THE DECISION ON THE PRECAMBRIAN-CAMBRIAN BOUNDARY STRATOTYPE: A BREAKTHROUGH OR MISLEADING ACTION?

Abstract

The official decision to chose a section in the Burin Peninsula, Newfoundland, as the global stratotype for the lower Cambrian boundary and to define this boundary by the appearance of the trace fossils Trichophycus (=Phycodes) pedum was made without evaluating the real biostratigraphic potential of ichnofossils. Their potential is far less than that of body skeletal fossils used for subdividing the entire Phanerozoic. Correct interregional correlations of the Burin model of the lower Cambrian boundary cannot be provided by the available biostratigraphic and isotopic-geochronologic records, and lithological characters of the selected type section exclude the application of C- and Sr-isotopic chemostratigraphic criteria for this purpose. These facts have actually repudiated the decision taken on the Global Stratotype Section and Point for this boundary. The choice made is of no use for real stratigraphic practice.