CAMBRIAN MYSTERIES OF THE CANADIAN ROCKIES

Mount Stephen, Canadian Rockies

High up on the mountain tops of the Canadian Rockies of southeastern British Columbia — on the western edge of Western Canada's Sedimentary Basin — there are mysteries more than half a billion years old. 

Here, for more than a century, palaeontologists have been exploring over a dozen geologic outcrops that speak of a world when arthropods ruled the seas. 

The rocks we walk across are made of shale, thin-bedded limestone, and siltstone deposited during the Middle Cambrian — 513 to 497 million years ago. And these are no ordinary rocks for what they contain — exceptionally preserved soft-bodied fossils of the Burgess Shale biota. 

Charles Doolittle Walcott will be forever remembered for his extraordinary 1909 discovery of the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale of Yoho National Park in southern British Columbia — delivering to the world one of the most important biota of soft-bodied organisms in the fossil record. Here we find a fairly complete look at an ancient ecosystem with algae, grazers and filter feeders, scavengers and active predators. Remarkably, soft-bodied organisms make up 98% of individuals and 85% of the genera. These animals lived and died in the deep waters at the base of what would later become the Cathedral Escarpment.

In 1908, Walcott wrote, "Nearly every fragment of shale found on the slopes from 2000 to 2600 feet above Field has fossils upon it; not only fragments but usually entire specimens of trilobites.” It was for this reason he returned the following year to collect and the rest, as they say, is history.

The sheer volume and level of preservation were unknown at the time. Walcott's material came from a single section on the west side of the ridge between Mount Wapta and Mount Field and was collected from the main quarry in the Phyllopod bed and the smaller Raymond quarry some 23 m above. 

The Burgess Shale section occurs in the lower two-thirds of the Stephen Formation where the basinal shales abut against the steep face of the adjacent dolomite reef of the Cathedral Formation. The conditions necessary for the preservation of the soft parts of the organisms appear to have been controlled by the proximity of this reef front. Away from the reef front, exceptional preservation is less common.

A view to Mount Stephen, Canadian Rockies

The Burgess Shale was long considered to be a unique occurrence. Then in 1977, Canadian geologist, Ian McIlreath, found that the Cathedral Escarpment or reef front, could be traced for about 20 km southeast of Walcott's quarry and that the contact between the reef and basinal shales cropped out again on Mount Field, Mount Stephen, Mount Odaray, Park Mountain and Curtis Peak. 

Des Collins speculated that more localities of soft-bodied fossils might be found in the basinal shales near these contacts, and, indeed, a few indications were later reported by Aitken and McIlreath (1981) along the line of the Escarpment. 

In 1981 and 1982, we expanded our knowledge of the region. Des Collins and others organized fieldwork that led to the discovery of about a dozen new localities, which Collins et al. published in 1983.

The most promising of the new localities occurred in a large in situ block of pale grey-blue siliceous shale about 1500 m southwest of the outcrop of the Cathedral Escarpment on the north shoulder of Mount Stephen. 

This is about 5 km almost directly south of the Burgess Shale quarries. The site was excavated by a Royal Ontario Museum party in the summer of 1983. Further fieldwork in 1986 led to the discovery of the arthropod Sanctacaris was first described by Briggs and Collins in 1988. 

Sanctacaris uncata, Mount Stephen Fossil Beds

The stratigraphic level where the block occurred is characterized by the trilobite, Glossopleura, which is the local zone fossil for the basal part of the basinal Stephen Formation (Fritz, 1971). 

In the Stephen Formation section of about 1000 m to the north on Mount Stephen measured by Fritz, the top of the Glossopleura Zone is 40 m below the level equivalent to the main Burgess Shale quarry. 

The block excavated was at least 40 m below the top of the Glossopleura Zone. This puts it 80 m or more stratigraphically below the level of the Burgess Shale Phyllopod bed.

The faunal assemblage from the block is dominated by the arthropods, Alalcomenaeua and Branchiocaris, which are very rare in the Burgess Shale. Many other Burgess Shale animals were found (Collins et al. 1983) but surprisingly not the most common — Marrella. They did find many new forms and published their finds in 1986 (Collins, 1986). By all accounts, this fauna is distinct from those in the Burgess Shale — and a shade older. 

But as we learn and gain insight, we also realize how much we have yet to learn. These outcrops help us to gain an understanding of the biology, ecology, diversity and evolution of Cambrian animals in a way that other Cambrian sites cannot. Without this insight, we would have a very limited view of the Cambrian Explosion and see only the shelly fossil assemblages. The unique conditions in the Burgess Shale record species that under typical circumstances, would never have fossilized and would be lost to us forever.

There has been no end of mysteries and riddles to be solved in the designating and correlating units within the Stephen Formation, Burgess Shale Formation, and the Cathedral Formation. Much of the controversy stems from the extensive faulting in the area and especially from environmental (facies) differences between the stratigraphic units. 

There are shelf platform sequences that include shallow water inner detrital belt, middle carbonate belt, and carbonate shelf edge facies, as well as deeper water (basinal) outer detrital belt facies. These have all have posed problems in correlation and descriptions of the formations in the area.

What used to be known as the Stephen Formation is now restricted to what was known as the "thin" Stephen Formation. The Stephen Formation now includes the Narao and Wapituk Members. What was formerly the "thick" Stephen Formation (basinal Stephen) is now called the Burgess Shale Formation. 

Pirania sp., extinct sea sponges, Burgess Shale

This formation comprises units that include the classic Burgess Shale localities (Walcott Quarry (including the "phyllopod bed"), Raymond Quarry), the Mt. Stephen Trilobite Beds, as well as most of the soft-bodied faunas (Collins Quarry, S7, Ehmaniella Zone faunas, etc.).

The Burgess Shale is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Burgess Shale and Stephen Formations outcrop mainly in Banff and Yoho National Parks in the Alberta-British Columbia border area. All known outcrops are in Canada's Rocky Mountain Parks, so collecting is strictly forbidden. 

While you cannot collect in the parks, you can join in on a guided tour to hike, explore, capturing the beautiful scenery and fossils with your camera and through rubbings. If you fancy a hike to these exalted cliffs, follow the link below.

If an armchair visit is more your thing, pick up a copy of, A Geoscience Guide To The Burgess Shale. This illustrated guide immerses the reader in the history, geology, environment and, most importantly, fossils of the Burgess Shale in an easy-to-read, concise summary of life as it was over 500 million years ago. Excellent colour images of 3D interpretations of the organisms and photos of the fossils make this resource a must-have for anyone interested in the Burgess Shale. 

Burgess Shale Hikes: https://www.burgess-shale.bc.ca/burgess-shale-hikes/  / Toll free: 1 (800) 343-3006; Tel: 1 (250) 343-6006; Email: info@burgess-shale.bc.ca

A Burgess Shale Primer: History, Geology and Research Highlights; Jean-Bernard Caron & Dave Rudkin: https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/imce/burgess_shale_primer.pdf

References: Palaeontology, Vol 31, Part 3. 1988, pp 779-798, pls 71-73) was discovered by Collins (1986),http://palaeontology.palass-pubs.org/pdf/Vol 31/Pages 779-798.pdf

Image: Reconstruction of Sanctacaris uncata, a Cambrian Habeliidan arthropod (stem-Chelicerata: Habeliida). by Junnn11 @ni075; Pirania sp. & photos: @Fossil Huntress