Sunday 28 July 2019

Phenocrysts in a Bed of Porphyritic Volcanic Rock in the Ordovician Sedimentary Rocks of the Ottawa Embayment, Eastern Ontario

In the sedimentary rocks of the Ottawa Embayment I may have found a thin bed of a porphyritic volcanic rock.   





Finding evidence of altered volcanic ash (K-bentonite beds) in the Ordovician rocks of Eastern Ontario and the Ordovician rocks of Eastern North America would  not be unusual, as occurrences have been reported for over eighty-five years, and the K-bentonite beds have been used as Ordovician stratigraphic marker horizons over much of the eastern United States and southern Ontario.  For example, Fyon (2019) provides good photos and an explanation of the K-bentonite volcanic ash beds in Ordovician limestone  at Marmora, Ontario, while  Sharma et al. (2005a, b) reported on a 6 cm thick K-bentonite (volcanic ash) bed in the Ordovician Billings Formation shales of the Ottawa Embayment, found in logged drill core from Russell, Ontario.   Kolata, Huff  and  Bergstrom (1996) reviewed the Ordovician K-bentonites of eastern North America, reporting “at least 60 volcanic ash beds, K-bentonites” within the Ordovician stratigraphic succession, concluding that the “parental magmas consisted of a calc-alkaline suite ranging from andesite, rhyodacite, trachyandesite and rhyolite” in a “setting characterized by destructive plate-margin volcanics” where erupted volcanic ash was “carried by the prevailing ... tradewinds for hundreds of kilometers ... and were deposited in shallow cratonic seas.”  For southern Ontario they report two K-bentonites in the Ordovician Gull River Formation (citing Liberty, 1969) and one in the Ordovician Bobcaygeon succession (citing Liberty, 1969), noting that “The Millbrig occurs in the same stratigraphic interval as [K-bentonite] bed MR, described by Liberty from near the base of the Bobcageon Formation in outcrops in the Lake Simcoe region, southwestern Ontario.”   Liberty’s (1969) reports are of k-bentonite clay layers.  


Finding visible phenocrysts  in Ordovician K-bentonite beds is not the norm.   John Haynes (1989) describes the feldspars of the Ordovician Deicke and Millbrig K-bentonite Beds of the southeastern United States,  noting (page 37) that “Feldspars are the most abundant phenocrysts in the Dieke and Millbrig....Grain sizes vary greatly; the feldspars average less than .5 mm long in samples from the west-central Valley and Ridge in Virginia, and they average between 0.5 - 1 mm in samples from the Nashville Dome and the Valley and Ridge from southwestern Virginia to Alabama.”   He included a number of photomicrographs (Figs. 17-21)  of feldspar phenocrysts in his doctoral thesis, but the ones figured are less than a 2.5 mm long.  Others report even smaller crystals.  When Delano et al. (1990) examined 30 K-bentonites (altered volcanic ashes)  in the late Ordovician  Utica shale of New York State they found fragmental feldspar crystals up to 600 microns in diameter, with most crystals under 45 microns.

Haynes (1994) mentions “In the southeastern United States, identification of the Rocklandian Deicke and Millbrig K-bentonite Beds is based on differences in phenocryst mineralogy in the tuffaceous zones of each bed, and the two beds can be reliably and consistently distinguished on this basis. The common phenocrysts in the Deicke are labradorite and various Fe-Ti minerals, and in the Millbrig they are andesine, quartz, and biotite. Phenocrysts present in trace amounts are biotite and quartz in the Deicke, and apatite and zircon in both beds. The Deicke is altered dacitic or latitic ash, whereas the Millbrig is altered rhyodacitic ash. Both beds are interpreted as airfall deposits produced by huge volcanic eruptions, each of which was much larger and produced far more ash than the 1815 eruption of Tambora and even the great Toba eruption of 75 Ka.”  

Haynes (1994) notes that “Biotite, quartz, feldspars, and other clay minerals are present as primary phenocrysts and secondary phenocrysts in the Diecke and Millbrig in the study area – and in fact are so abundant and coarse grained in some zones that the material in those zones is tuffaceous rather than bentonitic – but the principal constituent of these and many other beds in Lower Paleozoic strata is mixed-layer illite/smectite (I/S) clay...”   

There are numerous other reported occurrences where K-bentonite (volcanic ash) outcrops in Ontario and the Ottawa Embayment.  Brun and Chagnon (1979) reported three occurrences of clay (volcanic ash beds) in  Black River and Trenton Group (middle Ordovician) rocks of the Ottawa Embayment, at quarries in Aylmer, Lucerne and Hull, Quebec (just across the river from Ottawa). Suarez et al. (2016) reported a late Ordovician U-Pb zircon age from K-bentonite found in the Trenton Group near Kirkfield, Ontario.  Al-Delami and Dix (2009) reported two thin (~3 cm) biotite-bearing clay beds in the Upper Ordovician Verulam Formation (Ottawa Group)  in the western portion of the Ottawa Embayment, eastern Ontario, which they interpreted as altered volcanic ash from two related eruptive events.  Cornell (2001) reviewed the K-bentonite (volcanic ash) occurrences in Ordovician rocks in Ontario and New York State,  and reported  collecting and examining K-bentonite  at localities that  included  Brechin Quarry, Brechin Ontario; Miller Paving Quarry, Dalrymple, Ontario; Provincial Route 35 road cut just south of Coboconk, Ontario; Provincial Highway 7 road cut west of Marmora, Ontario; Bethlehem Steel Mine, Marmora Ontario; Provincial Route 2 road cut just east of Napanee, Ontario (below the highway department); QEW Highway 401 road cut at Montreal Street exit, Kingston, Ontario;  Division Street Quarry, Kingston, Ontario; and Barriefield Hill, near Kingston, Ontario.  (Inserted August 12, 2019):  Kolata, Huff and Bergström (1996) briefly described the Ordovician K-bentonite bed at the quarry near Aylmer, Quebec (just across the river from Ottawa) noting that this bed is as much as 17 cm thick.   Salad Hersi (1998) reported on a Bentonite layer in a roadcut at the intersection of Tenth Line Rd. and St. Joseph Blvd. in Orleans, Ontario (now part of Ottawa),  within the Hull Formation about 1 meter below the base of the Verulam Formation.   Kierman (1999) analyzed those two K-Bentonites from the Ottawa Embayment: one at the Klock Quarry in Aylmer, Quebec, and the second near the intersection of St. Joseph Blvd. and Tenth Line Rd. in Orleans, Ontario about 1 m below the base of the Verulam Formation.  Dix and Jolicoeur ( 2011) discuss bentonite layers in the Ordovician Billings Formation and Carlsbad Formation, Eastern Ontario.
I did not find a report of a porphyritic volcanic rock from the Ordovician rocks of the Ottawa Embayment.

The potassium-rich bentonite clay formed from altered volcanic ash was originally called bentonite, then metabentonite and only later called K-bentonite (Lounsbury  and Melhorn, 1963).  Kay (1929, 1931, 1935) reported on a six inch layer of  metabentonite (now, K-bentonite) north of Kingston, Ontario at the base of the Ordovician Glenburnie shale, and that the metabentonite had been identified at Napanee, Ontario.   Kay (1931, 1935) also reported  metabentonite occurrences in a number of exposures in the Ordovician Coboconk limestone between Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay, in Simcoe County, Ontario, with the best of the exposures at quarries  between Orillia and Coldwater.  Maddox (1930) reported a bed of  “bentonite” in Ordovician rocks in a well  2 1/2 miles southeast of Collingwood, Ontario, which Kay (1931) identified as a metabentonite (now, K-bentonite). Orr (1959) reported on samples of “metabentonite or K-bentonite” of Ordovician age from four separate quarries north of Lake Simcoe, Ontario: the first from two 1 inch seams  near the town of Medonte; the second from a 1/2 inch thick bentonite layer at the west quarry at the town of Coboconk; the third from an inch thick bentonite layer at an abandoned quarry 25 miles southwest of the town of Sebright; the fourth from the upper of two 1 inch bentonitic shale partings at a quarry north of the Longford Mills.

 K-bentonite (volcanic ash) layers within sedimentary rocks  are fairly common from the Precambrian  to the Tertiary (see Huff, 2016).   Crystal tuffs and tuffacious zones within K-bentonites layers  have been  reported from various  periods in addition to the Ordovician, but my initial online research suggests that the large size of the feldspar phenocrysts in the rock that I found is very unusual .  For example,  Dennison and Textoris (1978)  report that the Devonian Tioga K-bentonite (found in Virginia, West  Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York)  has several tuffaceous layers,  and  state that “The Tioga tuff ranges (in its original rock state) from coarse crystal tuffs rich in biotite and feldspars (Fig. 3) to tuffaceous shales. ... Up to 35 percent of some samples of the middle coarse zone consist of euhedral and fragmented K-feldspar and Na-rich plagioclase.”  They use isopach data and crystal size for biotite  and feldspar to speculate as to the location of the volcanic source of the Tioga tuffs.  Their map plotting the mean diameter of the coarsest feldspar in the middle coarse zone of Tioga Bentonite, Appalachian Basin, has feldspars ranging from .1mm to 1 mm.
   

In my January 7, 2018 blog posting I mentioned that the Ontario Geological Survey (“OGS”) had released the Summary of Field Work and Other Activities, 2017 (Open File Report 6333), in which Catherine Béland Otis reported on her project ‘Paleozoic Mapping of Eastern Ontario’ . She mentioned  that she had been looking at ages determined from zircons found in bentonite beds in Eastern Ontario and hoped to correlate strata in Eastern Ontario with adjacent jurisdictions, and that “The bentonite beds  represent Late Ordovician volcanic ash deposits from a volcanic arc, now disappeared, located hundreds of kilometres to the east.”   I thought at that time that the altered volcanic ash (K-bentonite beds) would  be an interesting blog posting.  What is surprising is the number of papers written on the beds in the Ordovician of North America.

