Stáhpogieddi Formation

Stáhpogieddi Formation
Stáhpogieddi Formation
Stratigraphic range: late Ediacaran - Cambrian 560–530 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Type	Formation
Unit of	Vestertana Group
Sub-units	Manndrapselva, Indreelva and Lillevannet Members
Underlies	Breidvika Formation
Overlies	Mortensnes Formation
Thickness	505–530 metres (1,657–1,739 ft)
Lithology
Primary	Sandstone
Other	Shale, Conglomerate, Quartzite, Mudstone, Greywacke
Location
Country	Norway

The Stáhpogieddi Formation, sometimes spelled as Stappogiedde Formation, is a geologic formation in Norway, which spans from the late Ediacaran into the early Cambrian, and also preserves fossils dated to the Ediacaran period.

Geology

The Stáhpogieddi Formation consists of three members, which are as follows, in ascending stratigraphic order (lowest to highest):

Members

Lillevannet Member: This member is the oldest member of this formation, and is also the smallest, only being 40 metres (130 ft) at its thickest. It mainly consists of a quartz conglomerate, which are overlain by medium-grained, gray sandstones and siltstones. The depositional environment has been inferred to be fluvial to shallow-marine in nature.

Indreelva Member; This member is the middle member of this formation, and is the largest member in terms of thickness, coming in at around 275–300 metres (902–984 ft) thick. Near the base of this member, it mainly consists of green to red shales, which contain occasional interbedded fine-grained, red sandstones. Towards and into the middle, the shales become a more greenish-grey colour, with fine-grained cross-laminated sandstones. At the top of the member, the fine-grained sandstones give way to much thicker interbedded medium to coarse, parallel-laminated sandstone. In exposed areas, the sandstone features rippled tops, and their orientation suggest a southwestern palaeocurrent at the time of deposition. In non-exposed areas, this layer is overlain by a top-most layer of greenish-grey, parallel-laminated siltstones, which are interbedded with fine-grained, ripple-marked sandstone. This is also the main fossiliferous member of the whole formation, containing a wide range of discoidal forms, and was likely deposited in deep-marine environment.

Manndrapselva Member: This member is the youngest member of this formation, and is roughly 190 metres (620 ft) at its thickest, and mainly consists of coarse-grained, red quartzite sandstones and conglomerate, which is interbedded with greywacke and mudstone. The lower strata of this member contains occasional Ichnotaxon, which have been noted to be similar to Planolites, and also contains the agglutinated organism, Palaeopascichnus, all deposited in a shallow- to marginal-marine environment. This member also sits on the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary.

Dating

Using Rubidium–strontium dating on samples collected within the Stáhpogieddi Formation and other formations within the area, a minimum age of 530±0 Ma had been recovered from samples collected at the top of the formation, dating part of the Manndrapselva member to within the early Cambrian period, and is inline with previous Rb-Sr dating studies. The maximum age of 560±0 Ma had been recovered from the base of the formation, reaffirming assumptions that the majority of the formation is Ediacaran in age.

Paleobiota

The Stáhpogieddi Formation contains a myriad of discoidal forms, from Cyclomedusa being the most common form, to others like Ediacaria and Nimbia occlusa. Alongside this, occasional frondose fossils, such as Charnia, are also found within the formation, as well as a collection of organic-walled microfossils and tubular fossils.

Color key

Taxon	Reclassified taxon	Taxon falsely reported as present	Dubious taxon or junior synonym	Ichnotaxon	Ootaxon	Morphotaxon

Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text
~~crossed out~~ taxa are discredited.

Petalonamae

Genus	Species	Locality	Notes	Images
Charnia	Charnia sp.	Indreelva Member	Frondose organism. Two distinct fossils are known, referred to as the "Blåberget" Charnia and "Kommagnes" Charnia.
Swartpuntia (?)	Swartpuntia (?) sp.	Indreelva Member	Frondose organism. Tentatively assigned to Swartpuntia, although some researchers think this is unlikely.

