The first period of the Paleozoic and of the Phanerozoic eon, named for Cambria (Wales), where its rock sequences were first studied. It opens with the most rapid diversification of complex animal life the fossil record shows. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Start (Million Years Ago)Revised in early 2022 from the earlier figure of 541 Mya per the cited article. End (Million Years Ago)Cambrian-Ordovician boundary, ICS standard value. Key EventThe Cambrian explosion: the rapid appearance in the fossil record of most major hard-bodied animal groups alive today. 1 Defining Event Cambrian
Filter Results2 entries
Connections
Associated With
Source Alum Shale Formation (Wikipedia)
Source Beinn Eighe (Wikipedia)
Source Bishops and Clerks (Wikipedia)
Source Bright Angel Shale (Wikipedia)
Source Burgess Shale (Wikipedia)
Source Ellsworth Mountains (Wikipedia)
Source Emu Bay Shale (Wikipedia)
Source Eureka Valley (Inyo County) (Wikipedia)
Source Kittatinny Valley (Wikipedia)
Source Langkawi (Wikipedia)
Source Lena Pillars (Wikipedia)
Source Maotianshan Shales (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: McMurdo Dry Valleys, Wikipedia
Source Scandinavian Mountains (Wikipedia)
Source Sirius Passet (Wikipedia)
Source Tapeats Sandstone (Wikipedia)
Source Vinson Massif (Wikipedia)
Source Wheeler Shale (Wikipedia)
Source Willis Mountain (Wikipedia)
Has Geologic Rank
In Discipline
Source Geologic Time Scale (Wikipedia)
Precursor To
Sources
1. Geologic Time Scale (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation- Rank: Period
- Start (Million Years Ago): 538.8
- End (Million Years Ago): 485.4
- Key Event: The Cambrian explosion: the rapid appearance in the fossil record of most major hard-bodied animal groups alive today.
View the Source 2. Cambrian (Wikipedia)
Lead paragraphQuote, Lead paragraph
Complex, multicellular organisms gradually became more common during the Ediacaran, but it was not until the Cambrian that fossil diversity seems to have rapidly increased, an event known as the Cambrian explosion, producing the first representatives of most modern animal phyla.
Lena Pillars (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Lena Pillars, Lead paragraph
The pillars are 150-300 metres (490-980 ft) high, and were formed in some of the Cambrian period sea-basins.
Associated With: Lena Pillars, Lead, age Cambrian
The pillars are 150-300 metres (490-980 ft) high, and were formed in some of the Cambrian period sea-basins.
View the SourceMaotianshan Shales (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Maotianshan Shales, Lead paragraph
The age of the Chengjiang Lagerstätte is locally termed Qiongzhusian, a stage correlated to the late Atdabanian Stage in Siberian sequences of the middle of the Early Cambrian.
Associated With: Maotianshan Shales, Lead, age Cambrian
The Maotianshan Shales (simplified Chinese: 帽天山页岩; traditional Chinese: 帽天山頁岩; pinyin: Màotiānshān yèyán) are a series of Early Cambrian sedimentary deposits in the Chiungchussu Formation or Heilinpu Formation, famous for their Konservat Lagerstätten, deposits known for the exceptional preservation of fossilized organisms or traces.
View the SourceAlum Shale Formation (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Alum Shale, Lead paragraph
The Alum Shale Formation is a rock formation of black shale of Miaolingian (Middle Cambrian) to Tremadocian (Lower Ordovician) in age found predominantly in Scandinavia, but also some parts of Estonia and Finland.
Associated With: Alum Shale, Lead, age Cambrian
The Alum Shale Formation is a rock formation of black shale of Miaolingian (Middle Cambrian) to Tremadocian (Lower Ordovician) in age found predominantly in Scandinavia, but also some parts of Estonia and Finland.
View the SourceWheeler Shale (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Wheeler Shale, Lead paragraph
Together with the Marjum Formation and lower Weeks Formation, the Wheeler Shale forms 490 to 610 m (1,610 to 2,000 ft) of limestone and shale exposed in one of the thickest, most fossiliferous and best exposed sequences of Middle Cambrian rocks in North America.
Associated With: Wheeler Shale, Lead, age Cambrian
The Wheeler Shale (named by Charles Walcott) is a Cambrian (c. 507 Ma) fossil locality world-famous for prolific agnostid and Elrathia kingii trilobite remains (even though many areas are barren of fossils) and represents a Konzentrat-Lagerstätte.
