Coda of the snowball: combined U-Pb LA-ICPMS dating of calcite-after-aragonite crystal fans and clumped isotope thermometry of Ediacaran cap carbonates

Abstract

Direct dating of sedimentary successions is a main challenge in geochronology, key for the establishment of chronostratigraphic frameworks for both regional and global events. U-Pb in-situ LA-ICPMS direct dating of carbonate samples is emerging as a promising tool, but complications such as mobility and low U contents hinder most of the attempts on common carbonate rocks. We present new U-Pb in-situ LA-ICPMS data for Ediacaran cap carbonate and related successions from Brazil, China and Canada, along with stable carbon, oxygen, and clumped isotope data for the same samples. The novel dataset reveals that in some instances, especially within calcite-after-aragonite crystal fans and microbialite facies, U is retained from early diagenesis through intermediate to deep burial, resulting in tightly constrained and well-spread linear fits in the Concordia space. Calcite-after-aragonite crystal fan samples from the Guia Fm. (Brazil) and Hayhook Fm. (Canada) caps, sitting immediately above glacial diamictite, yielded 632 ± 14 Ma and 631 ± 6 Ma, respectively, supporting quick deposition and diagenesis following Marinoan deglaciation. Clumped isotope apparent equilibrium temperatures (T D 47) of 79 (+12/ − 11) ° C and 181 (+14/ − 13) ° C (95% confidence level), respectively, indicate that the U-Pb system remained unreset within the crystal fans even through the deep burial realm. In the Sete Lagoas Formation of the Bambuí Group (Brazil), crystal fans are not restricted to the immediate cap carbonate sitting above glacial deposits, but instead occur throughout ca. 400 m of carbonate-dominated facies, in distinct stratigraphic intervals corresponding to the Pedro Leopoldo and Lagoa Santa members. Samples from the basal Pedro Leopoldo member yielded U-Pb ages between 625 Ma and 605 Ma. A crystal-fan bearing sample of the Acauã Formation in the Sergipano Belt (Brazil) yielded similar results, suggesting protracted deposition/diagenesis of the negative d¹³C-bearing limestone above the basal cap dolostone. Crystal fans in the topmost Lagoa Santa member, just below the contact with the mudstone-rich Serra de Santa Helena Formation and 330 m above the contact with the glacials, yielded late Ediacaran ages at ca. 570-550 Ma. All of these yielded T D 47 of around 110-149 ° C. These ages are identical within uncertainty to U-Pb ages obtained in stromatolites at the same stratigraphic level, and from the phosphorite-bearing stromatolites of the Salitre Formation, Una Group, further north in the São Francisco craton, which yielded a lower T D 47 of 91 ± 7 ° C. Finally, both the cap dolostone matrix and isopachous cement filling

Keywords

Snowball Earth / U-Pb geochronology / Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma / Calcite dating / Aragonite crystal fans

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Fabrício A. Caxito: Project management, Funding acquisition, Writing - original draft, Resources, Methodology, Formal analysis, Data curation. Cristiano Lana: Writing - review & editing, Validation, Software, Resources, Methodology, Funding acquisition, Formal analysis, Data curation. Davi Carvalho: Writing - review & editing, Methodology, Formal analysis. Gabriel J. Uhlein: Writing - review & editing, Visualization, Validation. Carolina Reis: Writing - review & editing, Visualization, Validation, Data curation. Paulo Henrique A. Dias: Writing - review & editing, Visualization, Validation, Resources, Investigation, Data curation, Conceptualization. Denise Canabrava: Writing - review & editing, Visualization, Validation, Resources, Data curation. Juliana Okubo: Writing - review & editing, Visualization, Validation, Resources, Data curation. George Luiz Luvizotto: Writing - review & editing, Visualization, Validation, Software, Resources, Methodology, Formal analysis, Data curation. Lucas Warren: Writing - review & editing, Visualization, Validation, Resources. Shuhai Xiao: Writing - review & editing, Visualization, Validation, Resources. Tian Gan: Writing - review & editing, Visualization, Validation, Resources. Galen Halverson: Writing - review & editing, Visualization, Validation, Resources. Peter Crockford: Writing - review & editing, Visualization, Validation, Resources, Conceptualization. Kristin Bergmann: Writing - review & editing, Visualization, Validation, Resources. Katharine W. Huntington: Writing - review & editing, Visualization, Validation, Software, Resources, Methodology, Formal analysis, Data curation. Andrew J. Schauer: Writing - review & editing, Visualization, Validation, Formal analysis, Data curation. Mariana M. Leite: Writing - review & editing, Visualization, Validation, Formal analysis, Data curation.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgements

This work is supported by CNPq-Brazil through grants nb. 408815/2021-3 and 304509/2021-3 and by Instituto Serrapilheira through Project "MOBILE: Mountain Belts and the Inception of Complex Life on Earth (geolifemobile.com)", grant no. Serra-1912-31510. The first author is vice-coordinator of Instituto GeoAtlântico, a National Institute of Science and Technology, CNPq-Brazil process nb. 405653/2022-0. FAC, CL and LVW are Research Fellows of the CNPq (Brazil) and acknowledge the support received. KWH and AJS acknowledge support from the U.S. National Science Foundation (EAR-2153799). We thank the Sedimentary Basins Analysis Group of Amazonia (GSED) of the Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA) Brazil for generously providing access to the cathodoluminescence laboratory. A former version was improved after comments and suggestions by Zhongwu Lan and an anonymous reviewer. We thank the Geological Survey of Brazil - SGB for kindly providing access to drill hole core PSB14 of the Bambuí Group.

