Lower Cambrian acritarchs from northern Spain: the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary and biostratigraphic implications

Abstract Acritarchs are reported from basal Cambrian rock units inthe Cantabrian region of northern Spain that are known to contain archaeocyathan and trilobite faunas. Biostratigraphic correlation of the Iberian sequences with other regions has been hampered by the strong provincialism of these fau...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geological Magazine
Main Authors: Palacios, Teodoro, Vidal, Gonzalo
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1992
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016756800019518
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0016756800019518
Description
Summary:Abstract Acritarchs are reported from basal Cambrian rock units inthe Cantabrian region of northern Spain that are known to contain archaeocyathan and trilobite faunas. Biostratigraphic correlation of the Iberian sequences with other regions has been hampered by the strong provincialism of these faunas. However, this report of evidently cosmopolitan acritarch taxaestablishes the time equivalence of early Cambrian trilobite faunas from Iberia, Baltoscandia and the East European Platform (EEP). Our data suggest that the detrital deposition of the Lower Cambrian Herreria Formation embraces at least three (and possibly four) Lower Cambrian acritarch zones previously identified in the EEP, eastern Siberia, Baltoscandia, Scotland, Greenland, Svalbard and western North America. The early Cambrian transgression in northern Spain was probably initiated in Talsy times ( Schmidtiellus mickwitzi trilobite Zone in Baltoscandia and the EEP), in part corresponding to the Dokidocyathus regularis archaeocyathian Zone of the Middle Tommotian in Siberia.