Description:
The Shibantan Member is one of only two known carbonate settings characterised by a 'typical' Ediacaran fossil association including Ediacara-type fossils. Aim of this project was a comprehensive geobiological characterisation of the Shibantan Member, addressing both sedimentological and biogeochemical issues in order to gain a better understanding of these palaeoecosystems in which early metazoans thrived. Since organic biomarker analyses are problematical if applied on thermally mature outcrop samples, contamination paths were critically assessed and the potential of the direct use of ext...