New Data on the Upper Ediacaran Microbiota of Zuun-Arts (Zavkhan Terrane, Western Mongolia)

Abstract

Microfossils and problematics from the Upper Ediacaran deposits of the Zuun-Arts Formation of the Zavkhan Terrane of Western Mongolia are discussed. For the first time, various organic remains preserved in mineralized and organic-clay taphocenoses have been described from these deposits. Numerous tubular microfossils are interpreted as remains of the sheaths of the giant sulfide-oxidizing Thioploca bacteria Candidatus Marithioploca araucae. Autochthonous and allochthonous components of the microbiota were identified, and the possible depositional-ecological environment of the paleobasin was reconstructed.