Exploring the Ediacaran Biota of the Digermulen Peninsula, Northern Norway

• The Digermulen Peninsula in northern Norway is the only locality that has yielded Ediacara-type fossils inScandinavia. The Peninsula exhibits an Ediacaran to Lower Ordovician succession consisting of roughly 3000 mof siliciclastic deposits formed in a foreland basin marginal to Baltica. In 2011 a restudy of the Ediacaran deposits(1000 m thick) was launched resulting in new finds that promise to establish the Digermulen Peninsula as asignificant new Ediacaran biota locality. First described in the 1990´s the assemblage is dominated by medusoidtypefossils, such as Cyclomedusa, Ediacaria?, Beltanella and Nimbia? now possibly reinterpreted astaphomorphs of the broadly defined Aspidella as exemplified by the Fermeuse assemblage in Newfoundland.Previous field seasons have produced abundant new material of discoidal forms (tentatively Aspidella), the lowestin stratigraphic proximity to the glacial Mortensnes diamictite (tentatively c. 580 Ma). Recent fieldwork during thesummer of 2015 yielded the first specimen of a multi-vaned Ediacara-type fossil from the Innerelva Member of theStáhpogiedde Formation not far from where the first discoidal fossils were found in the 90´s. Reconstructed toreach approximately 7.5 – 8 cm above the sediment surface this organism appears to have a roughly sphericalshape with three or more vanes, but more detailed study is needed. We know little of the holdfast structure but itappears to possess a generalized Aspidella-like morphology, emphasizing the variety of organisms that may havehad very similar holdfasts. In addition to Aspidella sp., well-preserved Hiemalora are present in these beds.Another important find are several specimens of Palaeopascichnus from near the base of the Innerelva Membermaking them the oldest non-stromatolite macroscopic fossils in Scandinavia. Future work for the DigermulenEarly Life Research Group will focus on extensive excavation and sampling of this important interval to increasethe understanding of the Ediacaran record on the Peninsula.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Annan geovetenskap och miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Other Earth and Related Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Digermulen

Ediacaran

Finnmark

Norway

Earth Science with specialization in Historical Geology and Palaeontology

Geovetenskap med inriktning mot historisk geologi och paleontologi

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

kon (subject category)