Christopher Brett
Ottawa, Ontario


References and Suggested Reading

Adhya, Soumava,  2009
Geochemical fingerprinting of volcanic airfall deposits: A tool in stratigraphic correlation.
Ph.D. Thesis and Dissertation. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University at Albany, State University of New York.  532 pages.
http://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/cas_daes_geology_etd/125

Al-Delami, M. And Dix, G.R., 2009   
Distal Limits and Composition of a Late Ordovician (Mohawkian) Biotite-Bearing Volcanic ash, Foreland Carbonate Platform (Verulam Formation), Ottawa Embayment: Helping to Define Magmatic Change in Volcanism Following Later Platform Foundering.  American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2009, abstract id. V31B-10
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009AGUSM.V31B..10A

Allen, V.T. , 1929
Altered tuffs in the Ordovician of Minnesota. Journal of Geology,  37, 239–248.
https://doi.org/10.1086/623617
https://www.jstor.org/stable/30055890
   
Allen, V.T. , 1932
Ordovician Altered Volcanic Material in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Missouri.  The Journal of Geology 40, no. 3 (Apr. - May, 1932): 259-269.
https://doi.org/10.1086/623945    https://www.jstor.org/stable/30057999

Anonymous, 2019
Deicke and Millbrig bentonite layers - Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deicke_and_Millbrig_bentonite_layers

Armstrong, D.K., 2000
Paleozoic Geology of the Northern Lake Simcoe Area, South-Central Ontario. Ontario Geological Survey Open File Report 6011, at pages 18 and 23
http://www.geologyontario.mndmf.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/pub/data/imaging/OFR6011/OFR6011.pdf

Barth, A.P.; A.D.G. Feilen; S.L. Yager; S.R. Douglas; J.L. Wooden; N.R. Riggs; J.D. Walker
2012
Petrogenetic connections between ash-flow tuffs and a granodioritic to granitic intrusive suite in the Sierra Nevada arc, California .  Geosphere (2012) 8 (2): 250-264.
https://doi.org/10.1130/GES00737.1
https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geosphere/article/8/2/250/132512/petrogenetic-connections-between-ash-flow-tuffs

Brett, Carlton,  McLaughlin, P. , Cornell, S., and Baird, G. 2004
Comparative sequence stratigraphy of two classic Upper Ordovician successions, Trenton Shelf (New York–Ontario) and Lexington Platform (Kentucky–Ohio): implications for eustasy and local tectonism in eastern Laurentia. Palaeo:  Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, vol. 210, pages 295- 329; K-bentonites at 306-308
https://www.academia.edu/17890405/Comparative_sequence_stratigraphy_of_two_classic_Upper_Ordovician_successions_Trenton_Shelf_New_York_Ontario_and_Lexington_Platform_Kentucky_Ohio_implications_for_eustasy_and_local_tectonism_in_eastern_Laurentia

Brun J., 1974
Etude Petrograpique des formations du Black River et du Trenton du Quebec.
Ministere de Rechesses Naturelles Service des gites Mineraux. 24 pages

Brun, J.  and Chagnon, A., 1979
Rock Stratigraphy and clay mineralogy of volcanic ash beds from the Black River and Trenton Groups (middle Ordovician) of southern Quebec.  Can. Journal of Earth Sciences, vol 16, 1499–1507
https://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/e79-133

Carey, Adam, Samson, Scott D.,  and Bryan Sell, 2009
Utility and Limitations of Apatite Phenocryst Chemistry for Continent-Scale Correlation of Ordovician K-Bentonites.  The Journal of Geology, Vol. 117, No. 1 (January 2009), pp. 1-14
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/594368

Cornell, Sean R., 2001
 Sequence Stratigraphy and Event Correlations of Upper Black River and Lower Trenton Carbonates of Northern New York State and Southern Ontario, Canada.  Thesis, Master of Science, University of Cincinnati
 https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=ucin997444936&disposition...

Delano, J. W.,  Schirnick, C., Bock, B.,  W. S. F. Kidd, M. T. Heizler, G. W. Putman, S. E. De Long, M. Ohr, 1990
Petrology and Geochemistry of Ordovician K-Bentonites in New York State: Constraints on the Nature of a Volcanic Arc.  The Journal of Geology, Vol. 98, No. 2 (Mar., 1990), pp. 157-170
https://www.jstor.org/stable/30063767

Dennison , J. M. And Textoris, D. A, 1978
Tioga Bentonite Time-Marker Associated with Devonian shales in Appalachian Basin.  166-182
in  Proceedings First Eastern Gas Shales Symposium, October 17-19, 1977, Lakeview Inn and Country Club, Morgantown, West Virginia. Department of Energy, Technical Information Center, 1978 ,  783 pages
https://books.google.com/books/about/Proceedings_First_Eastern_Gas_Shales_Sym.html?id=rA8Ma1wed6QC

Dix, George R. And Jolicoeur, C. , 2011
Tectonostratigraphic framework of Upper Ordovician source rocks, Ottawa Embayment (eastern Ontario).  Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, Vol. 59, No. 1 (March, 2011), P. 7–26
https://doi.org/10.2113/gscpgbull.59.1.7

Fyon, Andy, 2019
Marmora Ash Beds — Ontario Beneath Our Feet
https://www.ontariobeneathourfeet.com/marmora-ash-beds
downloaded July 27, 2019
   
Haynes, John T., 1989
The Mineralogy And Stratigraphic Setting Of The Rocklandian (Upper Ordovician) Deicke And Millbrig K Bentonite Beds Along The Cincinnati Arch And In The Southern Valley And Ridge.
Ph.D. thesis,   University of Cincinnati
https://scholar.uc.edu/concern/etds/cn69m4153?locale=en

Haynes, John T., 1994
The Ordovician Deicke and Millbrig K-Bentonite Beds of the Cincinnati Arch and the Southern Valley and Ridge Province. Geological Society of America Special Paper Volume 290   
Doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/SPE290-p1
https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/books/book/426/chapter/3798516/the-ordovician-deicke-and-millbrig-k-bentonite
https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Ordovician_Deicke_and_Millbrig_K_ben.html?id=MYuKAAAAQBAJ

Hewett, D. F., 1917
The origin of bentonite and the geologic range of related materials in Bighorn basin, Wyoming.  Journal Washington Academy Sciences, vol. VII, pp 196-198
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/18415#page/202/mode/1up

Huff, Warren, 2016   
K-bentonites: A review.  American Mineralogist, Volume 101(1), pages 43-70  
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289366248_K-bentonites_A_review

Huff, W., Kolata, D.R., Bergstrom, S. M. And Zhang, Y-S., 1996
Large-magnitude Middle Ordovician volcanic ash falls in North America and Europe: dimensions, emplacement and post-emplacement characteristics. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, volume 73, 285-301
Https://www.academia.edu/27206142/Large-magnitude_Middle_Ordovician_volcanic_ash_falls_in_North_America_and_Europe_dimensions_emplacement_and_post-emplacement_characteristics

Kay, G.M., 1929,
Stratigraphy of the Decorah Formation, Journal of Geology, vol. 37, 639-671,
       
Kay, G. M., 1930
Age of the Hounsfield Metabentonite, Science, vol. 72, 365

Kay, G.M., 1931
Stratigraphy of the Ordovician Hounsfield Metabentonite, Journal of Geology, vol. , p. 361-376.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3008078

Kay, G.M.,  1935
Distribution of Ordovician altered volcanic materials and related clays. Geological Society of America Bulletin 46: 225-244     doi:10.1130/GSAB-46-195

Kierman, Jeffrey P., 1999
Lithography, Sedimentology and Diagenesis of the Upper Ordovician Hull Beds and Verulam Formation, Upper Ottawa Group, Eastern Ontario. Thesis, Master of Science, Department of Earth Sciences, Carleton University.   262 pages.   MQ43360.pdf
https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape8/PQDD_0003/MQ43360.pdf

Kolata, Dennis R.,  Huff,  Warren D.  and  Bergstrom, Stig M., 1996
Ordovician K-bentonites of eastern North America.  Geological Society of America, Special Paper 313
https://books.google.com/books/about/Ordovician_K_bentonites_of_eastern_North.html?id=iTDpAgAAQBAJ
https://epdf.pub/ordovician-k-bentonites-of-eastern-north-america.html

Lafleur, Jean and Hogarth, D.,
Cambro-Proterozoic volcanism near Buckingham, Quebec. [trachyandesit 573 +-32 Ma]
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 1981, 18(12): 1817-1823,
https://doi.org/10.1139/e81-169

Liberty, B.A., 1969
Paleozoic geology of the Lake Simcoe area, Ontario. Geological Survey of Canada Memoir 355,  215  pages. https://doi.org/10.4095/102319

Lounsbury , Richard W. and Melhorn Wilton N., 1963
Clay mineralogy of Paleozoic k-bentonites of the Eastern United States (part 1). Twelfth national conference on clays and clay minerals, 557-565
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1346/CCMN.1963.0120148
 “Ross (1928) proposed the term metabentonite for these altered volcanic ash deposits. Since, as Weaver (1953) points out, these materials are frequently not metamorphosed, they are not metabentonites.   He suggests use of the term  K-bentonite for these deposits.”

