Biostratigraphic and chemostratigraphic constraints on the age of early Neoproterozoic carbonate successions in North China

• Published in: Precambrian Research
• Main Authors: Xiao, Shuhai, Shen, Bing, Tang, Qing, Kaufman, Alan J., Yuan, Xunlai, Li, Jianhua, Qian, Maiping
• Other Authors: Xiao, SH (reprint author), Virginia Polytech Inst & State Univ, Dept Geosci, Blacksburg, VA 24061 USA., Virginia Polytech Inst & State Univ, Dept Geosci, Blacksburg, VA 24061 USA., Peking Univ, Sch Earth & Space Sci, Beijing 100871, Peoples R China., Univ Maryland, Dept Geol, College Pk, MD 20742 USA., Univ Maryland, Earth Syst Sci Interdisciplinary Ctr, College Pk, MD 20742 USA., Chinese Acad Sci, Nanjing Inst Geol & Paleontol, State Key Lab Palaeobiol & Stratig, Nanjing 210008, Jiangsu, Peoples R China., Geol Survey Jiangsu Prov, Nanjing 210018, Jiangsu, Peoples R China., Nanjing Inst Geol & Mineral Resources, Nanjing 210016, Jiangsu, Peoples R China.
• Format: Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: precambrian research 2014
• Subjects: Carbon isotopes; Sulfur isotopes; Acritarchs; Vase-shaped microfossils; Neoproterozoic; North China; U-PB AGES; ISOTOPIC COMPOSITION; XIAMALING FORMATION; PROTEROZOIC SUCCESSIONS; DOUSHANTUO FORMATION; NORTHWESTERN CANADA; COMPRESSION FOSSILS; LIULAOBEI FORMATION; EAST GREENLAND; Canada; Greenland; East Greenland
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11897/213130; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2014.03.004

Thick carbonate successions of Proterozoic age were deposited in the Huaibei and Huainan regions along the southern margin of the North China Block. These successions, including the Huaibei Group in the Huaibei region and the Huainan and Feishui groups in the Huainan region, have been correlated with the Qingbaikou Group, which outcrops in the Jixian area of North China and is the eponymous succession of the Qingbaikouan System (traditionally regarded as 1000-800 Ma). Recently, it has been shown that lower Qingbaikouan strata in the Jixian area may be as old as 1300-1400 Ma. By correlation, the Huaibei, Huainan, and Feishui groups may include Mesoproterozoic strata, but these units have also been interpreted as Tonian or Cryogenian-Ediacaran-Cambrian in age. These contradictory age interpretations hamper our ability to explore the rich paleontological and sedimentary records preserved in these rocks and to assess paleogeographic reconstructions. In this report, we describe new microfossils and stable isotope data (delta C-13(carb), delta O-18(carb), delta S-34(CAS)) from the Huaibei, Huainan, and Feishui groups. Possible vase-shaped microfossils from the Jiayuan Formation of the lower Huaibei Group and characteristic early Neoproterozoic acritarchs (particularly Trachyhystrichosphaera aimika) from the Gouhou and Liulaobei formations are consistent with a Tonian age for the Huaibei and Huainan groups. Similarly, carbon isotope trends in the Huaibei, Huainan, and Feishui groups are comparable with Tonian delta C-13(carb) patterns in South Australia and Laurentia, with a plateau of moderately positive (1-5 parts per thousand) values followed by pro nounced negative delta C-13(carb) excursion in the Gouhou Formation, which may be equivalent to the Bitter Springs anomaly in South Australia. delta S-34(CAS) values of the Huaibei Group are mostly 25-40 parts per thousand, similar to values from the stratigraphically equivalent Jingeryu Formation in the Jixian area. Overall, the combination of biostratigraphic, chemostratigraphic, and available radiometric data suggests that the Huaibei, Huainan, and Feishui groups are early Neoproterozoic (Tonian) in age. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000336773100012&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701 Geosciences, Multidisciplinary SCI(E) 7 ARTICLE [e-mail] 208-225 246