Bitter Springs Group Explained

Bitter Springs Group
Age:	Tonian ~
Period:	Tonian
Type:	Geological group
Prilithology:	Chert
Region:	Northern Territory, Western Australia^[1]
Country:	Australia
Coordinates:	-23.5427°N 134.4572°W
Subunits:	Gillen, Loves Creek & Johnnys Creek Formations^[2]
Extent:	Amadeus Basin

The Bitter Springs Group, also known as the Bitter Springs Formation is a Precambrian fossil locality in Australia, which preserves stromatolites and microorganisms in silica.^[3] Its preservational mode ceased in the late Neoproterozoic with the advent of silicifying organisms.^[4]

Fossils include exceptionally well-preserved cyanobacteria microfossils, as well as multiple stromatolite species, including Linella avis and Inzeria intia.^{[5] [6]} This locality also has been claimed to contain eukaryotic green algae preservation, though this interpretation is debated.^[7]

External links

• University of California - Berkeley page on the Bitter Springs formation

Notes and References

1. Web site: Bitter Springs Group . Geological Survey of Western Australia . 12 April 2019 . 14 June 2024 . P.W. . Haines . H.J. . Allen.
2. Haines. P.W.. Allen. H.J.. Geological reconnaissance of the southern Murraba Basin, Western Australia: revised stratigraphic position within the Centralian Superbasin and hydrocarbon potential Geological Survey of Western Australia.. Geological Survey of Western Australia. 2017.
3. Microflora of the Bitter Springs Formation, Late Precambrian, Central Australia . Schopf, J.W. . Journal of Paleontology . 42 . 3 . 651–688 . 1 May 1968 . 2008-07-01 .
4. Exceptional Fossil Preservation and the Cambrian Explosion . 2003 . Integrative and Comparative Biology . 43 . 1 . 166–177 . 10.1093/icb/43.1.166 . Butterfield, Nicholas J. . 21680421. free .
5. M. R . Walter . 1972 . Stromatolites and the biostratigraphy of the Australian Precambrian and Cambrian . Special Papers in Palaentology . . 11 .
6. Book: Schopf. J. William. Ecology of cyanobacteria II. "The fossil record of cyanobacteria.". 2012. Springer. Netherlands. 15–36.
7. Barghoorn. Elso S.. Schopf. J. William. Microorganisms from the Late Precambrian of Central Australia Science. Science. 15 October 1965. 150. 3694. 337–339. 10.1126/science.150.3694.337. 17742361. 22110392.