Paleontology and Biostratigraphy of the Terminal Proterozoic and Earliest Cambrian Nama Group, Southern Naimbia

9627924伦尼加寒武纪大爆炸是生命史上八项革命性进展中的第六项，也是具有明显地质效应的一项。这个项目的目的是记录寒武纪大爆发中鲜为人知的(新元古代)阶段的生命历史，当时大多数创新都在顺利进行。这将通过将纳米比亚南部大部分未勘探但适当含有化石的NAMA群体演替作为主要数据来源来实现。纳马群序列是一个暴露良好、地势平坦的前陆盆地序列，在几个地层层次上包含各种化石(埃迪卡拉纪软体化石、遗迹化石、钙质化石)。同样重要的是，现有的层序地层学、碳同位素地层学和铀-铅地质年代学知识使我们有可能将生物进化与可能具有全球性特征的环境事件联系起来。因此，有可能梳理出推动或被寒武纪复杂多细胞生命爆发驱动的内在和外在因素。在1993年和1995年在纳米比亚进行的勘察工作的基础上，我们将于1996年开始记录维特普斯盆地南部纳马群的生物地层和古生态。这将涉及广泛的野外勘探和观察，以及收集化石、测量切片、追踪地层和层序边界以及碳同位素化学地层学采样。实验室工作将在接下来的12个月内完成，以便在今后几年将实地工作扩大到扎里斯盆地北部之前，将结果发送给新闻媒体。预期的长期结果是：(1)记录化石和遗迹化石相对于地层、相边界、层序面、碳同位素漂移和火山灰层的地层范围，并提供准确的U=Pb年龄。这些数据将构成新元古代生物地层学全球标准成功的框架。(2)根据综合数据获得的信息，通过更好的时间控制和更好的环境解释，更深入地了解纳米比亚南部沉积盆地的演化。(3)大量化石和遗迹化石的形态、埋藏学和古生态记录，包括1993年和1995年发现的一些重要的新软体生物。这些数据应该会为埃迪卡拉“动物群”的核心成员，如翼手目和埃尼埃塔的性质以及它们的生活习性提供新的证据。(4)对新元古代末期生物与环境事件的时间和关系的新认识。(5)为纳米比亚共和国公民开发和解释一个重要的自然遗产资源。

9627924 Runnegar The Cambrian Explosion is the sixth of eight revolutionary advances in the history of life and one with obvious geological effects. The aims of this project are to document the history of life in the poorly understood (Neoproterozoic) stage of the Cambrian Explosion when most innovations were well underway. This will be achieved by using the largely unexplored but appropriately fossileferous Nama Group succession in southern Namibia as the primary source of data. The Nama Group succession is a well-exposed, flat lying, foreland basin succession that contains a variety of fossils (Ediacaran soft bodied fossils, trace fossils, calcareous fossils) at several stratigraphic levels. Equally important, existing knowledge of the sequence stratigraphy, carbon isotope stratigraphy, and U-Pb geochronology makes it possible to relate the biological evolution to environmental events that could be global in character. It may therefore be possible to tease apart the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that were driving or being driven by the Cambrian Explosion of complex multicellular life. Building on reconnaissance work carried out in Namibia in 1993 and 1995, we shall begin to document the biostratigraphy and paleoecology of the Nama Group in the southern Witputs Basin in 1996. This will involve extensive field exploration and observation as well as collecting fossils, measuring sections, tracing formation and sequence boundaries, and sampling for carbon isotope chemostratigraphy. The laboratory work will be completed in the following twelve months so that the results can be sent to press before extending the field work to the northern Zaris Basin in subsequent years. The expected long-term outcomes are: (1) Documentation of the Stratigraphic ranges of the fossils and trace fossils with respect to formations, facies boundaries, sequence surfaces, carbon isotope excursions, and ash beds with precise U=Pb ages. These data will form the framework for a global standard success ion for Neoproterozoic biostratigraphy. (2) A deeper understanding of the evolution of the southern Namibian sedimentary basins through better time control and better environmental interpretations based on information obtained from the integrated data. (3) Documentation of the morphology, taphonomy, and paleoecology of a wide range of fossils and trace fossils, including some significant new soft-bodied organisms found in 1993 and 1995. The data should provide new evidence for the nature of core members of the Ediacara "fauna" such as Pteridinium and Ernietta and their life habits. (4) New sights into the timing and relationships of biological and environmental events at the close of the Neoproterozoic. (5) Development and explanation of a major natural heritage resource for the citizens of the Republic of Namibia.