Open AccessEdiacaran macrofossils prior to the ~580 Ma Gaskiers glaciation in Newfoundland, Canada
Author(s) -
Liu Alexander G.,
Tindal Benjamin H.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
lethaia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.926
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1502-3931
pISSN - 0024-1164
DOI - 10.1111/let.12401
Subject(s) - macrofossil , glacial period , geology , acritarch , paleontology , taphonomy , peninsula , facies , range (aeronautics) , archaeology , holocene , geography , structural basin , composite material , materials science
Macrofossils of the inferred protist‐grade organism Palaeopascichnus linearis occur stratigraphically beneath glacial diamictites of the ~580 Ma, Gaskiers‐equivalent, Trinity ‘facies’ of the Rocky Harbour Formation on the Bonavista Peninsula of Newfoundland, Canada. These fossils significantly pre‐date previously reported macrofossils from Avalonia and extend the taphonomic window for moldic preservation of macroscopic organisms beyond the Gaskiers glacial event into the middle Ediacaran Period. This finding confirms the long stratigraphical range of palaeopascichnid fossils worldwide and informs discussions surrounding both the age of poorly time‐constrained stratigraphical units in Norway and Australia, and formal sub‐division of the Ediacaran System.