Appendix A. Supplementary data

Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsf.2025.102218. Appendix A. Supplementary data

References

[1] Ahm, A.S., Maloof, A.C., Macdonald, F.A., Hoffman, P.F., Bjerrum, C.J., Bold, U., Rose, C.V., Strauss, J.V., Higgins, J.A., 2019. An early diagenetic deglacial origin for basal Ediacaran “cap dolostones”. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 506, 292-307.

[2] Alkmim, F.F., Lana, C.C., Silva, M.A.L., Dias-Filho, D.C., Mendonça, K.R.N., Zambonato, E.E., de Carvalho, B.R.B.M., 2025. U-Pb ages of pre- to post-salt carbonates, Santos and Campos basins, SE Brazil: implications for the evolution of the South Atlantic. Mar. Pet. Geol. 171, 107192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2024.107192.

[3] Allen, P.A., Hoffman, P.F., 2005. Extreme winds and waves in the aftermath of a Neoproterozoic glaciation. Nature 433 (7022), 123-127.

[4] Alvarenga, C.J., Dardenne, M.A., Santos, R.V., Brod, E.R., Gioia, S.M., Sial, A.N., Ferreira, V.P., 2008. Isotope stratigraphy of Neoproterozoic cap carbonates in the Araras Group, Brazil. Gondwana Res. 13 (4), 469-479.

[5] Alvarenga, C.J., Santos, R.V., Vieira, L.C., Lima, B.A., Mancini, L.H., 2014. Meso-Neoproterozoic isotope stratigraphy on carbonate platforms in the Brasília Belt of Brazil. Precambrian Res. 251, 164-180.

[6] Amthor, J.E., Grotzinger, J.P., Schröder, S., Bowring, S.A., Ramezani, J., Martin, M.W., Matter, A., 2003. Extinction of Cloudina and Namacalathus at the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary in Oman. Geology 31 (5), 431-434.

[7] Anderson, N.T., Kelson, J.R., Kele, S., Daëron, M., Bonifacie, M., Horita, J., Bergmann, K.D., 2021. A unified clumped isotope thermometer calibration (0.5-1100 ° C) using carbonate-based standardization. Geophys. Res. Lett. 48 (7), e2020GL092069. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL092069.

[8] An, Z., Jiang, G., Tong, J., Tian, L., Ye, Q., Song, H., Song, H., 2015. Stratigraphic position of the Ediacaran Miaohe biota and its constraints on t he age of the upper Doushantuo d¹³C anomaly in the Yangtze Gorges area, South China. Precambrian Res. 271, 243- 253.

[9] Baptista, M.C., 2020. Fósseis do Grupo Bambuí (Ediacariano) no norte de Minas Gerais e suas Implicações Bioestratigráficas e Geocronológicas. Ph.D. thesis, University of Brasília, p. 126 (in Portuguese).

[10] Barnaby, R.J., Rimstidt, J.D., 1989. Redox conditions of calcite cementation interpreted from Mn and Fe contents of authigenic calcites. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 101 (6), 795-804.

[11] Bernasconi, S.M., Daëron, M., Bergmann, K.D., Bonifacie, M., Meckler, A.N., Affek, H.P., Ziegler, M., 2021. InterCarb: a community effort to improve interlaboratory standardization of the carbonate clumped isotope thermometer using carbonate standards. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 22 (5), e2020GC009588. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GC009588.

[12] Bernecker, M., Hofmann, S., Staudigel, P.T., Davies, A.J., Tagliavento, M., Meijer, N., Fiebig, J., 2023. A robust methodology for triple (D 47, D 48, D 49) clumped isotope analysis of carbonates. Chem. Geol. 642, 121803. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2023.121803.

[13] Boggiani, P.C., Gaucher, C., Sial, A.N., Babinski, M., Simon, C.M., Riccomini, C., Ferreira, V.P., Fairchild, T.R., 2010. Chemostratigraphy of the Tamengo Formation (Corumbá Group, Brazil): a contribution to the calibration of the Ediacaran carbon-isotope curve. Precambrian Res. 182 (4), 382-401.

[14] Bowring, S.A., Grotzinger, J.P., Isachsen, C.E., Knoll, A.H., Pelechaty, S.M., Kolosov, P., 1993. Calibrating rates of early Cambrian evolution. Science 261 (5126), 1293-1298.

[15] Bowring, S.A., Grotzinger, J.P., Condon, D.J., Ramezani, J., Newall, M.J., Allen, P.A., 2007. Geochronologic constraints on the chronostratigraphic framework of the Neoproterozoic Huqf Supergroup, Sultanate of Oman. Am. J. Sci. 307 (10), 1097-1145.

[16] Bristow, T.F., Bonifacie, M., Derkowski, A., Eiler, J.M., Grotzinger, J.P., 2011. A hydrothermal origin for isotopically anomalous cap dolostone cements from South China. Nature 474 (7349), 68-71.

[17] Caetano-Filho, S., Paula-Santos, G.M., Guacaneme, C., Babinski, M., Bedoya-Rueda, C., Peloso, M., Trindade, R.I., 2019. Sequence stratigraphy and chemostratigraphy of an Ediacaran-Cambrian foreland-related carbonate ramp (Bambuí Group, Brazil). Precambrian Res. 331, 105365. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2019.105365.

