About
62
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Introduction
Tackling the early Cambrian puzzle, one temporally controlled fossil occurrence at a time.
Current institution
Current position
- Senior Research Fellow [DECRA]/Senior Lecturer in Earth Science
Additional affiliations
February 2017 - January 2021
February 2017 - present
December 2010 - October 2016
Position
- Geosciences Tutor
Description
- I have tutored a number of undergraduate classes covering geology, palaeontology and fieldwork including mapping and basic structural geology.
Education
August 2012 - March 2016
July 2011 - July 2012
August 2007 - May 2010
Publications
Publications (62)
The most successful chronostratigraphic correlation methods enlist multiple proxies such as biostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy to constrain the timing of globally important bio- and geo-events. Here we present the first regional, high-resolution shelly fossil biostratigraphy integrated with δ¹³C chemostratigraphy (and corresponding δ¹⁸O data) fr...
A lack of well resolved biostratigraphic data has prevented robust regional and global correlation of lower Cambrian successions from South Australia. A new early Cambrian biostratigraphy, based on data derived from 21 measured stratigraphic sections and drill cores (11 described herein) reveals the abundance and diversity of shelly fauna from the...
The eccentrothecimorph tommotiid Paterimitra pyramidalis Laurie, 1986, was previously only known from lower Cambrian rocks of the Northern Territory and South Australia. Herein, we document the first occurrence of P. pyramidalis from the Xinji Formation in the Shuiyu section at Ruicheng County, Shanxi Province, located at the southwestern margin of...
Exceptionally preserved fossils, such as those from Cambrian Burgess Shale-type fossil-Lagerstätten are critical because of their unique contributions to knowledge of the phylogenetic radiation and palaeoecological expansion of metazoans during the Cambrian explosion. Critically, these deposits provide information that is usually unobtainable from...
Kruse et al. (2017) have highlighted aspects of the new shelly fossil biozonation of Betts et al. (2016) that conflict with prior biostratigraphic assessments of early Cambrian successions from South Australia. The chief issue is that our new data suggest that these successions are older than previously understood.
Integration of multiproxy time-series data including biostratigraphy, chemostratigraphy and geochronology is presented for lower Cambrian sedimentary packages in the western Stansbury Basin, South Australia. Systematic sampling of shelly fossils and δ13C and δ18O stable isotope values from the same stratigraphic layers in the Kulpara Formation and...
Fossils and First Nations artifacts are both physical remains that demonstrate the deep history of the Earth and its inhabitants. Modern museums have become the places where both of these kinds of natural and cultural heritage are often stored. Yet, many museums carry baggage of institutional distrust, rooted in damaging colonial practices that rel...
The chronostratigraphical scale is a hierarchical scheme that is subdivided into increasingly smaller units, from eonothem down to the level of the substage and beyond. Boundaries of chronostratigraphic intervals typically coincide with individual bioevents. As these intervals become smaller, their geographic utility tends to shrink. Typically, whe...
The Cambrian explosion, one of the most consequential biological revolutions in Earth history, occurred in two phases separated by the Sinsk event, the first major extinction of the Phanerozoic. Trilobite fossil data show that Series 2 strata in the Ross Orogen, Antarctica, and Delamerian Orogen, Australia, record nearly identical and synchronous t...
The evolutionary mechanism behind the early Cambrian animal skeletonization was a complex and multifaceted process involving environmental, ecological, and biological factors. Predation pressure, oxygenation, and seawater chemistry change have frequently been proposed as the main drivers of this biological innovation, yet the selection pressures fr...
This article highlights the paper by Jago, JB et al 2020. The Cambrian System in the Arrowie Basin, Flinders Ranges, South Australia. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 67, 923-948, which was judged the best paper published in that journal in 2020, for which the authors received the Stillwell Award from the Geological Society of Australia.
The GSSP of the Series 2 – Miaolingian (= traditional lower–middle Cambrian) boundary has been ratified
in South China based on the first appearance of the trilobite Orychtocephalus indicus coincident with
a major negative δ13C excursion (Redlichiid–Olenellid Extinction Carbon isotope Excursion; ROECE).
