Aluminosilicate haloes preserve complex life approximately 800 million years ago.

ABSTRACT: Mudstone-hosted microfossils are a major component of the Proterozoic fossil record, particularly dominating the record of early eukaryotic life. Early organisms possessed no biomineralized parts to resist decay and controls on their fossilization in mudstones are poorly understood. Consequently, the Proterozoic fossil record is compromised-we do not know whether changing temporal/spatial patterns of microfossil occurrences reflect evolution or the distribution of favourable fossilization conditions. We investigated fossilization within the approximately 1000 Ma Lakhanda Group (Russia) and the approximately 800 Ma Svanbergfjellet and Wynniatt formations (Svalbard and Arctic Canada). Vertical sections of microfossils and surrounding matrices were extracted from thin sections by focused ion

SUBMITTER: Anderson RP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7333908 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature