Cambrian Stage 2

Key events in the Cambrian

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-550 —

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-540 —

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-530 —

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-520 —

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-510 —

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-500 —

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-490 —

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Ediacaran

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Ordovician

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2

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3

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Fortunian

"Stage 2"

"Stage 3"

"Stage 4"

"Stage 5"

Drumian

Guzhangian

Paibian

Jiangshanian

"Stage 10"

 

 

 

 

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Baykonur
glaciation

Baykonur
glaciation

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←

Orsten Fauna

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Burgess Shale

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Kaili biota

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Archaeocyatha extinction

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Emu Bay Shale

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Sirius Passet biota

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Chengjiang biota

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First Trilobites

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SSF diversification, first brachiopods & archaeocyatha

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First halkieriids, mollusсs, hyoliths SSF

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Treptichnus pedum trace
Large negative peak δ 13C_carb excursion

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First Cloudina & Namacalathus mineral tubular fossils

Stratigraphic scale of the ICS subdivisions and Precambrian/Cambrian boundary.

Stage 2 of the Cambrian is the unnamed upper stage of the Terreneuvian series. It lies on top of the Fortunian and below Stage 3 of the Cambrian. It is commonly referred to as the Tommotian, after the Cambrian stratigraphy of Siberia.^[1] Both the upper and lower boundary have not been clearly defined yet by the International Commission on Stratigraphy.^[2] Proposals for the lower boundary are the appearance of Small Shelly Fossils, an archaeocyathid species or the mollusc Watsonella crosbyi around ~529 million years ago.^[2] The proposed upper boundary might be the first appearance of trilobites around ~521 million years ago.^[2]

Possible candidates for a GSSP include the first appearance of Watsonella crosbyi in the Zhujiaqing Formation in Yunnan, China or the Pestrotsvet Formation near the Aldan River on the Siberian Platform.^[3]

References

1. Kouchinsky, Artem; Bengtson, Stefan; Missarzhevsky, Vladimir V.; Pelechaty, Shane; Torssander, Peter; Val'kov, Anatolij K. (24 September 2001). "Carbon isotope stratigraphy and the problem of a pre-Tommotian stage in Siberia". Geological Magazine 138 (4). doi:10.1017/S0016756801005684.
2. "GSSP List ICS". ICS. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
3. Li, Guoxiang; Zhao, Xin; Gubanov, Alexander; Zhu, Maoyan; Na, Lin (1 April 2011). "Early Cambrian Mollusc Watsonella crosbyi: A Potential GSSP Index Fossil for the Base of the Cambrian Stage 2". Acta Geologica Sinica - English Edition 85 (2): 309–319. doi:10.1111/j.1755-6724.2011.00400.x. Retrieved 10 November 2012.

Paleozoic Era
Cambrian	Ordovician	Silurian	Devonian	Carboniferous	Permian