Cnidarian

Genus	Species	Locality	Notes	Images
Ediacaria (?)	Ediacaria(?) sp.	Indreelva Member	Discoid organism, tentative assignment.

incertae sedis

Genus	Species	Locality	Notes
Anulitubus	A. formosus	Indreelva Member	Tubular organism.
Coniculus	C. elegantis	Indreelva Member	Tubular organism.
Silicofistula	S. crenulata	Indreelva Member	Tubular organism. Previously referred to as Fistula, although the generic name had already been used by Moerch, (1853) for an extant mollusk, as such the new correct name Silicofistula was made.
Aspidella	Aspidella sp.	Indreelva Member	Discoid organism.
Cyclomedusa	Cyclomedusa sp.	Indreelva Member	Discoid organism.
Hiemalora	Hiemalora sp.	Indreelva Member	Discoid organism, possibly holdfasts of petalonamids.
Nimbia (?)	N. occlusa (?)	Indreelva Member	Discoid organism, tentative assignment.
Palaeopascichnus	P. linearis P. delicatus P. gracilis	Lillevannet - Indreelva Transition, and Manndrapselva Member	Palaeopascichnid organism.
Intrites	I. punctatus	Manndrapselva Member	Palaeopascichnid organism.
Vendotaenia	V. antiqua Vendotaenia sp.	Indreelva Member	Ribbon-like organisms.
Harlaniella	H. podolica	Manndrapselva Member	Segmented, ribbon-like organisms.

Flora

Genus	Species	Locality	Notes	Images
Beltanella	Beltanella sp.	Indreelva Member	Cyanobacterial colony, now a junior synonym of Beltanelliformis.
Beltanelliformis	Beltanelliformis sp.	Indreelva Member	Cyanobacterial colony.

Microfossils

Genus	Species	Locality	Notes
Lagoenaforma	L. collaris	Indreelva Member	Organic-walled microfossils.
Granomarginata	G. prima G. squamacea	Indreelva Member	Acritarch.
Symplassosphaeridium	Symplassosphaeridium sp.	Indreelva Member	Acritarch.
Leiosphaeridia	L. crassa L. jacutica	Indreelva Member	Leiosphaerid Acritarch.
Leiosphaerid	Leiosphaerid	Indreelva Member	Leiosphaerid with a large opening.
Sphaeromorph	Sphaeromorph	Indreelva Member	Sphaeromorph with a broken vesicle.

Ichnogenera

Genus	Species	Locality	Notes
Arenicolites	Arenicolites sp.	Indreelva Member	Burrows.
Planolites-like trace fossils	???	Manndrapselva Member	Burrows and trace fossils similar to the ichnotaxon Planolites.
Skolithos	Skolithos sp.	Indreelva Member	Burrows.
Gordia	Gordia sp.	Manndrapselva Member	Burrows.
Cochlichnus	Cochlichnus sp.	Manndrapselva Member	Burrows.
Helicolithus	Helicolithus sp.	Manndrapselva Member	Burrows.
Belorhaphe	Belorhaphe sp.	Manndrapselva Member	Burrows.
Curvolithus	Curvolithus sp.	Manndrapselva Member	Burrows.

Undescribed

Genus	Species	Locality	Notes
Candidate frond	???	Indreelva Member	Frondose fossil, potentially a member of the arboreomorph, although poor preservation precludes proper identification.
TSGF 18953	???	Indreelva Member	Frondose, dumbbell shaped fossil, bears similarities to Primocandelabrum, although poor preservation precludes proper identification.
Form C	???	Indreelva Member	Organic-walled microfossil.

