Microbial facies in a Sturtian cap carbonate, the Rasthof Formation, Otavi Group, northern Namibia
- Pruss, Sara B.
- Bosak, Tanja
- Macdonald, Francis Alexander
- McLane, Marie
- Hoffman, Paul
DOIAbstract
Microbial structures in Neoproterozoic cap carbonates record the environmental processes present in the aftermath of global glaciation. The Rasthof Formation of northern Namibia is a unique carbonate depositional sequence that formed during post-glacial transgression and highstand following the Chuos glaciation. Carbon isotope profiles from four examined localities reveal that onlap was diachronous over post-glacial, syn-rift topography. The lower Rasthof Formation consists primarily of dark gray thinly (<mm) and thickly (1–4 mm) laminated microbialites that exhibit different rheological responses to the emplacement of syndepositional dikes. The thinly laminated microbialaminite facies commonly host cm-sized syndepositional folds of microbi...