FDTP – Fossils, Dates and Tectonic Plates

The Cambrian Explosion coincides with the amalgamation of Gondwana… 

Exploring the nexus between plate tectonics, global palaeogeography and the rise of animal life
FDTP icon for workshop illustrating plate tectonics and different fossils

Project leaders are

Marissa Betts

Marissa Betts

(University of New England, Australia)

Sabin Zahirovic

Sabin Zahirovic

(University of Sydney, Australia)

Objectives: (1) Vetting of existing Ediacaran–Cambrian (635–485 Ma) tectonic models, refinement or development of a new global tectonic model for this time interval, and development of a data repository of Ediacaran–Cambrian fossil occurrences and (2) Application of this new model as a framework for testing a series of key questions about the relationship between plate tectonics and the Cambrian Explosion of life.

Group Members

Bethany Allen (ETH Zürich, SWITZERLAND), Mat Domeier (University of Oslo, Norway), Sarah Jacquet (University of Missouri, USA), Emily Joan Judd (Smithsonian, USA), Alex Liu (University of Cambridge, UK), Chloe Markussen Marcilly (University of Oslo, Norway), Luke Strotz (Northwest University, China), Tim Topper (SMNH, Sweden), Tom Wong Hearing (Leicester University, UK)

Instead of bringing the scientists to Erlangen, a workshop was carried out in Australia, PaleoSynthesis PostDoc Elizabeth Dowding joined the workshop.