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Published Online February 24, 2005
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1107765

Reports

Submitted on November 22, 2004
Accepted on February 14, 2005

U-Pb Ages from the Neoproterozoic Doushantuo Formation, China

Daniel Condon 1*, Maoyan Zhu 2, Samuel Bowring 1, Wei Wang 2, Aihua Yang 2, Yugan Jin 2

1 Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
2 Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Daniel Condon , E-mail: dcondon{at}mit.edu

U-Pb zircon dates from volcanic ash beds within the Doushantuo Formation (China) bracket its deposition to between 635 and 550 Ma. The base records termination of the global-scale Marinoan glaciation and is coeval with similar dated rocks from Namibia indicating synchronous deglaciation. Carbon isotopic and sequence-stratigraphic data imply that the spectacular animal fossils of the Doushantuo Formation are for the most part younger than 580 Ma. The uppermost Doushantuo Formation contains a pronounced negative carbonate carbon isotopic excursion, which we interpret as a global event at ca. 550 Ma.


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)