[18] Calver, C.R., Crowley, J.L., Wingate, M.T.D., Evans, D.A.D., Raub, T.D., Schmitz, M.D., 2013. Globally synchronous Marinoan deglaciation indicated by U-Pb geochronology of the Cottons Breccia, Tasmania, Australia. Geology 41 (10), 1127-1130.

[19] Cantine, M.D., Rooney, A.D., Knoll, A.H., Gómez-Pérez, I., Al Baloushi, B., Bergmann, K.D., 2024. Chronology of Ediacaran sedimentary and biogeochemical shifts along eastern Gondwanan margins. Commun. Earth & Environ. 5 (1), 520. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01630-1.

[20] Carvalho, D.F., Nogueira, A.C.R., Macambira, M.J.B., Lana, C.C., Santos, R.F., Guélard, J., Sansjofre, P., 2023. Constraining the diagenesis of the Puga cap carbonate from U-Pb in-situ dating of seafloor crystal fans, southern Amazonian craton, Brazil. Terra Nova 35 (4), 276-284.

[21] Caxito, F.A., Halverson, G.P., Uhlein, A., Stevenson, R., Gonçalves-Dias, T., Uhlein, G.J., 2012. Marinoan glaciation in east-central Brazil. Precambrian Res. 200, 38-58.

[22] Caxito, F.A., Frei, R., Uhlein, G.J., Dias, T.G., Árting, T.B., Uhlein, A., 2018. Multiproxy geochemical and isotope stratigraphy records of a Neoproterozoic oxygenation event in the Ediacaran Sete Lagoas cap carbonate, Bambuí Group, Brazil. Chem. Geol. 481, 119-132.

[23] Caxito, F.A., Uhlein, G.J., Uhlein, A., Pedrosa-Soares, A.C., Kuchenbecker, M., Reis, H., de Paula, J.R., 2019. Isotope stratigraphy of Precambrian sedimentary rocks from Brazil: keys to unlock Earth’s hydrosphere, biosphere, tectonic, and climate evolution. Case Stud. Isotope Stratigr. 4, 73-132.

[24] Caxito, F.A., Lana, C., Frei, R., Uhlein, G.J., Sial, A.N., Dantas, E.L., Pinto, A.G., Campos, F.C., Galvão, P., Warren, L.V., Okubo, J., Ganade, C.E., 2021. Goldilocks at the dawn of complex life: Mountains might have damaged Ediacaran-Cambrian ecosystems and prompted an early Cambrian greenhouse world. Sci. Rep. 11 (1), 20010. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-99526-z.

[25] Caxito, F.A., Frei, R., Sial, A.N., Uhlein, G.J., de Moura, W.A.L., Pereira, E., Rodrigues, R., 2023. Chromium isotopes track redox fluctuations in Proterozoic successions of the Chapada Diamantina, São Francisco Craton, Brazil. Geology 51 (1), 69-74.

[26] Chang, B., Li, C., Liu, D., Foster, I., Tripati, A., Lloyd, M.K., Maradiaga, I., Luo, G., An, Z., She, Z., Xie, S., Tong, J., Huang, J., Algeo, T.J., Lyons, T.W., Immenhauser, A., 2020. Massive formation of early diagenetic dolomite in the Ediacaran ocean: Constraints on the “dolomite problem”. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 117 (25), 14005-14014.

[27] Condon, D., Zhu, M., Bowring, S., Wang, W., Yang, A., Jin, Y., 2005. U-Pb ages from the Neoproterozoic Doushantuo Formation, China. Science 308 (5718), 95-98.

[28] Corfu, F., Andersen, T.B., Gasser, D., 2014. The Scandinavian Caledonides: main features, conceptual advances and critical questions. Geol. Soc., London, Special Publ. 390, 9-43.

[29] Crockford, P.W., Cowie, B.R., Johnston, D.T., Hoffman, P.F., Sugiyama, I., Pellerin, A., Bui, T.H., Hayles, J., Halverson, G.P., Macdonald, F.A., Wing, B.A., 2016. Triple oxygen and multiple sulfur isotope constraints on the evolution of the post-Marinoan sulfur cycle. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 435 (1), 74-83.

[30] Crockford, P.W., Hodgskiss, M.S., Uhlein, G.J., Caxito, F., Hayles, J.A., Halverson, G.P., 2018. Linking paleocontinents through triple oxygen isotope anomalies. Geology 46 (2), 179-182.

[31] Daëron, M., 2021. Full propagation of analytical uncertainties in D 47 measurements. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 22 (5), e2020GC009592. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GC009592.

[32] Dickson, J.A.D., 1966. Carbonate identification and genesis as revealed by staining. J. Sediment. Res. 36 (2), 491-505.

[33] Doucet, L.S., Li, Z.X., Fougerouse, D., Olierook, H.K., Gamaleldien, H., Kirkland, C.L., Hartnady, M.I., 2023. The global lead isotope system: toward a new framework reflecting Earth’s dynamic evolution. Earth-Sci. Rev. 243, 104483. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104483.

[34] Fiebig, J., Bernecker, M., Meijer, N., Methner, K., Staudigel, P.T., Davies, A.J., Bayarjargal, L., Spahr, D., Winkler, B., Hofmann, S., Granzin, M., 2024. Carbonate clumped isotope values compromised by nitrate-derived NO 2 interferent. Chem. Geol. 670, 122382.

