Ustʹ Pinega Formation

Geological formation in northwestern Russia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Ustʹ Pinega Formation is an Upper Ediacaran geological formation in northwestern Russia. It spans from around 575 Ma to 550 Ma and contains fossils of the Ediacaran biota throughout its sequence.^[2]

TypeGeological Formation

Sub-unitsTamitsa, Lyamtsa, Arkhangelsk, Verkhovka, Syuzma, Vaizitsa and Zimnegory Subformations

UnderliesMezen Formation

Overliesdifferent Archean and Proterozoic rocks

Quick facts Type, Sub-units ...

Ustʹ Pinega Formation
Stratigraphic range: Ediacaran 575–550 Ma^[1]^[2] PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Type	Geological Formation
Sub-units	Tamitsa, Lyamtsa, Arkhangelsk, Verkhovka, Syuzma, Vaizitsa and Zimnegory Subformations
Underlies	Mezen Formation
Overlies	different Archean and Proterozoic rocks
Thickness	>751 m
Lithology
Primary	Argillite
Other	Sandstone, Siltstone, Clay
Location
Coordinates	64°09′00″N 41°56′00″E
Region	Arkhangelsk Oblast, Vologda Oblast, Kirov Oblast, Komi Republic, Republic of Karelia
Country	Russia
Extent	>970 km
Type section
Named for	Ust-Pinega
Ustʹ Pinega Formation (Russia) Show map of Russia Ustʹ Pinega Formation (Arkhangelsk Oblast) Show map of Arkhangelsk Oblast

Geology

The formation was first established and described from the core of the Ust-Pinega borehole drilled in the settlement of Ust-Pinega, Arkhangelsk Region of Russia, where its thickness is 284 m. Its natural outcrops within the same region are known from the Onega Peninsula and the Winter Coast of the White Sea, as well as from small, isolated outcrops in the basin of the Onega River and on the northern slope of the Vetreny Poyas (Windy Belt) Ridge.^[3]

The formation rests with erosion on Proterozoic terrigenous deposits or Archean crystalline rocks. It is subdivided, from bottom to top, into the following Subformations (initially defined as "Beds" by A.F. Stankovsky, 1985): Tamitsa, Lyamtsa, Arkhangelsk, Verkhovka, Syuzma, Vaizitsa, and Zimnegory. It is unconformably overlain by deposits of the Ediacaran Mezen Formation, as well as by Paleozoic or Quaternary sediments.

In 2003, D.V. Grazhdankin proposed an alternative subdivision scheme for these deposits, based on the original scheme by A.F. Stankovskiy. This scheme includes the Lyamtsa (= Lyamtsa + Arkhangelsk Beds), the Verkhovka (= Verkhovka + Syuzma Beds), and the Zimnegory (= Vaizitsa + Zimnegory Beds) Formations. In this revision, the use of the Ust' Pinega Formation was abandoned in favor of these three formations.^[4]

Currently, the Ust' Pinega Formation and its subformations remain the official stratigraphic scheme used on state geological maps of Russia.

Dating

The Lyamtsa, Verkhovka and Vaizitsa Subformations contain volcanic ashes. Zircon U-Pb dating of volcanic tuffs from the Verkhovka and Vaizitsa beds has yielded ages of 557.28±0.14 Ma and 552.96±0.19 Ma, respectively.^[5]^[2] Furthermore, an Rb–Sr age of 565±9 Ma was obtained for clays of the Arkhangelsk Subformation.^[1] The formation is unconformably overlain by the deposits of the Mezen Formation, from the lower part of which a U-Pb age of 550.2±4.6 Ma has been obtained for tuffites.^[6]

Paleobiota

The Ustʹ Pinega Formation is home to many rare and common Ediacaran fauna, from the well known motile forms such as Dickinsonia and Kimberella,^[7] to the rarer, more elusive forms like Ventogyrus and Zolotytsia. All forms within this formation are preserved in layers of ash beds, which are not only good at preserving the fine exterior details of organisms, but also their internals, like Burykhia.^[8]

Color key

Taxon	Reclassified taxon	Taxon falsely reported as present	Dubious taxon or junior synonym	Ichnotaxon	Ootaxon	Morphotaxon

Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; ~~crossed out~~ taxa are discredited.

