Integrated stratigraphic, geochemical, and paleontological late Ediacaran to early Cambrian records from southwestern Mongolia: Comment

Global correlation of sedimentary rock successions requires an integrated approach that uses all fossil-based and alternative (lithostratigraphic, geochemical, paleomagnetic, geochronologic, sequence stratigraphic) data (e.g., Van Couvering and Berggren, 1977). Proposed global correlations and their role in interpreting Earth and biotic history require a thorough examination of the utility and temporal resolution allowed by each correlation technique in comparison to the others. The article by Smith et al. (2016) is a welcome contribution to understanding the Upper Ediacaran(?)‒Lower Cambrian succession of the Zavkhan terrane in the Khasagt-Khairkhan Range of southwestern Mongolia. Their work complements earlier syntheses on the Zavkhan terrane completed by Soviet-Mongolian teams (e.g., Voronin et al., 1982; Esakova and Zhegallo, 1996) and under International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) Project 303, “Late Precambrian−Cambrian Event Stratigraphy” (Brasier et al., 1996a; see associated papers in Geological Magazine , v. 133, no. 4).