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Microfossils from silicified stromatolitic carbonates of the Upper Proterozoic Limestone-Dolomite 'Series', central East Greenland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

J. W. Green ,
A. H. Knoll  and
K. Swett
J. W. Green
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, U.S.A.
A. H. Knoll
Affiliation:
Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, U.S.A.
K. Swett
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, U.S.A.
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Abstract

Silicified flake conglomerates and in situ stratiform stromatolites of the Upper Proterozoic (c. 700–800 Ma) Limestone-Dolomite ‘Series’, central East Greenland, contain well preserved microfossils. Five stratigraphic horizons within the 1200 m succession contain microbial mat assemblages, providing a broad palaeontological representation of late Proterozoic peritidal mat communities. Comparison of assemblages demonstrates that the taxonomy and diversity of mat builder, dweller, and allochthonous populations all vary considerably within and among horizons. The primary mat builder in most assemblages is Siphonophycus inornatum, a sheath-forming prokaryote of probable but not unequivocally established cyanobacterial affinities. An unusual low diversity unit in Bed 17 is dominated by a different builder, Tenuofilum septatum, while a thin cryptalgal horizon in Bed 18 is built almost exclusively by Siphonophycus kestron. Although variable taphonomic histories contribute to observed assemblage variation, most differences within and among horizons appear to reflect the differential success or failure of individual microbial populations in colonizing different tidal flat microenvironments. Twenty-two taxa are recognized, of which two are described as new: Myxococcoides stragulescens n.sp. and Scissilisphaera gradata n. sp.

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 126 , Issue 5 , September 1989 , pp. 567 - 585
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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