Ustʹ Pinega Formation
Geological formation in northwestern Russia
title: "Ustʹ Pinega Formation" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["geology-of-european-russia", "geologic-formations-of-russia", "ediacaran-europe", "geography-of-arkhangelsk-oblast", "long-stubs-with-short-prose"] description: "Geological formation in northwestern Russia" topic_path: "science/earth-science" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ustʹ_Pinega_Formation" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Geological formation in northwestern Russia ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox rockunit"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Ustʹ Pinega Formation |
| period | Ediacaran |
| age | Ediacaran |
| type | Geological Formation |
| prilithology | Argillite |
| otherlithology | Sandstone, Siltstone, Clay |
| namedfor | Ust-Pinega |
| region | Arkhangelsk Oblast, Vologda Oblast, Kirov Oblast, Komi Republic, Republic of Karelia |
| country | Russia |
| coordinates | |
| subunits | Tamitsa, Lyamtsa, Arkhangelsk, Verkhovka, Syuzma, Vaizitsa and Zimnegory Subformations |
| underlies | Mezen Formation |
| overlies | different Archean and Proterozoic rocks |
| thickness | 751 m |
| extent | 970 km |
| map | {{Location map+ |
| relief | 1 |
| width | 200 |
| float | center |
| lat_deg | 64.09 |
| lon_deg | 41.56 |
| mark | Dark Green 004040 pog.svg |
| marksize | 10 |
| :: |
| name = Ustʹ Pinega Formation | image = | caption = | period = Ediacaran | age = Ediacaran | type = Geological Formation | prilithology = Argillite | otherlithology = Sandstone, Siltstone, Clay | namedfor = Ust-Pinega | namedby = | region = Arkhangelsk Oblast, Vologda Oblast, Kirov Oblast, Komi Republic, Republic of Karelia | country = Russia | coordinates = | unitof = | subunits = Tamitsa, Lyamtsa, Arkhangelsk, Verkhovka, Syuzma, Vaizitsa and Zimnegory Subformations | underlies = Mezen Formation | overlies = different Archean and Proterozoic rocks | thickness = 751 m | extent = 970 km | area = | map = {{Location map+ | Russia#Russia Arkhangelsk Oblast | relief = 1 | width = 200 | float = center | places = | lat_deg = 64.09 | lon_deg = 41.56 | mark = Dark Green 004040 pog.svg | marksize = 10
The Ust Pinega Formation is an Upper Ediacaran geological formation in northwestern Russia. It spans from around to and contains fossils of the Ediacaran biota throughout its sequence.
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.
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.
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 and , respectively. Furthermore, an Rb–Sr age of was obtained for clays of the Arkhangelsk Subformation. The formation is unconformably overlain by the deposits of the Mezen Formation, from the lower part of which a U-Pb age of has been obtained for tuffites.
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, 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.
Proarticulata
::data[format=table]
| Genus | Species | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andiva | Elongated oval motile organism. | [[File:Andiva_sketch.png | |
| Archaeaspinus | Oval motile organism. | [[File:Archaeaspinus fedonkini.jpg | |
| Armillifera | Elongated oval motile organism. | [[File:Armillifera parva.jpg | |
| Cephalonega | Oval motile organism. | [[File:Cephalonega stepanovi life restoration From Ediacaran biota.jpg | |
| last=Ivantsov | first=A. Yu. | date=2004 | title=New Proarticulata from the Vendian of the Arkhangel'sk Region |
| last1=Sokolov | first1=Boris S. | last2=Fedonkin | first2=Mikhail A. |
| last1=Ivantsov | first1=Andrey Yu. | last2=Malakhovskaya | first2=Ya.E. |
| author=A.Yu. Ivantsov | year=2017 | title=The most probable Eumetazoa among late Precambrian macrofossils | journal=Invertebrate Zoology |
| author=Ivantsov, A. Yu. | title = Small Vendian transversely Articulated fossils | journal = Paleontological Journal | volume = 41 |
| Ovatoscutum | Rounded motile organism. | [[File:Ovatoscutum.png | |
| title=Paleontology of Precambrian and Early Cambrian | last=Fedonkin | first=M. A. | publisher=USSR Academy of Sciences |
| Paravendia | Elongated motile organism. | [[File:Paravendia janae cropped.png | |
| Vendia | Elongated motile organism. | ||
| Yorgia | Oval motile organism. | [[File:Yorgia.jpg | |
| :: |
Petalonamae
::data[format=table]
| Genus | Species | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
| author=M. A. Fedonkin | year=1985 | title=Systematic Description of Vendian Metazoa | journal=Vendian System: Historical–Geological and Paleontological Foundation |
| Charnia | Sessile frondose organism. | [[File:Charnia.png | |
| Charniodiscus | Sessile frondose organism. | [[File:Charniodiscus.png | |
| Pteridinium | Sessile frondose organism. | [[File:Pteridinium simplex.jpg | |
| last=Fedonkin | first=M. A. | date=1980 | title=Fossil traces of Precambrian Metazoa |
| :: |
Trilobozoan
::data[format=table]
| Genus | Species | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albumares | Tri-radial organism. | [[File:Albumares brunsae 2.jpg | |
