| Doushantuo Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Ediacaran ~ | |
 | |
| Underlies | Dengying Formation |
| Overlies | Nantuo Formation |
| Thickness | Up to 400 m; usually around 200 to 250 m |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Shale |
| Other | Mudstone, marl, carbonate or phosphate minerals |
| Location | |
| Region | South China |
| Country | China |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Doushantuo, Hubei |
| Named by | Li Siguang and Zhao Yazeng |
| Year defined | 1924[2] |
| Part of a series on |
| The Cambrian explosion |
|---|
 |
The Doushantuo Formation (formerly transcribed as Toushantuo or Toushantou,[2] from Chinese: 陡山沱; pinyin: dǒu shān tuó; lit. 'steep mountain bay') is a geological formation in western Hubei, eastern Guizhou, southern Shaanxi, central Jiangxi, and other localities in China.[3] It is known for the fossil Lagerstätten in Zigui in Hubei, Xiuning in Anhui, and Weng'an in Guizhou, as one of the oldest beds to contain minutely preserved microfossils, phosphatic fossils that are so characteristic [4] they have given their name to "Doushantuo type preservation". The formation, whose deposits date back to the Early and Middle Ediacaran,[5][1] is of particular interest because it covers the poorly understood interval of time between the end of the Cryogenian geological period and the more familiar fauna of the Late Ediacaran Avalon explosion,[6] as well as due to its microfossils' potential utility as biostratigraphical markers.[7] Taken as a whole, the Doushantuo Formation ranges from about 635 Ma (million years ago) at its base to about 551 Ma at its top, with the most fossiliferous layer predating by perhaps five Ma the earliest of the 'classical' Ediacaran faunas from Mistaken Point on the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland, and recording conditions up to a good forty to fifty million years before the Cambrian explosion at the beginning of the Phanerozoic.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Jiang2011was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Lee, J. S.; Chao, Y. T. (1924). "Geology of the Gorges Area of the Yangtze (from Ichang to Tzekuei) with special reference to the development of the gorges". Bulletin of the Geological Society of China. 3 (3–4): 351–392. doi:10.1111/j.1755-6724.1924.mp33-4004.x.
- ^ Xiao, S.; Knoll, A. H. (2000). "Phosphatized Animal Embryos from the Neoproterozoic Doushantuo Formation at Weng'an, Guizhou, South China". Journal of Paleontology. 74 (5): 767–788. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2000)074<0767:PAEFTN>2.0.CO;2. S2CID 85771456.
- ^ Awramik, S.M.; McMenamin, D.S.; Yin, C.; Zhao, Z.; Ding, Q.; Zhang, Z. (1985). "Prokaryotic and eukaryotic microfossils from a Proterozoic/Phanerozoic transition in China". Nature. 315 (6021): 655–658. Bibcode:1985Natur.315..655A. doi:10.1038/315655a0.
- ^ Leiming, Yin; Xunlai, Yuan (8 October 2007). "Radiation of Meso-Neoproterozoic and Early Cambrian protists inferred from the microfossil record of China". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 254 (1–2): 350–361. Bibcode:2007PPP...254..350L. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.03.028. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
- ^ Chuanming, Zhou; Guwei, Xie; McFadden, Kathleen A.; Shuhai, Xiao; Xunlai, Yuan (28 November 2006). "The diversification and extinction of Doushantuo-Pertatataka acritarchs in South China: causes and biostratigraphic significance". Geological Journal. 42 (3–4): 229–262. doi:10.1002/gj.1062. S2CID 129367730.
- ^ McFadden, Kathleen A.; Xiao, Shu; Chuanming, Zhou; Kowalewski, Michał (September 2009). "Quantitative evaluation of the biostratigraphic distribution of acanthomorphic acritarchs in the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation in the Yangtze Gorges area, South China". Precambrian Research. 173 (1–4): 170–190. Bibcode:2009PreR..173..170M. doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2009.03.009. Retrieved 16 October 2022.