Basic taphonomic analysis of Cloudina and Corumbella of Tamengo Formation (Ediacaran), Corumbá Group, Brazil

• Grant number: 19/24230-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2020
• End date: January 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Geology
• Principal Investigator: Juliana de Moraes Leme Basso
• Grantee: Bianca Alessandra de Faria
• Host Institution: Instituto de Geociências (IGC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 16/06114-6 - The Neoproterozoic Earth System and the rise of biological complexity, AP.TEM

Abstract

A taphonomy study for the Ediacaran metazoans of the Tamengo Formation (Ediacaran) is proposed here. The study aims to: a- basic taphonomic analysis, with emphasis on biostratinomy and b- correlation of taphonomic data, with others of sedimentary and stratigraphic nature, in order to interpret the processes responsible for the genesis of deposits where fossils are preserved. Cloudina is an ediacaran fossil that represents one of the first animals capable of biomineralized skeletogenesis. This organism is defined by a conical-tubular shell, occurring almost always in carbonate rocks. Corumbella is interpreted as an ediacaran fossil with an organic/biomineralized shell found in the Tamengo Formation pelites. For the description of the basic taphonomic signatures will be used petrographic analysis, scanning electron microscopy and stereomicroscope analyzes. The taphonomic study of ediacaran organisms capable of producing biomineralized carapaces, such as Cloudina and Corumbella, can be used as a tool in paleoenvironmental and stratigraphic analysis and can provide data about the environment colonized or preserved by them (energy from the environment, sedimentation rate) with important paleoecological implications.