[35] Friedman, G.M., 1965. Terminology of crystallization textures and fabrics in sedimentary rocks. J. Sediment. Res. 35 (3), 643-655.

[36] Gabitov, R., Migdisov, A., Nguyen, A., Van Hartesveldt, N., Perez-Huerta, A., Sadekov, A., Roback, R., 2021. Uptake of uranium by carbonate crystallization from reduced and oxidized hydrothermal fluids. Chem. Geol. 564, 120054. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2020.120054.

[37] Gan, T., Luo, T., Pang, K., Zhou, C., Zhou, G., Wan, B., Li, G., Yi, Q., Czaja, A.D., Xiao, S., 2021. Cryptic terrestrial fungus-like fossils of the early Ediacaran Period. Nat. Commun. 12 (1), 641. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-20975-1.

[38] Gan, T., Zhou, G., Luo, T., Pang, K., Zhou, M., Luo, W., Xiao, S., 2022. Earliest Ediacaran speleothems and their implications for terrestrial life after the Marinoan snowball Earth. Precambrian Res. 376, 106685. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2022.106685.

[39] Gaucher, C., Boggiani, P., Sprechmann, P., Sial, A., Fairchild, T., 2003. Integrated correlation of the Vendian to Cambrian Arroyo del Soldado and Corumbá Groups (Uruguay and Brazil): palaeogeographic, palaeoclimatic and palaeobiologic implications. Precambrian Res. 120 (3-4), 241-278.

[40] Grotzinger, J.P., Knoll, A.H., 1995. Anomalous carbonate precipitates: is the Precambrian the key to the Permian? Palaios 10 (6), 578-596.

[41] Grotzinger, J.P., Bowring, S.A., Saylor, B.Z., Kaufman, A.J., 1995. Biostratigraphic and geochronologic constraints on early animal evolution. Science 270 (5236), 598-604.

[42] Guacaneme, C., Babinski, M., Bedoya-Rueda, C., Paula-Santos, G.M., Caetano-Filho, S., Kuchenbecker, M., Reis, H.L.S., Trindade, R.I.F., 2021. Tectonically induced strontium isotope changes in ancient restricted seas: the case of the Ediacaran-Cambrian Bambuí foreland basin system, east Brazil. Gondwana Res. 93, 275-290.

[43] Guerroué E.L., Allen, P., Cozzi, A., 2005. Two distinct glacial successions in the Neoproterozoic of Oman. GeoArabia 10 (2), 17-34.

[44] Halverson, G.P., Hoffman, P.F., Schrag, D.P., Maloof, A.C., Rice, A.H., 2005. Toward a Neoproterozoic composite carbon-isotope record. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 117 (9-10), 1181-1207.

[45] Halverson, G.P., Dudás, F.Ö., Maloof, A.C., Bowring, S.A., 2007. Evolution of the 87Sr/86Sr composition of Neoproterozoic seawater. Palaeogeog. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 256 (3-4), 103-129.

[46] Halverson, G.P., Wade, B.P., Hurtgen, M.T., Barovich, K.M., 2010. Neoproterozoic chemostratigraphy. Precambrian Res. 182 (4), 337-350.

[47] Hemingway, J.D., Henkes, G.A., 2021. A disordered kinetic model for clumped isotope bond reordering in carbonates. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 566, 116962. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2021.116962.

[48] Henkes, G.A., Passey, B.H., Grossman, E.L., Shenton, B.J., Pérez-Huerta, A., Yancey, T.E., 2014. Temperature limits for preservation of primary calcite clumped isotope paleotemperatures. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 139 (1), 362-382.

[49] Higgins, J.A., Schrag, D.P., 2003. Aftermath of a snowball Earth. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 4 (3), 1028. https://doi.org/10.1029/2002GC000403.

[50] Hill, C.A., Polyak, V.J., Asmerom, Y., Provencio, P., 2016. Constraints on a late Cretaceous uplift, denudation, and incision of the Grand Canyon region, southwestern Colorado Plateau, USA, from U-Pb dating of lacustrine limestone. Tectonics 35 (4), 896-906.

[51] Hippertt, J.P., Caxito, F.A., Uhlein, G.J., Nalini, H.A., Sial, A.N., Abreu, A.T., Nogueira, L.B., 2019. The fate of a Neoproterozoic intracratonic marine basin: Trace elements, TOC and iron speciation geochemistry of the Bambuí Basin, Brazil. Precambrian Res. 330, 101-120.

[52] Hoffman, P.F., 2011. Strange bedfellows: Glacial diamictite and cap carbonate from the Marinoan (635 Ma) glaciation in Namibia. Sedimentology 58 (1), 57-119.

[53] Hoffman, P.F., Halverson, G.P., 2011. Neoproterozoic glacial record in the Mackenzie Mountains, northern Canadian Cordillera. In: Arnaud E.,Halverson, G.P., Shields-Zhou, G. (Eds), The Geological Record of Neoproterozoic Glaciations. Geological Society, London, Memoirs, 36, 397-411.

[54] Hoffman, P.F., Kaufman, A.J., Halverson, G.P., Schrag, D.P., 1998. A Neoproterozoic snowball Earth. Science 281 (5381), 1342-1346.

