The quest for an Australian Cambrian stage scale

Figures & data

Fig. 1. Map of Australian basins and provinces containing Cambrian sedimentary rocks.

Fig. 2. Development of current stadial scheme. The columns showing the schemes devised by Whitehouse (1936, 1939), Öpik (1956, 1961, 1963, 1967, 1968), Jones et al. (1971), Öpik (1979) and Shergold (1993) are calibrated against the ‘traditional’ tripartite division of the Cambrian in the left-hand column, and are plotted where the various authors suggested they belonged at the time of publication. The current scheme, which is in the column second from right, is calibrated against the most recent global scheme of Peng et al. (2020), which is shown in the right-hand column. Zone abbreviations: A. seminula = Agnostus seminula; L. laevigata = Lejopyge laeviagata; G. nathorsti = Goniagnostus nathorsti; P. punctuosus = Ptychagnostus punctuosus; H. parvifrons = Hypagnostus parvifrons; P. atavus = Ptychagnostus atavus (= Acidusus atavus); P. gibbus = Ptychagnostus gibbus.

Fig. 3. Development of South Australian Cambrian biozonations and suggested First Appearance Datum points. Columns from left to right are: global series and stages; trilobite zonation modified from Jell (in Bengtson et al. 1990); archaeocyath zonation of Zhuravlev et al. (1994) based on Gravestock (1984), modified after Kruse & Debrenne (2020); small shelly fossil (SSF) and mollusc zonations of Gravestock et al. (2001), which have been shown to be poorly characterized and to lack usable definitions (see Jacquet et al. 2016, p. 6–7); acritarch zonation of Zang et al. (2007); small shelly fossil zonation (SSF+) of Betts et al. (2016b). Suggested First Appearance Datum points are: 1, Parabadiella huoi Zhang, 1966; 2, Pararaia tatei (Woodward, 1884); 3, Pararaia bunyerooensis Jell in Bengtson et al., 1990; 4, Pararaia janeae Jell in Bengtson et al., 1990; 5, Syringocnema favus Taylor, 1910; 6, ichnotaxa Treptichnus pedum (Seilacher, 1955) and Sabellidites isp.; 7, Watsonella crosbyi Grabau, 1900; 8, ichnotaxa Skolithos isp. and Diplocraterion isp.; 9, Sunnaginia imbricata Missarzhevskiy in Rozanov et al., 1969; 10, Kulparina rostrata Conway Morris & Bengtson in Bengtson et al., 1990 and brachiopod Askepasma saproconcha Topper, Holmer, Skovsted, Brock, Balthasar, Larsson, Petterson Stolk, & Harper, 2013; 11, Micrina etheridgei (Tate, 1892) and brachiopod Askepasma toddense Laurie, 1986; 12, Dailyatia odyssei Evans & Rowell, 1990 and Stoibostrombus crenulatus Conway Morris & Bengtson in Bengtson et al., 1990; 13, brachiopods Kostjubella djagoran (Kruse, 1990) and Schizopholis napuru (Kruse, 1990). Abbreviations: M = Miaolingian; W = Wuliuan; A. abacus = Archaeocyathus abacus; S. favus s.s. = Syringocnema favus sensu stricto; J. tardus = Jugalicyathus tardus; S. tenuis = Spirillicyathus tenuis; W. wilkawillinensis = Warriootacyathus wilkaillinensis; C. opimolumum = Corollasphaeridium opimolumum; V. pseudofaveolata = Vulcanisphaera pseudofaveolata; C. aliquolumum = Corollasphaeridium aliquolumum; C. spinuconum = Ceratophyton spinuconum; V. trisentium = Veryhachium trisentium; K. rostrata = Kulparina rostrata; S. imbricata = Sunnaginia imbricata.

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