Acritarchs from the Upper Proterozoic and Lower Cambrian of East Greenland

Abstract

Acritarchs are described from rocks of the Upper Proterozoic Eleonore Bay Group and Tillite Group and from the Lower Cambrian Bastion Formation and Ella Island Formation. Twenty-four previously described acritarch taxa have been identified. The state of preservation is variable perhaps depending on variable thermal alteration due to thickness of overburden, tectonic deformation and metamorphism. Palaeoenvironmental aspects of some acritarchs are discussed. The acritarchs of the Ella Island Formation and Upper Bastion Formation indicate a late Early Cambrian age in agreement with the age indicated by shelly faunas. A Vendian age is ascribed to the Tillite Group. The upper part of the Eleonore Bay Group is regarded as Late Riphean. Correlations of these units with Lower Cambrian and Upper Proterozoic sequences in the Russian Platform, Scandinavia and elsewhere are presented.