A maximized biostratigraphic reference standard across the Cambrian Series 2-Series 3 boundary interval calibrated with synchronous, global sea-level fluctuations and their impact on biotic composition.

• Antragsteller: Professor Dr. Gerd Geyer
• Fachliche Zuordnung: Paläontologie
• Förderung: Förderung von 2012 bis 2015
• Projektkennung: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 221065845

The project aims to precisely document and synthesize the biotic, sedimentologic, and geochronologic signals in the Cambrian Series 2–Series 3 boundary interval for the most significant and little studied Cambrian continents. It is believed that a significant refinement in correlation can be achieved by the taxonomic investigation of yet undescribed and imperfectly studied skeletal fossils and the correlation of the biotic succession of these remains with sea-level fluctuations and its eustatic and epeirogenic characters in various regions of the Cambrian continents. The three-year project will allow a focus on the biota, the composition of which is to be detailed to reveal evolutionary changes and facies relationships for the studied interval. Previously undescribed skeletal metazoan fossils (primarily trilobites as the principal biostratigraphic indicators) from Morocco, Israel/Jordan, Turkey, the Franconian Forest, North Greenland, and Newfoundland will be systematically studied and described. The final objective is a global synthesis of faunal, sea-level, and climate change on tropical and temperate paleocontinents (i.e., West Gondwana, Avalonia, Baltica, Laurentia, and the Yangtze Platform) for one of the most dramatic intervals in life history. This synthesis will allow reevaluation and resolution of the highly divergent views for biostratigraphic intercontinental correlation of this interval and is a major contribution to the global subdivision project of the ISCS.

• DFG-Verfahren: Sachbeihilfen
• Beteiligte Person: Professor Dr. Hartwig E. Frimmel