[55] Hoffman, P.F., Halverson, G.P., Domack, E.W., Husson, J.M., Higgins, J.A., Schrag, D.P., 2007. Are basal Ediacaran ( 635 Ma) post-glacial “cap dolostones” diachronous? Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 258 (1-2), 114-131.

[56] Hoffman, P.F., Macdonald, F.A., Halverson, G.P., 2011. Chemical sediments associated with Neoproterozoic glaciation:Iron formation, cap carbonate, barite and phosphorite. In: Arnaud E., Halverson G.P., Shields-Zhou G. (Eds.),The Geological Record of Neoproterozoic Glaciations. Geological Society, London, Memoirs, 36, 67-80.

[57] Hoffman, P.F., Abbot, D.S., Ashkenazy, Y., Benn, D.I., Brocks, J.J., Cohen, P.A., Cox, G.M., Creveling, J.R., Donnadieu, Y., Erwin, D.H., Fairchild, I.J., Ferreira, D., Goodman, J.C., Halverson, G.P., Jansen, M.F., Le Hir, G., Love, G.D., Macdonald, F.A., Maloof, A.C., Partin, C.A., Ramstein, G., Rose, B.E.J., Rose, C.V., Sadler, P.M., Tziperman, E., Voigt, A., Warren, S.G., 2017. Snowball Earth climate dynamics and Cryogenian geology-geobiology. Sci. Adv. 3 (11), e1600983. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1600983.

[58] Hoffmann, K.-H., Condon, D.J., Bowring, S.A., Crowley, J.L., 2004. U-Pb zircon date from the Neoproterozoic Ghaub Formation, Namibia: Constraints on Marinoan glaciation. Geology 32 (9), 817-820.

[59] Huntington, K.W., Petersen, S.V., 2023. Frontiers of carbonate clumped isotope thermometry. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 51 (1), 611-641.

[60] Immenhauser, A., 2021. On the delimitation of the carbonate burial realm. The Depositional Record 8 (2), 524-574.

[61] James, N.P., Narbonne, G.M., Kyser, T.K., 2001. Late Neoproterozoic cap carbonates, Mackenzie Mountains, northwestern Canada: Precipitation and global glacial meltdown. Can. J. Earth Sci. 38 (8), 1229-1262.

[62] Kendall, B.S., Creaser, R.A., Ross, G.M., Selby, D., 2004. Constraints on the timing of Marinoan “Snowball Earth” glaciation by 187Re-187Os dating of a Neoproterozoic post-glacial black shale in Western Canada. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 222 (3-4), 729-740.

[63] Kennedy, M.J., Christie-Blick, N., Sohl, L.E., 2001. Are Proterozoic cap carbonates and isotopic excursions a record of gas hydrate destabilization following Earth’s coldest intervals? Geology 29 (5), 443-446.

[64] Knoll, A.H., Walter, M.R., Narbonne, G.M., Christie-Blick, N., 2004. A new period for the geologic time scale. Science 305 (5684), 621-622.

[65] Lana, C., Farina, F., Gerdes, A., Alkmim, A., Gonçalves, G.O., Jardim, A.C., 2017. Characterization of zircon reference materials via high-precision U-Pb LA-MC-ICP-MS. J. Anal. At. Spectrom. 32 (10), 2011-2023.

[66] Lana, C., Gonçalves, G.O., Mazoz, A., Buick, I., Kamo, S., Scholz, R., Wang, H., Moreira, H., Babinski, M., Queiroga, G., 2022. Assessing the U-Pb, Sm-Nd and Sr-Sr isotopic compositions of the Sumé apatite as a reference material for LA-ICP-MS analysis. Geostand. Geoanal. Res. 46 (1), 71-95.

[67] Lan, Z., Huyskens, M.H., Lu, K., Li, X.H., Zhang, G., Lu, D., Yin, Q.Z., 2020. Toward refining the onset age of Sturtian glaciation in South China. Precambrian Res. 338, 105555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2019.105555.

[68] Lan, Z.W., Roberts, N.M.W., Zhou, Y., Zhang, S.J., Li, Z.S., Zhao, T.P., 2022. Application of in situ U-Pb carbonate geochronology to Stenian-Tonian successions of North China. Precambrian Res. 370, 106551. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2021.106551.

[69] Lan, Z.W., Wu, S.T., Roberts, N.M.W., Zhang, S.J., Cao, R., Wang, H., Yang, Y.H., 2022. Geochronological and geochemical constraints on the origin of highly ¹³C carb-depleted calcite in basal Ediacaran cap carbonate. Geol. Mag. 159 (8), 1323-1334.

[70] Li, Z.X., Evans, D.A., Halverson, G.P., 2013. Neoproterozoic glaciations in a revised global palaeogeography from the breakup of Rodinia to the assembly of Gondwanaland. Sediment. Geol. 294, 219-232.

[71] Liu, P., Yin, C., Gao, L., Tang, F., Chen, S., 2009. New material of microfossils from the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation in the Zhangcunping area, Yichang, Hubei Province and its zircon SHRIMP U-Pb age. Chinese Sci. Bull. 54 (6), 1058-1064.

[72] Lloyd, M.K., Ryb, U., Eiler, J.M., 2018. Experimental calibration of clumped isotope reordering in dolomite. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 242, 1-20.

