The Terrane Puzzle: New Perspectives on Paleontology and Stratigraphy from the North American Cordillera
Paleogeographic significance of Ediacaran cyclomedusoids within the Antelope Mountain Quartzite, Yreka subterrane, eastern Klamath Mountains, California
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Published:July 01, 2008
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Nancy Lindsley-Griffin, John R. Griffin, Jack D. Farmer, 2008. "Paleogeographic significance of Ediacaran cyclomedusoids within the Antelope Mountain Quartzite, Yreka subterrane, eastern Klamath Mountains, California", The Terrane Puzzle: New Perspectives on Paleontology and Stratigraphy from the North American Cordillera, Robert B. Blodgett, George D. Stanley, Jr.
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Newly recognized cyclomedusoid fossils in the Antelope Mountain Quartzite confirm that it is latest Neoproterozoic (Ediacaran) in age. Biogeographic affinities of the cyclomedusoid fossils suggest that the Yreka subterrane and its close associate, the Trinity subterrane, formed after the breakup of Rodinia in an ocean basin bordering Australia, northern Canada, Siberia, and Baltica. Reevaluating biogeographic, geological, and paleomagnetic evidence in the context of this starting point, the Yreka subterrane and Trinity subterrane may have been located at either 7°N or 7°S latitude ca. 580–570 Ma, but were not necessarily close to Laurentia. Continental detrital zircons (3.2–1.3 Ga) in the Antelope Mountain Quartzite most likely came from Australia or Siberia rather than Laurentia. The Yreka subterrane and Trinity subterrane record ∼180 m.y. of active margin events somewhere in Panthalassa (Proto-Pacific Ocean). Paleozoic biogeographic data, paleomagnetism, and regional relationships indicate that Yreka subterrane and Trinity subterrane were located throughout the early Paleozoic in the part of Panthalassa surrounded by Australia, NW Laurentia, Siberia, China, Baltica, and the Uralian terranes. By the mid-Devonian they were located at 31°N or 31°S in a somewhat isolated location, probably in a Northern Hemisphere oceanic plateau or island chain well outboard of other tectonic elements, and by the Permian they were almost completely isolated from other tectonic elements. The Yreka subterrane, as part of the Klamath superterrane, was not native to North America and did not accrete to it until the Early Cretaceous.
- absolute age
- Anthozoa
- Arthropoda
- biogeography
- California
- Cnidaria
- Coelenterata
- Conodonta
- continental drift
- dates
- Ediacaran
- faunal provinces
- Invertebrata
- K/Ar
- Klamath Mountains
- melange
- metamorphic rocks
- microfossils
- Neoproterozoic
- nesosilicates
- Northern California
- ophiolite
- orthosilicates
- paleogeography
- Paleozoic
- Panthalassa
- Precambrian
- problematic fossils
- Proterozoic
- quartzites
- silicates
- Siskiyou County California
- Sm/Nd
- terranes
- Trilobita
- Trilobitomorpha
- U/Pb
- United States
- upper Precambrian
- Vendian
- zircon
- zircon group
- Antelope Mountain Quartzite
- Trinity Subterrane
- Cyclomedusoidea
- Yreka Subterrane
- Forest Mount Subterrane