Paleobiology of the Doushantuo Formation: Multiple Taphonomic Windows into the Late Neoproterozoic Biosphere

摘要本文以中国南方新元古代（550 ~ 600 Ma）陡山沱组为研究对象。陡山沱组沉积在华南扬子地台的一个关键地质时期，可能在新元古代气候危机之后，但在埃迪卡拉纪宏观动物辐射之前。陡山沱组也被认为包含三个非常清晰的地层学窗口，分别保存在磷岩、燧石和碳质页岩中。这些互补的埋藏学窗口使我们能够理解与每个埋藏学途径相关的埋藏学偏差，并且结合起来，它们提供了新元古代生物圈的更完整的图像。本研究旨在通过对孤山沱组磷化、硅化和碳质生物群的进一步记录，提高我们对多细胞生物早期演化的认识，并通过对这些分类窗口的比较和对比，了解不同分类路径对生物演化的制约，将孤山沱古生物学的研究扩展到深水相。在接下来的三年里，PI和他的同事们将对陡山沱组进行广泛的野外考察，以了解其分布、沉积环境和古生物学。

Paleobiology of the Doushantuo Formation: Multiple Taphonomic Windows into the Late Neoproterozoic BiosphereAbstractThis study will focus on the Neoproterozoic Doushantuo Formation (550 - 600 Ma) in South China. The Doushantuo Formation was deposited across the Yangtze Platform in South China during a critical geological time interval, - probably after the Neoproterozoic climatic crises but before the Ediacaran radiation of macroscopic animals. The Doushantuo Formation is also known to contain three extraordinarily clear taphonomic windows preserved in phosphorites, cherts, and carbonaceous shales. These complementary taphonomic windows allow us to understand the taphonomic bias associated with each taphonomic pathway and, in combination, they provide a more complete picture of the Neoproterozoic biosphere.The goals of this study is to improve our knowledge about the early evolution of multicellular organisms by further documenting phosphatized, silicified, and carbonaceous biotas in the Doushantuo Formation, to understand the constraints imposed by these different taphonomic pathways by comparing and contrast these taphonomic windows, and to expand the investigation of Doushantuo paleobiology into deep-water facies. The PI and his colleagues will conduct extensive fieldwork on the Doushantuo Formation in the next three years in order to understand its distribution, sedimentary environment, and paleobiology.