References

1 2 Gorokhov, I. M.; Siedlecka, A.; Roberts, D.; Melnikov, N. N.; Turchenko, T. L. (September 2001). "Rb–Sr dating of diagenetic illite in Neoproterozoic shales, Varanger Peninsula, northern Norway". Geological Magazine. 138 (5): 541–562. Bibcode:2001GeoM..138..541G. doi:10.1017/S001675680100574X.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Farmer, J.; Vidal, G.; Moczydłowska, M.; Strauss, H.; Ahlberg, P.; Siedlecka, A. (March 1992). "Ediacaran fossils from the Innerelv Member (late Proterozoic) of the Tanafjorden area, northeastern Finnmark". Geological Magazine. 129 (2): 181–195. Bibcode:1992GeoM..129..181F. doi:10.1017/S001675680000827X.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Veenma, Yorick P.; McMahon, William J.; Liu, Alexander G.; Ebbestad, Jan Ove R.; Grundvåg, Sten-Andreas; Högström, Anette E. S.; Høyberget, Magne; Jensen, Sören; Davies, Neil S. (September 2026). "Charnia and other late Ediacaran macrofossils preserved in turbiditic deposits of the Indreelva Member (Finnmark, Norway)". Palaeontology. 69 (5) e70082. doi:10.1111/pala.70082.
1 2 3 Crimes, T. P.; McILROY, D. (November 1999). "A biota of Ediacaran aspect from lower Cambrian strata on the Digermul Peninsula, Arctic Norway". Geological Magazine. 136 (6): 633–642. Bibcode:1999GeoM..136..633C. doi:10.1017/S0016756899003179.
↑ Pringle, I. R. (November 1972). "Rb-Sr age determinations on shales associated with the Varanger Ice Age". Geological Magazine. 109 (6): 465–472. Bibcode:1972GeoM..109..465P. doi:10.1017/S0016756800042734.
1 2 3 4 Moczydłowska, Małgorzata; Kear, Benjamin P.; Snitting, Daniel; Liu, Lei; Lazor, Peter; Majka, Jarosław (May 2021). "Ediacaran metazoan fossils with siliceous skeletons from the Digermulen Peninsula of Arctic Norway". Journal of Paleontology. 95 (3): 440–475. Bibcode:2021JPal...95..440M. doi:10.1017/jpa.2020.105.
↑ Meinhold, Guido; Willbold, Matthias; Karius, Volker; Jensen, Sören; Agić, Heda; Ebbestad, Jan Ove R.; Palacios, Teodoro; Högström, Anette E.S.; Høyberget, Magne; Taylor, Wendy L. (October 2022). "Rare earth elements and neodymium and strontium isotopic constraints on provenance switch and post-depositional alteration of fossiliferous Ediacaran and lowermost Cambrian strata from Arctic Norway". Precambrian Research. 381 106845. Bibcode:2022PreR..38106845M. doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2022.106845. hdl:10037/27004.
↑ Moczydłowska, Małgorzata; Kear, Benjamin P.; Snitting, Daniel; Liu, Lei; Lazor, Peter; Majka, Jarosław (September 2021). "Ediacaran metazoan fossils with siliceous skeletons from the Digermulen Peninsula of Arctic Norway – CORRIGENDUM". Journal of Paleontology. 95 (5): 1112. Bibcode:2021JPal...95.1112M. doi:10.1017/jpa.2021.44.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 McIlroy, Duncan; Brasier, Martin D. (January 2017). "Ichnological evidence for the Cambrian explosion in the Ediacaran to Cambrian succession of Tanafjord, Finnmark, northern Norway". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 448 (1): 351–368. Bibcode:2017GSLSP.448..351M. doi:10.1144/SP448.7.
↑ Jensen, Sören; Högström, Anette E.S.; Høyberget, Magne; Meinhold, Guido; McIlroy, Duncan; Ebbestad, Jan Ove R.; Taylor, Wendy L.; Agić, Heda; Palacios, Teodoro (November 2018). "New occurrences of Palaeopascichnus from the Stáhpogieddi Formation, Arctic Norway, and their bearing on the age of the Varanger Ice Age". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 55 (11): 1253–1261. Bibcode:2018CaJES..55.1253J. doi:10.1139/cjes-2018-0035. hdl:1807/90502.
↑ Hogstrom, A. E. S.; Jensen, S.; Palacios, T.; Ebbestad, J. O. R. (2013). "New information on the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition in the Vestertana Group, Finnmark, northern Norway, from trace fossils and organic-walled microfossils". Norwegian Journal of Geology. 93 (2): 95–106. ISSN 0029-196X.
1 2 3 4 5 Agić, Heda; Högström, Anette E.S.; Jensen, Sören; Ebbestad, Jan Ove R.; Vickers-Rich, Patricia; Hall, Michael; Matthews, Jack J.; Meinhold, Guido; Høyberget, Magne; Taylor, Wendy L. (July 2022). "Late Ediacaran occurrences of the organic-walled microfossils Granomarginata and flask-shaped Lagoenaforma collaris gen. et sp. nov". Geological Magazine. 159 (7): 1071–1092. Bibcode:2022GeoM..159.1071A. doi:10.1017/S0016756821001096. hdl:10037/23056.
1 2 3 Agić, Heda; Jensen, Sören; Meinhold, Guido; Högström, Anette E.S.; Ebbestad, Jan Ove R.; Høyberget, Magne; Palacios, Teodoro; Taylor, Wendy L. (February 2024). "Life through an Ediacaran glaciation: Shale- and diamictite-hosted organic-walled microfossil assemblages from the late Neoproterozoic of the Tanafjorden area, northern Norway". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 635 111956. Bibcode:2024PPP...63511956A. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111956. hdl:10662/23839.