[73] Macdonald, F.A., Schmitz, M.D., Crowley, J.L., Roots, C.F., Jones, D.S., Maloof, A.C., Strauss, J.V., Cohen, P.A., Johnston, D.T., Schrag, D.P., 2010. Calibrating the Cryogenian. Science 327 (5970), 1241-1243.

[74] MacDonald, J.M., Faithfull, J.W., Roberts, N.M.W., Davies, A.J., Holdsworth, C.M., Newton, M., Williamson, S., Boyce, A., John, C.M., 2019. Clumped-isotope palaeothermometry and LA-ICP-MS U-Pb dating of lava-pile hydrothermal calcite veins. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 174 (7), 63. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-019-1599-x.

[75] Mackey, T.J., Jost, A.B., Creveling, J.R., Bergmann, K.D., 2020. A decrease to low carbonate clumped isotope temperatures in Cryogenian strata. AGU Advances 1 (3), e2019AV000159. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019AV000159.

[76] Mangenot, X., Gasparrini, M., Gerdes, A., Bonifacie, M., Rouchon, V., 2018. An emerging thermochronometer for carbonate-bearing rocks: D 47 /(U-Pb). Geology 46 (12), 1067-1070.

[77] McFadden, K.A., Huang, J., Chu, X., Jiang, G., Kaufman, A.J., Zhou, C., Yuan, X., Xiao, S., 2008. Pulsed oxidation and biological evolution in the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 105 (9), 3197-3202.

[78] Misi, A., Veizer, J., 1998. Neoproterozoic carbonate sequences of the Una Group, Irecê Basin, Brazil: Chemostratigraphy, age and correlations. Precambrian Res. 89 (1-2), 87-100.

[79] Morais, L., Freitas, B.T., Fairchild, T.R., Clavijo Arcos, R.E., Guillong, M., Vance, D., Trindade, R.I., 2024. Dawn of diverse shelled and carbonaceous animal microfossils at ∼ 571 Ma. Sci. Rep. 14 (1), 14916. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-65671-4.

[80] Murdock, D.J., 2020. The ‘biomineralization toolkit’ and the origin of animal skeletons. Biol. Rev. 95 (5), 1372-1392.

[81] Nicomedes, I.S., Ribeiro, B.V., Caxito, F.A., Kirkland, C.L., Victoria, A., Quadir, Z., 2025. In situ Rb-Sr geochronology of slickensides reveals reactivation of cratonic margins post-Gondwana assembly. J. Struct. Geol. 191, 105305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2024.105305.

[82] Nogueira, A.C., Riccomini, C., Sial, A.N., Veloso Moura, C.A., Fairchild, T.R., 2003. Soft-sediment deformation at the base of the Neoproterozoic Puga cap carbonate (southwestern Amazon Craton, Brazil): confirmation of rapid icehouse-to-greenhouse transition in Snowball Earth. Geology 31 (7), 613-616.

[83] Nogueira, A.C.R., Riccomini, C., Sial, A.N., Moura, C.A.V., Trindade, R.I.F., Fairchild, T.R., 2007. Carbon and strontium isotope fluctuations and paleoceanographic changes in the late Neoproterozoic Araras carbonate platform, southern Amazon Craton, Brazil. Chem. Geol. 237 (1-2), 168-190.

[84] Okubo, J., Muscente, A.D., Luvizotto, G.L., Uhlein, G.J., Warren, L.V., 2018. Phosphogenesis, aragonite fan formation and seafloor environments following the Marinoan glaciation. Precambrian Res. 311, 24-36.

[85] Pagel, M., Bonifacie, M., Schneider, D.A., Gautheron, C., Brigaud, B., Damien Calmels, D., Cros, A., Saint-Bezar, B., Landrein, P., Sutcliffe, C., Davis, D., Chaduteau, C., 2018. Improving paleohydrological and diagenetic reconstructions in calcite veins and breccia of a sedimentary basin by combining D 47 temperature, d¹⁸O water and U-Pb age. Chem. Geol. 481, 1-17.

[86] Parry, L.A., Boggiani, P.C., Condon, D.J., Garwood, R.J., Leme, J.M., McIlroy, D., Brasier, M.D., Trindade, R., Campanha, G.A.C., Pacheco, M.L.A.F., Diniz, C.Q.C., Liu, A.G., 2017. Ichnological evidence for meiofaunal bilaterians from the terminal Ediacaran and earliest Cambrian of Brazil. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 1 (10), 1455-1464.

[87] Passey, B.H., Henkes, G.A., 2012. Carbonate clumped isotope bond reordering and geospeedometry. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 351-352, 223-236.

[88] Paula-Santos, G.M., Babinski, M., Kuchenbecker, M., Caetano-Filho, S., Trindade, R.I., Pedrosa-Soares, A.C., 2015. New evidence of an Ediacaran age for the Bambuí Group in southern São Francisco Craton (eastern Brazil) from zircon U-Pb data and isotope chemostratigraphy. Gondwana Res. 28, 702-720.

[89] Paula-Santos, G.M., Caetano-Filho, S., Babinski, M., Trindade, R.I.F., Guacaneme, C., 2017. Tracking connection and restriction of West Gondwana São Francisco Basin through isotope chemostratigraphy. Gondwana Res. 42 (1), 280-305.

[90] Prave, A.R., Condon, D.J., Hoffmann, K.H., Tapster, S., Fallick, A.E., 2016. Duration and nature of the end-Cryogenian (Marinoan) glaciation. Geology 44 (8), 631-634.