Maddox, D.C., 1930
Bentonite in the Ordovician near Collingwood, Ontario. Science, Vol. 72, Issue 1877, pp. 630
DOI:     10.1126/science.72.1877.630
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/72/1877/630.1

 Mitchell CE, Adhya S, Bergström SM, Joy MP, Delano JW.,  2004.
 Discovery of the Ordovician Millbrig K-bentonite bed in the Trenton Group of New York State: implications for regional correlation and sequence stratigraphy in eastern North America. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 210: 331-346
[Only Abstract looked at]
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2004.02.037

Orr, John Barrie Bain, 1959   
Ordovician Bentonites from Ontario.  Thesis, Master of Science, The University of Alberta. 86 pages
https://archive.org/details/Orr1959

Oruche, Nkechi E.,  Dix, George R. And  Sandra L. Kamob, 2018
Lithostratigraphy of the upper Turinian – lower Chatfieldian (Upper Ordovician) foreland succession, and a U–Pb ID–TIMS date for the Millbrig volcanic ash bed in the Ottawa Embayment. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 2018, 55(9): 1079-1102,
[Only Abstract looked at]
https://doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2018-0006
https://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjes-2018-0006

Ross, C.S., 1927
Altered Paleozoic Volcanic Materials and Their Recognition., Bulletin American Association  Petroleum Geologists, Vol. XII, p. 149-164
http://archives.datapages.com/data/bulletns/1917-30/data/pg/0012/0002/0100/0143.htm

Salad Hcrsi , Osman , 1998
 Stratigraphic revision of the Upper Chazyan to Trentonian succession, and sedimentologic and diagenetic aspects of the Blackriveran strata Ottawa Embayment, Ontario, Canada. Unpub. PhD. thesis Carleton  University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 370 pp.
https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/tape17/PQDD_0035/NQ26886.pdf

Samson, Scott, 1996
40Ar/39Ar and Nd-Sr isotopic characteristics of mid-Ordovician North American K-Bentonites: A test of early Paleozoic Laurentia-Gondwana interactions. Advanced Earth and Space Science.
https://doi.org/10.1029/96TC00829
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/96TC00829

Sharma, S., Dix, G.R.  and M. Villeneuve, 2005a
Petrology and potential tectonic significance of a K-bentonite in a Taconian shale basin (eastern Ontario, Canada), northern Appalachians: Geological Magazine, v. 142, p. 145-158.
DOI: 10.1017/S001675680400041X
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248686363_Petrology_and_potential_tectonic_significance_of_a_K-bentonite_in_a_Taconian_shale_basin_eastern_Ontario_Canada_northern_Appalachians           

Sharma , S.,  Dix. G.R., Coniglio, M.,  Achab, A. , and Riva, J. F. V., 2005b
Records of Punctuated Tectonism in Platform-Interior Graben Systems (Ontario, Canada) Far-Flung from Contemporaneous Taconic Orogenesis in the Northern Appalachians.
Poster presentation at AAPG Annual Convention, Calgary, Alberta, June 19-22, 2005. http://www.searchanddiscovery.com/documents/2005/sharma/index.htm
www.searchanddiscovery.com/documents/2005/sharma/images/poster01.pdf

Suarez, S. E.; Brookfield, M. E.; Catlos, E. J.; Stockli, D. F.; Batchelor, R. A., 2016
Precise U/Pb zircons dates of bentonites in Upper Ordovician and Lower Silurian.  American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2016, abstract #V11A-2761
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016AGUFM.V11A2761S
 3 precise U-Pb zircon ages from the Trenton Group, Ontario, Canada,   The youngest age from the top of the Kirkfield Formation in Ontario is 448.0 +/- 18 Ma, which fits with existing late Ordovician stratigraphic ages

Tweet, Justin, 2016
(former) Ash beds in St. Paul
Equatorial Minnesota: Minnesota paleontology and geology, National Park Service paleontology, the Mesozoic, and occasional distractions.   Posted Sunday, July 31, 2016
https://equatorialminnesota.blogspot.com/2016/07/former-ash-beds-in-st-paul.html

Ver Straeten, C.,  Baird, G. C.,  Karabinos, P., Samson, S. D., and Brett, Carlton E.,  2012
Silicic Appalachian Magmatism During the Ordovician and Devonian: Perspectives from the Foreland Basin, and the Hinterland.   In New York State Geological Association, 84th Annual Meeting Guidebook, Publisher: New York State Geological Association, Editors: Todd W. Rayne, pp. A7-1 to A7-59
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281120169_Silicic_Appalachian_Magmatism_During_the_Ordovician_and_Devonian_Perspectives_from_the_Foreland_Basin_and_the_Hinterland

Wentworth, Chester K. And Williams, Howel, 1932
The Classification and Terminology of the Pyroclastic Rocks, pages 19-53,  in Report of the Committee on Sedimentation, 1930-1932, Bulletin of the National Research Council, No. 89,  National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.
https://books.google.com/books/about/Bulletin_of_the_National_Research_Counci.html?id=ECMrAAAAYAAJ

Thursday 18 July 2019

Dr. Arthur Wade’s (1924) Contribution to the Discovery of Precambrian Fossils in Australia

"Our most interesting find consisted of a variety of fossil remains in these siliceous flags and shales. These consisted of the tracks of forms of life unknown to us — Worm tracks, long stem-like structures sometimes in great profusion, and other more complex and more obscure forms."
Dr. Arthur Wade, 1924

Basic Premise of This Paper

The premise of this posting is that Dr. Arthur Wade made a significant contribution to the discovery of Prccambrian fossils in Australia and that his contribution has been overlooked by many currently working on Ediacaran fossils.   The following points are worth noting.

- Dr. Arthur Wade (1924) considered the structures  that he figured in his Plates VII, VIII, VIII, X  to be fossils from the “Lower Cambrian (Proterozoic?) Flags.”   At least two of those photographs are of Precambrian fossils:  Protoniobia and  Horodyskia.

- Protoniobia is considered a Proterozoic fossil.  Accordingly, Dr. Arthur Wade was the first to publish photographs of Australian Proterozoic  fossils.   Dr. Arthur Wade did this in 1924, over two decades before Sprigg’s (1947) publication ‘Early Cambrian Jellyfish from the Flinders Range’ and Sprigg’s (1950) publication ‘Early Cambrian  'Jellyfishes' of Ediacara South  Australia and Mount John, Kimberley District, Western Australia.’

- Dr. Arthur Wade was the first person in Australia to use Precambrian  fossils as an aid in mapping.

- While Dr. Arthur Wade tentatively assigned his fossils  to the Lower Cambrian  he commented a number of times that they might be Proterozoic.   In an article written in 1928 Sir T. W. Edgeworth David recognized and publicized that Dr. Arthur Wade had found Proterozoic fossils.  Sir T. W. Edgeworth David’s (1928) publication is referenced in Sprigg (1947) and, for example, Glaessner (1959) and Wilson (1957).

 - One of the fossils that had been shown in a plate in Dr. Wade’s publication was figured in Sprigg’s (1950) publication and named  Protoniobia  wadea, Sprigg.   The Holotype was collected by Dr. Arthur Wade.

- Another of Dr. Arthur Wade’s (1924) fossils  was likely the first photograph of Horodyskia, a Precambrian fossil found in rocks dating from the Mesoproterozoic (possibly to the Ediacaran).   The literature reports that the structures were first described by Horodyski (1982) from the  Mesoproterozoic Belt Supergroup,  Montana, who thought them likely nonbiogenic, possibly representing a repetitive tool mark, but possibly biogenic.  They  was subsequently reported in Western Australia by Grey and Williams (1990).  They were named Horodyskia moniliformis by Yochelson and Fedonkin ( 2000).   Dr. Wade (1924)  should be credited as the first to report  the fossil as his photographs appeared fifty-eight years prior to Horodyski (1982).

- Most writers, including Sprigg (1950),  incorrectly assigned  Dr. Wade’s specimen of Protoniobia to the Cambrian.  A few now assign it to the Ediacaran.  Glaessner and Walter (1981) assigned it to rocks much  older than the Ediacaran. 

- Dr. Arthur Wade or F. Chapman ( 1925), describe Dr. Wade’s fossil that Sprigg later named Protoniobia  wadea  as “A probable impress of a coiled (?) gephyrean or unsegmented  worm”.   Sprigg (1950)  believed it to be “the impression of a medusa”.   Harrington & Moore (1956) rejected  both  interpretations:  "Here interpreted as a concretion, inorganic."  Öpik (1957a) and Noakes (1957) both considered it a jellyfish, relying on Sprigg.  Williams (1967) commented that the organic origin of the jellyfish discovered by Wade (1924) and named by Sprigg (1949) “is doubtful (Dow & Gemuts, in prep.).”   Cloud (1968) thought it inorganic.  Dow and Gemuts (1969) commented “there  is  some  doubt  that  Wade's  jellyfish is of organic  origin.”  Glaessner and Walter (1981, page 388) commented that it was “an abiogenic concretion”.  Strusz (1992), interpreted it as “a concretion, inorganic.”     Hoffman (1992) included it in his list of megascopic dubiofossils and pseudofossils.  McCall (2006) stated that it was “clearly a body fossil and resembles Ediacaran medusoids.”   Fedonkin et al. (2007) suggested it was “Possibly a cnidarian.” Lan and Chen (2012) commented “These fossils are also highly questionable.”  Menon (2015) characterized it as one of many  “Probable junior synonyms of Cyclomedusa davidi Sprigg 1947,” and interpreted  it as the “Possible upper surface of holdfast”.  The characterization of the specimen by Dr. Arthur Wade as a ‘fossil’ and by Dr. Arthur Wade  or F. Chapman (1925) as “A  probable  impress  of  a  coiled (?)  gephyrean  or  unsegmented   worm”  is arguably as accurate as those assigned to the specimen by  others.[Added November 6, 2021:] In a paper submitted and accepted for publication in August -September, 2020  Bicknell, Smith,  Schroeder,  Kimmig (2020) suggest that “serious doubts have been raised regarding biological affinities” of Protoniobia wadea Sprigg, 1949, referencing Dunnet 1965, Cloud 1968, Dow & Gemuts 1969, Grey 1981a, 1981b, Lan & Chen 2012, noting that “Most authors consider P. wadea to represent a chert plate;”.

Background -  Sir T. W. Edgeworth David’s 1928 Paper


When I read a new article I also read the list of references looking for articles of historical interest.   In my March 30th posting I mentioned an article by Dr. Alice E. Wilson describing  the packing and storage of the Geological Survey of Canada’s Aspidella specimens.  Dr. Wilson referenced an interesting article by Sir T. W. Edgeworth David (1928), an Australian geologist and Antarctic explorer, in which he summarized articles on Precambrian fossils, and mentioned:

“Dr. Arthur Wade  records the occurrence of markings with tracks and trails apparently of organic origin in the Lower Cambrian or Proterozoic rocks (probably the latter. — T. W. E. D.) of (1 ) Mount John, in the Kimberley region of Western Australia ; (2) in the Victoria River area of North Australia ; (3) at Elcho Island and in the Cape Wilberforce district, on the north-west side of the Gulf of  Carpentaria. Speaking of these Wade says : "Our most interesting find consisted of a variety of fossil remains in these (Mount John.— T. W. E. D.) siliceous flags and shales. These consisted of the tracks of forms of life unknown  to us — Worm tracks, long stem-like structures sometimes in great profusion, and other more complex and more obscure forms." Wade found these markings of  value for purposes of correlation.”

