A Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point, abbreviated GSSP, is an internationally agreed upon reference point on a stratigraphic section which defines the lower boundary of a stage on the geologic time scale. Of the 64 GSSPs located around the world, the Ediacaran GSSP is the only one found in the southern hemisphere. Located in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia this Golden Spike is on the banks of Enorama creek, in the Flinders Ranges National Park.
The earthcache and GSSP location is a reference point for the very first life found on Earth, the Ediacara Biota. The oldest known examples of complex, multicellular animal life, the Ediacaran soft-bodied creatures living on the algal mats that carpeted the ancient sea floor.. When smothered by sand they were preserved as mineral ‘death-mask imprints’. The fossils are simply the moulds and casts of their squashed bodies preserved as imprints in sandstone layers. The fossils of these soft-bodied creatures were collected from many sites in the Flinders Ranges by Sprigg et al.
The Ediacaran Period began 635 million years ago and ended 542 million years ago with the Cambrian explosion of animal life, represented by animals with skeletons and shells. These Ediacaran ancient fossils were the basis for defining the first new geological period in over than a century: the Ediacaran Period. This new rung in the ladder of geological time is defined by a GSSP marker or ‘golden spike’ in the Flinders Ranges National Park.
The golden spike location marks the base of the Nuccaleena Formation (pink dolomite) overlying the Elatina Formation (crimson glacial diamicite). Small holes have been drilled in successive layers to measure magnetic pole positions during deposition of rock at the beginning of the Ediacaran period.
To log this earthcache you will need to measure and observe.
1. Describe the rock above the golden spike. Do you see a layered structure? How thick are the layers?
2. Will you see any fossils in the rock below the golden spike? Explain your reasoning.
3. Does 635 million years ago make you feel old?
