost two-thirds of the trilobite species occur in the Trempealeauan Saukia zone, which corresponds to the five highest zones of the Correlation Chart; local subzones, in ascending order, are the Saukiella pyrene subzone, the Saukiella junia subzone, the Saukiella serotina subzone, and the Corbinia apopsis subzone. The succession of ptychoparioid trilobite faunas contained within these zones make up the Ptychaspid biomere. The base of the biomere is at the base of the Taenicephalus zone; the top coincides with the lowest occurrence of the Ordovician trilobite fauna. Trilobite families that characterize the Ptychaspid biomere are the Ptychaspididae and the Parabolinoididae. Regression analyses of range data for all Saukia-zone taxa were used to compile a quantitative range chart. Differences between the quantitative chart and my intuitive range chart were not significant. Systematic descriptions include new species of Conaspis, Idiomesus, Euptychaspis, Keithiella, Saukiella, Prosaukia, Calvinella, and Westonaspis?; and one new variety of Orygmaspis. / text

One of the great unsolved evolutionary questions concerns the origin and phylogeny of the major animal phyla that appeared in the fossil record more than 540 million years ago, during the Cambrian explosion. Although new molecular information has been very useful, we still have little understanding about the origin of most of the phyla of bilaterians living today. The richly diverse fossil remains from this critical early Cambrian interval are particularly well exposed in China, where exceptionally-preserved fossil lophotrochozoans including brachiopods are particularly abundant. In particular the exceptionally-preserved Cambrian lophophorates from the Chengjiang and Guanshan Lagerstätten have offered new sources of critical palaeobiological data that have been shown to be important for understanding the early ecology and evolution of lophotrochozoans. This thesis comprises a detailed study of new, abundant, exceptionally-preserved material of five lophotrochozoan species from the Chengjiang and Guanshan Lagerstätten. Kuangshanotreta malungensis from Chengjiang is the earliest known example of an attached acrotretoid brachiopod representing the oldest evidence about the palaeoecology of the diverse yet, enigmatic acrotretoid linguliform stock that comprises an important component of the Cambrian evolutionary fauna. Eoglossa chengjiangensis from Chengjiang is the earliest known representative of the Glossellinae. Diandongia pista occurs abundantly both in the Chengjiang fauna and the younger Guanshan fauna, and it’s exceptionally well-preserved and strongly mineralized shells shows that it belongs within the Botsfordiidae. In contrast, the last two species from Chengjiang examined for this thesis - Yuganotheca elegans and Cotyledion tylodes belong within the stem of the Brachiopoda and the Lophotrochozoan entoprocts.