Abstract
The end of the Proterozoic Eon was a time of pronounced biological, biogeochemical, climatic and tectonic change. New bio- and chemostratigraphic data provide an improved framework for stratigraphic correlation, making possible a deeper understanding of latest Proterozoic Earth history and providing tools for a chronostratigraphic division of late Proterozoic time.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Darwin, C. R. The Origin of Species (Murray, London, 1859).
Schopf, J. W. (ed.) Earth's Earliest Biosphere: its Origin and Evolution (Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, 1983).
Knoll, A. H. Scient Am. 265, 65–73 (1991).
Harland, W. B. et al. A Geological Time Scale 1989 (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1990).
Krogh, T. E., Strong, D. F., O'Brien, S. J. & Papezik, V. S. Can. J. Earth Sci. 25, 442–453 (1988).
Willis B., Blackwelder, E. & Sargent, R. H. Research in China (Carnegie Institute of Washington, 1907).
Cloud, P. & Glaessner, M. F. Science 217, 783–792 (1982).
Glaessner, M. F. The Dawn of Animal Life (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1984).
Crimes, T. P. Geol. Mag. 124, 97–119 (1987).
Fedonkin, M. A. in The Vendian System: Vol. 1 Paleontology English edn (ed Sololov, B. S. & Iwanowski, M. A.) 112–117 (Springer, Berlin, 1990).
Narbonne, G. M. & Myrow, P. N.Y. St. Mus. Bull. 463, 72–76 (1988).
Walter, M. R., Elphinstone, R. & Heys, G. R. Alcheringa 13, 209–256 (1989).
Germs, G. J. B. Am. J. Sci. 272, 752–761 (1972).
Grant, S. Am. J. Sci. 290, 261–294 (1990).
Conway Morris, S., Mattes, B. W. & Chen, M. Am. J. Sci. 290A, 245–260 (1990).
Sokolov, B. S. & Iwanowski, A. B. (eds) The Vendian System: Vol. 1 Paleontology English edn (Springer, Berlin, 1990).
Hofmann, H., Narbonne, G. M. & Aitken, J. D. Geology 18, 1199–1202 (1990).
Hambrey, M. B. & Harland, W. B. (eds) Earth's Pre-Pleistocene Glacial Record (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1981).
Harland, W. B. Geol. Rundschau 54, 45–61 (1964).
Walter, M. R. (ed.) Stromatolites (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1976).
Bertrand-Sarfati, J. & Walter, M. R. Precambrian Res. 15, 353–371 (1981).
Walter, M. R. & Heys, G. R. Precambrian Res. 29, 149–175 (1985).
Hofmann, H. J. Geosci. Canada 14, 135–154 (1987).
Khomentovsky, A. A. in The Vendian System Vol. 2 Regional Geology English edn (eds Sokolov, B. S. & Fedonkin, M. A.) 102–183 (Springer, Berlin, 1990).
Gnilovskaya, M. B. (ed.) Vendotaenids of the East European Platform (Nauka, Leningrad, 1988).
Yin, L. Palaeontologia Cathayana 2, 229–249 (1985).
Zang, W. & Walter, M. R. Nature 337, 632–645 (1989).
Knoll, A. H. & Butterfield, N. J. Nature 337, 602–603 (1989).
Vidal, G. Palaeontology 33, 287–298 (1990).
Knoll, A. H. Palaeontology (in the press).
Moczydlowska, M. Fossils Strata 29, 1–127 (1991).
Holser, W. T. in Patterns of Change in Earth Evolution (eds Holland, H. D. & Trendall, A. F.) 123–143 (Springer, Berlin, 1984).
Knoll, A. H., Hayes, J. M., Kaufman, A. J., Swett, K. & Lambert, I. B. Nature 321, 832–838 (1986).
Fairchild, I. R. & Spiro, B. Sedimentology 34, 973–988 (1987).
Kaufman, A. J., Hayes, J. M., Knoll, A. H. & Germs, G. J. B. Precambrian Res. 49, 301–327 (1991).
Lambert, I. B., Walter, M. R., Zang, W., Lu, S. & Ma, G. Nature 325, 140–142 (1987).
Fairchild, I. R., Marhall, J. D. & Bertrand-Sarfati, J. Am. J. Sci. 290A, 46–79 (1990).
Aharon, P., Schidlowski, M. & Singh, I. B. Nature 327, 699–702 (1987).