Dr. Arthur Wade’s 1924 Publication


That remark by Sir Edgeworth David, in an article published in 1928,  that in Proterozoic rocks of Australia  Dr. Arthur Wade had found “Worm tracks, long stem-like structures sometimes in great profusion, and other more complex and more obscure forms”  piqued my interest and after failing to find  an online version of  Dr. Arthur Wade’s publication, and failing to locate  the publication at a local library, I ordered a copy.   I have now received and read Dr. Arthur Wade’s report, which has the title “Petroleum prospects, Kimberley district of Western Australia and Northern Territory ” (not the title that one would expect from the extract  provided by Edgeworth David).   The plates in the publication are worth the cost of the publication, as at least two of the fossils that Dr. Wade identifies as “fossils” from the “Lower Cambrian (Proterozoic?)” would now be identified as the Precambrian fossils Protoniobia and  Horodyskia.

By way of background, it is worth noting that Dr. Arthur Wade was a petroleum geologist (see Vallance, 1990) and that his 1924 publication involved mapping the Kimberley District of Western Australia and the Northern Territory in a search for oil.   As part of that project he mapped the Precambrian, Cambrian and other Phanerozoic rocks of the Kimberley District, and  reported finding a Lower Cambrian series of sedimentary rocks (quartzites, sandstones, conglomerates, shales and flags)  “that may well pass downward into the Pre-Cambrian”, a point that he emphasized a number of times in the publication.    For example, in his chart of the formations and thickness, Dr. Wade gives the age (at page 10) as “Lower (may pass down into Proterozoic or Precambrian)” for his Albert River Series which includes “Gray and green silicious shales, flags and flaggy grits of Mt. John (W.A.), also of Victoria River, Elcho Island, Cape Wilberforce, and the Rover River (N.T.)... 500 feet.” .   When describing the Fitzroy Area Dr. Wade  mentions (at page 14) “We have, therefore, called them the Lower Cambrian series, though they may pass downward into the Pre-Cambrian.    When describing the Ord River Areas Dr. Wade  mentions (at page 25) “The beds are part of what we have called the Lower Cambrian sedimentary series, and may be older. ... This wall is the scarp face of the basal beds of the Cambrian, or, may be, Proterozoic series, and can be traced...” .   When describing his Geologic Map, Dr. Wade commented (at page 39)  “Again we feel certain that the beds mapped and described as lower Cambrian go down to and include Pre-Cambrian sediments with apparent conformity, and these have all been shown under one colour.”

Here is a longer version of the part quoted by Sir Edgeworth David, and is Dr.  Arthur Wade’s description of the Mt. John area (page 30):

“ The Lower Cambrian (or, may be, Proterozoic) series has a far greater extension to the W. at this point than is shown on any of the maps...   Our most interesting find consisted of a variety of fossil remains in these siliceous flags and shales. These consisted of the tracks of forms of life unknown  to us — Worm tracks, long stem-like structures sometimes in great profusion, and other more complex and more obscure forms.  These very ancient life forms proved to be very valuable find so far as we were concerned, since we found identical forms in similar beds later in the Victoria River area just over the border in Western Australia and in the Northern Territory, and as far as Elcho Island and the Cape Wilberforc district on the W. Side of the Gulf of Carpentaria, thus enabling us to correlate the strata..”

At least two of “the ancient life forms” that Dr. Arthur Wade relied on that are shown in Dr. Arthur Wade’s plates would now be recognized as Proterozoic fossils, and I find it interesting that Dr. Arthur Wade in Australia, like Alexander Murray in Newfoundland (who used the Huronian  fossil Aspidella as an aid in mapping), was able to use Precambrian fossils as an aid in mapping.

Dr. Arthur Wade’s Plates


Dr. Arthur Wade includes six plates of which he identified as fossils from the Lower Cambrian:
- Plates VII, VIII, IX and X –  “Lower Cambrian Fossils (undetermined) .  Lower Cambrian (Proterozoic?) Flags, Mt. John, Osmond Range, Western Australia” ,
- Plate XI with “Lower Cambrian Fossils (undetermined) Auvergne Station, N.T.” and
- Plate XII “Lower Cambrian Fossils  (undetermined).  In Lower Cambrian Quartzite, Elcho Island, N.T.”
       

Dr. Arthur Wade’s Plate IX 


The fossil in Dr. Arthur Wade’s Plate IX is the one of most interest.   It is reproduced below.





When looking at the photograph it is important to note that Dr. Wade (1924)  states that the photograph shows the specimen in its natural size.  The large disc (as measured on the photo in Dr. Wade’s publication) has a diameter of 6 cm ( 2  1/4 inches), not the  4.1 mm that is reported in a number of publications (Sprigg (1950);  McCall (2006),  Fedonkin et al. (2007)).  [Inserted July 25, 2019:]  Natalie Schroeder, the Collection Manager for the Commonwealth Palaeontological Collection, at Geoscience Australia has  told me  "the specimen measures 41 mm in diameter, not 4.1 mm!”

A separate  publication  (herein, Chapman, 1925), describes  the plates and other specimens collected by Dr. Arthur Wade and describes the fossil in Plate IX as “A  probable  impress  of  a  coiled (?) gephyrean or unsegmented  worm, lying on the bedded surface of a laminated  sandstone.  Lower Cambrian Flags. Mount  John,  Osmond  Range,  Western  Australia.”    The photographed specimen bears Dr. Wade’s specimen Number 275.   That separate publication is in two parts: first, a description of the plates where the author is not identified; second, a preliminary description of all of Dr. Wade’s specimens where the author is identified as M r. F. Chapman, Palaeontologist, National Museum, Melbourne.   It is not clear whether Dr. Wade was the author of the description of the plates, or whether Chapman authored both parts.


Sprigg’s (1950) Description of Dr. Arthur Wade’s Specimen - Plate IX



Sprigg (1950) in his paper ‘Early  Cambrian  'Jellyfishes' of Ediacara South Australia and Mount  John,  Kimberley  District, Western Australia’, describes Dr. Wade’s specimen at pages 77-79 of his article (including it within the Hydrozoa and placing it in the Lower Cambrian) and  figured Dr. Wade’s specimen as his Figure 1, Plate IX, with the caption:  “Fig. 1 Protoniobia  wadea, Sprigg.  Holotype No. 192, Commonwealth Palaeontological Collection, Canberra, F.C.T. Specimen collected by Dr. A. L. Wade from Lower Cambrian flags, Mount John Osmond Range, Western Australia. The impression occurs on the bedded surface of laminated sandstone.”

Sprigg (1950) provides the following measurements:  “Dimension — Maximum diameter of the bell 4.1 mm.; average diameter of (?) gonadial nodes 2.5 mm.; maximum diameter of largest "bud" 1.4 mm.”    As noted above, Sprigg’s measurements do not agree with Dr. Wade’s photograph of the specimen that is supposed to be of natural size.  The most likely explanation is typographical error:  Sprigg’s dimensions should be in centimeters not millimeters. [Inserted July 25, 2019:]  Natalie Schroeder, the Collection Manager for the Commonwealth Palaeontological Collection, at Geoscience Australia has  told me “you are absolutely right ... – the specimen measures 41 mm in diameter, not 4.1 mm!”

Sprigg (1950) concluded that “The specimen is the impression of a medusa.”

Nearby Locations - Similar Fossils


Others have searched for specimens of  Dr. Arthur Wade’s ‘jellyfish’ with mixed results.   While  Noakes (1957) commented “at Mt. John, Wade (1924) discovered fossils which were eventually established as  fossil jellyfish by Sprigg in 1949. Again, search over many years has produced no other fossils in these rocks” , Traves (1957) commented on Upper  Proterozoic  rocks  in  the  Kimberley  plateau noting that “Along  the  banks  of  the  Ord  River  near  Carlton  Crossing  stromatolitic  structures  and  possible  jelly-fish  marks  were  examined  by  Dr.  Öpik  and  the  writer.  A  number  of  undetermined  fossils  of  a similar  nature  are  illustrated  in  Wade's  report  (1924)  as  occurring  at  Mt.  John,  Osmond  Range,  W.  A.”     

Dow and Gemuts (1969) reported finding specimens similar to Dr. Wade’s at a nearby location, commenting (1969, at pages 79-80)  “It  was  from  the  lower  unit  that  Wade  (1924)  collected  the  supposed  jellyfish named  by  Sprigg  (1949)    Protoniobia   wadea.  Wade  thought  the  sandstone  was  Lower   Cambrian,   and   Sprigg  correlated   the   beds   with   the  basal   Cambrian   of   Ediacara  in  South  Australia,  but  they  are  of  course  much  older.    We  could  not  find  Wade's  locality,  but  in  Wade  Creek  there  is  a  platform   on  which   are   exposed   hundreds   of  small  chert  plates  consisting   of   a  number   of  concentric  rings,  very similar  to  Wade's  supposed  jellyfish.     Many   of  these  are  single  plates,  between  half  an  inch  and  2  inches  across,  but  a  large  proportion  consists  of  two  to  three  individuals  of  various  sizes  fused  together.    In  some  cases,  small  nodules  are  fused  to  the  margin   of  a  larger  one,  giving  the  appearance   of  the  budding  appendages  described  by  Sprigg.    Under  these  circumstances  there  is  some  doubt  that  Wade's  jellyfish  is  of  organic  origin,  a  doubt  previously  expressed  by  Harrington  & Moore  (Moore,  1956).”

