Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-m9kch Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-14T06:14:49.479Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sm—Nd isotopic age of Precambrian—Cambrian boundary in China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

Yang Jie-Dong ,
Sun Wei-Guo ,
Wang Zong-Zhe  and
Wang Yin-Xi
Yang Jie-Dong
Affiliation:
Center of Modern Analysis, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210008, P. R., China
Sun Wei-Guo
Affiliation:
Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Academia Sinica, Nanjing 210008, P. R., China
Wang Zong-Zhe
Affiliation:
Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Academia Sinica, Nanjing 210008, P. R., China
Wang Yin-Xi
Affiliation:
Center of Modern Analysis, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210008, P. R., China
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

By the new method of Sm—Nd isotopic dating on phosphatic small skeletal fossils and collo-phanite minerals, the Zhongyicun Member of the earliest Cambrian Meishucun Stage at Meishucun in Yunnan, southern China, has been dated at 562.8 ± 7.9 Ma and 562.1 ± 5.7 Ma. Another Sm—Nd age, 570.3 ± 17.1 Ma, has been obtained with samples from the Zhongyicun Member in Yunnan and its stratigraphic equivalents in Sichuan and Xinjiang. These data tend to suggest that the best age estimate of the Precambrian—Cambrian boundary is very likely within the range of 560–570 Ma. As biophosphates and sedimentary phosphates are widely distributed in sequences of the Precambrian—Cambrian transition, the Sm-Nd isotopic method is recommended as an effective approach for precise dating of the initial Cambrian boundary.

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 133 , Issue 1 , January 1996 , pp. 53 - 61
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bowring, S. A., Grotzinger, J. P., Isachsen, C. E., Knoll, A. H., Pelechaty, S. M., & Kolosov, P., 1993. Calibrating rates of early Cambrian evolution. Science 261,1293–8.Google Scholar
Brasier, M. D., 1989. China and the Palaeotethyan belt (India, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Mongolia). In The Precambrian—Cambrian Boundary (eds Cowie, J. W., and Brasier, M. D.), pp. 40–74. Oxford Monographs in Geology and Geophysics no. 12. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Brasier, M. D., & Cowie, J. W., 1989. Other areas: North-west Canada, California, Nevada and Mexico, Morocco, Spain and France. In The Precambrian-Cambrian Boundary (eds Cowie, J. W., and Brasier, M. D.), pp. 105–14. Oxford Monographs in Geology and Geophysics no. 12. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Brasier, M. D., Magaritz, M., Corfield, R., Luo, Huilin., Wu, Xichie., Ouyang, Lin., Jiang, Zhiweng., Hamdi, B., He, Tinggui., & Fraser, A. G., 1990.The carbon- and oxygen-isotope record of the Precambrian—Cambrian boundary interval in China and Iran and their correlation. Geological Magazine 127,319–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burke, W. M., Denison, R. E., Hetherington, E. A., Koepnick, R. B., Nelson, M. F., & Omo, J. B., 1982. Variations of seawater 87Sr/86Sr throughout Phanerozoic time. Geology 10, 516–19.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Compston, W., Williams, I. S., Kirschvink, J. L., Zhang, Zichao., & Ma, Guogan., 1992. Zircon U—Pb ages for the Early Cambrian time-scale, Journal of the Geological Society London 149, 171–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cowie, J. W., 1984. Introduction to the papers on the Precambrian—Cambrian boundary. Geological Magazine 121, 137–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cowie, J. W., 1985. Continuing work on the Precambrian—Cambrian boundary. Episodes 8, 93–7.Google Scholar