[91] Reeder, R.J., Nugent, M., Tait, C.D., Morris, D.E., Heald, S.M., Beck, K.M., Lanzirotti, A., 2001. Coprecipitation of uranium (VI) with calcite: XAFS, micro-XAS, and luminescence characterization. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 65 (20), 3491-3503.

[92] Roberts, N.M.W., Rasbury, E.T., Parrish, R.R., Smith, C.J., Horstwood, M.S.A., Condon, D.J., 2017. A calcite reference material for LA-ICP-MS U-Pb geochronology. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 18 (7), 2807-2814.

[93] Roberts, N.M.W., Drost, K., Horstwood, M.S.A., Condon, D.J., Chew, D., Drake, H., Milodowski, A.E., McLean, N.M., Smye, A.J., Walker, R.J., Haslam, R., Hodson, K., Imber, J., Beaudoin, N., Lee, J.K., 2020. Laser ablation ICP-MS U-Pb carbonate geochronology: strategies, progress, and limitations. Geochronology 2 (1), 33-61.

[94] Rodrigues, J.B., 2008. Proveniência de Sedimentos dos Grupos Canastra, Ibiá Vazante e Bambuí: Um estudo de zircões detríticos e Idades Modelo Sm-Nd. Ph.D. thesis, Universidade de Brasília, p. 141 (in Portuguese).

[95] Romero, J.A.S., Lafon, J.M., Nogueira, A.C.R., Soares, J.L., 2013. Sr isotope geochemistry and Pb-Pb geochronology of the Neoproterozoic cap carbonates, Tangará da Serra, Brazil. Int. Geol. Rev. 55 (2), 185-203.

[96] Romero, G.R., Sanchez, E.A.M., Morais, L., Boggiani, P.C., Fairchild, T.R., 2016. Tubestone microbialite association in the Ediacaran cap carbonates in the southern Paraguay Fold Belt (SW Brazil): Geobiological and stratigraphic implications for a Marinoan cap carbonate. J. S. Am. Earth. Sci. 71, 172-181.

[97] Rooney, A.D., Strauss, J.V., Brandon, A.D., Macdonald, F.A., 2015. A Cryogenian chronology: two long-lasting synchronous Neoproterozoic glaciations. Geology 43 (5), 459-462.

[98] Rooney, A.D., Cantine, M.D., Bergmann, K.D., Gómez-Pérez, I., Al Baloushi, B., Boag, T.H., Busch, J.F., Sperling, E.A., Strauss, J.V., 2020. Calibrating the coevolution of Ediacaran life and environment. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 117 (29), 16824-16830.

[99] Sandberg, P., 1985. Aragonite cements and their occurrence in ancient limestones. In: Schneidermann N., Harris P.M. (Eds.),Carbonate Cements. SEPM Special Publication, Volume 36. https://doi.org/10.2110/pec.85.36.

[100] Sanders, C., Grotzinger, J., 2021. Sedimentological and stratigraphic constraints on depositional environment for Ediacaran carbonate rocks of the São Francisco Craton: implications for phosphogenesis and paleoecology. Precambrian Res. 363, 106328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2021.106328.

[101] Santana, A., Chemale, F., Scherer, C., Guadagnin, F., Pereira, C., Santos, J.O.S., 2021. Paleogeographic constraints on source area and depositional systems in the Neoproterozoic Irecê Basin, São Francisco Craton. J. S. Am. Earth. Sci. 109, 103330. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2021.103330.

[102] Shields, G.A., 2005. Neoproterozoic cap carbonates: a critical appraisal of existing models and the plumeworld hypothesis. Terra Nova 17 (4), 299-310.

[103] Shields, G.A., Deynoux, M., Strauss, H., Paquet, H., Nahon, D., 2007. Barite-bearing cap dolostones of the Taoudéni Basin, northwest Africa: sedimentary and isotopic evidence for methane seepage after a Neoproterozoic glaciation. Precambrian Res. 153 (3), 209-235.

[104] Sial, A.N., Gaucher, C., da Silva Filho, M.A., Ferreira, V.P., Pimentel, M.M., Lacerda, L.D., da Silva Filho, E.V., Cezario, W., 2010. C-, Sr-isotope and Hg chemostratigraphy of Neoproterozoic cap carbonates of the Sergipano Belt, Northeastern Brazil. Precambrian Res. 182 (4), 351-372.

[105] Silva, J.P.A., Lana, C., Mazoz, A., Buick, I., Scholz, R., 2023. U-Pb Saturn: New U-Pb/Pb-Pb data reduction software for LA-ICP-MS. Geostand. Geoanal. Res. 47 (1), 49-66.

[106] Srivastava, N.K., 1982. Algumas observações sobre os estromatólitos dos Grupos Una (Bahia) e Vaza Barris (Sergipe), Nordeste do Brasil. Ciências Da Terra 3, 7-11 (in Portuguese).

[107] Stacey, J.S., Kramers, J.D., 1975. Approximation of terrestrial lead isotope evolution by a two-stage model. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 26 (2), 207-221.

[108] Stolper, D.A., Eiler, J.M., 2015. The kinetics of solid-state isotope-exchange reactions for clumped isotopes: a study of inorganic calcites and apatites from natural and experimental samples. Am. J. Sci. 315 (5), 363-411.

[109] Tera, F., Wasserburg, G.J., 1972. U-Th-Pb systematics in three Apollo 14 basalts and the problem of initial Pb in lunar rocks. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 14 (3), 281-304.