Mount Brooking is 80 miles north of Mount John.  Dunnet (1965) reported on an occurrence of Proterozoic "jellyfish" from Mount Brooking,  Kimberley Region, Western Australia, but commented “They bear no resemblance to the Forms found by Wade (1924) and described by  Sprigg (1949) from rocks lower in the sequence near Mount John 80 miles SSW of Mount Brooking.”   Grey (1981a,b) examined additional specimens of “ ‘jellyfish’ or ‘medusoids’ ” from the Mount Brooking area, concluding that they were inorganic.

Age of the Mount John Shale Member and the Wade Creek Sandstone


There is a bit of uncertainty as to the age of the rocks where Dr. Arthur Wade collected the specimen now  known as Protoniobia, if like me you want to believe that Protoniobia is Ediacaran.  Since 1967 most writers assign the rocks to the Mesoproterozoic.

Dr. Arthur Wade stated that the specimen in Plate IX was found in the flags at Mt. John, Osmond Range, Western Australia.   Sprigg (1950) stated that “The impression occurs on the bedded surface of laminated sandstone.”   Dow and Gemuts (1969) stated that Wade’s specimen “was from the lower part of the Wade Creek Sandstone.”  Glaessner and Walter (1981)  commented that  Protoniobia wadea Sprigg was “from the Mount John Shale Member of the Wade Sandstone.”   As the Mount John Shale Member is part of the Wade Creek Formation, the age of either one is the age of Dr. Wade’s specimen.

Consider the following. 
           
- Dr. Arthur Wade assigned it to the Lower Cambrian, possibly the Proterozoic.

- Sprigg (1950) assigned it to the Lower Cambrian.  Sprigg (1950)  reported that a second example of Protoniobia  has been discovered amongst material from  Ediacara, South Australia,  that the fossil was slightly smaller, with evidence of four daughter buds, and that “Its discovery supports the view that the Kimberley fossil was approximately contemporaneous with the Ediacara suite.”  Seven years later Glaessner and Daily (1957) comment that the small specimen “is not a Protoniobia but represents the new form described below as Tribrachidium heraldicum.”
 
- Öpik (1957a, 1957b) assigned the beds to the  "Eocambrian."  (Wikipedia: Eocambrian ... referring to the latest (youngest) portion of time in the Precambrian Eon or to the uppermost Precambrian sediments which were continuously deposited across the Precambrian-Cambrian time boundary.)

- Vivian Bofinger (1967) submitted  a doctoral thesis entitled Geochronology in the East Kimberley Area of Western Australia in which she determined the age of  the Mt. John Shale Member of the Wade Creek Sandstone.  She reported that the results of the Rb-Sr isotope dilution analyses gave an indicated age of 1128 + 110 m.y.

- Dow and Gemuts (1969) mapped the Kimberley Region of  Western Australia and designated one unit  the Wade Creek Sandstone, with the contained Mount John Shale Member.   They commented that “It was from the lower part of the Wade Creek Sandstone that Wade (1924) found an impression thought to be fossil jellyfish, which was named Protoniobia wadea by Sprigg (1949).”   They also noted that the “Mount John Shale has been isotopically dated by the Rb/Sr method as 1,128 ± 110 m.y.”

- Glaessner and Walter (1981, page 388)  commented that “The supposed medusoid Protoniobia wadea Sprigg is an abiogenic concretion from the Mount John Shale Member of the Wade Sandstone of northwestern Australia which is 1125 +- 110 Ma old (Plumb and Derrick, 1975). ”  

- McCall (2006) commented that  Protoniobia wadea “is clearly a body fossil and resembles Ediacaran medusoids. The Kimberleys is a vast region and exposes great expanse of Proterozoic to lower Palaeozoic rocks. . ..  Although Sprigg recorded this occurrence as Cambrian, the age of the Mount John Shale Member as given  by Grey and Griffin (1990) is 1128 Ma (±110 Ma) citing Dow and Gemuts (1969). This would not equate with the age of the Pound Quartzite of the Ediacara type area, being much older than the Vendian. However, age dating evidence in the Kimberleys is somewhat meager.”  

- Lan and Chen (2010) comment that “the Mount John Shale Member is stratigraphically below the Eliot Range Dolomite which was assigned to the early to middle Neoproterozoic in age by stromatolite biostratigraphic correlation (Grey and Blake, 1999). The Mount John Shale Member therefore is not younger than early Neoproterozoic in age.”

- Grey and Blake (1999) include a stratigraphic column where they  assign the Wade Creek Formation and the Mount John Shale to the Mesoproterozoic with an age of about 1200 Ma.   They note that “The Bungle Bungle Dolomite is overlain  unconformably by the Wade Creek Sandstone,which is separated from the overlying Duerdin Group by the Ahern Formation and the Helicopter Siltstone (Tyler et al. 1997).

- Both Tyler et al. (1997), a 1:100 000 geological map (sheet 4563) , and Tyler et al. (1998), 1:250000 geological map (sheet SE 52-6), include stratigraphic columns which include the rocks at Mount John and the Osmond Range.    They place the  Wade Creek Formation and the Mount John Shale in the Proterozoic below the Ahern Formation and the Helicopter Siltstone to which they assign an (uncertain) age of “c.?800Ma.”    They do not assign an age to the underlying Wade Creek Formation and the Mount John Shale.

- Tyler, Hocking and Haines ( 2012) state that “The Glidden Group and Wade Creek Sandstone have been correlated with the Carr Boyd Group (Tyler, 2000; Blake et al., 2000).” and that “Deposition of the Carr Boyd Group probably took place in a deltaic to shallow-marine setting at c. 1200 Ma, the age of intrusion of the Argyle lamproite diatreme into wet sediments (Thorne and Tyler, 1996; Jaques et al., 1986; Pidgeon et al., 1989).” 

- The Australian Government’s online ‘Australian Stratigraphic Units Database’ gives the formation a “Maximum age: Mesoproterozoic, Ma: 1128 +/- 110".   

It is not clear to me that Bofinger’s (1967) analysis of the Mt. John Shale Member of the Wade Creek Sandstone would have given the age of the shale or the age of the source for the sediment in the shale.  However, Nebel (2014) commented that “The Rb–Sr dating technique is among the most widely used and most powerful dating tools available in Earth sciences. It is an effective means of dating igneous rocks or metamorphic events and, under special circumstances, can be applied to sedimentary sequences, ...”

Dr. Arthur Wade’s Plate X  - Horodyskia


Below I have reproduced Dr. Arthur Wade’s Plate X




Dr. Arthur Wade (1924) identified it as a fossil with the following description of the plate: “Plates VII, VIII, IX and X –  “Lower Cambrian Fossils (undetermined) .  Lower Cambrian (Proterozoic?) Flags, Mt. John, Osmond Range, Western Australia.  VII, IX and X, nat. size; VIII, 1/2 size.”

Here is the  description of Plate X from the first part of the separate publication (Fletcher, 1925): “Plate X.  A fine-grained  shore-line  sandstone, showing  probable tracks of a (?) crustacean.    Lower  Cambrian  Flags.    Mount   John,  Osmond   Range, Western  Australia.”

The specimen shows two diverging lines of small circles that look like isolated strings of beads.
An identical, or nearly identical structure, from Precambrian rocks  has been identified as the  fossil  Horodyskia.   The literature on  Horodyskia invariably reports that the structures were first described from the  Mesoproterozoic Belt Supergroup,  Montana, by Horodyski (1982)  who thought them likely  nonbiogenic, possibly representing a repetitive tool mark, but possibly biogenic.  They  was subsequently reported in Western Australia by Grey and Williams (1990).  They were named Horodyskia moniliformis by Yochelson and Fedonkin ( 2000).

The fossil shown in Dr. Arthur Wade’s Plate X is essentially the same as the fossil shown in Fedonkin’s (2003) Figures 1 [Middle Proterozoic, Montana] and 2 [Middle Proterozoic, Western Australia] .     The specimen featured in Dr. Arthur Wade’s Plate X is also nearly identical to structures on the slabs from Western Australia featured in Figures 2 and 5 of  Grey and Williams (1990).    Grey and Williams (1990) do not cite Dr. Arthur Wade’s publication, but Grey et al. (2009) do, commenting “Structures from the late Precambrian or early Cambrian near Mount John, east Kimberly region, appear similar to Horodyskia and require further investigation (Wade, 1924, p. 47, Plate X).”

It is important to note that Dr. Arthur Wade (1924)  identified Plate X as a fossil and that it was described in Fletcher (1925).   If Dr. Arthur Wade’s Plate X is Horodyskia, then he ought to be credited as the first to figure and describe the fossil.

Horodyskia has also been reported from  Ediacaran age rocks (e.g., Dong et al. (2008) reported  Horodyskia  from the Ediacaran rocks in South China.) .  However, in Calvera et al.’s (2010)  report of Horodyskia  in the mid-Proterozoic of Tasmania  they question the Ediacaran finds commenting that they discount “ the Ediacaran occurrences of Mathur and Srivastava (2004), Shen et al. (2007) and Dong et al. (2008),whose assignation to Horodyskia we find doubtful.”   If Horodyskia is found in rocks dating from the Mesoproterozoic  to the Ediacaran it has  a  800 Ma range. 

If Horodyskia is found only  in rocks dating from the Mesoproterozoic, then this agrees with the age 1128 + 110 m.y. that  Dr. Vivian Bofinger (1967) assigned to the  Mt. John Shale Member of the Wade Creek Sandstone.

Dr. Arthur Wade’s Plates VII, VIII and XI


Below I have reproduced Dr. Arthur Wade’s Plates VII, VIII and XI with their descriptions in the first part of the separate publication.





Plate VII.  Curious surface markings, usually ascribed to trails of seaweed,  and  tracks of  crustacea.   The straight linear bodies may indicate sponge remains—a  strange  association.     Lower Cambrian Flags.  Mount John, Osmond Range, Western  Australia.




