See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274730804 IN SEARCH OF THE KINGDOM'S EDIACARANS: THE FIRST GENUINE METAZOANS (MACROSCOPIC BODY AND TRACE FOSSILS) FROM THE NEOPROTEROZOIC JIBALAH GROUP (VENDIAN/EDIACARAN) ON THE ARABIAN SHI... ARTICLE · JANUARY 2013 CITATIONS READS 2 69 18 AUTHORS, INCLUDING: Patricia Vickers Rich Peter Robert. Johnson Monash University (Australia) 45 PUBLICATIONS 1,271 CITATIONS 79 PUBLICATIONS 1,250 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Tom Rich Museum Victoria 92 PUBLICATIONS 1,703 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Ulf Linnemann Senckenberg Naturhistorische Sammlunge… 144 PUBLICATIONS 1,914 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Available from: Tom Rich Retrieved on: 11 February 2016 In Search of the Kingdom’s Ediacarans: The First Genuine Metazoans on the Arabian Shield IN SEARCH OF THE KINGDOM’S EDIACARANS: THE FIRST GENUINE METAZOANS (MACROSCOPIC BODY AND TRACE FOSSILS) FROM THE NEOPROTEROZOIC JIBALAH GROUP (VENDIAN/EDIACARAN) ON THE ARABIAN SHIELD BY PATRICIA VICKERS-RICH, ANDREI IVANTSOV, FAYEK H. KATTAN, PETER R. JOHNSON, ASHRAF AL QUBSANI, WADEE KASHGHARI, MAXIM LEONOV, THOMAS RICH, ULF LINNEMANN, MANDY HOFMANN, PETER TRUSLER, JEFF SMITH, ABDULLAH YAZEDI, BEN RICH, SAAD M. AL GARNI, ABDULLA SHAMARI, ADEEB AL BARAKATI, AND MOHAMMAD H. AL KAFF Cenozoic basalt draped Neoproterozoic sequence with Cambrian Saq Sandstone overlying the Neoproterozoic Jibalah Group as a Backdrop, Northwestern Arabian Shield www.sgs.org.sa TECHNICAL REPORT SGS-TR-2013-5 1434 H 2013 G Saudi Geological Survey Technical Report - SGS-TR-2013-5 i In Search of the Kingdom’s Ediacarans: The First Genuine Metazoans on the Arabian Shield A Technical Report prepared by the Saudi Geological Survey, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia The work on which this report is based was performed in support of Saudi Geological Survey Subproject Subproject - The Eastern Arabian Shield: Window into Supercontinental Assembly at the Dawn of Animal Life. It has been edited and reviewed by staff of the Saudi Geological Survey. Product names used in this report are for descriptive purposes and in no way imply endorsement by SGS. This report is a product of the Saudi Geological Survey; if the information herein is used in any form, either quoted or paraphrased, this report should be properly cited using the full serial number, the author’s name(s), and the year of publication. The correct citation for this report is: Vickers-Rich, P., Ivantsov. A., Ka an, F.H., Johnson, P.R., Al Qubsani, A., Kashghari, W., Leonov, M., Rich, T., Linnemann, U., Hofmann, M., Trusler, P., Smith, J., Yazidi, A., Rich, B., Al Garni, S.M., Shamari, A., Al Baraka , A., and Al Ka , M.H., 2012, In search of the Kingdom’s Ediacarans: The fi rst genuine Metazoans (macroscopic body and trace fossils) from the Neoproterozoic Jibalah Group (Vendian/Ediacaran) on the Arabian Shield: Saudi Geological Survey Technical Report SGS-TR-2013-5, 21 p., 19 fi gs., 1 table. In common with most reports produced by the Saudi Geological Survey, this report is available for sale to the public in hard copy format or on CD in PDF format. Please contact the SGS Publications Center at the address in Jeddah below for more information. 34° 35° 36° 37° 38° 39° 40° 41° 42° 43° 44° 45° 46° 47° 48° 49° 50° 51° 52° 53° 54° 55° 56° 57° 58° 59° 60° 61° 32° 32° 31° 31° 0 100 200 300 400 500 km 30° 30° SCALE City, town 29° 29° International frontier (approx.) Edge of Arabian Shield 28° Tabuk 28° 27° ABI 27° RA A NL 26° 26° AD DAMMAM GU F 25° 25° 24° 24° AL MADINAH AR RIYAD 23° 23° 22° 22° JEDDAH 21° 21° MAKKAH RE 20° D 20° S E 19° A 19° 18° 18° 17° 17° 16° 16° 15° 15° ARABIAN SEA 14° 14° 13° 13° Study Areas This map should not be used as a reference for international borders. 12° 12° 36° 37° 38° 39° 40° 41° 42° 43° 44° 45° 46° 47° 48° 49° 50° 51° 52° 53° 54° 55° 56° 57° 58° 59° Index map of the Arabian Peninsula For more information about the Saudi Geological Survey visit our website www.sgs.org.sa or write to or visit our headquarters in Jeddah or our offi ce in Riyadh. 