Organic-walled microfossil biostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy of the Ediacaran Volta Basin in Ghana

Agić, Heda; Abu, Mahamuda; Fu, Xuerui; Lin, Ying; Bekker, Andrey

Organic-walled microfossil biostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy of the Ediacaran Volta Basin in Ghana

dc.contributor.author	Agić, Heda	en
dc.contributor.author	Abu, Mahamuda	en
dc.contributor.author	Fu, Xuerui	en
dc.contributor.author	Lin, Ying	en
dc.contributor.author	Bekker, Andrey	en
dc.contributor.funder	American Chemical Society	en
dc.date.accessioned	2026-10-01T11:11:35Z
dc.date.available	2026-10-01T11:11:35Z
dc.date.issued	2026-09-30	en
dc.description.abstract	A moderately diverse assemblage of Doushantuo-Pertatataka-type (DPA) organic-walled microfossils was recovered for the first time from shales of the Volta Basin of Ghana, West African Craton (WAC). Biostratigraphic and chemostratigraphic (δ13C and δ15N) data for the Kodjari and Pendjari formations were integrated to provide age constraints and establish correlations with other Ediacaran basins. The Kodjari Formation carbonates, developed on a glacial diamictite, have negative carbon isotope values consistent with those for Marinoan cap carbonates. The Pendjari Formation mudstones overlie the Kodjari Formation cap carbonates and have yielded microfossils characteristic of the early Ediacaran, most similar to the assemblages of south-central Australia and Siberia. Carbon and nitrogen isotope values of the Kodjari and Pendjari formations indicate deposition in a shallow-marine, oxygenated environments in a basin with a large nitrate reservoir. The assemblage contains 29 taxa, including diverse acanthomorphs, and it broadly corresponds to the Tanarium–Schizofusa–Variomargosphaeridium Zone established in Australia and the Tanarium conoideum–Hocosphaeridium scaberfacium–Hocosphaeridium anozos Zone in China. However, in Ghana, some taxa diagnostic of different eponymous zones in other regions (Ceratosphaeridium glaberosum, Shizofusa zangwenlongii, Tanarium conoideum) appear together throughout the stratigraphic section. Diversity declines at the top of the succession and DPA taxa are replaced by abundant leiosphaerids and budding and flask-shaped microfossils, which are more characteristic of the post-Shuram anomaly interval. These data establish an early Ediacaran age for the Pendjari Formation and confirm the global distribution and stratigraphic significance of DPA. The Pendjari assemblage further demonstrates a rapid diversification of eukaryotic microbiota following the Marinoan global glaciation.	en
dc.description.sponsorship	American Chemical Society\|624840ND2	en
dc.description.status	Peer reviewed	en
dc.description.version	Accepted Version	en
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf	en
dc.identifier.articleid	S0016699526000458	en
dc.identifier.citation	Agić, H., Abu, M., Fu, X., Lin, Y. and Bekker, A. (2026) 'Organic-walled microfossil biostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy of the Ediacaran Volta Basin in Ghana', Geobios. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geobios.2026.09.001	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.1016/j.geobios.2026.09.001	en
dc.identifier.issn	0016-6995	en
dc.identifier.journaltitle	Geobios	en
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10468/19393
dc.language.iso	en	en
dc.publisher	Elsevier BV	en
dc.rights	© 2026, Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.	en
dc.rights.uri	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/	en
dc.subject	Cap carbonate	en
dc.subject	Doushantuo-Pertatataka acritarchs	en
dc.subject	Organic-walled microfossils	en
dc.subject	Chemostratigraphy	en
dc.subject	West Africa Craton	en
dc.subject	Ediacaran	en
dc.title	Organic-walled microfossil biostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy of the Ediacaran Volta Basin in Ghana	en
dc.type	Article (peer-reviewed)	en