A potential GSSP for the base of the uppermost Cambrian stage, coinciding with the first appearance of Lotagnostus americanus at Wa'ergang, Hunan, China

The first appearance datum (FAD) of the cosmopolitan agnostoid trilobite Lotagnostus americanus is a widely used marker for defining the base of the uppermost stage of the Cambrian System. Detailed field study on the L. americanus-bearing interval of the Wa'ergang section, Hunan, China, reveals the FAD of L. americanus to be 29.65m above the base of the Shengjiawan Formation. This horizon is close to the lowest known occurrences of the intercontinentally distributed polymerid trilobites Hedinaspis regalis and Charchaqia norini. The section has strong potential as a candidate for defining a global standard stratotype-section and point marking the base of provisional Stage 10

Carbon-Isotope Excursions Recorded in the Cambrian System, South China: Implications for Mass Extinctions and Sea-Level Fluctuations

Cambrian carbonates with abundant fossils of agnostoid trilobites deposited on the southern slope (Jiangnan slope belt) of the Yangtze Platform and in the Jiangnan deepwater basin are well exposed in the Wangcun Section of western Hunan, South China, and in the Duibian A Section of western Zhejiang, southeastern China, respectively. To better understand the response of carbon-isotope excursions to depositional environment changes, mass extinctions and eustatic events, we collected 530 carbonate samples in fresh roadcut exposures of the two measured sections for analysis of carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions. Data of δ13C from the Wangcun Section, western Hunan, South China, demonstrate that the Cambrian carbon-isotope profile includes three remarkable positive excursions CPEwc-1, 2, 3 in the Upper Series 2, in the Lower and in the Middle Furongian Series. Three distinctive negative excursions CNEwc-1, 2, 3 were separately tested in the Lower Terreneuvian Series, Lower Series 3 and in the Upper Furongian Series. Similarly, in the corresponding horizons in the Duibian A Section, Zhejiang Province, southeastern China, three positive excursions CPEdb-1, 2, 3 and three negative excursions CNEdb-1, 2, 3 also have been discovered. We interpret these significant carbon-isotope excursions as being associated with enhanced biogenic productivity, mass extinctions and eustatic events

Global Standard Stratotype-Section and Point (GSSP) for the Base of the Jiangshanian Stage (Cambrian: Furongian) at Duibian, Jiangshan, Zhejiang, Southeast China

The International Commission on Stratigraphy and the IUGS Executive Committee have recently approved a Global Standard Stratotype-section and Point (GSSP) defining the base of the second stage of the Furongian Series, Cambrian System. This stage is named the Jiangshanian Stage, after Jiangshan City, western Zhejiang Province, China, where the GSSP is located. The GSSP is exposed in a natural outcrop near Duibian Village. It is defined at the base of a limestone (wackestone) layer 108.12 m above the base of the Huayansi Formation in the Duibian B section, coinciding with the first appearance of the cosmopolitan agnostoid trilobite Agnostotes orientalis (base of the A. orientalis Zone). The GSSP is at a position of 28 degrees 48.977'N latitude and 118 degrees 36.887 'E longitude. Secondary global markers at or near the base of the stage include the first appearance of the cosmopolitan polymerid trilobite Irvingella angustilimbata, which coincides with the FAD of the primary marker in the stratotype section, and near the end of a large positive carbon isotopic excursion (SPICE excursion). Faunal turnovers close to the base of the Jiangshanian Stage have been recognized as being at the base of the Iverian Stage in Australia, the Gonggrian Stage in Korea, and the Agnostotes orientalis Irvingella perfecta Zone in Siberia, and near the base of the Aksayan Stage in Kazakhstan, the Sunwaptan Stage in Laurentia, and the Parabolina brevispina Zone in Baltica