[Gorokhov-1] 1 2 Gorokhov, I. M.; Siedlecka, A.; Roberts, D.; Melnikov, N. N.; Turchenko, T. L. (September 2001). "Rb–Sr dating of diagenetic illite in Neoproterozoic shales, Varanger Peninsula, northern Norway". Geological Magazine. 138 (5): 541–562. Bibcode:2001GeoM..138..541G. doi:10.1017/S001675680100574X.

[Farmer1992-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Farmer, J.; Vidal, G.; Moczydłowska, M.; Strauss, H.; Ahlberg, P.; Siedlecka, A. (March 1992). "Ediacaran fossils from the Innerelv Member (late Proterozoic) of the Tanafjorden area, northeastern Finnmark". Geological Magazine. 129 (2): 181–195. Bibcode:1992GeoM..129..181F. doi:10.1017/S001675680000827X.

[Veenma2026-3] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Veenma, Yorick P.; McMahon, William J.; Liu, Alexander G.; Ebbestad, Jan Ove R.; Grundvåg, Sten-Andreas; Högström, Anette E. S.; Høyberget, Magne; Jensen, Sören; Davies, Neil S. (September 2026). "Charnia and other late Ediacaran macrofossils preserved in turbiditic deposits of the Indreelva Member (Finnmark, Norway)". Palaeontology. 69 (5) e70082. doi:10.1111/pala.70082.

[Crimes1999-4] 1 2 3 Crimes, T. P.; McILROY, D. (November 1999). "A biota of Ediacaran aspect from lower Cambrian strata on the Digermul Peninsula, Arctic Norway". Geological Magazine. 136 (6): 633–642. Bibcode:1999GeoM..136..633C. doi:10.1017/S0016756899003179.

[5] Pringle, I. R. (November 1972). "Rb-Sr age determinations on shales associated with the Varanger Ice Age". Geological Magazine. 109 (6): 465–472. Bibcode:1972GeoM..109..465P. doi:10.1017/S0016756800042734.

