Miaolingian
The Miaolingian is the third Series of the Cambrian Period, and was formally named in 2018. It lasted from about to million years ago and is divided in ascending order into 3 stages: the Wuliuan, Drumian, and Guzhangian. The Miaolingian is preceded by the unnamed Cambrian Series 2 and succeeded by the Furongian series. It is named after the Miaoling Mountains in southeastern Guizhou Province, China. Definition A number of proposals for fossils and type sections were made before it was formally ratified in 2018. The most promising fossil markers were seen to be the respective first appearances of either trilobite species ''Ovatoryctocara granulata'' or ''Oryctocephalus indicus'', which both have an age close to million years ago. After some deliberation, the FAD of ''Oryctocephalus indicus'' was chosen to be the lower boundary marker, and the GSSP was placed in the Kaili Formation, Wuliu-Zengjiayan, Guizhou, China. The Miaolingian-Furongian boundary has the same definition a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wuliuan
The Wuliuan stage is the fifth stage of the Cambrian, and the first stage of the Miaolingian Series of the Cambrian. It was formally defined by the International Commission on Stratigraphy in 2018. Its base is defined by the first appearance of the trilobite species '' Oryctocephalus indicus''; it ends with the beginning of the Drumian Stage, marked by the first appearance of the trilobite '' Ptychagnostus atavus'' around million years ago. The 'golden spike' that formally defines the base of the age is driven into the Wuliu-Zengjiayan (乌溜-曾家崖) section of the Kaili formation, near Balang Village in the Miaoling Mountains, Guizhou, China. GSSP Three sections were discussed as GSSP candidates: the Wuliu-Zengjiayan section near Balang in Guizhou province (China), a section on Split Mountain in Nevada (USA) and the "Molodo river section" along the Molodo river (Sakha Republic, Russia). The Wuliu-Zengjiayan section is an outcrop of the Kaili Formation in the Wuliu quarr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cambrian
The Cambrian ( ) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 51.95 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran period 538.8 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Ordovician Period 486.85 Ma. Most of the continents lay in the southern hemisphere surrounded by the vast Panthalassa Ocean. The assembly of Gondwana during the Ediacaran and early Cambrian led to the development of new convergent plate boundaries and continental-margin arc magmatism along its margins that helped drive up global temperatures. Laurentia lay across the equator, separated from Gondwana by the opening Iapetus Ocean. The Cambrian marked a profound change in life on Earth; prior to the Period, the majority of living organisms were small, unicellular and poorly preserved. Complex, multicellular organisms gradually became more common during the Ediacaran, but it was not until the Cambrian that fossil diversity seems to rapidly ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cambrian Series 2
Cambrian Series 2 is the unnamed 2nd series of the Cambrian. It lies above the Terreneuvian series and below the Miaolingian. Series 2 has not been formally defined by the International Commission on Stratigraphy, lacking a precise lower boundary and subdivision into stages. The proposed lower boundary is the first appearance of trilobites which is estimated to be around million years ago. Naming The International Commission on Stratigraphy has not named the 2nd series of the Cambrian yet. In part the new name will replace the older terms "Lower Cambrian" and "Early Cambrian". The nomenclature used in Siberia uses the term "Yakutian" for this series. Subdivisions The 2nd series is currently subdivided by the ICS into two stages: Cambrian Stage 3 and Cambrian Stage 4. Both of these stages also lack formal definition. The Siberian nomenclature distinguishes three stages (lowest first): Atdabanian, Botomian and Toyonian. In general most subdivisions of this series rely on bios ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kaili Formation
The Kaili Formation () is a Formation (stratigraphy), stratigraphic formation which was deposited during the Lower and Middle Cambrian (~513 to 506 million years ago). The formation is approximately thick and was named after the city Kaili City, Kaili in the Guizhou province of southwest China. The depositional environment of the Kaili Formation is not entirely known, and there are two hypotheses for its formation. It may have been a nearshore marine environment with 'normal' levels of oxygenation; or it may have been a deeper water environment further from the shore, on the open continental shelf; in this setting oxygen would not be available below the surface layers of the deposited sediment. The trace fossil assemblages in the formation suggest that it was below the wave base and was reasonably well-oxygenated. Fossils The faunal assemblage is highly diverse, comprising some 110 genera among 11 phylum, phyla; of these, some 40 genera are also found in the Burgess Shale, and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cambrian Stage 4
Cambrian Stage 4 is the still unnamed fourth stage of the Cambrian and the upper stage of Cambrian Series 2. It follows Cambrian Stage 3 and lies below the Wuliuan. The lower boundary has not been formally defined by the International Commission on Stratigraphy. One proposal is the first appearance of two trilobite genera, '' Olenellus'' or ''Redlichia''. Another proposal is the first appearance of the trilobite species '' Arthricocephalus chauveaui''. Both proposals will set the lower boundary close to million years ago. The upper boundary corresponds to the beginning of the Wuliuan. Naming The International Commission on Stratigraphy has not named the fourth stage of the Cambrian yet. In the widely used Siberian nomenclature stage 4 would overlap with parts of the Botomian and Toyonian. Biostratigraphy The beginning of Cambrian Stage 4 has been tentatively correlated with the base of the European Leonian faunal stage and the base of the South China Duyunian faunal stage. Durin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Furongian