Cowie, J. W., 1992. Two decades of research on the Precambrian-Cambrian transition: 1972–1991. Journal of the Geological Society of London 149, 589–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cowie, J. W., & Glaessner, M. F., 1975. The Precambrian-Cambrian boundary: A symposium. Earth Science Reviews 11, 209–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cowie, J. W., & Harland, W. B., 1989. Chronometry. In The Precambrian—Cambrian boundary (eds Cowie, J. W., and Brasier, M. D.), pp. 186–96. Oxford Monographs in Geology and Geophysics no. 12. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Cowie, J. W., & Johnson, M. R. W., 1985. Late Precambrian and Cambrian geological time—scale. In The Chronology of the Geological Records (ed. Snelling, N. J.), pp. 47–64. Geological Society of London Memoir no. 10.Google Scholar
Faure, G., 1977. Principles of Isotope Geology. John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Fowler, S. W., Buat-Menardm, P., Yokoyama, Y., Ballestra, S., Holm, E., & Van Nguyen, H., 1987. Rapid removal of Chernobyl fallout from Mediterranean surface waters by biological activity. Nature 329, 56–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goldstein, S. L., & O’;Nions, R. K.,1981. Nd and Sr isotopic relationship in pelagic clays and ferromanganese deposits. Nature 292, 324–7.Google Scholar
Goldstein, S. L., O’;Nions, R. K., & Hamilton, P. J., 1984. A Sm—Nd isotopic study of atmospheric dusts and particulates from major river systems. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 70, 221–36.Google Scholar
Hou, Xianguang, & Sun, Weiguo., 1988. Discovery of Chengjiang fauna at Meishucun, Jinning, Yunnan. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica 27, 1–12 (in Chinese with English abstract).Google Scholar
Hurley, P. M., Cormier, R. E., Hower, J., Favibairn, H. W., & Pinson, W. H. Jr, 1960. Reliability of glauconite for age measurement by K—Ar and Rb—Sr methods. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 44, 1793–1806.Google Scholar
Jacobsen, S. B., & Wasserburg, G. J., 1984. Sm—Nd isotopic evolution of chondrites and achondrites, II. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 67, 137–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jiang, Zhiwen., & Wu, Xiche., 1989. Mineralogical characteristics of the outer lammella of the earliest shelly fossils. Acta Micropalaeontologica Sinica 6, 153–60.Google Scholar
Keto, L. S., & Jacobsen, S. B., 1987. Nd and Sr isotopic variations of Early Paleozoic oceans. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 84, 21–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keto, L. S., & Jacobsen, S. B., 1988. Nd isotopic variations of Phanerozoic paleoceans. Earth and Planetary Science Utters 90, 395–410.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luo, Huilin., Jiang, Zhiwen., Xu, Zhongjiu., Song, Xueliang., & Xue, Xiaofeng., 1980. On the Sinian-Cambrian boundary of Meishucun and Wangjiawan, Jinning County, Yunnan. Acta Geologica Sinica 54, 95–111 (in Chinese with English abstract).Google Scholar
Luo, Huilin., Jiang, Zhiwen., Wu, Xiche., Song, Xueliang., & Quyang, Lin., 1982. Sinian-Cambrian boundary in eastern Yunnan, China: People’;s Publishing House of Yunnan, 265 pp. (in Chinese with English abstract).Google Scholar
Luo, Huilin., Jiang, Zhiwen., Wu, Xiche., Song, Xueliang., & Quyang, Lin., 1984. Sinian-Cambrian boundary stratotype section at Meishucun, Jinning, Yunnan, China. People’;s Publishing House of Yunnan, 145 pp. (in Chinese with English abstract).Google Scholar
Luo, Huilin., Jiang, Zhiwen., Wu, Xiche., Song, Xueliang., & Ouyang, Lin., 1990. Meishucunian Stage and the global biostratigraphic correlation of the Precambrian—Cambrian boundary. Science in China (B) 3, 313–18 (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Ma, Guogan., Lee, Huagin., & Zhang, Zichao., 1984. An investigation of the limits of the Sinian System in South China. Bulletin of the Yichang Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources. Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, (in Chinese with English abstract).Google Scholar