Unfortunately, O. indicus does not occur in A...
The western Stansbury Basin is an early Cambrian sedimentary package of carbonates and siliciclastics, deposited in a carbonate platform to ramp environment on the Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. Research into the oldest Cambrian formations (Winulta Formation, Kulpara Formation and Parara Limestone) is hindered by poor surface outcrop; most strat...
The chronostratigraphic scale is a hierarchical scheme that is subdivided into increasingly smaller units,
from eonothem down to the level of the substage. Constituent unit boundaries typically coincide with
individual bioevents. As these intervals become smaller, their geographic utility tends to shrink such that
for communication, the next highes...
The Precambrian–Cambrian interval saw the first appearance of disparate modern metazoan phyla equipped with a wide array of mineralized exo- and endo-skeletons. However, the current knowledge of this remarkable metazoan skeletonization bio-event and its environmental interactions is limited because uncertainties have persisted in determining the mi...
The initial acquisition of calcium carbonate polymorphs (aragonite and calcite) at the onset of skeletal biomineralization by disparate metazoans across the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition is thought to be directly influenced by Earth’s seawater chemistry. It has been presumed that animal clades that first acquired mineralized skeletons during the so...
The diversification of animals during the Cambrian Period is one of the most significant evolutionary events in Earth’s history. However, the sequence of events leading to the origin of ‘modern’ ecosystems and the exact temporal relationship between Ediacaran and Cambrian faunas are uncertain, as identification of the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary an...
Hardground surfaces represent periods of synsedimentary lithification of the seafloor prior to the deposition of overlying sediments. Preservation of hardground surfaces via phosphatization is common during the early and middle Cambrian due to the upwelling of organic-rich bottom waters onto carbonate shelves and subsequent bacterial decay of organ...
Cambrian Series 2 shelly fossils from thick carbonate successions in East Antarctica have received limited systematic treatment through the 20th century. Described here are the East Antarctic camenellan tommotiids from the Shackleton Limestone in the Central Transantarctic Mountains and the Schneider Hills limestone in the Argentina Range. This mat...
Diverse and abundant fossil taxa have been described in the lower Cambrian Shipai Formation in the Three Gorges area of Hubei Province, South China, but the taxonomy and diversity of the co-occurring brachiopod fauna are still far from clear. Here we describe the brachiopod fauna recovered from the Shipai Formation in the Three Gorges area of South...
Major progress has recently been made regarding the biostratigraphy, lithostratigraphy and isotope chemostratigraphy of the lower Cambrian successions in South Australia, in particular of the Arrowie Basin, which has facilitated robust global stratigraphic correlations. However, lack of faunal and sedimentological data from the lower Cambrian Norma...
The lower to ?middle Cambrian rocks (Terreneuvian, Series 2 and possibly Miaolingian) of the Arrowie Basin are exposed superbly in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia. They comprise two major sedimentary packages: a lower carbonate-rich succession (Hawker Group and correlates) and an upper siliciclastic-dominated succession (Billy Creek Formatio...
The Ediacaran to Cambrian transition is a critical interval of time during which major evolutionary changes occurred. Recently, abundant Protoconites minor have been recovered from the silty shales of the lower Cambrian Yanjiahe Formation (Terreneuvian,
Fortunian – Stage 2) in the Three Gorges area of South China. These fossils represent an importa...
Hyoliths (hyolithids and orthothecids) were one of the most successful early biomineralizing lophotrochozoans and were a key component of the Cambrian evolutionary fauna. However, the morphology, skeletogenesis and anatomy of earliest members of this enigmatic clade, as well as its relationship with other lophotrochozoan phyla remain contentious. H...
With the increasing emphasis on basic research in China, great achievements have been made in paleontology, especially in the study of early life and the Cambrian explosion. Research facilities have been improved, such as Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray micro-tomography Scanner (Micro-CT) have been used extensively in researches. Micro...