View the SourceBeinn Eighe (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Beinn Eighe, Lead, age CambrianQuote, Associated With: Beinn Eighe, Lead, age Cambrian
Unlike most other hills in the area it has a cap of Cambrian basal quartzite which gives the peaks of Beinn Eighe a distinctive light colour.
Bishops and Clerks (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Bishops and Clerks, Article text, age CambrianQuote, Associated With: Bishops and Clerks, Article text, age Cambrian
Llechau-uchaf is formed from the late Cambrian 'Lingula Flags' whilst Carreg-trai is formed from Ordovician acid tuffs of the Llanrian Volcanic Formation.
Bright Angel Shale (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Bright Angel Shale, Lead, age CambrianQuote, Associated With: Bright Angel Shale, Lead, age Cambrian
The Bright Angel Shale is one of five geological formations that comprise the Cambrian Tonto Group.
Burgess Shale (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Burgess Shale, Lead, age CambrianQuote, Associated With: Burgess Shale, Lead, age Cambrian
At c.505 million years old (middle Cambrian), it is one of the earliest fossil beds containing soft-part imprints.
Ellsworth Mountains (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Ellsworth Mountains, Article text, age CambrianQuote, Associated With: Ellsworth Mountains, Article text, age Cambrian
This terrane was part of the early Paleozoic amalgamation of Gondwana and consists of a 13,000 meters (43,000 ft) thick section of folded Cambrian-Permian strata, which accumulated on Grenville-age continental crust.
Emu Bay Shale (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Emu Bay Shale, Lead, age CambrianQuote, Associated With: Emu Bay Shale, Lead, age Cambrian
The Emu Bay Shale is dated as Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4, correlated with the upper Botomian Stage of the Lower Cambrian.
Eureka Valley (Inyo County) (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Eureka Valley (Inyo County), Article text, age CambrianQuote, Associated With: Eureka Valley (Inyo County), Article text, age Cambrian
According to a USGS survey map, the surrounding mountain ranges contain rocks that date back to the Mississippian and Cambrian periods while the surficial deposits on the valley floor are made up mainly of alluvium dating to the Quaternary period.
Kittatinny Valley (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Kittatinny Valley, Article text, age CambrianQuote, Associated With: Kittatinny Valley, Article text, age Cambrian
The Kittatinny Valley was created during the late Ordovician period and the Cambrian period.
Langkawi (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Langkawi, Article text, age CambrianQuote, Associated With: Langkawi, Article text, age Cambrian
The island's oldest geological formation, the Machinchang Formation, was the first part of Southeast Asia to rise from the seabed in the Cambrian over half a billion years ago.
Wikipedia: McMurdo Dry Valleys, Wikipedia
Associated With: McMurdo Dry Valleys, Article text, age CambrianQuote, Associated With: McMurdo Dry Valleys, Article text, age Cambrian
The Palaeozoic Granite Harbour intrusives include granitoid plutons and dykes, which intruded into the metasedimentary Skelton Group in the Late Cambrian-Early Ordovician during the Ross orogeny.
Scandinavian Mountains (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Scandinavian Mountains, Article text, age CambrianQuote, Associated With: Scandinavian Mountains, Article text, age Cambrian
The lower unit is made up Ediacaran (Vendian), Cambrian, Ordovician and Silurian-aged sedimentary rocks.
Sirius Passet (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Sirius Passet, Lead, age CambrianQuote, Associated With: Sirius Passet, Lead, age Cambrian
Sirius Passet is a Cambrian Lagerstätte in Peary Land, Greenland.
Tapeats Sandstone (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Tapeats Sandstone, Lead, age CambrianQuote, Associated With: Tapeats Sandstone, Lead, age Cambrian
Except where underlain by the Sixtymile Formation, the Tapeats Sandstone is the Cambrian geologic formation that is the basal geologic unit of the Tonto Group.
Vinson Massif (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Vinson Massif, Article text, age CambrianQuote, Associated With: Vinson Massif, Article text, age Cambrian
The transition beds at the base of the Crashsite Group contain Late Cambrian trilobites.
Willis Mountain (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Willis Mountain, Article text, age CambrianQuote, Associated With: Willis Mountain, Article text, age Cambrian
The schists are enveloped by biotite-amphibole gneiss of the Cambrian Chopawamsic Formation.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.