Late Precambrian microfossils from Brioverian cherts and limestones of Brittany and Normandy, France (original) (raw)

Nature volume 275, pages 640–642 (1978)Cite this article

Abstract

THE discovery of assemblages of unicellular, colonial and multiunit (endosporangium-like) algal microfossils in thin sections and in macerations of carbonaceous cherts and dolomitic limestones from the late Precambrian Brioverian ‘Series’ of northwestern France is reported here. These assemblages represent new links in the now rapidly expanding known record of Precambrian life. They are of interest because of (1) their similarity to microbiotas of comparable age reported from Canada and Alaska, a similarity suggesting that such assemblages could prove useful for global biostratigraphic correlation of late Precambrian strata; (2) their presence in partially metamorphosed sediments, an occurrence indicating that Precambrian organic-walled microfossils may not be as susceptible to metamorphic alteration as has widely been assumed; (3) one of the assemblages is preserved in carbonates, a facies previously little studied by Precambrian micropalaeontologists.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre Armoricain d'Etude structurale des socles, Université de Rennes, 35042, Rennes Cedex, France
    J. J. CHAUVEL
  2. Department of Earth and Space Sciences,
    J. WILLIAM SCHOPF
  3. Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, California, 90024
    J. WILLIAM SCHOPF

Authors

  1. J. J. CHAUVEL
  2. J. WILLIAM SCHOPF

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CHAUVEL, J., SCHOPF, J. Late Precambrian microfossils from Brioverian cherts and limestones of Brittany and Normandy, France.Nature 275, 640–642 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1038/275640a0

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