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Petrography of Late Cambrian to Middle Ordovician radiolarian chert in Kazakhstan with special reference to the emergence of benthic animals in the pelagic realm
Author(s) -
Kakuwa Yoshitaka,
Nikitina Olga I.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
sedimentology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.494
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1365-3091
pISSN - 0037-0746
DOI - 10.1111/sed.12719
Subject(s) - benthic zone , geology , ordovician , paleontology , bioturbation , trace fossil , biostratigraphy , period (music) , clastic rock , burrow , taphonomy , sedimentology , pelagic zone , oceanography , sediment , sedimentary rock , physics , acoustics
Upper Cambrian to Middle Ordovician radiolarian chert successions from Kazakhstan were studied to clarify the history of the emergence of benthic animals in ocean floor sediments. Radiolarian tests and clay were deposited for a period of 30 Myr without experiencing an influx of continent‐derived coarse clastic materials. Red, grey and black cherts of the Upper Cambrian to the upper mid‐Darriwilian are thinly laminated, and no trace of benthic animal activity is recognized in that time interval. Bioturbation structures and burrow traces in mid‐Darriwilian stage red chert in Kazakhstan suggest that benthic animals colonized the location where radiolarian chert formed, but that there was a significant delay in colonization when compared with similar reported occurrences in Australia and Canada.