Moffett, J. W., 1990. Microbially mediated cerium oxidation in seawater. Nature 345, 421–3Google Scholar
Morton, J. P., & Long, L. E., 1980. Rb—Sr dating of Paleozoic glauconite from the Llano region, central Texas. Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta 44, 663–72.Google Scholar
Odin, G. S., Gale, N. H., Auvray, B., Bielski, M., Dore, F., Lancelot, J. R., & Pasteels, P., 1983. Numerical dating of the Precambrian—Cambrian boundary. Nature 301, 21–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Odin, G. S., Gale, N. H., & Dore, F., 1985. Radiometric dating of Late Precambrian times. In The Chronology of the Geological Record (ed. Snelling, N. J.), pp. 65–72. Geological Society of London Memoir no. 10.Google Scholar
Piepgras, D. J., & Jacobsen, S. B., 1988. The isotopic composition of neodymium in the North Pacific. Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta 52, 1373–81.Google Scholar
Piepgras, D. J., & Wasserburg, G. J., 1980. Neodymium isotopic variations in seawater. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 50, 128–38.Google Scholar
Piepgras, D. J., & Wasserburg, G. J., 1982. The isotopic composition of neodymium in waters flowing through the Drake Passage. Science 217, 207–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Piepgras, D. J., Wasserburg, G. J., & Dasch, E. J., 1979. The isotopic composition of neodymium in different ocean masses. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 45, 223–36.Google Scholar
Shaw, H. F., & Wasserburg, G. J., 1985. Sm—Nd in marine carbonates and phosphates: implications for Nd isotopes in sea-water and crustal ages. Geochimica Cosmochima Acta 49, 503–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sokolov, B. S., 1971. Vendian of northern Eurasia. Akad. Nauk. S.S.S.R., Sib. Otd., Geologiia Geofizika 6, 13–22.Google Scholar
Sokolov, B. S., 1973. Vendian of northern Eurasia. In Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on Arctic Geology, pp. 204–18. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir no. 19.Google Scholar
Stille, P., & Clauer, N., 1986. Sm—Nd isochron-age and provenance of the argillites of the Gunflint Iron Formation in Ontario, Canada. Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta 50, 1141–6.Google Scholar
Wright, J., Schrader, H., & Holser, W. T., 1987. Paleoredox variation in ancient oceans recorded by rare earth elements in fossil apatite. Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta 51, 631–44.Google Scholar
Xing, Yusheng., & Luo, Huilin., 1984. Precambrian—Cambrian boundary candidate at Meishucun, Jinning, Yunnan, China. Geological Magazine 121, 143–54.Google Scholar
Xing, Yusheng., Ding, Qixiu., Luo, Huilin., He, Tinggui., & Wang, Yangeng., 1984. Sinian-Cambrian boundary of China and its related problems. Geological Magazine 121, 155–70.Google Scholar
Xue, Xiaofeng., 1984. Research on the isotopic age of the Sinian—Cambrian boundary at the Meishucun section in Jinning County, Yunnan Province, China. Geological Magazine 121, 171–3.Google Scholar
Yang, Jiedong., Sun, Weiguo., Wang, Yinxi., & Wang, Zongzhe., 1993. Fossil Sm—Nd isotopic dating of the Precambrian—Cambrian boundary in the Meishucun section, Jinning, Yunnan, China. Science in China (B) 36, 463–71.Google Scholar
Yang, Jiedong., Wang, Yinxi., & Wang, Zongzhe., 1989. Studies on Sm—Nd isotopic signatures in fossils in Cambrian—Ordovician boundary strata of Dayangcha section, Jilin, China. Chinese Science Bulletin 34, 63–5.Google Scholar
Yue, Zhao., 1988. Evolutionary stages of the earliest skeletal fauna and subdivision and correlation of the Precambrian-Cambrian strata. Acta Geologica Sinica 62, 1–15.Google Scholar
Zhang, Zichao., Ma, Guogan., & Lee, Huaqin., 1984. The chronometric age of the Sinian—Cambrian boundary in the Yangtze Platform, China. Geological Magazine 121, 175–8.Google Scholar