[110] Trindade, R.I.F., Font, E., D’Agrella-Filho, M.S., Nogueira, A.C.R., Riccomini, C., 2003. Low-latitude and multiple geomagnetic reversals in the Neoproterozoic Puga cap carbonate, Amazon Craton. Terra Nova 15 (6), 441-446.

[111] Uhlein, G.J., Uhlein, A., Pereira, E., Caxito, F.A., Okubo, J., Warren, L.V., Sial, A.N., 2019. Ediacaran paleoenvironmental changes recorded in the mixed carbonate-siliciclastic Bambuí Basin, Brazil. Palaeogeog. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 517, 39-51.

[112] Vasconcelos, C., McKenzie, J.A., Warthmann, R., Bernasconi, S.M., 2005. Calibration of the d¹⁸O paleothermometer for dolomite precipitated in microbial cultures and natural environments. Geology 33 (4), 317-320.

[113] Vieira, L.C., Nédélec, A., Fabre, S., Trindade, R.I.F., de Almeida, R.P., 2015. Aragonite crystal fans in Neoproterozoic cap carbonates: a case study from Brazil and implications for the post-Snowball Earth coastal environment. J. Sediment. Res. 85 (3), 285-300.

[114] Warren, L.V., Quaglio, F., Riccomini, C., Simões, M.G., Poiré D.G., Strikis, N.M., Anelli, L.E., Strikis, P.C., 2014. The puzzle assembled: Ediacaran guide fossil Cloudina reveals an old proto-Gondwana seaway. Geology 42 (5), 391-394.

[115] Warren, L.V., Quaglio, F., Simões, M.G., Gaucher, C., Riccomini, C., Poiré D.G., Sial, A.N., 2017. Cloudina-Corumbella-Namacalathus association from the Itapucumi Group, Paraguay: increasing ecosystem complexity and tiering at the end of the Ediacaran. Precambrian Res. 298, 79-87.

[116] Wood, R.A., Zhuravlev, A.Y., Sukhov, S.S., Zhu, M.Y., Zhao, F.C., 2017. Demise of Ediacaran dolomitic seas marks widespread biomineralization on the Siberian Platform. Geology 45 (1), 27-30.

[117] Xiao, S., Bykova, N., Kovalick, A., Gill, B.C., 2017. Stable carbon isotopes of sedimentary kerogens and carbonaceous macrofossils from the Ediacaran Miaohe Member in South China: Implications for stratigraphic correlation and sources of sedimentary organic carbon. Precambrian Res. 302, 171-179.

[118] Xiao, S., Cui, H., Kang, J., McFadden, K.A., Kaufman, A.J., Kitajima, K., Fournelle, J.H., Schwid, M., Nolan, M., Baele, J.M., Valley, J.W., 2020. Using SIMS to decode noisy stratigraphic d¹³C variations in Ediacaran carbonates. Precambrian Res. 343, 105686. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2020.105686.

[119] Yang, C., Rooney, A.D., Condon, D.J., Li, X., Grazhdankin, D.V., Bowyer, F.T., Hu, C., Macdonald, F.A., Zhu, M., 2021. The tempo of Ediacaran evolution. Sci. Adv. 7, eabi9643. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abi9643.

[120] Yin, C., Tang, F., Liu, Y., Gao, L., Liu, P., Xing, Y., Yang, Z., Wan, Y., Wang, Z., 2005. U-Pb zircon age from the base of the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation in the Yangtze Gorges, South China: constraint on the age of Marinoan glaciation. Episodes Journal of International Geoscience 28 (1), 48-51.

[121] Zhang, J.Z., Petersen, S.V., 2023. Clumped and oxygen isotope sclerochronology methods tested in the bivalve Lucina pensylvanica. Chem. Geol. 620, 121346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2023.121346.

[122] Zhang, S., Jiang, G., Zhang, J., Song, B., Kennedy, M.J., Christie-Blick, N., 2005. U-Pb sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe ages from the Doushantuo Formation in south China: Constraints on late Neoproterozoic glaciations. Geology 33, 473-476.

[123] Zhang, S., Jiang, G., Han, Y., 2008. The age of the Nantuo Formation and Nantuo glaciation in South China. Terra Nova 20 (4), 289-294.

[124] Zhou, C., Bao, H., Peng, Y., Yuan, X., 2010. Timing the deposition of ¹⁷O-depleted barite at the aftermath of Nantuo glacial meltdown in South China. Geology 38 (10), 903-906.

[125] Zhou, C., Li, X.H., Xiao, S., Lan, Z., Ouyang, Q., Guan, C., Chen, Z., 2017. A new SIMS zircon U-Pb date from the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation: Age constraint on the Weng’an biota. Geol. Mag. 154, 1193-1201.

[126] Zhou, M., Luo, T., Huff, W.D., Yang, Z., Zhou, G., Gan, T., Yang, H., Zhang, D., 2018. Timing the termination of the Doushantuo negative carbon isotope excursion: evidence from U-Pb ages from the Dengying and Liuchapo formations, South China. Sci. Bull. 63 (21), 1431-1438.

[127] Zhou, C., Huyskens, M.H., Lang, X., Xiao, S., Yin, Q.Z., 2019. Calibrating the terminations of Cryogenian global glaciations. Geology 47 (3), 251-254.