The Bitter Springs Group, also known as the Bitter Springs Formation is a Precambrian fossil locality in Australia, which preserves stromatolites and microorganisms in silica.[3] Its preservational mode ceased in the late Neoproterozoic with the advent of silicifying organisms.[4]
| Bitter Springs Group | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Tonian ~ | |
| Type | Geological group |
| Sub-units | Gillen, Loves Creek & Johnnys Creek Formations[1] |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Chert |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 23°32′34″S 134°27′26″E / 23.5427°S 134.4572°E |
| Region | Northern Territory, Western Australia[2] |
| Country | Australia |
| Extent | Amadeus Basin |
  Bitter Springs Group (Australia) | |
_(Neoproterozoic,_800_Ma;_Bitter_Springs,_Australia)_2_(28499466997).jpg)
Fossils include exceptionally well-preserved cyanobacteria microfossils, as well as multiple stromatolite species, including Linella avis and Inzeria intia.[5][6] This locality also has been claimed to contain eukaryotic green algae preservation, though this interpretation is debated.[7]
References
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- ^ Haines, P.W.; Allen, H.J. (2017). "Geological reconnaissance of the southern Murraba Basin, Western Australia: revised stratigraphic position within the Centralian Superbasin and hydrocarbon potential Geological Survey of Western Australia". Geological Survey of Western Australia.
- ^ Haines, P.W.; Allen, H.J. (12 April 2019). "Bitter Springs Group". Geological Survey of Western Australia. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
- ^ Schopf, J.W. (1 May 1968). "Microflora of the Bitter Springs Formation, Late Precambrian, Central Australia". Journal of Paleontology. 42 (3): 651–688. Retrieved 1 July 2008.
- ^ Butterfield, Nicholas J. (2003). "Exceptional Fossil Preservation and the Cambrian Explosion". Integrative and Comparative Biology. 43 (1): 166–177. doi:10.1093/icb/43.1.166. PMID 21680421.
- ^ M. R, Walter (1972). "Stromatolites and the biostratigraphy of the Australian Precambrian and Cambrian" (PDF). Special Papers in Palaentology. 11. The Palaeontological Association.
- ^ Schopf, J. William (2012). Ecology of cyanobacteria II. "The fossil record of cyanobacteria.". Netherlands: Springer. pp. 15–36.
- ^ Barghoorn, Elso S.; Schopf, J. William (15 October 1965). "Microorganisms from the Late Precambrian of Central Australia Science". Science. 150 (3694): 337–339. doi:10.1126/science.150.3694.337. PMID 17742361. S2CID 22110392.