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Strauss, Justin Vincent

The Neoproterozoic was an era of great environmental and biological change, but a paucity of direct and precise age constraints on strata from this time has prevented the complete integration of these records. We present four high-precision U-Pb ages for Neoproterozoic rocks in northwestern Canada that constrain large perturbations in the carbon cycle, a major diversification and depletion in the microfossil record, and the onset of the Sturtian glaciation. A volcanic tuff interbedded with Sturtian glacial deposits, dated at 716.5 million years ago, is synchronous with the age of the Franklin large igneous province and paleomagnetic poles that pin Laurentia to an equatorial position. Ice was therefore grounded below sea level at very low paleolatitudes, which implies that the Sturtian glaciation was global in extent.

Mineralogical, petrographic and sedimentological observations document early diagenetic talc in carbonate-dominated successions deposited on two early Neoproterozoic (~ 800–700 million years old) platform margins. In the Akademikerbreen Group, Svalbard, talc occurs as nodules that pre-date microspar cements that fill molar tooth structures and primary porosity in stromatolitic carbonates. In the upper Fifteenmile Group of the Ogilvie Mountains, NW Canada, the talc is present as nodules, coated grains, rip-up clasts and massive beds that are several meters thick. To gain insight into the chemistry required to form early diagenetic talc, we conducted precipitation experiments at 25 °C with low-SO4 synthetic seawater solutions at varying pH, Mg2+ and SiO2(aq). Our experiments reveal a sharp and reproducible pH boundary (at ~ 8.7) only above which does poorly crystalline Mg-silicate precipitate; increasing Mg2+ and/or SiO2(aq) alone is insufficient to produce the material. The strong pH control can be explained by Mg-silica complexing activated by the deprotonation of silicic acid above ~ 8.6–8.7. FT-IR, TEM and XRD of the synthetic precipitates reveal a talc-like 2:1 trioctahedral structure with short-range stacking order. Hydrothermal experiments simulating burial diagenesis show that dehydration of the precipitate drives a transition to kerolite (hydrated talc) and eventually to talc. This formation pathway imparts extensive layer stacking disorder to the synthetic talc end-product that is identical to Neoproterozoic occurrences. Early diagenetic talc in Neoproterozoic carbonate platform successions appears to reflect a unique combination of low Al concentrations (and, by inference, low siliciclastic input), near modern marine salinity and Mg2+, elevated SiO2(aq), and pH > ~ 8.7. Because the talc occurs in close association with microbially influenced sediments, we suggest that soluble species requirements were most easily met through microbial influences on pore water chemistry, specifically pH and alkalinity increases driven by anaerobic Fe respiration.

Uncertainties in the number and age of glacial deposits within the Port Nolloth Group have hindered both structural and stratigraphic studies in the Neoproterozoic Gariep Belt of Namibia and South Africa. These uncertainties are compounded by major lateral facies changes that complicate correlations locally. Herein, we report the results of integrated geological mapping, chemo- and litho-stratigraphic, and sedimentological studies that shed light on the age and stratigraphic architecture of the Port Nolloth Group. Particularly, we have distinguished an additional glacial deposit, herein referred to as the Namaskluft diamictite, which is succeeded by a ca. 635 Ma basal Ediacaran cap carbonate. This interpretation indicates that the stratigraphically lower, iron-bearing Numees diamictite is not Marinoan or Gaskiers in age, as previously suggested, but is instead a ca. 716.5 Ma Sturtian glacial deposit. A Sturtian age for the Numees Formation is further supported by the discovery of microbial roll-up structures in the dark limestone of the Bloeddrif Member that caps the diamictite. A re-evaluation of the age constraints indicates that all Neoproterozoic iron formations may be of Sturtian age, and thus indicative of secular evolution of the redox state of the ocean.

Neoproterozoic iron formation (NIF) provides evidence for the widespread return of anoxic and ferruginous basins during a time period associated with major changes in climate, tectonics and biogeochemistry of the oceans. Here we summarize the stratigraphic context of Neoproterozoic iron formation and its geographic and temporal distribution. It is evident that most NIF is associated with the earlier Cryogenian (Sturtian) glacial epoch. Although it is possible that some NIF may be Ediacaran, there is no incontrovertible evidence to support this age assignment. The paleogeographic distribution of NIF is consistent with anoxic and ferruginous conditions occurring in basins within Rodinia or in rift-basins developed on its margins. Consequently NIF does not require whole ocean anoxia. Simple calculations using modern day iron fluxes suggest that only models that invoke hydrothermal and/or detrital sources of iron are capable of supplying sufficient iron to account for the mass of the larger NIF occurrences. This conclusion is reinforced by the available geochemical data that imply NIF record is a mixture of hydrothermal and detrital components. A common thread that appears to link most if not all NIF is an association with mafic volcanics.

