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International audience; The Mesoproterozoic era is a crucial period in Earth history characterized by muted oxygen levels in the atmosphere–ocean system. This period is well represented in the non-metamorphosed sedimentary rocks from the Taoudeni Basin, Mauritania. Few studies have been carried out to trace the sources of these sedimentary archives. Here, we examined the sedimentary rocks from the Atar (S4 drill core) and El Mreiti groups (S2 and S3 drill cores). This study focuses on whole-rock elemental geochemistry and Sm/Nd isotope compositions to provide insights into the provenance of the fine-grained siliciclastic sediments from the basal part of the Mesoproterozoic Atar and El Mreiti groups. Paleoweathering indices reveal a moderate degree of chemical weathering in the source areas, consistent with the low compositional maturity of the studied samples. The concentrations of the relatively immobile trace elements suggest mixing sources of sediment provenance, which is dominated by felsic source rocks for the Atar sediments. However, distinctively positive ƐNd(t) values coupled with high 143Nd/144Nd and Sm/Nd ratios and high ƒSm/Nd values of the sediments from the El Mreiti Group indicate derivation from juvenile and less evolved sources rocks. Further, the depleted mantle model ages (TDM) of the provenance protolith (1.95–2.31 Ga) support the argument that the El Mreiti sediments are dominantly sourced from the Paleoproterozoic terrane exposed in the eastern Reguibat Shield while the Atar Group were predominantly from the Archean basement rocks in the western Reguibat Shield. Moreover, Sm/Nd isotope and mixing model results support the major contributions of the felsic Archean rocks of the Reguibat Shield for the Atar Group samples. Although these strata, separated by ∼1000 km, have been described as stratigraphic equivalent, our study demonstrates distinct sediment sources between the Atar Group strata and those of El Mreiti, therefore, reinforcing the importance of sediment provenance in understanding the evolution and reconstruction of modern and ancient sedimentary systems.

Understanding and reconstruction of the paleo-condition dynamics linked to biological evolution in Earth history remain a big challenge because a majority of the ancient rocks have been affected by secondary modification processes, including tectonic, metamorphic, and hydrothermal activities. This study examines the influence of magmatic intrusion on sediment composition and paleo-environmental reconstruction from two drill cores (S1 and S2) drilled into the shallow-marine Mesoproterozoic (~1.1 Ga) El Mreiti Group of northeast Taoudeni Basin, Mauritania. Petrographic and mineralogical data show that the S1 drill core, intruded by dolerite sill, consists of a series of metamorphic minerals, including pyroxene, graphite, pyrrhotite, garnet, zeolite, talc, and saponite in sediments within the contact aureoles of the dolerite sill, indicating the influence of contact metamorphism and associated hydrothermal activities. The dominance of low-temperature minerals and the absence of metamorphic minerals in the S2 drill core sediments demonstrate that they are largely preserved and were only affected by high-grade diagenetic modifications. The anomalous enrichments of the Fe and redox-sensitive trace elements (RSTEs) in sediments within the vicinity of the dolerite sill coincide with increasing pyrrhotite contents, suggesting the transfer and remobilization of the RSTEs via thermal decomposition of pyrite to pyrrhotite during metamorphism and hydrothermal processes at elevated temperatures. This is supported by the absence of hematite, low Th/U ratios, and increasing Eu anomaly values in the dolerite sill and contact aureoles. This study reinforces the importance of screening and assessment of samples for post-depositional alteration effects before being used for the reconstruction of paleo-redox conditions in modern and ancient sedimentary rocks.

The early evolution of metazoans has been reconstructed by studies on exceptionally preserved molds in siliciclastic rocks from the Ediacaran Period. However, there remains considerable controversy regarding the formation mechanisms of this unusual ‘Ediacaran-style’ preservation. Proposed hypotheses usually include early authigenesis of minerals, but evidence for this is scarce. In a recently discovered deposit of Ediacaran biota in Brazil, we show that the classic moldic preservation is related to clay mineral authigenesis. Specifically, these clays originated from the alteration of original pyroclastic sediments, likely enhanced by microbial activity, leading to early illitization and morphological templating of the fossiliferous surfaces at a micrometric scale. Such high-fidelity preservation was made possible by rapid burial during volcanic events and the in-situ templating of tissue by clays via microbially-mediated mineralization. This newly described Lagerstätte demonstrates that a number of minerals can facilitate preservation, and that perhaps ‘Ediacaran-style’ preservation result from different processes leading to the same broad style of preservation.