Biotic and sedimentologic evolution of the Cambrian

5亿年前的寒武纪大爆发是地球上生命的一个转折点：动物的出现，产生了贝壳、针状体、骨骼，有时甚至是软组织的化石，加上新种类的微生物，所有这些都在海洋领域引发了深刻的生态革命。由于钻探、球团、有机结合和细菌腐烂等过程，沉积物发生了根本性的变化。第一批后生生物礁出现了。我们将沉积学和古生物学结合起来，以跨学科的方式解决这些现象，以便更全面地探索这一巨大但仍然神秘的进化过程。对我们来说，自然实验室主要是科迪勒拉和北极高地暴露出来的华丽地层，尽管我们计划人工再现一些独特的沉积特征，这些特征在这次是如此明显。我们在基岩地质学方面的工作是加拿大自然历史的重要组成部分以及自然资源开发的关键背景的必要文件。我们对三叶虫、腕足类、软体动物、珊瑚、古蓝藻和硅质海绵进行了分类描述，发现了许多新物种，我们的目标是详细阐明生物相互作用，如捕食。我们的生物地层学数据允许密切的时间关联，并揭示了多样化、灭绝和系统发育的模式。利用沉积特征和古生态对比了上元古代至早古生代，以及此后零星的沉积相和有机沉积过程的起源和演化。地震形变结构提供了新的洞察力，开发区分海啸和风暴生成的床的标准是开创性的。我们正在利用Burgess页岩和各种热带碳酸盐岩礁、沙滩、潮滩和泻湖矿床打造新的领域。我们正在使用地球化学数据来揭示沉积物岩化的来源和过程，以及它们所沉积到的盆地的构造历史。

The 'Cambrian Explosion' half a billion years ago was a turning point for life on Earth: the appearance of animals, which gave rise to fossils of shells, spicules, skeletons, even sometimes soft tissues, plus new kinds of microbes, all of which caused profound ecological revolution in the marine realm. Sediment changed fundamentally due to processes of burrowing, pelletization, organic binding and bacterial decay. The first metazoan reefs appeared. We address these phenomena in an interdisciplinary way by combining sedimentology with paleontology in order to explore more fully this tremendous yet still mysterious evolutionary episode. The natural laboratory for us is mainly the splendidly exposed strata of the Cordillera and high Arctic, although we plan to recreate artificially some of the peculiar sedimentary features that are so distinct for this time. Our work on the bedrock geology is necessary documentation of an important component of Canada's natural history as well as critical background for natural resource exploitation. We do taxonomic work describing the trilobites, brachiopods, soft-bodied animals, corals and archaeocyathan and siliceous sponges, finding many new species, and we aim to elucidate in detail biological interactions such as predation. Our biostratigraphic data permit close temporal correlation and reveal patterns of diversification, extinction and phylogeny. Sedimentary features and paleoecology are used to compare the origin and evolution of facies and organo-sedimentary processes from the preceding Proterozoic through early Paleozoic time, and sporadically thereafter. Earthquake deformation structures are providing novel insight, and developing criteria to differentiate tsunami- versus storm-generated beds is ground-breaking. We are forging new ground with the Burgess Shale and various tropical carbonate reef, sand shoal, tidal flat and lagoonal deposits. We are employing geochemical data to reveal the source and processes of lithification of sediments and the tectonic history of the basins into which they were deposited.