A mechanistic understanding of relationships between global glaciation, a putative second rise in atmospheric oxygen, the Shuram carbon isotope excursion, and the appearance of Ediacaran-type fossil impressions and bioturbation is dependent on the construction of accurate geological records through regional stratigraphic correlations. Here we integrate chemo-, litho-, and sequence-stratigraphy of fossiliferous Ediacaran strata in northwestern Canada. These data demonstrate that the FAD of Ediacara-type fossil impressions in northwestern Canada occur within a lowstand systems tract and above a major sequence boundary in the informally named June beds, not in the early Ediacaran Sheepbed Formation from which they were previously reported. This distinction is substantiated by δ13Ccarb chemostratigraphy of the Sheepbed carbonate, which overlies the Sheepbed Formation, and the Gametrail Formation, which overlies the June beds. The Sheepbed carbonate hosts heavy δ13Ccarb values whereas the Gametrail Formation contains a large δ13Ccarb excursion, which we correlate with the globally recognized Shuram excursion. Stratigraphically above the Gametrail excursion, the first bilaterian burrows are present in the basal Blueflower Formation. Together, these data allow us to construct an age model for Ediacaran strata in northwestern Canada and conclude that a purported shift in Fe speciation in the Sheepbed Formation significantly predates the shift recorded above the ca. 582 Ma Gaskiers glaciation in Newfoundland and the first appearance of Ediacaran biota. The Gametrail excursion shares many characteristics with Shuram negative δ13Ccarb excursion: 1) δ13Ccarb and δ18Ocarb covary; 2) δ13Ccarb and δ13Corg do not covary; 3) the excursion is developed during a transgressive systems tract and recovers in an highstand systems tract; and 4) values in some sections are well below mantle δ13C input values but are variable between sections. We relate regional lateral variability in the magnitude and character of this excursion to condensation and diachronous deposition during the transgression and local authigenic carbonate production. In light of these observations, we explore a variety of models for the genesis of the Shuram excursion and suggest that the location and amount of authigenic carbonate production played a role in the excursion.

Ongoing mapping, chemostratigraphy, geochronology, and stratigraphic analysis of Neoproterozoic successions in the Ogilvie Mountains requires redefinition and correlation of the Fifteenmile Group across the Proterozoic inliers in Yukon. Here we present new stratigraphic logs through the lower Fifteenmile Group in the Coal Creek and Hart River inliers. Based on these data and new observations, we propose redefinition of the lower Fifteenmile Group. A succession dominated by sandstone, mapped as unit PPD1 in the Hart River inlier, is now recognized at the base of the Fifteenmile Group in the Coal Creek inlier. These strata unconformably overlie the Pinguicula Group and transition upward into a distinctive carbonate interval; together, these comprise the informally defined Gibben formation. The shallowing-upward carbonate sequence contains abundant oolitic grainstone and packstone and microbial laminated dolostone. It is capped by a distinct interval of mud-cracked maroon mudstone, siltstone, and fine-grained sandstone that forms the base of what we informally define as the Chandindu formation. The mud-cracked shale transitions upwards into interbedded shale, coarse-grained sandstone, and minor carbonate. The overlying informally defined Reefal assemblage consists of up to 1 km of complexly interbedded carbonate and shale, with variable truncation beneath the major angular unconformity at the base of the Callison Lake Dolostone. The lower Fifteenmile Group (now informally PPD1 through the Chandindu formation) likely correlates with the Hematite Creek Group in the Wernecke Mountains.

Geological mapping and stratigraphic anaylsis of the early Neoproterozoic Fifteenmile Group in the western Ogilvie Mountains of Yukon, Canada, has revealed large lateral facies changes in both carbonate and siliciclastic strata. Syn-sedimentary NNW-side-down normal faulting during deposition of the lower Fifteenmile Group generated local topographic relief and wedge-shaped stratal geometries. These strata were eventually capped by platformal carbonate after the establishment of a NNW-facing stromatolitic reef complex that formed adjacent to the coeval Little Dal Group of the Mackenzie Mountains, Northwest Territories. Correlations between specific formations within these groups are tested with carbon isotope chemostratigraphy. As there are no known 830-780 Ma stratigraphic successions south of 62°N, the basin-forming event that accommodated the Fifteenmile and Little Dal Groups of the Ogilvie and Mackenzie Mountains and equivalent strata in the Shaler Supergroup of Victoria Island was restricted to the northwest margin of Laurentia. Therefore, this event does not represent widespread rifting of the entire western margin of Laurentia and instead we propose that these strata were accommodated in a failed rift generated by localized subsidence associated with the emplacement of the coeval Guibei (China) and Gairdner (Australia) large igneous provinces. The northern margin of Laurentia was reactivated by renewed extension at ca. 720 Ma associated with the emplacement of the Franklin large igneous province. Significant crustal thinning and generation of a thermally subsiding passive margin on the western margin of Laurentia may not have occurred until the late Ediacaran.