| Anfesta | Tri-radial organism. | [[File:Anfesta stankovskii.JPG | |
| Tribrachidium | Tri-radial organism. | [[File:Tribrachidium.jpg | |
| :: |
Cnidarian
::data[format=table]
| Genus | Species | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bonata | Discoid organism. | ||
| Brachina | Discoid organism. | ||
| Ediacaria | Discoid organism. | [[File:Ediacaria (35159560925).jpg | |
| Eoporpita | Discoid organism. | ||
| Inaria | Sac-like organism. | [[File:Inaria karli.jpg | |
| Medusinites | Discoid organism. | [[File:Medusinites asteroides.jpg | |
| Staurinidia | Discoid organism. | [[File:Staurinidia 3D Reconstruction.png | |
| Tirasiana | Discoid organism. | ||
| Zolotytsia | Deformed mass of ovals along a mid-line groove. | ||
| :: |
Chordata
::data[format=table]
| Genus | Species | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burykhia | Sac-like organism, possible tunicate. | [[File:Burykhia hunti.jpg | |
| :: |
Annelida
::data[format=table]
| Genus | Species | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calyptrina | Tubular organism. | [[File:Calyptrina striata sketch.jpg | |
| :: |
''incertae sedis''
::data[format=table]
| Genus | Species | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cyclomedusa | Discoid organism. | [[File:Cyclomedusa.jpg | |
| Hiemalora | Discoid organism, possibly holdfasts of petalonamids. | [[File:Hiemalora stellaris.jpg | |
| Kimberella | Egg-shaped organism, possible mollusc. | [[File:Kimberella crop.jpg | |
| Mawsonites | Discoid organism. | [[File:Mawsonites spriggi 546.jpg | |
| Nimbia | Discoid organism. | [[File:Nimbia.jpg | |
| Orbisiana | Palaeopascichnid organism. | [[File:Orbisiana spumea and grazing trips left by Kimberella.png | |
| Palaeopascichnus | Palaeopascichnid organism. | [[File:Palaeopascichnus CU21.png | |
| Parvancorina | Anchor-shaped organism, possible mollusc or arthropod. | [[File:Parvancorina minchami, shield-shaped Ediacaran, Vendian, Ediacara Hills, south Australia - Houston Museum of Natural Science - DSC01390.JPG | |
| Solza | Egg-shaped organism. | ||
| Vendotaenid | Ribbon-like organisms. | [[File:Vendotaenid indet.jpg | |
| :: |
Flora
::data[format=table]
| Genus | Species | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archyfasma | Branching macroalgae. | ||
| Beltanelliformis | Cyanobacterial colony. | [[File:Anthozoa - Nemiana simplex.JPG | |
| Eoholynia | Branching macroalgae. | ||
| Favosiphycus | Flattened thallus crust-like, consisting of densely packed cells. | ||
| Gandvikia | Ribbon-shaped macroalgae. | ||
| Mezenia | Sausage shaped macroalgae. | ||
| Serebrina | Encrusting macroalgae. | ||
| :: |
Ichnogenera
::data[format=table]
| Genus | Species | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
| Epibaion | Feeding traces of proarticulates. | [[File:Yorgia trace.jpg | |
| Kimberichnus | Feeding traces of Kimberella. | [[File:Kimberella trace.jpg | |
| Nenoxites | Movement traces. | [[File:Nenoxites Curvus Drawing.jpg | |
| Neonereites | Burrows. | [[File:Neonereites uniserialis Punta San García 01.JPG | |
| Planolites | Burrows. | [[File:Planolites.jpg | |
| :: |
References
References
- (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.
- (2003). "Structure and Depositional Environment of the Vendian Complex in the Southeastern White Sea Area".
- (5 November 2021). "The tempo of Ediacaran evolution". Science Advances.
- (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.
- {{The Rise and Fall of the Ediacaran Biota. Fedonkin, M.A.
- (2012). "A new metazoan from the Vendian of the White Sea, Russia, with possible affinities to the ascidians". Paleontological Journal.
- (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.
- Ivantsov, A. Yu.. (2004). "New Proarticulata from the Vendian of the Arkhangel'sk Region". Paleontological Journal.
- (1 March 1984). "The Vendian as the Terminal System of the Precambrian". Episodes.
- (5 May 2000). "Age of Neoproterozoic Bilatarian Body and Trace Fossils, White Sea, Russia: Implications for Metazoan Evolution". Science.
- (January 2004). "Some problematic fossils from the Vendian of the southeastern White Sea Region". Paleontological Journal.
- A.Yu. Ivantsov. (2017). "The most probable Eumetazoa among late Precambrian macrofossils". Invertebrate Zoology.
- Ivantsov, A. Yu.. (April 2007). "Small Vendian transversely Articulated fossils". Paleontological Journal.
- Fedonkin, M. A.. (1979). "Paleontology of Precambrian and Early Cambrian". USSR Academy of Sciences.
- M. A. Fedonkin. (1985). "Systematic Description of Vendian Metazoa". Vendian System: Historical–Geological and Paleontological Foundation.
- Fedonkin, M. A.. (1980). "Fossil traces of Precambrian Metazoa". SSSR Series Geology.
- (October 2007). "Macroscopic plant remains from the base of the Ust'-Pinega formation (Upper Vendian of the Arkhangelsk Region)". Paleontological Journal.
- 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.
- (May 2013). "Trace fossils of precambrian metazoans “Vendobionta” and “Mollusks”". Stratigraphy and Geological Correlation.
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