Geochronological constraint on the Cambrian Chengjiang biota, South China
Abstract
The Cambrian Chengjiang biota of South China provides compelling fossil evidence for the rapid appearance of metazoan phyla in Earth history (the ‘Cambrian explosion’). However, the timing of the Chengjiang biota is poorly constrained owing to lack of datable rock materials within the Maotianshan Shale that yields the fossils. Here we integrate secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and chemical ablation isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry (CA-ID-TIMS) U–Pb analyses of detrital zircons from the Maotianshan Shale to provide high-precision geochronological constraint on the Chengjiang biota. The youngest group of SIMS U–Pb detrital zircon dates yields an age peak at 520 Ma. Six zircons from this group are further dated by the CA-ID-TIMS U–Pb technique, but suggesting that they were not formed from a single zircon growth event. Thereby neither the age peak nor the weighted mean age defined by the youngest SIMS U–Pb dates could represent the maximum depositional age of the Maotianshan Shale. Instead, the youngest CA-ID-TIMS U–Pb date, 518.03 ± 0.69/0.71 Ma (2 σ , analytical uncertainty/incorporates U–Pb tracer calibration uncertainty), provides the first robust maximum age of the Chengjiang biota. This new geochronological constraint on the Chengjiang biota indicates that the Cambrian explosion reached its major phase around 518.03 ± 0.69/0.71 Ma, demonstrating a protracted process (>22 myr) for the Cambrian explosion. Supplementary material: SIMS and CA-ID-TIMS zircon U–Pb data are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4024849
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The age of the Chengjiang biota is not older than 518.03 ± 0.69/0.71 Ma.
“is recently constrained as not older than 518.03 ± 0.69/0.71 Ma [68”
From Cambrian Sessile, Suspension Feeding Stem-Group Ctenophores and Evolution of the Comb Jelly Body Plan (2019) · cites this paper as [68]
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BackgroundThe Cambrian collision of the Yangtze Block with Gondwana: Evidence from provenance analyses
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“The latest radiometric dates of detrital zircons from the base of the Chengjiang Biota in the Chengjiang area yielded a maximum deposition age of 518.03 ± 0.69/0.71 Ma (Yang et al., 2018).”
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Hg isotope evidence for oceanic oxygenation during the Cambrian Explosion
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Deep Conservation and Unexpected Evolutionary History of Neighboring lncRNAs MALAT1 and NEAT1
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Radioisotopic ages used in GTS2020
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Chuaria Walcott from the early Cambrian Qingjiang biota: a taxon persisted for billions of years
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“518 Ma (Yang et al .”
Periodic shell decollation as an ecology‐driven strategy in the early Cambrian Cupitheca
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“518 million years ago (Yang et al. 2018)), Yunnan Province, South China (Sun et al.”
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“2017; Yang et al .”
High-precision CA-ID-TIMS zircon U-Pb geochronology: a review of the Neoproterozoic time scale
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“High-precision dating of detrital zir-con grains from widely distributed siliciclastic rocks by combining SIMS/LA-ICP-MS and CA-ID-TIMS methods [51 ,118 ] provide precise maximum age constraints which, together with other direct radio-isotopic ages and Bayesian age-depth models, can refine the…”
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A new Cambrian frondose organism: ‘Ediacaran survivor’ or convergent evolution?
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“This boundary has been correlated with the ~518 Ma appearance of the Chengjiang biota in a less distal outer shelf setting than that of the Qingjiang biota (Fu et al. 2019; Han et al. 2018; Jin et al. 2016; Yang et al. 2018).”
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How can research on modern and fossil bones help us build more resistant columns?
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“Indeed, verteb-rates originated about 520 million years ago [34, 35] so that there are hundreds of millions of years of evolution of skeletal structures documented in the fossil record.”
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Cambrian palaeoscolecidomorph Cricocosmia caught in the act of moulting
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“To date, more than 3,000 specimens of C. jinningensis have been collected from the yellow-green shale within the Maotianshan Member of the Yu’anshan Formation of Cambrian Series 2, Stage 3 (ca. 518 Ma) (Yang et al. 2018) by the Early Life Institute (ELI).”
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“The fossils are within the Eoredlichia - Wutingaspis Assemblage Biozone (518 million years ago) of the Cambrian Yu ’ anshan Formation (Chengjiang biota) 90,91 .”
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Revisiting the scorpion central nervous system using microCT
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Cellularly preserved chlorophyte from the 518 million year old Chengjiang biota
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Oceanic redox evolution in an early Cambrian intrashelf basin, South China
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Bryozoans from the early Cambrian Chengjiang BiotaPreprint
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Palaeoscolecids from the early Cambrian Guanshan biota, Yunnan Province, China
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“518 Ma (Yang et al .”
Liu, Z., Yan, D., Chen, S.-B., Meng, F., & George, S. C. (2026) · Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology · doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2026.113765
Orbitally driven ammonium upwelling fueled primary productivity during the peak Cambrian Explosion
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Evidence for aorta and other blood vessels in fossil yunnanozoans from the Cambrian period
Tian, Q., Zhao, F., Mallatt, J. M., Zeng, H., Zhu, M., & Jiang, B. (2026) · Royal Society Open Science · doi:10.1098/rsos.260043
Self-citationCambrian echinoderms: current research and future perspectives
ZHENG, W.-Y., Hai-jing, S. U. N., De-zhi, W. A. N. G., & Fang-chen, Z. H. A. O. (2026) · Gushengwu xuebao · doi:10.3724/aps.2025052
- Authors
- Yang, C., Li, X.-H., Zhu, M., Condon, D. J., & Chen, J.
- Affiliations
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- British Geological Survey (GB)
- Venue
- Journal of the Geological Society
- Publisher
- Geological Society of London
- Published
- 2018-03-15
- Volume
- 175
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 659-666
- ISSN
- 0016-7649 (ISSN-L)
- 2041-479X
- OpenAlex
- W2793886337
- Cited by
- 87
- References
- 56
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 5
- FWCI
- 5.56
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of the Geological Society (publishedVersion)
- NERC Open Research Archive (Natural Environment Research Council) (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China (2013CB835000)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB18030300)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geophysics › Geological and Geochemical Analysis
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Geochemistry and Geochronology of Asian Mineral Deposits
- Keywords
- Chengjiang biota, Cambrian explosion, detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology, maximum depositional age, Cambrian stratigraphy, early metazoan evolution, South China
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