The ca. 2.45–2.22 Ga Turee Creek Group, Western Australia, contains carbonate- rich horizons that postdate earliest Proterozoic iron formations, bracket both Paleoproterozoic glaciogenic beds and the onset of the Great Oxidation Event (GOE), and predate ca. 2.2–2.05 Ga Lomagundi-Jatuli C-isotopic excursion(s). As such, Turee Creek carbonate strata provide an opportunity to characterize early Paleoproterozoic carbonate sedimentation and carbon cycle dynamics in the context of significant global change. Here, we report on the stratigraphy, sedimentology, petrology, carbon isotope chemostratigraphy, and stromatolite development for carbonate-rich successions within the pre-glacial part of the Kungarra Formation and the postglacial Kazput Formation. Kungarra carbonate units largely occur as laterally discontinuous beds within a thick, predominantly siliciclastic shelf deposit. While this succession contains thin microbialite horizons, most carbonates consist of patchy calcite overgrowths within a siliciclastic matrix. C-isotopic values show marked variation along a single horizon and even within hand samples, reflecting spatially and temporally variable mixing between dissolved inorganic carbon in seawater and isotopically light inorganic carbon generated via syn- and post-depositional remineralization of organic matter. In contrast, the Kazput carbonates consist of subtidal stromatolites, grainstones, and micrites deposited on a mixed carbonate-siliciclastic shelf. These carbonates exhibit moderate δ13 C values of -2‰ to +1.5‰ and likely preserve a C-isotopic signature of seawater. Kazput carbonates, thus, provide some of the best available evidence that an interval of unexceptional C-isotopic values separates the Lomagundi-Jatuli C-isotopic excursion(s) from the initiation of the GOE as inferred from multiple sulfur isotopes (loss 4 of mass independent fractionation). The Kazput Formation also contains unusual, m-scale stromatolitic buildups, which are composed of sub-mm laminae and discontinuous, convex upward lenticular precipitates up to a few mm in maximum thickness. Laminae, interpreted as microbial mat layers, contain quartz and clay minerals as well as calcite, whereas precipitate lenses consist of interlocking calcite anhedra, sometimes showing faint mm-scale banding. These cements formed either as infillings of primary voids formed by gas emission within penecontemporaneously lithified mats, or as local seafloor precipitates that formed on, or within, surface mats. It is possible that both mechanisms interacted to form the unique Kazput stromatolites. These microbialites speak to a distinctive interaction between life and environment early in the Paleoproterozoic Era.

