The Sirius Passet Lagerstätte of North Greenland: a remote window on the Cambrian Explosion

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Sirius Passet Lagerstätte of North Greenland

T2 - a remote window on the Cambrian Explosion

AU - Harper, David A. T.

AU - Hammarlund, Emma U.

AU - Topper, Timothy P.

AU - Nielsen, Arne T.

AU - Rasmussen, Jan A.

AU - Park, Tae-Yoon S.

AU - Smith, M. Paul

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - The lower Cambrian Lagerstätte of Sirius Passet, Peary Land, North Greenland, is one of the oldest of the Phanerozoic exceptionally preserved biotas. The Lagerstätte evidences the escalation of numbers of new body plans and life modes that formed the basis for a modern, functionally tiered ecosystem. The fauna is dominated by predators, infaunal, benthic and pelagic, and the presence of abundant nekton, including large sweep-net feeders, suggests an ecosystem rich in nutrients. Recent discoveries have helped reconstruct digestive systems and their contents, muscle fibres, and visual and nervous systems for a number of taxa. New collections have confirmed the complex combination of taphonomic pathways associated with the biota and its potentially substantial biodiversity. These complex animal-based communities within the Buen Formation were associated with microbial matgrounds, now preserved in black mudstones deposited below storm wave base that provide insight into the shift from late Neoproterozoic (Ediacaran) to Cambrian substrates and communities. Moreover, the encasing sediment holds important data on the palaeoenvironment and the water-column chemistry, suggesting that these animal-based communities developed in conditions with very low oxygen concentrations.

AB - The lower Cambrian Lagerstätte of Sirius Passet, Peary Land, North Greenland, is one of the oldest of the Phanerozoic exceptionally preserved biotas. The Lagerstätte evidences the escalation of numbers of new body plans and life modes that formed the basis for a modern, functionally tiered ecosystem. The fauna is dominated by predators, infaunal, benthic and pelagic, and the presence of abundant nekton, including large sweep-net feeders, suggests an ecosystem rich in nutrients. Recent discoveries have helped reconstruct digestive systems and their contents, muscle fibres, and visual and nervous systems for a number of taxa. New collections have confirmed the complex combination of taphonomic pathways associated with the biota and its potentially substantial biodiversity. These complex animal-based communities within the Buen Formation were associated with microbial matgrounds, now preserved in black mudstones deposited below storm wave base that provide insight into the shift from late Neoproterozoic (Ediacaran) to Cambrian substrates and communities. Moreover, the encasing sediment holds important data on the palaeoenvironment and the water-column chemistry, suggesting that these animal-based communities developed in conditions with very low oxygen concentrations.

U2 - 10.1144/jgs2019-043

DO - 10.1144/jgs2019-043

M3 - Review

SN - 0016-7649

VL - 176

SP - 1023

EP - 1037

JO - Journal of the Geological Society

JF - Journal of the Geological Society

IS - 6

ER -