Cambrian
The Cambrian is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era and the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 51.95 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran period 538.8 Ma to the beginning of the Ordovician Period 486.85 Ma.
Most of the continents were located in the southern hemisphere surrounded by the vast Panthalassa Ocean. The assembly of Gondwana during the Ediacaran and early Cambrian led to the development of new convergent plate boundaries and continental-margin arc magmatism along its margins that helped drive up global temperatures. Laurentia lay across the equator, separated from Gondwana by the opening Iapetus Ocean.
The Cambrian marked a profound change in life on Earth; prior to the period, the majority of living organisms were small, unicellular and poorly preserved. Complex, multicellular organisms gradually became more common during the Ediacaran, but it was not until the Cambrian that fossil diversity seems to have rapidly increased, an event known as the Cambrian explosion, producing the first representatives of most modern animal phyla. The period is also unique in its unusually high proportion of lagerstätte deposits, sites of exceptional preservation where "soft" parts of organisms are preserved as well as their more resistant shells.
Etymology and history
The term Cambrian is derived from the Latin version of Cymru, the Welsh name for Wales, where rocks of this age were first studied. Cambria was the name given to the ancient Roman province of the country now known as Wales. The geological term was named by Adam Sedgwick based on work done in the summer of 1831 in North Wales. Sedgwick divided it into three groups: the Lower, Middle, and Upper Cambrian. He defined the boundary between the Cambrian and the overlying Silurian, together with Roderick Murchison, in their joint paper "On the Silurian and Cambrian Systems, Exhibiting the Order in which the Older Sedimentary Strata Succeed each other in England and Wales". The proposal to label the period Cambrian was based on a segment of rock strata that represented a period of geological time.This early agreement did not last. Due to the scarcity of fossils, Sedgwick used rock types to identify Cambrian strata. He was also slow in publishing further work. The clear fossil record of the Silurian, however, allowed Murchison to correlate rocks of a similar age across Europe and Russia, and on these he published extensively. As increasing numbers of fossils were identified in older rocks, he extended the base of the Silurian downwards into the Sedgwick's "Upper Cambrian", claiming all fossilised strata for "his" Silurian series. Matters were complicated further when, in 1852, fieldwork carried out by Sedgwick and others revealed an unconformity within the Silurian, with a clear difference in fauna between the two. This allowed Sedgwick to now claim a large section of the Silurian for "his" Cambrian and gave the Cambrian an identifiable fossil record. The dispute between the two geologists and their supporters, over the boundary between the Cambrian and Silurian, would extend beyond the life times of both Sedgwick and Murchison. It was not resolved until 1879, when Charles Lapworth proposed the disputed strata belong to its own system, which he named the Ordovician.
The term Cambrian for the oldest period of the Paleozoic was officially agreed in 1960, at the 21st International Geological Congress. It only includes Sedgwick's "Lower Cambrian series", but its base has been extended into much older rocks.
Geology
Stratigraphy
, series and stages can be defined globally or regionally. For global stratigraphic correlation, the ICS ratify rock units based on a Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point from a single formation identifying the lower boundary of the unit. Currently the boundaries of the Cambrian System, three series and six stages are defined by global stratotype sections and points.Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary
The lower boundary of the Cambrian was originally held to represent the first appearance of complex life, represented by trilobites. The recognition of small shelly fossils before the first trilobites, and Ediacara biota substantially earlier, has led to calls for a more precisely defined base to the Cambrian Period.Despite the long recognition of its distinction from younger Ordovician rocks and older Precambrian rocks, it was not until 1994 that the Cambrian system/period was internationally ratified. After decades of careful consideration, a continuous sedimentary sequence at Fortune Head, Newfoundland, Canada, was settled upon as a formal base of the Cambrian Period, which was to be correlated worldwide by the earliest appearance of Treptichnus pedum. Discovery of this fossil a few metres below the GSSP led to the refinement of this statement, and it is the T. pedum ichnofossil assemblage that is now formally used to correlate the base of the Cambrian.