Derry, L. A., Keto, L. S., Jacobsen, S. B., Knoll, A. H. & Swett, K. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 53, 2331–2339 (1989).
Asmerom, Y., Jacobsen, S. B., Knoll, A. H., Butterfield, N. J. & Swett, K. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 55, 2883–2894 (1991).
Derry, L. A., Kaufman, A. J. & Jacobsen, S. B. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta (in the press).
Kirschvink, J. L., Magaritz, M., Ripperdam, R. L., Zhuravlev, A. Y. & Rozanov, A. Y. GSA Today 1, 69–91 (1991).
Beanus, M. A. & Knauth, L. P. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 96, 737–745 (1985).
Veizer, J., Compston, W., Clauer, N. & Schidlowski, M. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 47, 295–302 (1983).
Donnelly, T. H., Shergold, J. H., Southgate, P. N. & Barnes, C. N. in Phosphorite Research and Development (ed. Notholt, A. J. G. & Jarvis, I.) Geol. Soc. Spec. Publ. 52, 273–287 (1990).
Kaufman, A. J., Jacobsen, S. B. & Knoll, A. H. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. (in the press).
Claypool, G. E., Holser, W. T., Kaplan, I. R., Sakai, H. & Zak, I. Chem. Geol. 28, 199–260 (1980).
Ross, G. M., Bloch, J. D. & Krouse, H. R. Abstr. Geol. Assoc. Canada/Miner. Assoc. Canada Ann. Mtg 16, 108 (1991).
Christie-Blick, N. Mar. Geol. 97, 35–56 (1991).
Lindsay, J. F. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Bull. 71, 1387–1403 (1987).
Lindsay, J. F. & Korsch, R. J. Basin Res. 2, 3–25 (1989).
von der Borch, C. C., Christie-Blick, N. & Grady, A. E. Austral. J. Earth Sci. 35, 59–72 (1988).
Christie-Blick, N., Grotzinger, J. P. & von der Borch, C. C. Geology 16, 100–104 (1988).
Christie-Blick, N., von der Borch, C. C. & DiBona, P. A. Am. J. Sci. 290A, 295–332 (1990).
Ross, G. M. & Murphy, D. C. Geology 16, 139–143 (1988).
Preiss, W. V., Walter, M. R., Coats, R. P. & Wells, A. T. BMR J. Aust. Geol. Geophys. 3, 43–53 (1978).
Cowie, J. W. & Harland, W. B. in The Precambrian-Cambrian Boundary (eds Cowie, J. R. & Brasier, M. D.) 186–204 (Clarendon, Oxford. 1989).
Compston, W. et al. Res. Sch. Earth Sci. Aust. Nat. Univ. A. Rep. 1990, 26–27 (1990).
Jenkins, R. J. F. Geol. Mag. 121, 635–643 (1984).
Conway Morris, S. in The Precambrian-Cambrian Boundary (eds Cowie, J. R. & Brasier, M. D.) 7–39 (Clarendon, Oxford, 1989).
Plumb, K. Episodes 14, 139–140 (1991).
Sokolov, B. S. Izv. Akad. nauk SSSR ser. geol. 5, 21–31 (1952).
Jenkins, R. J. F. Trans. R. Soc. S. Aust. 105, 179–194 (1984).
Harland, W. B. & Herod, K. M. in Ice Ages: Ancient and Modern (eds. Wright, A. E. & Moseley, F.) 189–216 (Steel Horse, Liverpool, 1975).
Whittaker, A. et al. J. geol. Soc. Lond. 148, 813–824 (1991).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Knoll, A., Walter, M. Latest Proterozoic stratigraphy and Earth history. Nature 356, 673–678 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/356673a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/356673a0
This article is cited by
-
Oxygen requirements for the Cambrian explosion
Journal of Earth Science (2016)
-
Causes and consequences of the Cambrian explosion
Science China Earth Sciences (2014)
-
Discovery of animal eggs and embryos from the Ediacaran (Terminal Proterozoic) Chambaghat Formation, Krol Group, Himachal Lesser Himalaya
Journal of the Geological Society of India (2009)
-
Two episodes of microbial change coupled with Permo/Triassic faunal mass extinction
Nature (2005)
-
Paleoclimatic Environments of the Formation of Upper Vendian Rocks on the Belomorian-Kuloi Plateau, Southeastern White Sea Region
Lithology and Mineral Resources (2005)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.