Proarticulata

More information Genus, Species ...

Genus	Species	Notes
Andiva^[9]	A. ivantsovi	Elongated oval motile organism.
Archaeaspinus^[10]	A. fedonkini	Oval motile organism.
Armillifera^[3]	A. parva	Elongated oval motile organism.
Cephalonega^[3]	C. stepanovi	Oval motile organism.
Cyanorus^[10]	C. singularis	Elongated motile organism.
Dickinsonia^[3]^[5]	Dickinsonia sp.	Oval to elongated motile organism.
Karakhtia^[11]	K. nessovi	Oval motile organism.
Keretsa^[12]	K. brutoni	Elongated motile organism.
Lossinia^[13]	L. lissetskii	Elongated motile organism.
Ovatoscutum^[3]^[5]	O. concentricum	Rounded motile organism.
Palaeoplatoda^[3]^[14]	P. segmentata	Elongated motile organism.
Paravendia^[10]	P. janae	Elongated motile organism.
Vendia^[3]^[5]	V. sokolovi V. rachiata	Elongated motile organism.
Yorgia^[5]	Y. waggoneri	Oval motile organism.

Petalonamae

More information Genus, Species ...

Genus	Species	Notes
Bomakellia^[15]	B. kelleri	Sessile frondose organism.
Charnia^[3]^[5]	Charnia sp.	Sessile frondose organism.
Charniodiscus^[3]	Charniodiscus sp.	Sessile frondose organism.
Pteridinium^[3]	Pteridinium sp.	Sessile frondose organism.
Ramellina^[16]	R. pennata	Sessile frondose organism.

Trilobozoan

More information Genus, Species ...

Genus	Species	Notes
Albumares^[3]	A. brunsae	Tri-radial organism.
Anfesta^[3]^[5]	A. stankovskii	Tri-radial organism.
Tribrachidium^[3]^[5]	T. heraldicum	Tri-radial organism.

Cnidarian

More information Genus, Species ...

Genus	Species	Notes
Bonata^[3]	B. septata	Discoid organism.
Brachina^[3]	Brachina sp.	Discoid organism.
Ediacaria^[3]^[5]	Ediacaria sp.	Discoid organism.
Eoporpita^[3]^[5]	E. medusa.	Discoid organism.
Inaria^[5]	I. karli	Sac-like organism.
Medusinites^[3]	Medusinites sp.	Discoid organism.
Staurinidia^[3]^[5]	S. crucicula	Discoid organism.
Tirasiana^[3]	Tirasiana sp.	Discoid organism.
Zolotytsia	Z. biserialis	Deformed mass of ovals along a mid-line groove.

Chordata

More information Genus, Species ...

Genus	Species	Notes	Images
Burykhia^[8]	B. hunti	Sac-like organism, possible tunicate.

Annelida

More information Genus, Species ...

Genus	Species	Notes	Images
Calyptrina^[3]	C. striata	Tubular organism.

incertae sedis

More information Genus, Species ...

Genus	Species	Notes
Cyclomedusa^[3]^[5]	Cyclomedusa sp.	Discoid organism.
Hiemalora^[3]^[5]	Hiemalora sp.	Discoid organism, possibly holdfasts of petalonamids.
Kimberella^[7]^[5]	Kimberella sp.	Egg-shaped organism, possible mollusc.
Mawsonites^[5]	M. spriggi	Discoid organism.
Nimbia^[3]^[5]	N. occlusa	Discoid organism.
Orbisiana^[3]	Orbisiana sp.	Palaeopascichnid organism.
Palaeopascichnus^[3]^[5]	Palaeopascichnus sp.	Palaeopascichnid organism.
Parvancorina^[3]^[5]	P. sagitta	Anchor-shaped organism, possible mollusc or arthropod.
Solza^[11]	S. margarita	Egg-shaped organism.
Harlaniella^[17]	Harlaniella sp.	Ribbon-like organism.
Vendotaenid^[3]	Vendotaenid	Ribbon-like organisms.