The effects of sedimentological, depositional and taphonomic processes on preservation potential of Cambrian small shelly fossils (SSF) have important implications for their utility in biostratigraphy and high-resolution correlation. To investigate the effects of these processes on fossil occurrence, detailed microfacies analysis, biostratigraphic...
The lower Cambrian (Series 2) White Point Conglomerate (WPC) on Kangaroo Island, South Australia contains exotic clasts representing a diverse array of lithologies, including metamorphics, chert, sandstone, and abundant carbonates, notably archaeocyath-rich bioclastic limestone. Acetic acid digestion of the WPC bioclastic limestone clasts reveals a...
Phosphatic brachiopods are an abundant constituent of the shelly faunas from the lower Cambrian of South Australia, and are typically represented by thin-shelled and fragile forms. An exception to this is the multi-layered and thickened valves of the brachiopod Eodicellomus elkaniiformis Holmer and Ushatinskaya in Gravestock et al. 2001. Combined S...
The lower Cambrian White Point Conglomerate (WPC) on Kangaroo Island, South Australia contains clasts with a diverse array of lithologies including metamorphics, chert, sandstone and abundant carbonates including archaeocyath-rich biohermal limestone. Acetic acid digestion methodologies have revealed that the biohermal limestone clasts from the WPC...
We present the first multiproxy chronostratigraphic assessment of the early-mid Cambrian Byrd
Group from the Central Transantarctic Mountains, East Antarctica. This region was sutured to southern
Australia throughout the Cambrian and is an integral, but poorly understood, region of East Gondwana.
Two in-situ autochthonous stratigraphic sections wer...
Determining the age of fossils and rocks with as much accuracy as possible is a fundamental task in palaeontology. The Cambrian Explosion was the most significant animal radiation in Earth history, but resolving when anatomical innovations occurred and how long ecological changes persisted for is an ongoing challenge. Lower Cambrian successions in...
Correlation of lower Cambrian strata is often confounded by provincialism of key fauna. The widespread occurrence of the micromollusc Watsonella crosbyi Grabau, 1900 is therefore an important biostratigraphic signpost with potential for international correlation of lower Cambrian successions. Previous correlations of W. crosbyi from Australia (Norm...
Integrated multi-proxy data is a requirement of the International Subcommission on Stratigraphic Classification (ISSC) for development and ratification of chronostratigraphic boundaries, particularly the integration of biostratigraphic and chemostratigraphic data. Global correlation of lower Cambrian strata has been notoriously difficult, mainly du...
Full text pdf available from Department of State Development South Australia at <https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/samref/sarig1/wcir/Record?r=0&m=1&w=catno=2038746>
Definition of early Cambrian chronostratigraphic boundaries is problematic with many subdivisions still awaiting ratification. Integrated multi-proxy data from well-resolved regional-scale schemes are ultimately the key to resolving broader issues of global correlation within the Cambrian. In Australia, early Cambrian biostratigraphy has been based...
Mode of preservation and method of recovery strongly influences our understanding of the life habits of extinct organisms. Bradoriid arthropods were abundant, and diverse members of early Cambrian ecosystems and most life reconstructions display these animals with the two shields of the carapace open in a ‘butterfly’ configuration. This favoured re...
The continents of Antarctica and Australia have a long and intimate geological history. They were joined together in a complex plate tectonic dance for more than 3 billion years, initially as juxtaposed cratonic elements forming the Mawson Continent. This later became an integral part of the assembly of the supercontinent Rodinia, around 1 billion...
The camenellan tommotiid Dailyatia is one of the most common fossils in shallow water carbonates from Cambrian Stages 2-4 in South Australia (Arrowie and Stansbury basins). Six species of Dailyatia are documented and new terminology for describing camenellan sclerites is introduced. Dailyatia sclerites are found in three fundamental sclerite types...
