Project Details
Projekt
FOR 736: The Precambrian-Cambrian Biosphere (R)evolution: Insights from Chinese Microcontinents
Subject Area
Geosciences
Biology
Biology
Term
from 2007 to 2016
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 21910049
The time interval including the Ediacaran (ca. 630-543 Ma) and the Cambrian (543-493 Ma) periods arguably represents the most dramatic time period in Earth's history, characterised by concurrent profound changes in global tectonics, in the chemistry of the hydro- and atmosphere and a possibly "explosive" but undisputed major radiation event of the biosphere. Preceding these events was one of the most severe climatic perturbations in Earth's history, documented by several world-wide glaciations, and followed by at least one equally extreme "greenhouse" scenario. These changes may have been ultimately triggered by rearrangement of the continental configuration, notably the formation and break-up of the supercontinent Rodinia.
These dramatic climatic (and associated physical and chemical) changes are mirrored by equally revolutionary changes in the biosphere, namely the early development of metazoans, a profound bioradiation event (formerly termed "Cambrian explosion"), the invention of mobility and the invention of biomineralised skeletons. These changes are expressed in the geological record by the extinction of most, if not all, Ediacaran fossils, the sudden mass occurrences of diverse mineralised fossil parts (the so-called "small shelly fossils") near the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary, an evolving trace fossil record and the widespread occurrence of metazoan embryos in shallow water sediments.
Central to the objectives of the Research Unit, sedimentary archives of this Ediacaran-basal Cambrian interval, preserved in nearly complete sections in South and West China, also preserve voluminous phosphorite, chert and black shale deposits ("oceanic anoxic events") suggestive of highly labile interactions between hydro-, atmo-, bio-, and lithosphere. Understanding and distinguishing the poorly understood causes and consequences of these unique events require a multidisciplinary approach, including a refined chronology. Our research aims at an improved understanding of those geological, palaeoclimatic and evolutionary factors and processes involved in this transitional phase, which may govern the evolution of life forms. To that end, we are using field-based paleontological, geochemical, geochronological and sedimentary approaches in South and West China. Our data will test the numerous hypotheses relating the bioradiative events in the Ediacaran and basal Cambrian to the poorly understood environmental changes in the geological record.
These dramatic climatic (and associated physical and chemical) changes are mirrored by equally revolutionary changes in the biosphere, namely the early development of metazoans, a profound bioradiation event (formerly termed "Cambrian explosion"), the invention of mobility and the invention of biomineralised skeletons. These changes are expressed in the geological record by the extinction of most, if not all, Ediacaran fossils, the sudden mass occurrences of diverse mineralised fossil parts (the so-called "small shelly fossils") near the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary, an evolving trace fossil record and the widespread occurrence of metazoan embryos in shallow water sediments.
Central to the objectives of the Research Unit, sedimentary archives of this Ediacaran-basal Cambrian interval, preserved in nearly complete sections in South and West China, also preserve voluminous phosphorite, chert and black shale deposits ("oceanic anoxic events") suggestive of highly labile interactions between hydro-, atmo-, bio-, and lithosphere. Understanding and distinguishing the poorly understood causes and consequences of these unique events require a multidisciplinary approach, including a refined chronology. Our research aims at an improved understanding of those geological, palaeoclimatic and evolutionary factors and processes involved in this transitional phase, which may govern the evolution of life forms. To that end, we are using field-based paleontological, geochemical, geochronological and sedimentary approaches in South and West China. Our data will test the numerous hypotheses relating the bioradiative events in the Ediacaran and basal Cambrian to the poorly understood environmental changes in the geological record.
DFG Programme
Research Units
International Connection
Austria, China, United Kingdom, USA
Projects
- Controls on global biodiversity patterns and skeletal mineralizsation during the Cambrian radiation (Applicant Kießling, Wolfgang )
- Early Fossil Record and Evolution of Echinoderms and Octocorals - evidences from the Yangtze Platform, China (Applicant Reich, Mike )
- Ecological and environmental change recorded through stratigraphy and sedimentology at selected Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary sections in East and Central Asia (Applicant Heubeck, Christoph )
- Global trends in nutrient dynamics during the Ediacaran / Cambiran period as revealed in nitrogen isotope signatures (Applicant Struck, Ulrich )
- History of biomineralization in early metazoan clades and the taphonomic phosphatization window at the PC-C boundary (Applicants Keupp, Helmut ; Steiner, Michael )
- Multi-proxy records of seawater chemistry and environmental change from Precambrian-Cambrian carbonate-phosphorite and chert-phosphorite assemblages: Implications for enhanced bioproductivity and phosphorgenesis (Applicants von Blanckenburg, Friedhelm ; Hippler, Dorothee )
- Reconstruction of Ediacaran to Early Cambrian ocean pH and weathering conditions (Applicant Kasemann, Simone A. )
- Sr, Nd and Li isotopes in carbonates of the Yangtze Platform and from Kazakhstan as tracers for the Ediacaran and Cambrian weathering history (Applicant Becker, Harry )
- The Precambrian-Cambrian Biosphere (R)evolution: Insights from Chinese Microcontinents (Applicant Heubeck, Christoph )
Spokesperson
Professor Dr. Christoph Heubeck