Flora

More information Genus, Species ...

Genus	Species	Notes
Archyfasma^[18]	A. dimera A. lamellata	Branching macroalgae.
Beltanelliformis^[3]^[5]	Beltaneillformis sp.	Cyanobacterial colony.
Eoholynia^[18]	E. fruticulosa	Branching macroalgae.
Favosiphycus^[18]	F. wukii	Flattened thallus crust-like, consisting of densely packed cells.
Gandvikia^[18]	G. caudata	Ribbon-shaped macroalgae.
Mezenia^[3]	M. kossovoyi	Sausage shaped macroalgae.
Serebrina^[19]	S. crustacea	Encrusting macroalgae.

Ichnogenera

More information Genus, Species ...

Genus	Species	Notes
Epibaion	Epibaion sp.	Feeding traces of proarticulates.
Kimberichnus^[20]^[5]	Kimberichnus sp.	Feeding traces of Kimberella.
Nenoxites^[3]	Nenoxites sp.	Movement traces.
Neonereites^[3]	Neonereites sp.	Burrows.
Planolites^[3]	Planolites sp.	Burrows.

References

[1]
Golubkova, E. Yu.; Zaitseva, T. S.; Tretyachenko, V. V.; Kushim, E. A.; Kuznetsov, A. B.; Turchenko, T. L.; Silivanov, M. O. (April 2025). "The Redkino Biota and the Rb–Sr Age of Vendian Deposits from the North of the East European Platform". Stratigraphy and Geological Correlation. 33 (2): 157–175. doi:10.1134/S086959382470031X.
[2]
Yang, Chuan; Rooney, Aleksey D.; Condon, Daniel J.; Li, Xian-Hua; Grazhdankin, Dmitriy V.; Bowyer, Frederick T.; Hu, Chao; Macdonald, Francis A.; Zhu, Maoyan (5 November 2021). "The tempo of Ediacaran evolution". Science Advances. 7 (45) eabi9643. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abi9643. PMC 8565906.
[3]
Sokolov, Boris S.; Fedonkin, Mikhail A. (1 March 1984). "The Vendian as the Terminal System of the Precambrian". Episodes. 7 (1): 12–19. doi:10.18814/epiiugs/1984/v7i1/004.
[4]
Grazhdankin, D. V. (2003). "Structure and Depositional Environment of the Vendian Complex in the Southeastern White Sea Area". Stratigraphy and Geological Correlation. 11 (4): 313–331. Retrieved 2 May 2025.
[5]
Martin, M. W.; Grazhdankin, D. V.; Bowring, S. A.; Evans, D. A. D.; Fedonkin, M. A.; Kirschvink, J. L. (5 May 2000). "Age of Neoproterozoic Bilatarian Body and Trace Fossils, White Sea, Russia: Implications for Metazoan Evolution". Science. 288 (5467): 841–845. doi:10.1126/science.288.5467.841.
[6]
Llanos, M; Tait, J; Popov, V; Abalmassova, A (15 December 2005). "Palaeomagnetic data from Ediacaran (Vendian) sediments of the Arkhangelsk region, NW Russia: An alternative apparent polar wander path of Baltica for the Late Proterozoic–Early Palaeozoic". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 240 (3–4): 732–747. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2005.09.063. hdl:11336/92776.
[7]
Fedonkin, M.A.; Simonetta, A; Ivantsov, A.Y. (2007), "New data on Kimberella, the Vendian mollusc-like organism (White sea region, Russia): palaeoecological and evolutionary implications", in Vickers-Rich, Patricia; Komarower, Patricia (eds.), The Rise and Fall of the Ediacaran Biota, Special publications, vol. 286, London: Geological Society, pp. 157–179, doi:10.1144/SP286.12, ISBN 978-1-86239-233-5, OCLC 156823511
