Microbiotas of the Late Precambrian Hunnberg Formation, Nordaustlandet, Svalbard
A distinctive carbonate shallowing-upward sequence occurs within the Upper Riphean (750-800 Ma) Hunnberg Formation of Nordaustlandet, Svalbard. Clastic limestones deposited in an open coastal marine environment pass upward into columnar stromatolitic bioherms, and these, in turn, are overlain by fin...
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The Paleontological Society
1984
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ftharvardudash:oai:dash.harvard.edu:1/4554331 2023-05-15T17:24:13+02:00 Microbiotas of the Late Precambrian Hunnberg Formation, Nordaustlandet, Svalbard Knoll, Andrew 1984 application/pdf http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4554331 en_US eng The Paleontological Society http://www.jstor.org/stable/1304740 Journal of Paleontology Knoll, Andrew H. 1984. Microbiotas of the Late Precambrian Hunnberg Formation, Nordaustlandet, Svalbard. Journal of Paleontology 58(1): 131-162. 0022-3360 http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4554331 http://www.journalofpaleontology.org/ 1984 ftharvardudash 2022-04-04T12:36:42Z A distinctive carbonate shallowing-upward sequence occurs within the Upper Riphean (750-800 Ma) Hunnberg Formation of Nordaustlandet, Svalbard. Clastic limestones deposited in an open coastal marine environment pass upward into columnar stromatolitic bioherms, and these, in turn, are overlain by finely laminated lagoonal dolomites. Early diagenetic silicification has preserved microbiotas in each of the three major facies. The lagoonal biota includes a low diversity planktonic assemblage in which two species are overwhelmingly dominant. In strong contrast, the plankton assemblage found in open coastal cherts contains more than two dozen taxa. Importance values are far more equably distributed in this assemblage. Few microfossils are preserved in the biohermal stromatolites, but intercolumnar spaces contain abundant fossils whose taxonomic composition and abundance distribution is intermediate between those of the open coastal and lagoonal biotas. Fossil assemblages of the Hunnberg Formation are useful biostratigraphically; the open coastal plankton biota is clearly latest Riphean in aspect. They also contribute to our understanding of the paleoecological distribution of late Precambrian plankton. This distribution is of potential value in paleoenvironmental reconstruction and is equally important in helping to define the ecological context in which evolutionary interpretations of early microbes must be made. The Hunnberg biota is also important in that it combines features of both "chert facies" and "shale facies" Proterozoic microbiotas and, thus, helps to elucidate the similarities and differences between these two types of microfossil assemblages. The Hunnberg microbiota contains 33 taxa, of which two are formally described as new: Cymatiosphaeroides kullingii n. gen. et n. sp. and Trachyhystri-chosphaera vidalii n. sp. Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Other/Unknown Material Nordaustlandet Svalbard Harvard University: DASH - Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard Nordaustlandet ENVELOPE(22.400,22.400,79.800,79.800) Svalbard |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Harvard University: DASH - Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard |
op_collection_id |
ftharvardudash |
language |
English |
topic |
http://www.journalofpaleontology.org/ |
spellingShingle |
http://www.journalofpaleontology.org/ Knoll, Andrew Microbiotas of the Late Precambrian Hunnberg Formation, Nordaustlandet, Svalbard |
topic_facet |
http://www.journalofpaleontology.org/ |
description |
A distinctive carbonate shallowing-upward sequence occurs within the Upper Riphean (750-800 Ma) Hunnberg Formation of Nordaustlandet, Svalbard. Clastic limestones deposited in an open coastal marine environment pass upward into columnar stromatolitic bioherms, and these, in turn, are overlain by finely laminated lagoonal dolomites. Early diagenetic silicification has preserved microbiotas in each of the three major facies. The lagoonal biota includes a low diversity planktonic assemblage in which two species are overwhelmingly dominant. In strong contrast, the plankton assemblage found in open coastal cherts contains more than two dozen taxa. Importance values are far more equably distributed in this assemblage. Few microfossils are preserved in the biohermal stromatolites, but intercolumnar spaces contain abundant fossils whose taxonomic composition and abundance distribution is intermediate between those of the open coastal and lagoonal biotas. Fossil assemblages of the Hunnberg Formation are useful biostratigraphically; the open coastal plankton biota is clearly latest Riphean in aspect. They also contribute to our understanding of the paleoecological distribution of late Precambrian plankton. This distribution is of potential value in paleoenvironmental reconstruction and is equally important in helping to define the ecological context in which evolutionary interpretations of early microbes must be made. The Hunnberg biota is also important in that it combines features of both "chert facies" and "shale facies" Proterozoic microbiotas and, thus, helps to elucidate the similarities and differences between these two types of microfossil assemblages. The Hunnberg microbiota contains 33 taxa, of which two are formally described as new: Cymatiosphaeroides kullingii n. gen. et n. sp. and Trachyhystri-chosphaera vidalii n. sp. Organismic and Evolutionary Biology |
author |
Knoll, Andrew |
author_facet |
Knoll, Andrew |
author_sort |
Knoll, Andrew |
title |
Microbiotas of the Late Precambrian Hunnberg Formation, Nordaustlandet, Svalbard |
title_short |
Microbiotas of the Late Precambrian Hunnberg Formation, Nordaustlandet, Svalbard |
title_full |
Microbiotas of the Late Precambrian Hunnberg Formation, Nordaustlandet, Svalbard |
title_fullStr |
Microbiotas of the Late Precambrian Hunnberg Formation, Nordaustlandet, Svalbard |
title_full_unstemmed |
Microbiotas of the Late Precambrian Hunnberg Formation, Nordaustlandet, Svalbard |
title_sort |
microbiotas of the late precambrian hunnberg formation, nordaustlandet, svalbard |
publisher |
The Paleontological Society |
publishDate |
1984 |
url |
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4554331 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(22.400,22.400,79.800,79.800) |
geographic |
Nordaustlandet Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Nordaustlandet Svalbard |
genre |
Nordaustlandet Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Nordaustlandet Svalbard |
op_relation |
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1304740 Journal of Paleontology Knoll, Andrew H. 1984. Microbiotas of the Late Precambrian Hunnberg Formation, Nordaustlandet, Svalbard. Journal of Paleontology 58(1): 131-162. 0022-3360 http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4554331 |
_version_ |
1766115149513490432 |