This formal designation allowed radiometric dates to be obtained from samples across the globe that corresponded to the base of the Cambrian. An early date of 570 Ma quickly gained favour, though the methods used to obtain this number are now considered to be unsuitable and inaccurate. A more precise analysis using modern radiometric dating yields a date of 538.8 ± 0.6 Ma. The ash horizon in Oman from which this date was recovered corresponds to a marked fall in the abundance of carbon-13 that correlates to equivalent excursions elsewhere in the world, and to the disappearance of distinctive Ediacaran fossils. Nevertheless, there are arguments that the dated horizon in Oman does not correspond to the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary, but represents a facies change from marine to evaporite-dominated strata – which would mean that dates from other sections, ranging from 544 to 542 Ma, are more suitable.
File:Basal Cambrian GSSP.jpg|alt=Photograph of the layered rocks that make up the headland at Fortune Head GSSP|thumb|Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary section at Fortune Head, Newfoundland, GSSP
Terreneuvian
The Terreneuvian is the lowermost series/epoch of the Cambrian, lasting from 538.8 ± 0.6 Ma to c. 521 Ma. It is divided into two stages: the Fortunian stage, 538.8 ± 0.6 Ma to c. 529 Ma; and the unnamed Stage 2, c. 529 Ma to c. 521 Ma. The name Terreneuvian was ratified by the International Union of Geological Sciences in 2007, replacing the previous "Cambrian Series 1". The GSSP defining its base is at Fortune Head on the Burin Peninsula, eastern Newfoundland, Canada. The Terreneuvian is the only series in the Cambrian to contain no trilobite fossils. Its lower part is characterised by complex, sediment-penetrating Phanerozoic-type trace fossils, and its upper part by small shelly fossils.Cambrian Series 2
The second series/epoch of the Cambrian is currently unnamed and known as Cambrian Series 2. It lasted from c. 521 Ma to c. 506.5 Ma. Its two stages are also unnamed and known as Cambrian Stage 3, c. 521 Ma to c. 514.5 Ma, and Cambrian Stage 4, c. 514.5 Ma to c. 506.5 Ma. The base of Series 2 does not yet have a GSSP, but it is expected to be defined in strata marking the first appearance of trilobites in Gondwana. There was a rapid diversification of metazoans during this epoch, but their restricted geographic distribution, particularly of the trilobites and archaeocyaths, have made global correlations difficult, hence ongoing efforts to establish a GSSP. Much work has been done in South Australia in identifying archaeocyaths and trilobites by academics, geologists, students, and others since the late 19th century. These include Ralph Tate, R.L. Etheridge Junior, Walter Howchin , Edgeworth David, Robert Bedford, Thomas Griffith Taylor, Douglas Mawson, Cecil Madigan, and R. C. Sprigg .Miaolingian
The Miaolingian is the third series/epoch of the Cambrian, lasting from c. 506.5 Ma to c. 497 Ma, and roughly identical to the middle Cambrian in older literature. It is divided into three stages: the Wuliuan c. 506.5 Ma to 504.5 Ma; the Drumian c. 504.5 Ma to c. 500.5 Ma; and the Guzhangian c. 500.5 Ma to c. 497 Ma. The name replaces Cambrian Series 3 and was ratified by the IUGS in 2018. It is named after the Miaoling Mountains in southeastern Guizhou Province, South China, where the GSSP marking its base is found. This is defined by the first appearance of the oryctocephalid trilobite Oryctocephalus indicus. Secondary markers for the base of the Miaolingian include the appearance of many acritarchs forms, a global marine transgression, and the disappearance of the polymerid trilobites, Bathynotus or Ovatoryctocara. Unlike the Terreneuvian and Series 2, all the stages of the Miaolingian are defined by GSSPs.The olenellids, eodiscids, and most redlichiids trilobites went extinct at the boundary between Series 2 and the Miaolingian. This is considered the oldest mass extinction of trilobites.
Furongian
The Furongian, c. 497 Ma to 486.85 ± 1.5 Ma, is the fourth and uppermost series/epoch of the Cambrian. The name was ratified by the IUGS in 2003 and replaces Cambrian Series 4 and the traditional "Upper Cambrian". The GSSP for the base of the Furongian is in the Wuling Mountains, in northwestern Hunan Province, China. It coincides with the first appearance of the agnostoid trilobite Glyptagnostus reticulatus, and is near the beginning of a large positive δ13C isotopic excursion.The Furongian is divided into three stages: the Paibian, c. 497 Ma to c. 494 Ma, and the Jiangshanian c. 494.2 Ma to c. 491 Ma, which have defined GSSPs; and the unnamed Cambrian Stage 10, c. 491 Ma to 486.85 ± 1.5 Ma.