MEMBER RESEARCH AND INTERESTS

PER AHLBERG
Per is a leading expert on the Scandinavian region, and notes that he will contribute an European perspective on the applicability of an international stage boundary at or near the Lower-Middle Cambrian boundary interval.

JOSÉ JAVIER ALVARO
José is very interested in our working group presenting a series of regional papers which present a detailed biostratigraphy, including event stratigraphy and sequence stratigraphy. He notes that many of the regional chronostratigraphic charts ignore the presence of hiatuses (stratigraphic gaps, condensation levels, and other stratigraphic discontinuities), which are necessary to understand before any GSSP can be established. He also notes that it would be very useful if the working group visited key outcrop areas after new information is generated and before the final vote for a GSSP within the Lower-Middle Cambrian boundary interval. He and his colleagues plan to work towards this goal in the Mediterranean region.

DUCK K. CHOI
Duck Choi has recently extended his research stratigraphically down to the Middle and Lower Cambrian sequences in Korea. Presently he is very busy with the IX International Conference of the Cambrian Stage Subdivision Working Group, to be held in Korea in September, 2004.

TERENCE FLETCHER
Terry continues his work on Early Cambrian faunas and biostratigraphy. He has recently proposed the FAD of Ovatoryctocara granulata should be considered for the base of a potential international Cambrian stage. Terry also notes that he and Des Collins have a just published paper (Canadian Journal of Earth Science) that covers the Mt. Whyte-Burgess Shale shelf-edge to basinal sequence on Mt. Stephen, British Columbia.

GERD GEYER AND ED LANDING
Gerd and Ed are finishing a manuscript that presents a unified western Gondwanan chronostratigraphic scheme that deals with new findings of trilobites in the Lower-Middle Cambrian boundary interval.

RODOLFO GOAZALO
Rodolfo is very interested in the stratigraphic interval of the Hawke Bay regression, or the Valdemiedes Event in the Mediterranean subprovince, and correlating it throughout the Acado-Baltic region. He hopes that a combined study of the faunas, depositional environments, and sea level changes during this interval will produce an accurate correlation in this region of Europe.

PETER JELL
Peter is continuing his work with eodiscids, and notes that the transition from Pagetides to Pagetia may be useful in delineating the Lower-Middle Cambrian boundary.

ELADIO LIÑÁN GUIJARRO, M.E. DIES, AND JOSÉ ANTONIO GÁMEZ-VITANED
Eladio writes that his group continues their efforts to discover cosmopolitan species in the Acado-Baltic province, and better document the Valdemiedes Event in Spain and Italy.

PIERRE D. KRUSE
Pierre specializes in archaeocyaths and Cambrian spiculate sponges, takes a keen interest in hyoliths, and dabbles in Australian Cambrian brachiopods, bradoriides, trilobites and molluscs. His research interests also include Cambrian reef architecture and faunas, global correlation and palaeobiogeography.

JOHN LAURIE
The Early Middle Cambrian (Ordian-Templetonian) biostratigraphy of Australia is poorly constrained largely because it was set up solely from spot localities in surface outcrop and when regional geology was much less well understood. My research is focused on recording the faunas in detailed measured sections and coreholes to try to obtain a much more robust biostratigraphic scheme. Currently, two papers pertinent to this interval are in press. They are:

Kruse, P.D., Laurie, J.R. & Webby, B.D., in press. Cambrian geology and palaeontology of the Ord Basin. Memoirs of the Association of Australasian Palaeontologists 30, 1-58.

Laurie, J.R., in press. Early Middle Cambrian trilobite faunas from NTGS Elkedra 3 corehole, southern Georgina Basin, Northern Territory. Memoirs of the Association of Australasian Palaeontologists 30, 221-260.

LINDA B. MCCOLLUM, FREDERICK A. SUNDBERG, AND MARK WEBSTER
We are presently working on a joint project on the stratigraphy of the Lower-Middle Cambrian boundary interval in the western United States. Linda will be concentrating her efforts on the lithostratigraphy and sequence stratigraphy. Fred is working on the biostratigraphy of the early Middle Cambrian faunas, and Mark is working on the late Early Cambrian faunas. This research will include a discussion of cosmopolitan taxa, and attempt an international correlation between Laurentia and Gondwana. Fred is also presently undertaking a taxonomic revision of the oryctocephalids.

MALGORZATA MOCZYDLOWSKA-VIDAL
Malgosia's recent attempts at obtaining microfossils from some of the stratigraphic intervals under consideration for a GSSP were not very successful. However, she will continue to use microfossils for indirect correlation between the faunal provinces, and is willing to contribute toward the goals of our working group.

ISABEL P. MONTAÑEZ AND LINDA B. MCCOLLUM
We are presently working on a carbon isotopic study of the Lower-Middle Cambrian boundary interval in the Pioche Shale and Carrara Formation in southern Nevada. This is part of a larger study of the boundary interval by Isabel, her husband Dave Osleger, and graduate students. We hope to continue this isotopic project on the Kaili Formation, South China, this summer.

TATYANA PEGEL, YU. YA. SHABANOF, AND S.S. SUKHOV
We support the suggestion of T. Fletcher to use the FAD of Ovatoryctocara granulata as the Lower-Middle Cambrian boundary and so do not give up the hope to propose the Nekekit River reference section, NE Siberian Platform, Russia (Savitzky et al., 1972; Egorova et al., 1976) as a global standard stratotype one for this level to the Working Group. Now I am in a process of necessary material preparation after the model of proposed GSSP for the Upper Cambrian Paibi Stage. We are planning to prepare the Siberian section to the visiting of the Working Group experts.

BRIAN R. PRATT
Brian continues his work on the early Middle Cambrian faunas and facies in the Canadian Arctic and Rocky Mountains, as well as collaborating with Osvaldo Bordonaro on the Middle Cambrian faunas of the Precordillera in Argentina.

RICHARD A. ROBISON AND LOREN E. BABCOCK
Dick and Loren are working on the Peronopsis clan of agnostids, which occur across the Lower-Middle Cambrian boundary interval.

FREDERICK A. SUNDBERG
As a member of the WG, I am presently undertaking the revision of the oryctocephalids. Given the potential of the oryctocephalids as a biostratigraphic tool in the upper Lower and lower Middle Cambrian, I felt it was important to take a close look at their taxonomy. This study is broken into three phases: 1) a compilation of a catalog of the oryctocephalids (including Cheiruroidinae) even though these may not be oryctos), which includes scanned pictures and text from the literature for each species and updated diagnoses, comments, and occurrences (I plan to make this catalog available on the web); 2) synonymy of species, this will involve the re-evaluation of past synonymies and an update of which species may be synonymous; and 3) cladistic study of what I consider valid species to establish phylogenetic relationships and the validity of the 40 genera/subgenera and 7 families/subfamilies that have been proposed (Cheiruroideidae, Curvoryctocephalinae, Feilongshanidae, Lancastrinae, Oryctocarinae, Oryctocephalinae , and Tonkinellinae). I have at present completed the first compilation of the catalog and am presently working on the updated information (diagnoses, comments, and occurrences). I am also working on species synonymies. My work is presently hindered by the lack of good photographs and translations of the Russian and Chinese literature. I will be contacting some members of the WG to see if they can help me with this material.

ZHAO YUAN-LONG AND YUAN JIN-LIANG
Zhao and Yuan continue their documentation of the Lower-Middle Cambrian boundary interval in South China, and are strong supporters of the FAD of Oryctocephalus indicus for the base of a potential international Cambrian stage.

2/25/2004