SIMS U-Pb zircon age of a tuff layer in the Meishucun section, Yunnan, southwest China: Constraint on the age of the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary

Determination of the age of the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary is critical in understanding early evolution of life on Earth. SIMS U-Pb zircon analyses of the Bed 5 tuff layer of the Meishucun section were carried out closely following the guidance of cathodoluminescence images, and the majority of analyses were conducted on the oscillatory zircon grains. Thirteen measurements yield a highly reliable Concordia U-Pb age of 536.7 ±3.9 Ma for the Bed 5 horizon. A grand mean of 206Pb/238U age of 535.2±1.7 Ma (MSWD = 0.53) is calculated based on 13 concordant SIMS measurements of this study and 4 nano-SIMS measurements of Sawaki et al., which is the best estimate of the deposition age of the tuff layer within Bed 5 in the Meishucun section. This age has provided a robust age constraint on the significant Precambrian-Cambrian boundary strata in southern China, which independently suggested the placement of the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary at the bottom of the Xiaowaitoushan Member (Marker A).