Lithostratigraphy and sedimentary environment of the Precambrian Kushk Series of central Iran

The Kushk Series is a distinctive late Ediacaran succession occurring in the Bafq and Behabad regions of central Iran that has yielded an extensive community of diverse Ediacara biota, including several Precambrian (Chuaria) and Ediacaran (Cloudina, Corumbella) index fossils. The Kushk Series reaches a thickness of up to 518 m and consists of shallow to deep subtidal deposits along a homoclinal carbonate ramp during a transgression–regression cycle. These deposits accumulated as part of an extensional rift basin complex resulting from the opening of the Proto–Paleotethys Ocean in northeastern Gondwana. Latest Ediacaran fossils occur in the deep-water calcareous marine shales and represent a thriving community at the dawn of animal life.

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