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The Digermulen Peninsula in northeastern Finnmark, Arctic Norway, comprises one of the most complete Ediacaran-Cambrian transitions worldwide with a nearly continuous record of micro-and macrofossils from the interval of the diversification of complex life. Here, we report on the provenance and post-depositional alteration of argillaceous mudstones from the Digermulen Peninsula using rare earth elements and Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr isotopic systematics to provide an environmental context and better understand this important transition in Earth's history. The studied sections comprise a mid-Ediacaran glacial-interglacial cycle, including the Nyborg Formation (ca. 590 Ma) and Mortensnes Formation (related to the ca. 580 Ma-old Gaskiers glaciation), and the St & PRIME;ahpogieddi Formation (ca. 560-537 Ma), which yields Ediacara-type fossils in the Indreelva Member and contains the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary interval in the Manndrapselva Member and basal part of the informal Lower Breidvika member (ca. 537-530 Ma). Three sample groups, (1) Nyborg and Mortensnes for-mations, (2) the lowermost five samples from the Indreelva Member and (3) the remaining samples from the Indreelva as well as from the Manndrapselva and Lower Breidvika members, can be distinguished, belonging to distinct depositional units. All samples have negative epsilon(Nd)(T) values (-6.00 to -21.04) indicating a dominant input of terrigenous detritus with an old continental crust affinity. Significant shifts in Sm-Nd isotope values are related to changes in the sediment source, i.e. Svecofennian province vs Karelian province vs Svecofennian province plus in addition likely some juvenile (late Neoproterozoic volcanic) material, and probably reflect palaeotectonic reorganisation along the Iapetus-facing margin of Baltica. The combined Rb-Sr isotopic data of all samples yield an errorchron age of about 430 Ma reflecting the resetting of the Rb-Sr whole-rock isotope systems of the mudstones during the Scandian

Sabellidites cambriensis is a tubular non-mineralized metazoan that appears as compressed ribbon-shaped imprints with transverse wrinkling, thick walls and an even tube diameter of up to 3 mm. The distribution of Sabellidites is investigated in three Ediacaran–Cambrian sections on the Digermulen Peninsula in Arctic Norway, spanning the Manndrapselva Member of the Stáhpogieddi Formation and the lower member of the Breidvika Formation. Here, the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary is located in the lower part of the upper parasequence (third cycle) of the Manndrapselva Member. Specimens of Sabellidites are rare but consistently present close to the lowest level of Treptichnus pedum and upsection, whereas the taxon is common and abundant in the lower part of the lower member of the Breidvika Formation, with an upper record at c. 55 m above the base. The range is comparable with that of the GSSP section in Newfoundland, Canada, establishing Sabellidites as an index fossil for the lowermost Cambrian. In the Manndrapselva Member, Sabellidites co-occurs with the acritarch Granomarginata, indicative of the lowermost Cambrian Granomarginata Zone, whereas in the Breidvika Formation it co-occurs with Asteridium. Sabellidites is widely distributed in Baltica, through the Rovnian and Lontovan regional stages but confined to the Fortunian global stage. In its lower range, Sabellidites is associated with a Treptichnus pedum trace fossil association and a depauperate leiosphaerid acritarch assemblage, followed by a Granomarginata assemblage. In its upper range, Sabellidites co-occurs with acritarchs of the Asteridium–Comasphaeridium Zone and the tubular foraminiferan Platysolenites. In Baltica, Sabellidites is a useful index fossil., The Digermulen Early Life Research Group acknowledges funding to Anette E. S. Högström from the Norwegian Research Council (NRC, project number 231103). Travel support was given to Frida Hybertsen by the Department of Earth Sciences, Palaeobiology, Uppsala University. T. P. & S. J. acknowledge funding from ‘Ministerio de Economía. Industria y Competitividad’ grant CGL 2017-87631-P.To view supplementary material for this article, please visit https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756821001187

New information on acritarchs from the Duolbagaisa Formation, Digermulen Peninsula, Arctic Norway, enable recognition of the three Cambrian Series 2 acritarch-based zones: the Skiagia ornata-Fimbriaglomerella membranacea, Heliosphaeridium dissimilare-Skiagia ciliosa and Volkovia dentifera-Liepaina plana Assemblage zones. Acritarchs of the Skiagia ornata-Fimbriaglomerella membranacea Zone (Cambrian Stage 3) appear near the base of the unit, close to an undetermined trilobite. In the Upper Member of the Duolbagaisa Formation, in levels with Kjerulfia n. sp. and Elliptocephala n. sp., appears an assemblage with abundant Skiagia ciliosa, indicative of the Heliosphaeridium dissimilare-Skiagia ciliosa Zone. A few metres higher appear Liepaina plana, Heliosphaeridium notatum and Retisphaeridium dichamerum, which indicate the Volkovia dentifera-Liepaina plana Zone (Cambrian Stage 4). The transition between the Duolbagaisa Formation and the overlying Kistedalen Formation is marked by the appearance of Comasphaeridium longispinosum, Multiplicisphaeridium llynense and Eliasum llaniscum, diagnostic of the Miaolingian Series. This coincides with the disappearance of Skiagia; occurrences of Skiagia in Miaolingian strata consist of reworked material related to the Hawke Bay regression at the Cambrian Stage 4-Wuliuan transition. The absence of Skiagia in higher levels of the Duolbagaisa Formation and Kistedalen Formation suggests that no unconformity formed during the Hawke Bay regression in this area. The chronostratigraphical significance of the Skiagia ornata-Fimbriaglomerella membranacea, Heliosphaeridium dissimilare-Skiagia ciliosa and Volkovia dentifera-Liepaina plana zones is critically analysed. Correlation of the Duolbagaisa Formation with peri-Gondwanan terrains of Avalonia and Iberia is established. The Digermulen Peninsula has great potential as a reference section for establishing a Cambrian chronostratigraphy based on acritarchs.

