LATE VENDIAN MIAOHE-TYPE ECOLOGICAL ASSEMBLAGE OF THE EAST EUROPEAN PLATFORM

Abstract

Upper Vendian rocks of the East European Platform (EEP) are characterized by the presence of the White Sea fossil biota, which colonized the region from the southeastern White Sea area to the Central Urals. The White Sea biota includes ecological assemblages of the Avalon (Newfoundland), Ediacara (South Australia), and Nama (Namibia) types, each related to certain environmental conditions [2]. In 2006, we found a previously unknown and morphologically diverse assemblage of carbonaceous macroscopic fossils in the fine-grained aluminosiliciclastic rocks of the Perevalok Formation (Sylvitsa Group) in the Central Urals. Together with the organic-walled macrofossils from the rocks of the Lyamtsa Formation (Valdai Group) in the southeastern White Sea area, the carbonaceous fossils from the Perevalok Formation represent a new (fourth) ecological assemblage of the White Sea fossil biota. The ecological assemblage is older than 557–558 Ma and includes macroscopic microbial colonies, multicellular and coenocytic eukaryotic macroalgae. In the Late Vendian history of the EEP, this assemblage predated the appearance of the world’s most diverse soft-bodied assemblage, which was found in the overlying rocks of the White Sea area (Verkhovka and Erga formations) and Central Urals (Chernokamen Formation).