The Neoproterozoic Era was characterized by rapidly changing paleogeography, global climate changes and especially by the rise and fall of the Ediacaran macro-biota. The correlation between disparate Ediacaran fossil-bearing localities and the tentative reconstruction of their paleoenvironmental and paleogeographic contexts are usually complicated by the lack of precise and accurate age data. For this reason, Neoproterozoic sedimentary sections associating Ediacaran biota fossils and fresh volcanic material are especially valuable for radioisotopic dating. Our research in the Podolya Basin, southwestern Ukraine, revealed the presence of four Neoproterozoic volcanic ash deposits (potassium-bentonite layers) within Ediacaran fossil-bearing siliciclastic rocks of the Mohyliv-Podilskyi Group. We used zircon U-Pb LA-ICPMS and CA-ID-TIMS methods to date two of those layers. The results indicate that a diverse assemblage of body and trace Ediacaran fossils occurred as early as 556.78 +/- 0.18 million years (Ma) ago. By combining morphological evidence and new age determinations, we suggest a closer paleobiogeographical relationship between the Ukrainian Ediacaran assemblage and the Avalon paleocontinent than previously estimated.
1.Univ Poitiers, CNRS, Inst Chim Milieux & Mat Poitiers, UMR 7285, F-86073 Poitiers, France 2.Natl Min Univ Ukraine, Dept Geol Prospect, UA-49005 Dnipro, Ukraine 3.Natl Kiev Univ Taras Shevschenko, Dept Geol, Kiev, Ukraine 4.Univ Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, OPGC, Lab Magmas & Volcans,IRD, F-63000 Clermont Ferrand, France 5.Univ Geneva, Dept Earth Sci, 13 Rue Maraichers, CH-1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Recommended Citation:
Soldatenko, Y.,El Albani, A.,Ruzina, M.,et al. Precise U-Pb age constrains on the Ediacaran biota in Podolia, East European Platform, Ukraine[J]. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS,2019-01-01,9