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Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 2007; v. 286; p. 137-142;
DOI: 10.1144/SP286.9
© 2007 Geological Society of London

Correlation and naming

‘Ediacaran’ as a name for the newly designated terminal Proterozoic period

R. J. F. Jenkins

South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000 (e-mail: Jenkins.Richard{at}saugov.sa.gov.au)

The ‘International Geological Commission on Stratigraphy Working Group on the Terminal Proterozoic Period’ held a series of ballots to vote for criteria identifying the new Period. These included establishing the international site and direct locality for the ‘Global Stratotype Section and Point’ (GSSP), as well as its stratigraphic level and the official name of the new period. Information included in the present note was submitted for circulation to members of the voting committee in April 2003 for their consideration on the occasion of the formal vote to ratify the name, and was a successful proposal for the designation ‘Ediacaran’.

The name Ediacara is historically established as an alliteration of the Aboriginal reference to an ephemeral lake recorded on the first geological map of the Flinders Ranges, and subsequently transmitted through references in Parliament, historical pastoral runs (named properties), and the surveying of a new mining town. During this history its application moved some 60 km south. The name refers to a place of water, possibly in the context of ancestral time. Aspects of the subsequent history of concepts embraced in the original presentation are included.