Plate VIII. A slab of shore-line sediment, similar to the preceding: with probable crustacean tracks and long (?) spicular bodies.    Lower Cambrian Flags. Mount John, Osmond Range,  Western Australia




Plate XI.  Problematic fossils,  including  tracks  and  trails.    Also  thick  spicular-like bodies  of  doubtful  origin.    Auvergna  Station,  Northern  Territory.  Lower Cambrian  Flags.

The specimen shown in Plate VII bears Dr. Wade’s specimen Number 267.  Later in the separate publication Chapman added the note  “267 . . (?) Trail of a seaweed and tracks of a (?) crustacean. Also tracks of Protichnites sp.  Also remains of crustaceans (?) (phyllocarids).” .   [Added November 5, 2021:]  A recent paper by Bicknell, Smith,  Schroeder,  Kimmig (2020) deals with Chapman’s (1925) comment on Wade’s specimen 267, shown in his plate VII and  Chapman’s  comment that the specimen shows the “remains of crustaceans (?) (phyllocarids).”  Bicknell et al. generously comment that “there is a small degree of morphological similarity between [an 8mm x 6 mm structure on  Wade’s specimen 267]  and the possible phyllocarid resting trace” but conclude “the specimen’s prior identification as a ‘phyllocarid’ and its similarity to a body fossil is simply a case of pareidolia..” They reach that conclusion in part because they assign the rocks to the Mesoproterozoic, well before the accepted age for the origin of Euarthropoda.  They conclude “the ‘phyllocarid’ likely represents scoring or scouring of the bedding surface.” 

   The specimen shown in Plate VIII  bears Dr. Wade’s specimen Number 266.  Later in the separate publication Chapman added the note “266 . . A large slab, circ . 32 x 28 cm. of a fine sandy shoreline sediment  (finely stratified), with numerous casts (negative) of linear tracks, presumably of crustaceous origin.”

It is not clear to me how to classify all of the features shown in Dr. Wade’s  three Plates VII, VIII, and XI .  Öpik (1957b) suggested ice-crystal casts.  Sweet (1977) suggested skip and prod casts caused by current scour.   A few of the textures look like discoidal bumps and pits that have been classed as biogenetic on some Ediacaran slabs (e.g.,  Beltanelliformis m. and b.), some of the linear features resemble  microbially induced sedimentary structures, and some features (particularly on Plate VII) resemble various Edicaran tube fossils or odd Ediacaran fossils that are a series of rods or lobes.

 Öpik (1957b) commented that he had “observed ice-crystal casts in the sediments of the Upper (or Middle?)  Precambrian Warramunga Group at the Skipper Extended Mine at Tennant Creek, and Wade (1924, pl VII, VIII, and XI) illustrated similar forms as Lower Cambrian fossils (undetermined) from Mt. John, Osmond Range, Western Australia.”    While at least one other person  has written about and figured supposed fossil ice crystal casts (Udden, 1918),   Öpik’s  suggestion of  “ice-crystal casts”  doesn’t appear apt, particularly for Plates VII and XI.

Sweet (1977) commented that  Wade’s  (1924) “supposed trace fossils ...  have not been proved to be organic markings” and that he had observed  similar markings in much older rocks which “are best described as skip and prod casts because they are preserved in coarse siltstone and fine sandstone beds overlying the fine siltstone or shale beds. It is probable that they were caused by current scour of mud laminae.”   Sweet’s figured specimen looks like features in Wade’s plates VII, VIII, and XI.   Further, Wade’s plates VII, VIII, and XI show features that are similar to turbidite skip and prod casts in Plate II in Spotts And Weber (1964 ).

Would all of the structures on Plates VII, VIII, and XI be classed as skip and prod casts, or are some microbially induced sedimentary structures or biogenic fossils?    Dr. Arthur Wade’s specimens would be worth a closer look by a Paleontologist.

Dr. Arthur Wade’s Plate XII 





Chapman (1925): Plate XII.  Lower Cambrian Quartzite  (current-bedded).  Probably  of shallow water origin.    With deep  imprints,  probably made by grovelling crustacea (trilobites).  Elcho Island, Northern Territory.

[Both Cloud (1959, page 940) and Fortey (2010) describe ‘grovelling’ trilobites.]   This specimen looks Cambrian (possibly Scolithos?).


A List of Dr. Wade’s Specimens



Chapman (1925) provides a Preliminary Report on the over three hundred numbered specimens collected by Dr. Arthur Wade, including fifteen  that are identified as “Lower Cambrian or even Algonkian”.  The specimens numbered 266,  267,  275 and 337 are shown in Plates VIII, VII, IX and  XII.   It is not clear which specimens are shown in Plate X (Mt. John)  and XI (Auvergne Station) .

I believe that all of the following specimens merit re-examination.   Below I provide Chapman's (1925) description.

Nos. in Wade
Collection.   
Locality . — Flora Valley .
Age.— Lower Cambrian or even Algonkian.
247 . . Missing .
248 . . Trail of  polychaete .

Locality . — Osmond Range, Mount John, Kimberley .
Age.— Palaeozoic . Lower Cambrian or even Algonkian.
266 . . A large slab , circ. 32 x 28 cm . of  a  fine sandy shoreline sediment  (finely stratified) , with numerous casts (negative) of linear tracks, presumably of crustaceous origin .
267 . . (?) Trail of a seaweed and tracks of a (?) crustacean. Also tracks of Protichnites sp.  Also remains of crustaceans (?) (phyllocarids).
268 . . (? ) Trail of seaweed .
269 . . Tracks of organic  origin  and a vermiform impression .
270 . . (? ) Tracks of crustacean.
271 . . (? ) Tracks and castings.
272 . . Spine of a  (? ) crustacean and tracks of crustacea or  vermes.
273 . . Ripples marks in cross bedded  sandstone .
274 . . Fine grained sandstone with remains of (?) hymenocarid forms and (?) tracks. Pittings of latter in relief are monticules (negative) with radiating surfaces.
275 . . A cast of the body of a coiled  worm, (?) gephyrean, in laminated sandstone ,and lying on the bedded surface.

Locality.— Point Bristow, Elcho Island, Northern Territory.
Age .—Lower Cambrian or even Algonkian..
324 . . Fine laminated sandstone with (?) crustacean tracks.
325 . . Fine laminated ferruginous sandstone with (?) crustacean tracks.

Locality.— Cape Wilberforce, Elcho Island.
Ag e .— Lower Cambrian or even Algonkian.
330 . . Trails and tracks, (?) crustacean.

Locality.—South of Point Bristow and along coast of Elcho Island.
Age.— Lower Cambrian or even Algonkian.
337 . . Sandstone block with deep imprints, probably made by grovelling trilobites.

Those specimens would be worth examining.


References  to Dr. Arthur  Wade’s Specimens and to his Work in the Kimberley Region


   
Below I’ve provided a list of references plus extracts from the papers where Dr. Arthur  Wade’s specimens are referred to.  Dr. Arthur Wade’s paper on the Kimberley Region is cited in many scientific papers dealing with the formations and their structure.  I have only included the ones directly related to his Precambrian ( Ediacaran?)  fossils.

All recent papers that I have read that describe the discovery and promotion of the finding of Ediacaran fossils in Australia highlight the work of Reginald Sprigg, Mary Wade and Martin F. Glaessner and their colleagues, and overlook the work of  Dr. Arthur Wade.   I hope that this posting will bring Dr. Arthur Wade’s contributions to the attention of others.

I had been tempted to title this posting ‘Should Dr. Arthur Wade get equal Billings for the discovery of Precambrian fossils in Australia’, but thought better of it.

Christopher Brett
Ottawa, Ontario

Addendum ( July 25, 2019):  On July 24th I sent an email to the general enquiries email address for Geoscience Australia asking about the measurements of CPC 192, the specimen collected by Dr. Arthur Wade and named by Sprigg (1950) as Protoniobia wadea, Sprigg.  On July 25th  I received an email back from Natalie Schroeder, the Collection Manager for the Commonwealth Palaeontological Collection, at Geoscience Australia.  She told me “you are absolutely right, Reg Sprigg got his units of measurement wrong for CPC192 – the specimen measures 41 mm in diameter, not 4.1 mm!”

Addendum (July 23):  The photographed specimen in Plate VIII  bears Dr. Wade’s specimen Number 266.   Dr. Wade’s text accompanying the plate says it is 1/2 nat. size.  Chapman (1925) provides the following description of specimen 266:   “A large slab , circ. 32 x 28 cm ...”.    As measured in Wade’s Plate VIII the slab has dimensions 13 cm x 11 cm if measured parallel to the edges of the photo, and the dimensions 15 cm x 14 cm if measured diagonally on the specimen.  The slab in Wade’s  photo is roughly ½ the size of Chapman’s measurements, and supports my suspicion that Sprigg’s measurements for Protoniobia wadea should be in cm not mm.

Addendum (November 5-6, 2021):        
A recent paper by Bicknell, Smith,  Schroeder,  Kimmig (2020) deals with Chapman’s  (1925) comment on Wade’s specimen 267, shown in his plate VII.  Chapman had commented that the specimen shows the “ remains of crustaceans (?) (phyllocarids).”  Bicknell et al. generously note that “there is a small degree of morphological similarity between [a small structure in Wade's photo] and the possible phyllocarid resting trace” but conclude “the specimen’s prior identification as a ‘phyllocarid’ and its similarity to a body fossil is simply a case of pareidolia.”, in part because they assign the rocks to the Mesoproterozoic, well before the accepted age for the origin of Euarthropoda.   [Pareidolia is the tendency for perception to impose a meaningful interpretation on a nebulous stimulus, usually visual, so that one sees an object, pattern, or meaning where there is none (Wickipedia).]  They conclude “the ‘phyllocarid’ likely represents scoring or scouring of the bedding surface.

They also suggest that “serious doubts have been raised regarding biological affinities” of Protoniobia wadea Sprigg, 1949, referencing Dunnet 1965, Cloud 1968, Dow & Gemuts 1969, Grey 1981a, 1981b, Lan & Chen 2012, noting that “Most authors consider P. wadea to represent a chert plate;”.