[Moczydłowska2021-6] 1 2 3 4 Moczydłowska, Małgorzata; Kear, Benjamin P.; Snitting, Daniel; Liu, Lei; Lazor, Peter; Majka, Jarosław (May 2021). "Ediacaran metazoan fossils with siliceous skeletons from the Digermulen Peninsula of Arctic Norway". Journal of Paleontology. 95 (3): 440–475. Bibcode:2021JPal...95..440M. doi:10.1017/jpa.2020.105.

[7] Meinhold, Guido; Willbold, Matthias; Karius, Volker; Jensen, Sören; Agić, Heda; Ebbestad, Jan Ove R.; Palacios, Teodoro; Högström, Anette E.S.; Høyberget, Magne; Taylor, Wendy L. (October 2022). "Rare earth elements and neodymium and strontium isotopic constraints on provenance switch and post-depositional alteration of fossiliferous Ediacaran and lowermost Cambrian strata from Arctic Norway". Precambrian Research. 381 106845. Bibcode:2022PreR..38106845M. doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2022.106845. hdl:10037/27004.

[MoczydłowskaCORRIGENDUM-8] Moczydłowska, Małgorzata; Kear, Benjamin P.; Snitting, Daniel; Liu, Lei; Lazor, Peter; Majka, Jarosław (September 2021). "Ediacaran metazoan fossils with siliceous skeletons from the Digermulen Peninsula of Arctic Norway – CORRIGENDUM". Journal of Paleontology. 95 (5): 1112. Bibcode:2021JPal...95.1112M. doi:10.1017/jpa.2021.44.

[McIlroy2017-9] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 McIlroy, Duncan; Brasier, Martin D. (January 2017). "Ichnological evidence for the Cambrian explosion in the Ediacaran to Cambrian succession of Tanafjord, Finnmark, northern Norway". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 448 (1): 351–368. Bibcode:2017GSLSP.448..351M. doi:10.1144/SP448.7.

[Jensen2018-10] Jensen, Sören; Högström, Anette E.S.; Høyberget, Magne; Meinhold, Guido; McIlroy, Duncan; Ebbestad, Jan Ove R.; Taylor, Wendy L.; Agić, Heda; Palacios, Teodoro (November 2018). "New occurrences of Palaeopascichnus from the Stáhpogieddi Formation, Arctic Norway, and their bearing on the age of the Varanger Ice Age". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 55 (11): 1253–1261. Bibcode:2018CaJES..55.1253J. doi:10.1139/cjes-2018-0035. hdl:1807/90502.

[Hogstrom2013-11] Hogstrom, A. E. S.; Jensen, S.; Palacios, T.; Ebbestad, J. O. R. (2013). "New information on the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition in the Vestertana Group, Finnmark, northern Norway, from trace fossils and organic-walled microfossils". Norwegian Journal of Geology. 93 (2): 95–106. ISSN 0029-196X.

[Agić2022-12] 1 2 3 4 5 Agić, Heda; Högström, Anette E.S.; Jensen, Sören; Ebbestad, Jan Ove R.; Vickers-Rich, Patricia; Hall, Michael; Matthews, Jack J.; Meinhold, Guido; Høyberget, Magne; Taylor, Wendy L. (July 2022). "Late Ediacaran occurrences of the organic-walled microfossils Granomarginata and flask-shaped Lagoenaforma collaris gen. et sp. nov". Geological Magazine. 159 (7): 1071–1092. Bibcode:2022GeoM..159.1071A. doi:10.1017/S0016756821001096. hdl:10037/23056.

[Agić2024-13] 1 2 3 Agić, Heda; Jensen, Sören; Meinhold, Guido; Högström, Anette E.S.; Ebbestad, Jan Ove R.; Høyberget, Magne; Palacios, Teodoro; Taylor, Wendy L. (February 2024). "Life through an Ediacaran glaciation: Shale- and diamictite-hosted organic-walled microfossil assemblages from the late Neoproterozoic of the Tanafjorden area, northern Norway". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 635 111956. Bibcode:2024PPP...63511956A. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111956. hdl:10662/23839.