[8]
Fedonkin, M. A.; Vickers-Rich, P.; Swalla, B. J.; Trusler, P.; Hall, M. (2012). "A new metazoan from the Vendian of the White Sea, Russia, with possible affinities to the ascidians". Paleontological Journal. 46: 1. doi:10.1134/S0031030112010042.
[9]
Fedonkin, Mikhail A. (January 2002). "Andiva ivantsovi gen. et sp. n. and related carapace‐bearing Ediacaran fossils from the Vendian of the Winter Coast, White Sea, Russia". Italian Journal of Zoology. 69 (2): 175–181. doi:10.1080/11250000209356456.
[10]
Ivantsov, A. Yu. (2004). "New Proarticulata from the Vendian of the Arkhangel'sk Region". Paleontological Journal. 38 (3): 247. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.738.7043. {{cite journal}}: Cite uses deprecated parameter |citeseerx= (help)
[11]
Ivantsov, Andrey Yu.; Malakhovskaya, Ya.E.; Serezhnikova, E.A. (January 2004). "Some problematic fossils from the Vendian of the southeastern White Sea Region". Paleontological Journal. 38 (1): 1–9 – via researchgate.net.
[12]
A.Yu. Ivantsov (2017). "The most probable Eumetazoa among late Precambrian macrofossils". Invertebrate Zoology. 14 (2): 127–133. doi:10.15298/invertzool.14.2.05.
[13]
Ivantsov, A. Yu. (April 2007). "Small Vendian transversely Articulated fossils". Paleontological Journal. 41 (2): 113–122. doi:10.1134/S0031030107020013. S2CID 86636748.
[14]
Fedonkin, M. A. (1979). "Paleoichnology of Precambrian and Early Cambrian". In Sokolov, B. S. (ed.). Paleontology of Precambrian and Early Cambrian (in Russian). Leningrad: USSR Academy of Sciences. pp. 183–192.
[15]
M. A. Fedonkin (1985). "Systematic Description of Vendian Metazoa". Vendian System: Historical–Geological and Paleontological Foundation. 1: Paleontology. Moscow: Nauka: 70–106.
[16]
Fedonkin, M. A. (1980). "Fossil traces of Precambrian Metazoa". SSSR Series Geology. 1: 39–46.
[17]
Ivantsov, A. Yu. (November 2013). "New data on Late Vendian problematic fossils from the genus Harlaniella". Stratigraphy and Geological Correlation. 21 (6): 592–600. doi:10.1134/S0869593813060051. eISSN 1555-6263. ISSN 0869-5938.
[18]
Leonov, M. V. (October 2007). "Macroscopic plant remains from the base of the Ust'-Pinega formation (Upper Vendian of the Arkhangelsk Region)". Paleontological Journal. 41 (6): 683–691. doi:10.1134/S0031030107060123.
[19]
Istchenko, A. A. (1983). "To the question about stages of development of the algal flora of the South-Western part of Eastern-European platform". Fossil Fauna and Flora of the Ukraine. III Session of the Ukrainian Paleontological Society: 70–75.
[20]
Ivantsov, A. Yu. (May 2013). "Trace fossils of precambrian metazoans "Vendobionta" and "Mollusks"". Stratigraphy and Geological Correlation. 21 (3): 252–264. doi:10.1134/S0869593813030039.

Ustʹ Pinega Formation

Geology

Dating

Paleobiota

Proarticulata

Petalonamae

Trilobozoan

Cnidarian

Chordata

Annelida

incertae sedis

Flora

Ichnogenera

See also

References

Related Articles