Results of in situ U-Pb dating of calcite spherulites, cone-in-cone (CIC) calcite and calcite fibres from a calcareous concretion of the upper Ediacaran of Finnmark, Arctic Norway, are reported. Calcite spherulites from the innermost layers of the concretion yielded a lower intercept age of 563 +/- 70 Ma, which, although imprecise, is within uncertainty of the age of sedimentation based on fossil assemblages. Non-deformed CIC calcite from the bottom part of the concretion yielded an age of 475 +/- 25 Ma, which is interpreted as the age of CIC calcite formation during a period of fluid overpressure induced during burial of the sediments. Deformed CIC calcite from the top part of the concretion yielded an age of 418 +/- 23 Ma, which overlaps with a known Caledonian tectono-metamorphic event, and indicates a potential post-depositional overprint at this time. Calcite fibres that grew in small fissures along spherulite rims, which are interpreted as a recrystallization feature during deformation and formation of a cleavage, gave an imprecise age of 486 +/- 161 Ma. Our results show that U-Pb dating of calcite can provide age constraints for ancient carbonates and syn- to post-depositional processes that operated during burial and metamorphic overprinting.

The Vestertana Group on the Digermul Peninsula, Finnmark, northern Norway, presents one of the few, potentially continuous Ediacaran-Cambrian sections in Scandinavia. Trace fossils provide the main age constraint, with the boundary traditionally placed at the base of the Breidvika Formation. Here, we provide trace-fossil evidence to show that this boundary is at least as low as the third cycle of the Manndraperelva Member, Stahpogieddi Formation, where Treptichnus pedum is associated with trilobed trace fossils. Organic-walled microfossils from the same stratigraphic interval include Granomarginata prima and the first report from Scandinavia of Cochleatina. The second cycle of the Manndraperelva Member contains trace fossils, including treptichnids and ?Cochlichnus isp. tentatively interpreted as latest Ediacaran. Reports of palaeopascichnids suggest a late Ediacaran age for the first cycle. The age of lower parts of the Stahpogieddi Formation is poorly constrained but discoidal Ediacara-type fossils, vendotaenids, and possible simple trace fossils, suggest that the middle part of the Innerelva Member is younger than c. 560 Ma.

The Ordovician age Lockne and Devonian Siljan craters are two of the largest impact structures in northern Europe. Both formed in targets with a thick, low-strength upper layer. This target configuration is known to generate concentric crater structures with an outer, shallow crater in the low-strength layer, surrounding a central, deeper crater in the more resistant substrate. The concentric craters of Lockne and Siljan are excellent models for studies of similar concentric craters on Earth and elsewhere in the Solar system. Several structural issues remain, and drilling through the craters within the Swedish Deep Drilling Program intends to address the following: the extent of the craters with respect to the time of impact; the effects of cratering on the basement; and the role of basement structure for the crater formation. A problem for the Lockne crater is the relation to the Caledonian orogeny and the lateral extension of the ejecta blanket - the rim is interrupted by a radial depression that has been interpreted both as primary and secondary, tectonically induced. A second feature to study is the deeper and older (1.82-1.80 Ga) NNW-SSE shear zones that cut the basement. In the Siljan area the development of mega block associations comprising the infilling of the graben is disputed. The blocks may either be formed by sagging of peripheral parts of the fault blocks or alternatively by major radial movement involving kilometre long transport.

A machaeridian, Lepidocoleus hohensteini sp. nov., is described from the Hunsruck Slate (Lower Emsian) of Germany. The available material includes a unique example preserving evidence of the soft tissues, only the second machaeridian specimen to do so and the first lepidocoleid. This specimen shows that the plates are attached to alternate segments in the trunk. The morphology is consistent with an annelid affinity of the Lepidocoleidae and confirms the unity of the Machaeridia. This discovery adds an important group to the known diversity of this famous late Palaeozoic marine Konservat-Lagerstatte.

Early Cambrian tommotiids are problematic fossil metazoans with external organophosphatic sclerites that have been considered to be basal members of the lophophorate stem group. Tommotiids are almost exclusively known from isolated or rarely fused individual sclerites, which made previous reconstructions of the actual organism highly conjectural. However, the recent discovery of the first articulated specimens of the tommotiid Eccentrotheca revealed a tubular sclerite arrangement (scleritome) that limited the possible life habit to sessile filter feeding and thus further supported a lophophorate affinity. Here, we report the first articulated specimens of a second tommotiid taxon, Paterimitra from the Early Cambrian of the Arrowie Basin, South Australia. Articulated specimens of Paterimitra are composed of two bilaterally symmetrical sclerite types and an unresolved number of small, asymmetrical and irregular crescent-shaped sclerites that attached to the anterior margin of the symmetrical sclerites. Together, the sclerites form an open cone in which the symmetrical sclerites are joined together and form a small posterior opening near the base of the scleritome, while the irregular crescent-shaped sclerites defined a broad anterior opening. The coniform scleritome of Paterimitra is interpreted to have attached to hard substrates via a pedicle that emerged through the small posterior opening ( sometimes forming a tube) and was probably a sessile filter feeder. The scleritome of Paterimitra can be derived from the tubular scleritome of Eccentrotheca by modification of basal sclerites and reduction in tube height, and probably represents a more derived member of the brachiopod stem group with the paired symmetrical sclerites possibly homologous to brachiopod valves.

Shell repair is reported in two dorsal valves of the brachiopod Strophomena? arachnoidea Lindstrom, 1880 from the lower Ashgill Fjacka Formation of the Siljan district, Dalarna. The most severe case displays a large wedge-shaped injury that cuts back abou