Bicknell, Russell; Patrick Mark Smith, Natalie Schroeder, Julien Kimmig, 2020
Reconsidering the 'phyllocarid' from the Wade Creek Formation.
Alcheringa An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology 44(4), 3 pages
https://doi.org/10.1080/03115518.2020.1820575


References and Suggested Reading


Aitken,A.R.A. ;  S.A. Occhipinti, M.D. Lindsay, A. Joly, H.M. Howard, S.P. Johnson, J.
Hollis, C. Spaggiari, I.M. Tyler, T.C. McCuaig, M.C. M.C. Dentith, 2018
The tectonics and mineral systems of Proterozoic Western Australia: relationships
with supercontinents and global secular change. Geoscience Frontiers ,Volume 9, Issue 2, March 2018, Pages 295-316   doi: 10.1016/j.gsf.2017.05.0
https://d28rz98at9flks.cloudfront.net/81517/Jou1998_v17_n3_p223.pdf

Bland, B. H. 1984.
Arumberia Glaessner & Walter, a review of its potential for correlation in the region of the Precambrian - Cambrian boundary. Geol. Mag. Vol. 121. No. 6. p. 625 - 633.

Bofinger, Vivian Maxwell (1967)
Geochronology in the East Kimberley Area of Western Australia.   Thesis submitted in the Australian National University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Calvera,Clive R., Kathleen Grey, and Martin Laan, 2010
The ‘string of beads’  fossil (Horodyskia) in the mid-Proterozoic of Tasmania.
Precambrian Research 180 (2010) 18–25

Chapman, F., 1925
The Wade Collection of Fossils – Description of Plates in report by Dr. A . Wade on the Petroleum Prospects of the Kimberley District of Western Australia and the Northern Territory,  and Preliminary Report by M r. F. Chapman, Palaeontologist, National Museum, Melbourne, on Fossils collected by Dr. A . Wade in the Kimberley District of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Melbourne: Government Printer. 10 pages
           
Cloud, Preston E. Jr., 1959
Paleoecology: Retrospect and Prospect, Journal of Paleontology, Vol. 33, No. 5 (Sep., 1959), pp. 926-962 
 https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/7062/5e479bd3c7d461bef51193552390d0a6e74e.pdf

Cloud, P.E., 1968.
Pre-Metazoan evolution and the origins of the metazoa. In: Drake, E.T. (Ed.), Evolution and Environment. Yale University Press, New Haven and London, pp. 1–72.

David, Sir  T. W. Edgeworth, 1928
Notes on newly discovered fossils in the Adelaide series (Lipalian?), South Australia.  Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Australia, vol. 52, pp 191-209, plates 13-18
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/129838#page/197/mode/1up   

Dong, L., Xiao, S., Shen, B., and Zhou, C., Jan 2008
"Silicified Horodyskia and Palaeopascichnus from upper Ediacaran cherts in South China: tentative phylogenetic interpretation and implications for evolutionary stasis. Journal of the Geological Society. 165: 367–378. doi:10.1144/0016-76492007-074.

Dow , D.  B.  and  I.  Gemuts, 1969
Geology   of   the   Kimberley   Region,  Western   Australia:   The   East   Kimberley. Bureau of Mineral Resources Geology and Geophysics, Commonwealth of Australia,    Bulletin  No.  106 
https://d28rz98at9flks.cloudfront.net/157/Bull_106.pdf

Dunnet, D. and  K.A. Plumb. 1964
Explanatory  notes on the Lissadell 1:250,000 geological sheet, SE. 52-2. Western Australia.
https://d28rz98at9flks.cloudfront.net/11327/Rec1964_070.pdf

Dunnet, D.,   1965
A new occurrence of proterozoic “jellyfish"from the Kimberley Region, Western Australia.
Bureau of Mineral Resources Geology and Geophysics, Commonwealth of Australia. 10 pages
www.ga.gov.au/webtemp/image_cache/GA11520.pdf

Fedonkin, Mikhail A., 2003
The origin of the Metazoa in the light of the Proterozic fossil record.  Paleontological Research 7(Mar 2003):9-41     DOI: 10.2517/prpsj.7.9
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232679218_The_origin_of_the_Metazoa_in_the_light_of_the_Proterozic_fossil_record/link/54cf3aeb0cf24601c0931518/download

Fedonkin, Mikhail A.,  Gehling, J.G.,  Grey K.,  Narbonne, G, and  Vickers-Rich, P.  2007 -
The Rise of Animals: Evolution and Diversification of the Kingdom . Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press.  331 pages
https://books.google.ca/books?isbn=0801886791

Fortey, Richard, 2010
Trilobite: Eyewitness to Evolution. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group,  320 pages
https://books.google.ca/books?isbn=0307434672

Glaessner, M. F. , 1959
The oldest fossil faunas of South Australia, Geologische Rundschau, June 1959, Volume 47, Issue 2, pp 522–531

Glaessner, M. F., and Walter, M. R., 1981,
Australian Precambrian Paleobiology, Chapter 6 in D.R. Hunter, editor,  Precambrian of the Southern Hemisphere.   Developments in Precambrian Geology 2. Amsterdam, Oxford, New York: Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company
 https://books.google.ca/books?isbn=0080869017   

Grey, K., 1981a.
Proterozoic “jellyfish” from the Mount Brooking area, Lissadell Sheet, Kimberley region. Geological Survey of Western Australia Palaeontology Report 29
(1981), 1–4.  http://geodocs.dmp.wa.gov.au/document/documentSearch.do

Grey, K., 1981b.
Additional samples of Proterozoic “jellyfish”from the Mount Brooking area, Lissadell Sheet, Kimberley region. Geological Survey of Western Australia. Palaeontology Report 52 (1981), 1–2. 

Grey, K., and Blake, D.H., 1999.
Neoproterozoic (Cryogenian) stromatolites from the Wolfe Basin, east Kimberley, Western Australia: correlation with the Centralian Superbasin. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 46, 329–341.
 
Grey, K. and Williams, I. R., 1990:
Problematic bedding-plane  markings from the Middle Proterozoic Manganese Subgroup,
Bangemall Basin, Western Australia. Precambrian Research, vol. 46, p. 307-327.
https://doi.org/10.1016/0301-9268(90)90018-L

Grey, Kathleen,  Ellis L. Yochelson,  Mikhail A. Fedonkin, David McB. Martin, 2010
Horodyskia williamsii new species, a Mesoproterozoic macrofossil from Western Australia
Precambrian Research, Precambrian Research 180 (2010) 1–17 at page 6

Harrington, H. J. And Moore, R. C., 1956
Medusae Incertae Sedis and Unrecognizable Forms, F153-F161, in Moore, R. C., ed., 1956
—Treatise on Invertebrate Palaeontology, Part F Coelenterata .  Geological  Society of America and Univ. Kansas Press.  “Protoniobia.” SPRIGG, 1949 At page F179
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31822006519136&view=image&seq=5


Hoffman, Hans J., 1992
Proterozoic and Selected Cambrian Megascopic Dubiofossils and Pseudofossils, pages 1035 -1054, in J. William Schopf and Cornelis Klein, editors, The Proterozoic Biosphere: A Multidisciplinary Study. Cambridge University Press, 1340 pages @ page 1050
https://books.google.ca/books?isbn=0521366151
    
Hofmann,  H.J. and Mountjoy, Eric W., 2010 
Ediacaran body and trace fossils in Miette Group (Windermere Supergroup) near Salient Mountain, British Columbia, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 2010, 47(10): 1305-1325,  https://doi.org/10.1139/E10-070.
https://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/E10-070
   
Horodyski, R.J., 1982.
Problematic bedding-plane markings from the Middle Proterozoic Appekunny Formation, Belt Supergroup, northwestern Montana. Journal of Paleontology 56, 882–889.

Jensen, H. I., 1914
Geological report on the Darwin mining district, McArthur River district, the Barkly tableland;
Bulletin of the Northern  Territory,  No. 10 . Melbourne : Department of External Affairs

Jensen, H. I.
The Northern Territory.  Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of  Australia, Vols. XXXII-XXXIII, p. 14   

Jensen, H. I. And E. Copley Playford, 1913
Paper on the geology of the Northern Territory of Australia, Prepared for the International  Geological  Congress, Toronto, Canada, XII, Session, 27 pp. Map. Dept. of External Affairs Melbourne.  Congrès géologique international, XIIe session, Canada, 1913

Kruse PD and Munson TJ,  2013
Chapter 33:  Ord Basin, in Ahmad M and Munson TJ (compilers),  Geology and mineral resources of the Northern Territory, Northern Territory Geological Survey Special Publication 5
https://geoscience.nt.gov.au/gemis/ntgsjspui/bitstream/1/81513/1/GNT_Ch33_Ord.pdf

Kruse, P.D., Laurie, J. R., and Webby, B.D., 2004
Cambrian Geology and Palaeontology of the Ord Basin.  Memoirs of the Association of Australian Palaeontologists 30, 1-58

Lan, Zhongwu and Chen, ZHong-Qiang, 2012
Possible animal body fossils from the Late Neoproterozoic interglacial successions in the Kimberley region, northwestern Australia.  Gondwana Research 21(1)  January 2012
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/ZHong-Qiang_Chen/publication/257789421_Euxinic_Ocean_during_the_Late_Devonian_Mass_Extinction_Inferred_from_Organic_Compounds/links/5556928208aeaaff3bf601d9/Euxinic-Ocean-during-the-Late-Devonian-Mass-Extinction-Inferred-from-Organic-Compounds.pdf

Lin Dong, Shuhai  Xiao, Bing Shen and Chuanming Zhou, 2008
Silicified Horodyskia and Palaeopascichnus from upper Ediacaran cherts in South China: tentative phylogenetic interpretation and implications for evolutionary stasis. Journal of the Geological Society, 165, 367-378, 14 January 2008,
https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-76492007-074

Liu, Alexander G., 2011
Reviewing the Ediacaran fossils of Long Mynd, Shropshire.   Proceedings of the Shropshire Geological Society, 16, 31-43. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/29419212.pdf

 Martin, D.McB., 2004
Depositional environment and taphonomy of the 'strings of beads': Mesoproterozoic multicellular fossils in the Bangemall Supergroup, Western Australia. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences. 51 (4): 555–561. doi:10.1111/j.1400-0952.2004.01074.x.