Neoproterozoic and early Paleozoic sedimentary deposits of the North American Cordillera record large fluctuations in global biogeochemical cycles, the establishment and diversification of multiple eukaryotic clades, the fragmentation of the supercontinent Rodinia, and the protracted development and subsequent demise of the western and northern Laurentian passive margins. Here, I put forth new tectono-, bio-, and chemo-stratigraphic models for the ~780-540 Ma Windermere Supergroup of western North America and “pre-Mississippian” stratigraphy of northern Alaska that refine previous models for the Neoproterozoic and early Paleozoic tectonic and environmental evolution of Alaska and northwest Canada. First, I present an updated model for early Windermere (780–720 Ma) sedimentation in NW Canada through a detailed study of the Callison Lake Formation of the Mount Harper Group, spectacularly exposed in the Coal Creek and Hart River inliers of the Ogilvie Mountains of Yukon, Canada. Twenty-one detailed measured stratigraphic sections are integrated with geological mapping, facies analysis, and new Rhenium-Osmium (Re-Os) geochronology to provide a depositional model for the Callison Lake Formation. Mixed siliciclastic, carbonate, and evaporite sediments record a complex subsidence history in which episodic basinal restriction and abrupt facies change can be tied accumulation in marginal marine embayments formed in discrete hangingwall depocenters of a major Windermere extensional fault zone. New organic-rich rock Re-Os ages of 752.7 ± 5.5 and 739.9 ± 6.1 Ma bracket Callison Lake sedimentation and constrain early Windermere sedimentation in NW Canada to post-date the eruption of the Gunbarrel Large Igneous Province by ~30 million years and predate the successful rift-drift transition by ~200 million years. In order to accommodate coeval extensional and compressional tectonism, abrupt facies change, and Neoproterozoic fault geometries, I propose that NW Canada experienced strike-slip deformation during the ~740–660 Ma early fragmentation of Rodinia. Second, I integrate carbon and oxygen isotope chemostratigraphy, sequence stratigraphy, geochronological data, and microfossil biostratigraphy from the Callison Lake Formation to highlight the potential for margin-wide correlation of Neoproterozoic successions in North America. Here, I also report the discovery of abundant and well-preserved vase-shaped microfossils in the Callison Lake Formation, dated with Re-Os geochronology at 739.9 ± 6.1 Ma, that share multiple species-level taxa with a well-characterized and coeval assemblage from the Chuar Group, Grand Canyon, Arizona dated with U-Pb on zircon from an interbedded tuff at 742 ± 6 Ma. The overlapping age and species assemblages from these two deposits suggests biostratigraphic utility, at least within Neoproterozoic basins of Laurentia, and perhaps globally. Sequence stratigraphic data from the Callison Lake Formation and other basal Windermere successions in northwest Canada delineate four major depositional sequences that are broadly coeval with similar stratigraphic packages in the ~780–720 Ma Chuar-Uinta Mountain-Pahrump basins of the western United States. The new Re-Os age also confirms the timing of the Islay carbon isotope excursion (ICIE) in northwest Canada, which predates the onset of the Sturtian glaciation by >15 million years. Here, I hypothesize that this carbon isotope excursion represents a primary perturbation to the global carbon cycle and explore a number of models for its origin related to the duration of the excursion. Together, these data provide global calibration of sedimentary, paleontological, and geochemical records on the eve of profound environmental and evolutionary change. Finally, I present an updated model for the origin of the Arctic Alaska–Chukotka microplate, a composite Cordilleran “suspect” terrane that comprises the greater portion of the modern continental margin of the Amerasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean, through a detailed study of pre-Mississippian stratigraphy in the Shublik, Sadlerochit, and British Mountains of the northeastern Brooks Range, Alaska. An exotic, non-Laurentian origin of Arctic Alaska–Chukotka has been proposed based on paleobiogeographic faunal affinities and various geochronological constraints from the southwestern portions of the microplate. Here, I report new early Paleozoic trilobite and conodont taxa that support a Laurentian origin for the North Slope of Arctic Alaska, as well as new Neoproterozoic–Cambrian stratigraphic correlations and igneous and detrital zircon geochronological data, that are both consistent with a Laurentian origin and profoundly different from those derived from similar-aged strata in the southwestern portions of Arctic Alask¬a–Chukotka. The North Slope terrane is accordingly interpreted as allochthonous with respect to its current position in northwestern Laurentia, but most likely originated further east along the Canadian Arctic or North Atlantic margins. These data demonstrate that Paleozoic construction of the composite Arctic Alaska¬–Chukotka microplate resulted from juxtaposition of the exotic southwestern parts of the microplate against the northern margin of Laurentia during protracted Ordovician(?)–Carboniferous Caledonian and Ellesmerian tectonism.

The ∼780 to 540 Ma Windermere Supergroup of western North America records the protracted development of the western Laurentian passive margin and provides insights into the nature, timing, and kinematics of Rodinia's fragmentation. Here we present a refined tectono- and chemo-stratigraphic model for circa 780 to 720 Ma sedimentation in NW Canada through a study of the Callison Lake Formation (formalized herein) of the Mount Harper Group, spectacularly exposed in the Coal Creek and Hart River inliers of the Ogilvie Mountains of Yukon, Canada. Twenty-one stratigraphic sections are integrated with geological mapping, facies analysis, carbon and oxygen isotope chemostratigraphy, and Re-Os geochronology to provide a depositional reconstruction for the Callison Lake Formation. Mixed siliciclastic, carbonate, and evaporite sediments accumulated in marginal marine embayments formed in discrete hangingwall depocenters of a prominent Windermere extensional fault zone. Deposition of the Windermere Supergroup in NW Canada post dates the eruption of the circa 780 Ma Gunbarrel Large Igneous Province by ∼30 million years, is locally associated with compressional or transpressional tectonism, and predates the successful rift-drift transition by ∼200 million years. In order to accommodate evidence for coeval extensional and compressional tectonism, abrupt facies change, and Neoproterozoic fault geometries, we propose that NW Laurentia experienced strike-slip deformation during the ∼740 to 660 Ma early fragmentation of the supercontinent Rodinia. Sequence stratigraphic data from the Callison Lake Formation and other basal Windermere successions in the northern Canadian Cordillera delineate three distinct depositional sequences, or transgressive-regressive (T-R) cycles, that are coeval with similar stratigraphic packages in the ∼780 to 720 Ma Chuar-Uinta Mountain-Pahrump basins of the western United States. The global circa 735 Ma Islay carbon isotope excursion is consistently present in carbonate strata of the third T-R cycle and is interpreted to represent a primary perturbation to the global carbon cycle, possibly driven by the uplift and weathering of extensive shallow epicontinental seaways and evaporite basins.