Comprehensive regional (basinal) biostratigraphy which help construct global schemes are dependent upon the reliability, applicability and repeatability of the stratigraphic and geographic ranges of key taxa which compose the scheme. Inconsistencies resulting from taphonomic or taxonomic issues or inaccuracies related to the diachronism of First Ap...
Despite decades of concerted efforts, the Cambrian Period remains one of the most underdeveloped parts of the International Geological Timescale, with a number of series and stages still awaiting ratification. A major impediment to the development of the Cambrian timescale and global correlation, particularly in Australia, is the paucity of compreh...
Mode of fossil preservation and method of fossil recovery strongly influences our understanding of the way extinct organisms functioned. Bradoriid arthropods were abundant and diverse members of early Cambrian ecosystems and most life reconstructions display these animals with their shields open in a ‘butterfly’ configuration. Reconstructions are b...
The Cambrian Period is one of the most underdeveloped parts of the International Geological Timescale. There are many large subdivisions (including two Series and six Stages) still awaiting ratified definitions. A major impediment to the development of the Cambrian timescale and global correlation is the paucity of comprehensive biostratigraphic, l...
A new assemblage of early Cambrian bivalved arthropods (Bradoriida) is described from the Arrowie Syncline in the northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia. The well preserved, largely endemic fauna comprises a total of six taxa (including five new species): Jiucunella phaseloa sp. nov., Jixinlingella daimonikoa sp. nov., Mongolitubulus anthelios s...
Associated conchs and opercula of Triplicatella disdoma (Hyolitha) from the early Cambrian of South Australia. Alcheringa 38, 148–153. ISSN 0311-5518. Internal moulds of complete shells, including conch and associated opercula, of the hyolith Triplicatella disdoma from Cambrian Series 2, Stages 3–4 of South Australia are described. The conch of T....
Systematic acid digestion of samples derived from 24 separate stratigraphic sections measured through thick carbonate dominated lower Cambrian successions in the Flinders Ranges (Arrowie Basin) reveals an unexpectedly rich diversity (c. 25 taxa) of well-preserved bradoriid arthropods. The new assemblages occur across a broad spectrum of biofacies i...
Dailyatia is an enigmatic tommotiid genus endemic to lower Cambrian successions of East Gondwana
(Australia and Antarctica). The plethora of sclerite morphotype variation has made the taxonomy of the
genus highly problematic. Recovery of 6750 Dailyatia sclerites from more than 20 separate measured
stratigraphic sections and 100+ spot localities fro...
Questions
Questions (5)
In my petrographic analyses of (mostly) carbonate thin sections I consistently see a black, opaque (or vary slightly transparent - red/orange) mineral either disseminated throughout the sample or as discrete aggregates of crystals. This usually accompanied by a brown-orange mineral. The black mineral is not reflective and is therefore probably not pyrite. I had thought that the granular/framboidal texture suggested potentially hematite (?). The orange mineral may a product of the oxidisation of the black mineral, and might be siderite considering the carbonate setting.
I presume these minerals are secondary, and I am curious about where they are coming from and what implications they might have for diagenetic/recrystallisation processes. Am keen to hear any suggestions! Or if anyone knows of any papers dealing with something similar, I'd love to hear about them.
I often see both spellings - ostracodes and ostracods. When is either one appropriate? Are they interchangable?
The duplicature (thin layer of calcified material occurring around the inside margin of ostracod shells), only occurs in podocopes as far as I understand. It is often referred to as an important taxonomic character, but I cannot find information about its function. Specifically, might this structure be important for locking the valves shut?
I am undertaking some chemostratigraphic work with carbon and oxygen isotopes in carbonates. I have used basic petrographic techniques and (cold) cathodoluminescence to gauge diagenesis and alteration in my samples, though I am interested to hear about experiences other researchers may have had and what techniques they have used. Cheers!
I’m keen to use CL as a quick method to identify appropriate samples for isotope analyses. From what I have read, CL is mostly used to analyse very small parts of a sample. However, I would like to see a large-scale effect on whole thin sections (75x50mm) so I can be confident about drilling sample that is as unaltered as possible. Advice?