McCall, G. J. H, 2006
The Vendian (Ediacaran) in the geological record: Enigmas in geology's prelude to the Cambrian explosion.  Earth-Science Reviews 77 (2006) 1-229       
http://old.geology.lnu.edu.ua/phis_geo/fourman/library-Earth/The%20Vendian%20(Ediacaran)%20in%20the%20geological%20record.pdf
   
Menon, Latha, 2015
Ediacaran discoidal impressions and related structures from Newfoundland, Canada and the Long Mynd, Shropshire,UK: Their nature and biogenicity. Doctoral Thesis, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, 220 pages
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6bc5/5f45c99fdd676b1f71e9a64783da33477ecf.pdf


Nebel, Oliver, 2014
Rb – Sr Dating, in Encyclopedia of Scientific Dating Methods. Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.  DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-6326-5_116-1
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-94-007-6326-5_116-1.pdf

Noakes, L.C., 1956
Upper Proterozoic and Sub-Cambrian Rocks in Australia, in El sistema cambrico, su paleogeografia y el problema de su Base: Symposium:  Part 2: Australia, America.  20th International Geological Congress, Mexico, 1956.
https://books.google.com/books/about/El_sistema_c%C3%A1mbrico_Australia_Am%C3%A9rica.html?id=Qw8LAQAAIAAJ

Noakes, L.C., 1957
Upper Proterozoic and Sub-Cambrian Rocks in Australia, 213- 238 in The Cambrian Geology of Australia, Bulletin 49,  A. A. Öpik (Editor).  Australia. Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics. Papers  presented at the 20th International Geological Congress, Mexico, 1956.
http://www.ga.gov.au/data-pubs/library/legacy-publications/bulletins

Öpik,  A. A., 1957a  
Cambrian geology of the Northern Territory, pages  25-54 in The Cambrian Geology of Australia, Bulletin 49,  A. A. Öpik (editor). Australia. Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics. Papers  presented at the 20th International Geological Congress, Mexico, 1956. 
https://books.google.ca/books?id=zLM6AAAAIAAJ
http://www.ga.gov.au/data-pubs/library/legacy-publications/bulletins
 
Öpik,  A.  A.. 1957b
Cambrian Palaeogeography of Australia, pages  239 -284,  in The Cambrian Geology of Australia, Bulletin 49,  A. A. Öpik (editor). Australia. Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics. Papers  presented at the 20th International Geological Congress, Mexico, 1956. 

Spotts, J. H. And Weber, O.E., 1964,
Directional Properties of a Miocene Turbidite. California. Pages  199-222 in Brouma, A. H. And A. Brouwer  (editors),   Turbidites, Volume 3, 1st Edition.   Elsevier Science. 263 pages
skip casts and prod casts at page 204 and plate II
 https://books.google.ca/books?isbn=0080869130

Sprigg, R.C.,  1947
Early Cambrian Jellyfish from the Flinders Range, South  Australia.  Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia,   71 (2). 212-224
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/82733
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/41347851

Sprigg, R. C., 1950   [Read 8 September 1949]
Early  Cambrian   'Jellyfishes'  of  Ediacara  South  Australia  and  Mount  John,  Kimberley  District, Western Australia. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 71-99, plates
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/41362240#page/96/mode/1up
https://archive.org/details/TransactionsRoy73Roya/page/77

Sprigg, R. C., 1988
On the 1946 discovery of the Precambrian Ediacarian fossil fauna in South Australia.  Earth Sciences History Vol. 7, No. 1 (1988), pp. 46-51 
https://www.jstor.org/stable/24136869
   
Strusz, D.L., 1992
Catalogue of Type, Figured and Cited Specimens in the Commonwealth Palaeontological   Collection: ARCHAEOCYATHA, PORIFERA, COELENTERATA . Department  of  Primary  Industries  and  Energy,  Australian  Geological Survey Organisation, Report  307   https://d28rz98at9flks.cloudfront.net/15216/Rep_307.pdf
-  Strusz (1992), in that  catalogue of Type specimens, commented:
Rejected  from  the  Coelenterata: 
Protoniobia  wadea  SPRIGG,  1949 
CPC  192: HOLOTYPE  (impression  on  bedding  plane)  - WADE,  1924, pl. IX, CHAPMAN,  1924, p.  9.    SPRIGG, 1949,  pp.  77-79,  text-fig.  2E, pi. IX,  fig.  1.    HARRINGTON  &  MOORE,  1956, p. F159, Fig.  131. 
Locality:  Mount  John,  Osmond  Range,  Kimberley  district,   Western  Australia. 
Horizon:"Lower  Cambrian  Flags". 
Age:   Early  Cambrian.  ("Lower  Cambrian  or  even  Algonkian"  -  Chapman,  1924). 
Remarks:   Originally  thought by  Chapman  to be  a  "...  coiled  (?)  gephyrean  or unsegmented  worm",  and  then  by  Sprigg  to  be  a  hydrozoan.    Harrington   &  Moore  rejected  both  interpretations   - “Here  interpreted  as a concretion, inorganic."


Sweet, I. P. , 1977
The Precambrian Geology of the Victoria  River Region, Northern Territory.  Bulletin 168,  Australia. Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics
https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/80
page 33: Age and Correlations: The first attempt to relate East Kimberley and Victoria River region rocks was made by Wade (1924) who, on the basis of supposed trace fossils, called rocks in both areas the Mount John series.
https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/80

Talbot, H. W. B.  and  Simpson, Edward, 1926
 A geological reconnaissance of part of the Ashburton drainage basin, with notes on the country southwards to Meekatharra / by H.W.B. Talbot ; with an appendix on the minerals of the Ashburton and Gascoyne Valleys by Edward S. Simpson.  Bulletin (Geological Survey of Western Australia) ; no. 85.  Perth, Western Australia : Government Printer,  113 pages 
   
Thom, J.H., 1975,
 Remaining Precambrian area, Kimberley region, in  Geology of Western Australia,   Geological Survey of Western Australia. Memoir, 2, p160-193
http://dmpbookshop.eruditetechnologies.com.au/product/the-geology-of-western-australia.do

Tyler, Ian M.,  Roger M. Hocking and Peter W. Haines, 2012
Geological evolution of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Episodes Vol. 35, no. 1, 298-306  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236782362_Geological_evolution_of_the_Kimberley_region_of_Western_Australia

Tyler I. M., Thorne A. M., Hoatson D. M. & Blake D. H. 1997.
Turkey Creek, Western Australia, 1:100 000 geological map (sheet 4563).
Geological Survey of Western Australia, Perth.
http://geodocs.dmp.wa.gov.au/viewer/viewerComponentAction.do?documentId=571018&viewMarkId=0&ct=true&at=none&btv=true&atv=false&vmtv=false&ac=ff0000&cabinetId=1101&pg=0&scl=18&bds=0|0|12743|9102

Tyler, I.M.,  Thorne, A.M.,  Sheppard, S.,  1998
Dixon Range, WA Sheet SE 52-6 (2nd edition),  1:250 000 Geological Series Map
Geological Survey of Western Australia, Perth.
http://dmpbookshop.eruditetechnologies.com.au/product/dixon-range-wa-sheet-se-52-6.do

Traves,  D.  M., 1957
Upper Proterozoic and Cambrian Geology in North-western Australia, pages 75 -90 in The Cambrian Geology of Australia, Bulletin 49,  A. A. Öpik (Editor).  Australia. Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics. Papers  presented at the 20th International Geological Congress, Mexico, 1956.

Turner, Susan and Rich, Patricia Vickers, 2007    
Sprigg, Glaessner and Wade and the discovery and international recognition of the Ediacaran fauna.  Geological Society London Special Publications 286(1)  January 2007 
DOI: 10.1144/SP286.37
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228491752_Sprigg_Glaessner_and_Wade_and_the_discovery_and_international_recognition_of_the_Ediacaran_fauna/link/00b7d51754f0f9eb16000000/download

Udden, J.A., 1918
Fossil Ice Crystals.  University of Texas Bulletin No. 1821
https://archive.org/details/cu31924004981936/page/n2

Unknown, 1920
Prehistoric Ice Crystals Leave Fossil Imprints.  Popular Mechanics. Volume 34,  Page 532
https://books.google.ca/books?id=8YPVAAAAMAAJ

Vallance, T. G., 1990
Wade, Arthur (1878–1951).   Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 12, (MUP), 199
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/wade-arthur-8936
accessed online July 14, 2019
   
Yochelson, E. L. and Fedonkin, M. A., 2000
A new tissue-grade organism 1. 5 billion years old from Montana. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, vol. 113, p. 843-847.

Wade, Arthur, 1924,
Petroleum prospects, Kimberley district of Western Australia and Northern Territory. Commonwealth of Australia, Report to Parliament, no. 142. Melbourne: Government Printer.
https://books.google.ca/books?id=n5_nAAAAMAAJ

Wade, Mary (1969)
Medusae from uppermost Precambrian or Cambrian sandstones, central Australia.  Palaeontology 12, 351-365
 https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/49808138#page/7/mode/1up

Wade,  Mary  (1972)
Hydrozoa and Scyphozoa and other Medusoids  from the  Precambrian Ediacaran fauna south Australia.  Palaeontology 15, 197-225
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/49933340#page/295/mode/1up

Williams,  S. J.,  1967
250 000 geological series Map: explanatory notes - Page 6
Geological Survey of New South Wales. Australia. Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics, https://books.google.ca/books?id=zHpjAAAAIAAJ

Wilson, Alice E,   1957
Life in the Proterozoic, a Chapter in  The Proterozoic in Canada, James E. Gill, editor, University of Toronto Press, 204 pages at pages 18-27
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3138/j.ctt1vgw7jv
https://books.google.ca/books?isbn=148759754