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(966-1) 476-5000 ii Saudi Geological Survey Technical Report - SGS-TR-2013-5 In Search of the Kingdom’s Ediacarans: The First Genuine Metazoans on the Arabian Shield TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ENGLISH ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................................1 ARABIC ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................................................2 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................3 PRECAMBRIAN SEQUENCES IN THE ARABIAN SHIELD AND THE METAZOAN RECORD IN THE KINGDOM ..............................................................................................................................................3 JIBALAH GROUP .........................................................................................................................................................6 GEOCHRONOLOGY ..................................................................................................................................................7 DHAIQA BASIN, DHAIQA FORMATION .................................................................................................................8 MACROSCOPIC FOSSILS FROM THE DHAIQA FORMATION ..........................................................................11 MATERIAL ..................................................................................................................................................................14 Background and comparisons.................................................................................................................................14 Macroscopic metazoan body fossils from the Dhaiqa formation .............................................................................15 JIF’N BASIN, JIF’N FORMATION ............................................................................................................................17 Horodyskia-like macrofossils from the Jif’n formation ...........................................................................................17 Geologic setting .....................................................................................................................................................18 Affi nities of Horodyskia .........................................................................................................................................18 DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE INVESTIGATIONS ...................................................................18 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...........................................................................................................................................19 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................................................19 EPILOGUE ..................................................................................................................................................................21 FIGURES Figure 1. Neoproterozoic outcrops of interest in the search for Ediacaran fossils. ........................................................4 Figure 2. The late Mesoproterozoic-middle Neoproterozoic Rodinia supercontinent. .................................................5 Figure 3. Tectonic setting of the Arabian Plate. ..........................................................................................................5 Figure 4. Jibalah group outcrops in the northern part of the Arabian Shield. ..............................................................6 Figure 5. Stratigraphic columns for selected exposures of the Jibalah group. ...............................................................7 Figure 6. Plot of U-Pd data and age of 560±4 Ma from the youngest zircons in the Dhaiqa formation. .........................8 Figure 7. View of the Dhaiqa formation. ....................................................................................................................8 Figure 8. Section of the Al Wajh Quadrangle Sheet 26B (Davies, 1985) prospected for Ediacarans. ...........................9 Figure 9. Stratigraphic section of the middle part of the Dhaiqa formation. .............................................................10 Figure 10. Member c of Section 8 of the Dhaiqa formation from which the dated ash sample was collected. .............10 Figure 11. Surface which produced structure shown in fi gures 15-16. ........................................................................11 Figure 12. View of the Dhaiqa formation. ..................................................................................................................11 Figure 13. Volcanic ash overlying the red fossiliferous sandstone in the Dhaiqa formation. ........................................12 Figure 14. Concordia age plot for tuff layer overlying Ediacarans in fi gure 16. ...........................................................12 Figure 15. Harlaniella sp. from the Terminal Proterozoic of Saudi Arabia (1) and Late Vendian of Russia (2). ...........14 Figure 16. Possible Charnia-like metazoan