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Sm—Nd isotopic age of Precambrian—Cambrian boundary in China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

Yang Jie-Dong ,
Sun Wei-Guo ,
Wang Zong-Zhe  and
Wang Yin-Xi
Yang Jie-Dong
Affiliation:
Center of Modern Analysis, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210008, P. R., China
Sun Wei-Guo
Affiliation:
Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Academia Sinica, Nanjing 210008, P. R., China
Wang Zong-Zhe
Affiliation:
Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Academia Sinica, Nanjing 210008, P. R., China
Wang Yin-Xi
Affiliation:
Center of Modern Analysis, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210008, P. R., China
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Abstract

By the new method of Sm—Nd isotopic dating on phosphatic small skeletal fossils and collo-phanite minerals, the Zhongyicun Member of the earliest Cambrian Meishucun Stage at Meishucun in Yunnan, southern China, has been dated at 562.8 ± 7.9 Ma and 562.1 ± 5.7 Ma. Another Sm—Nd age, 570.3 ± 17.1 Ma, has been obtained with samples from the Zhongyicun Member in Yunnan and its stratigraphic equivalents in Sichuan and Xinjiang. These data tend to suggest that the best age estimate of the Precambrian—Cambrian boundary is very likely within the range of 560–570 Ma. As biophosphates and sedimentary phosphates are widely distributed in sequences of the Precambrian—Cambrian transition, the Sm-Nd isotopic method is recommended as an effective approach for precise dating of the initial Cambrian boundary.

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 133 , Issue 1 , January 1996 , pp. 53 - 61
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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