The Furongian is the fourth and final epoch and series of the Cambrian The Cambrian ( ) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 51.95 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran period 538.8 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Ordov .... It lasted from to million years ago. It succeeds the Miaolingian series of the Cambrian and precedes the Lower Ordovician Tremadocian Stage. It is subdivided into three stages: the Paibian, Jiangshanian and the unnamed Cambrian Stage 10, 10th stage of the Cambrian. History and naming The Furongian was also known as the Cambrian Series 4, and the name replaced the older term Upper Cambrian and equivalent to the local term Hunanian. The present name was ratified by the International Commission on Stratigraphy in 2003. () means 'lotus (genus), lotus' in Mandarin and refers to Hunan which is known as the "lotus state". Definition The lower boundary is defi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Drumian
The Drumian is a stage of the Miaolingian Series of the Cambrian. It succeeds the Wuliuan and precedes the Guzhangian. The base is defined as the first appearance of the trilobite '' Ptychagnostus atavus'' around million years ago. The top is defined as the first appearance of another trilobite '' Lejopyge laevigata'' around million years ago. GSSP The GSSP is defined in the ''Drumian section'' () in the Drum Mountains, Millard County, Utah, United States. The stage was also named after the Drum Mountains. The section is an outcrop of the Wheeler Formation, a succession of calcareous shales. The precise base of the Drumian is a laminated limestone above the base of the Wheeler Formation. Major events The Cambrian Drumian carbon isotope excursion (DICE) event is associated with the beginning of this age. The cause of this event was the shallowing of anoxic deep waters simultaneously with their transgression. DICE hampered the recovery of reef ecosystems already affected by t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Oryctocephalus Indicus
''Oryctocephalus indicus'' is a species of corynexochid trilobite from the Cambrian. Its first appearance is proposed for the lower boundary of the Wuliuan, which corresponds to the beginning of the Miaolingian (The other proposal was ''Ovatoryctocara granulata''). The species was first described by the British paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ... Frederick Richard Cowper Reed in 1910 as ''Zacanthoides indicus''. It was transferred to the genus '' Oryctocephalus'' by the American paleontologist Charles Elmer Resser in 1938. References Further reading * Oryctocephalidae Cambrian trilobites Fossil taxa described in 1910 Index fossils {{Corynexochida-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Guzhangian
The Guzhangian is an uppermost stage of the Miaolingian Series of the Cambrian. It follows the Drumian Stage and precedes the Paibian Stage of the Furongian Series. The base is defined as the first appearance of the trilobite '' Lejopyge laevigata'' around million years ago. The Guzhangian-Paibian boundary is marked by the first appearance of the trilobite '' Glyptagnostus reticulatus'' around million years ago. The name Guzhangian is derived from Guzhang County, Hunan Province, China. GSSP The GSSP is defined in the Huaqiao Formation in Hunan. The precise base of the Guzhangian is a limestone layer 121.3 m above the base Huaqiao Formation (花桥组) at the Louyixi section (), where '' Lejopyge laevigata'' has its first appearance. Paleogeography It is assumed that in the Guzhangian the distance between the Earth and the Moon was 370,180 ± 1220 km (today, for comparison, it is 384,000 km). The length of an earthly day at that time was about 21.58 hours. Major events ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Graptolites
Graptolites are a group of colonial animals, members of the subclass Graptolithina within the class Pterobranchia. These filter-feeding organisms are known chiefly from fossils found from the Middle Cambrian (Miaolingian, Wuliuan) through the Lower Carboniferous ( Mississippian). A possible early graptolite, ''Chaunograptus'', is known from the Middle Cambrian. Recent analyses have favored the idea that the living pterobranch '' Rhabdopleura'' represents an extant graptolite which diverged from the rest of the group in the Cambrian. Fossil graptolites and ''Rhabdopleura'' share a colony structure of interconnected zooids housed in organic tubes (theca) which have a basic structure of stacked half-rings (fuselli). Most extinct graptolites belong to two major orders: the bush-like sessile Dendroidea and the planktonic, free-floating Graptoloidea. These orders most likely evolved from encrusting pterobranchs similar to ''Rhabdopleura''. Due to their widespread abundance, pla ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Paibian
The Paibian is the lowest stage of the Furongian Series of the Cambrian System. The Paibian is also the first age of the Furongian Epoch of the Cambrian Period. It follows the Guzhangian ( Miaolingian series of the Cambrian) and is succeeded by the Jiangshanian Stage. The base is defined as the first appearance of the trilobite '' Glyptagnostus reticulatus'' around million years ago. The top, or the base of the Jiangshanian is defined as the first appearance of the trilobite '' Agnostotes orientalis'' around million years ago. GSSP The name is derived from Paibi, a village in Hunan, China. The GSSP is defined in the "Paibi section" ( Wuling Mountains, Huayuan County), an outcrop of the Huaqiao Formation (花桥组). The base is the first occurrence of '' Glyptagnostus reticulatus'' which is 396 m above the base of the Huaqiao Formation at the type locality (). Major events At the turn of the Guzhangian and Paibian ages, an extinction event occurred that reduced ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cambrian Stage 10
Stage 10 of the Cambrian is the still unnamed third and final stage of the Furongian series. It follows the Jiangshanian and precedes the Ordovician Tremadocian Stage. The proposed lower boundary is the first appearance of the trilobite '' Lotagnostus americanus'' around million years ago, but other fossils are also being discussed ( see below). The upper boundary is defined as the appearance of the conodont ''Iapetognathus fluctivagus'' which marks the beginning of the Tremadocian and is radiometrically dated as million years ago. Naming The 10th stage of the Cambrian has not been formally named by the ICS yet, although a number of local names exist. Several authors favor the name "Lawsonian" after Lawson Cove, in the Wah Wah Mountains of Utah. The lower part of the North American Skullrockian Stage corresponds roughly to the Cambrian Stage 10. The name "Nelegerian", after the Neleger River in Yakutia, was also proposed in 2011. Stratotype The ICS is still discussing ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |