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The Ibero-Armorican Arc is the main Variscan macrostructure in SW Europe. Its branches preserve the Cambrian recordof a continuous margin of West Gondwana, from its southwestern edge (West Asturian-Leonese and Cantabrian zonesand their lateral continuity into the Iberian Chains) to its northeastern extension (basement of the Cenozoic Aquitaine ba-sin, Montagne Noire, southern Cévennes, and Sardinia). These Variscan relics allow the reconstruction of a CambrianEpoch 2 carbonate belt that developed intermittently along West Gondwana. Facies associations show that the main cen-tres of carbonate productivity were nucleated in ooidal and sand shoals, together with microbial and micro-bial-archaeocyathan reefs, developed in high energy regimes under subtropical arid conditions. Outside the inner car-bonate belt, carbonate production was episodic and related to deposition of kerogenous black shales and phosphogenesisin the Central Iberian Zone and northern parts of Montagne Noire and Cévennes. Development of carbonate platformsalong the margin was diachronous and discontinuous, due to poleward drifting and tectonically induced drowning andflooding. Biogeographic connection with similar subtropical carbonate platforms from East Gondwana (mainly SouthChina) favoured the migration of equatorial and subtropical trilobite genera, such as Dolerolenus, Eoredlichia,Metaredlichia, Protolenus, Redlichia, and Sardaspis. • Key words: microbialites, archaeocyaths, reefs, trilobites,biogeography, anoxia, arid belt.

ÁLVARO, J.J., MONCERET, E., MONCERET, S., VERRAES, G. & VIZCAÏNO, D. 2010. Stratigraphic record andpalaeogeographic context of the Cambrian Epoch 2 subtropical carbonate platforms and their basinal counterparts in SWEurope, West Gondwana. Bulletin of Geosciences 85(4), 573–584 (4 figures). Czech Geological Survey, Prague. ISSN1214-1119. Manuscript received January 25, 2010; accepted in revised form August 2, 2010; published online October13, 2010; issued December 20, 2010.

J. Javier Álvaro, Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC/INTA), Ctra. de Torrejón a Ajalvir km 4, 28850 Torrejón de Ardoz,Spain; jjalvaro@unizar.es • Eric & Sylvie Monceret, 18 rue des Pins, 11570 Cazilhac, France; eric.monceret@or-ange.fr • Gérard Verraes, le village, 30120 Rogues, France; gverraes@gmail.com • Daniel Vizcaïno, 7 Jean-BaptisteChardin, Maquens, 11090 Carcassonne, France; daniel.vizcaino@wanadoo.fr

Following a phase of predominantly siliciclastic sedimen-tation related to the Cadomian orogeny, a large-scalelow-latitude carbonate depositional system was establis-hed in the SW-European margin of West Gondwana. FromOvetian/Atdabanian times (Cambrian Epoch 2), the carbo-nate belt intermittently persisted until the beginning ofCambrian Epoch 3 (e.g., Bechstädt & Boni 1994, Debrenneet al. 2002, Álvaro & Debrenne 2010). The carbonate plat-forms were essentially biogenic and, accordingly, werestrongly climate-sensitive and thus able to record evidenceof major climatic changes. Some of them were primarilycontrolled by the Terreneuvian-Cambrian Epoch 2 pole-ward drifting of West Gondwana across a southern hemi-sphere arid belt (Álvaro et al. 2000a). Despite the recentstudy of some of these Cambrian carbonate-dominated

platforms in SW Europe, their euxinic basinal counterpartshave received less attention, probably as a result of thescarcity of fossil record and severe Variscan overprint.However, the gradual transition from these inner platformsto outer-platform, slope and basinal settings (characterizedby gravitational-related facies, kerogenous limestones, andblack shales) are locally preserved, and constitute key in-formation that constrains the Gondwanan distribution ofCambrian anoxic conditions.

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the character-ization of the climate-sensitive facies, stratigraphy,and palaeogeographic models of the Cambrian Epoch2 platform-basinal transects that can be reconstructedin the SW-European margin of West Gondwana. The se-lected palaeogeographic areas, bent by the Variscan

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Ibero-Armorican Arc, are (from SW to NE): the IberianChains (IC) and West Asturian-Leonese (WALZ) andCantabrian (CZ) zones in Spain, the Montagne Noire (MN)and southern Cévennes (SC) in France, and Sardinia in It-aly. New detailed descriptions and interpretations of thenorthern MN and SC regions are presented. Both theOssa-Morena Zone and the Armorican Massif are excludedfrom the reported carbonate belt/basinal counterparttransect.

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In the Iberian Peninsula, the Variscan WALZ and CZ andtheir southeastern prolongation into the IC (Fig. 1) havebeen traditionally interpreted in terms of a single Cambrianbasin, the so-called Cantabro-Iberian Basin. It was limitedto the NE by the Cantabro-Ebroan Land Area, which alsoconstituted the main source of sediments for the PyreneanBasin, and to the SW by some uplifted areas that episodi-cally supplied sediments (Aramburu et al. 1992, Álvaro etal. 2003). To the (present-day) NE of the Cantabro-EbroanLand Area, a mosaic of platforms is preserved in the Cam-brian exposures of the Pyrenees (Terrades area; Perejón etal. 1994), MN, SC, and their lateral equivalents in Sardinia.

The NW-SE-trending alignment of the NeoproterozoicNarcea antiform in NW Spain marks the boundary between

two distinct Variscan tectonostratigraphic units: theWALZ and CZ. By contrast, the southeastern prolongationinto the Neoproterozoic Paracuellos antiform does not sep-arate significant palaeogeographic units, thus the IC will bedescribed below as a single entity. The MN consists of acomplex framework of Variscan nappes, which aregrouped into three main structural domains that displaydistinct palaeogeographic units (Gèze 1949): (i) a meta-morphic axial zone, comprising complex domes ofgneisses and migmatites surrounded by Neoproterozoicmica schists; (ii) the southern flank composed of largenappes involving Cambrian to Carboniferous sedimentaryrocks; and (iii) the northern flank consisting of imbricatedtectonic nappes bearing Cambrian to Silurian rocks.

Although the Cambrian stratigraphy and palaeontologyof southern France is well exposed in the MN, other neigh-bouring outcrops and borehole drilling have yielded fossildebris that suggests a Cambrian age. This is the case insome Cambrian-Lower Ordovician reddish limestonesfound in the Bouglou-St. Marthe borehole in the CenozoicAquitaine Basin (Bandelot & Fournier-Vilas 1984, LePochat 1984) and trilobite-bearing shales and limestonesfrom the SC. The SC (Vigan region; Fig. 1) consists of aVariscan synmetamorphic nappe framework, structurallycorrelatable with the nappes of the northern MN (Bernier etal. 1970, Alabouvette et al. 1988, Faure et al. 1999, Matte2007). The southernmost Malines mining district, which

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������!" A – geological setting of the Variscan tectonostratigraphic units on which this work is focused, SW Europe: SPZ – South Portuguese Zone,OMZ – Ossa-Morena Zone, BCSZ – Badajoz-Córdoba Shear Zone, CIZ – Central-Iberian Zone, VF – Vivero Fault, WALZ – West Asturian-LeoneseZone, CZ – Cantabrian Zone, IC – Iberian Chains, Py – Pyrenees, AB – Aquitaine Basin, AM – Armorican Massif, MC – French Massif Central,MN – Montagne Noire, SC – Southern Cévennes, Sa – Sardinia, Co – Corsica; modified from von Raumer et al. (2003). • B – geological map of theMontagne Noire; modified from Clausen & Álvaro (2007). • C – geological map of the southern Cévennes; modified from Alabouvette et al. (1988).

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has yielded some shell accumulations, is commonly subdi-vided into: (i) the Malines ‘autochthon’, a recumbent kilo-metre-scale syncline; and (ii) the Saint Bresson nappe,which overthrusts the Malines ‘autochthon’, with south-ward-directed tectonic transport (Fig. 1). Finally, theautochthonous Cambrian strata from SW Sardinia are sur-rounded by Cenozoic grabens and overthrusted by theallochthonous Arburese unit; previous works have recog-nized three palaeogeographic units: the Iglesiente andnorthern and southern Sulcis (Pillola et al. 1995).

The subdivision of the traditional “lower Cambrian”(Terreneuvian and Cambrian Epoch 2) by the InternationalSubcommission on Cambrian Stratigraphy has not yetbeen completed. This complicates the correlation of thesestrata throughout SW Europe, where several regionalchronostratigrahic scales are still being used. To solve thisproblem, a tentative correlation of global Cambrianchronostratigraphic units with the Siberian Terreneuvian-Cambrian Epoch 2 scale (mainly used for correlation ofarchaeocyathan-bearing units; Spizharski et al. 1986) andthe Iberian Cambrian Epoch 2–3 scale (Liñán et al. 1993,Álvaro & Vizcaïno 1998) is proposed in Fig. 2.

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A single phase of episodic carbonate deposition, late Ove-tian/Atdabanian to early Cambrian Epoch 3 in age, is iden-tifiable in the WALZ and CZ. It is lithostratigraphically re-presented by the Láncara and Vegadeo formations,50–300 m thick. Their Cambrian Epoch 2 part contains dis-tinct facies rich in birdseyes, microbial and microbial-archaeocyathan reefs and ooidal grainstones containingdolomite rhombs, pseudomorphs from calcium sulphateminerals (Russo & Bechstädt 1994), and scattered idio-morphic quartz interpreted as being characteristic of hyper-saline conditions (Zamarreño 1972, 1975; Aramburu et al.1992, 2004; Aramburu & García-Ramos 1993; Álvaro etal. 2000b). Both areas record the palaeogeographic estab-lishment of a carbonate-dominated ramp that suffered adrastic tectonic influence during the Cambrian Epoch 2–3boundary interval. The results being: (i) an immigrationevent of benthic shelly fauna which was recorded on thesoutheastern edge of the CZ (for a description of its trilobi-tes and skeletonized microfossils, see Clausen & Álvaro2006, Álvaro 2007), and (ii) virtual disappearence of car-bonate production in the WALZ. According to MartínezCatalán et al. (1992) and Russo & Bechstädt (1994), thewestern boundary of the WALZ-CZ platforms was situatedat the Vivero Fault (Fig. 1), coinciding with the boundarywith the Variscan Central Iberian Zone (for a recent strati-graphic revision of the latter, see Jensen et al. 2010). Tothe west of the Vivero Fault, a basinal deposition probably

represents the lateral equivalent of the Vegadeo and Lán-cara formations.

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In contrast with the CZ and WALZ, the Ovetian-earlyCambrian Epoch 3 carbonate production in the southeas-tern part of the Cantabro-Iberian Basin was interrupted byan early Bilbilian/Toyonian progradation of siliciclasticdepositional systems related to the Daroca Regression(Álvaro & Vennin 1998). In the IC, the late Ovetian-Marianian carbonate episode is represented by mixed(carbonate-siliciclastic) deposits, comprising the Jalón, Ri-bota, and Huérmeda formations. The Jalón Formation,250–350 m thick, consists of stromatolitic dolostones, san-dstones, and variegated shales deposited under shallowsubtidal, intertidal, and supratidal conditions, which yieldcommon halite pseudomorphs in muddy shales. The over-lying Ribota Formation, 30–120 m thick, is composed ofdolostones and marls that represent the establishment ofshoals and subsequent development of back-shoal, periti-dal deposits with scattered halite moulds, frequently sub-jected to subaerial conditions; by contrast, the distal shoaldolostones have yielded anhydrite/gypsum pseudomorphs(Álvaro et al. 1995).

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In the southern MN, an episodic carbonate deposition ex-panded, as in the CZ and WALZ, from the Ovetian/Atdaba-nian to the early Cambrian Epoch 3. The presence and dis-tribution of carbonates allow definition of the CambrianEpoch 2 Pardailhan and Lastours formations, wheremicrobial-archaeocyathan reefs, ooidal shoals, and periti-dal substrates are common (Álvaro et al. 1998, Debrenne etal. 2002). Konservat-Lagerstätten are known from theshale interbeds of the Pardailhan Formation, which haveyielded remarkable soft-part preservation of arthropods(including bradoriids), sponges, chancelloriid cuticles, andtrilobites (Vizcaïno et al. 2004, Vannier et al. 2005, Mon-ceret & Monceret 2007). Evaporitic cauliflower-like nodu-les of anhydrite/gypsum occur in the upper member of theLastours Formation, preserved within silica nodules andrelated to episodic subaerial exposure (Álvaro et al.2000a). The distinctive tabular, peritidal and reef-dominated belt of the Pardailhan and Lastours formationswas regarded as being developed only in a relatively persis-tent and narrow inner belt (Debrenne & Courjault-Radé1986). This suggests that the Ovetian-Bilbilian (orAtdabanian-Toyonian) interval of carbonate productivitywas a time of relative tectonic quiescence throughout theinner platform (southern MN).

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Poor biostratigraphic control has rendered uncertain theprecise correlation of Cambrian epoch boundaries in thenorthern MN (Courjault-Radé 1985, Lescuyer & Giot1987, Guérangé-Lozès & Burg 1990, Wotte et al. 2007);Fig. 2 provides a synopsis of the presently inferred tempo-ral relationships of the Terreneuvian-Cambrian Epoch 3units of the MN nappes. One of the most persistent dilem-mas in the Cambrian stratigraphy of the northern MN hasbeen to resolve the stratigraphic relationships between in-ner-platform carbonates (southern MN) and the black lime-stone/shale alternations of the northern MN. Although thefacies of the Pardailhan and Lastours formations are recog-nisable in the Avène-Mendic autochthonous and theMélagues and Brusque nappes, their sedimentary bodieshave reduced thickness northwards and are subsequentlyreplaced by the ‘Série Noire’ Formation. The latter, up to500 m thick, consists of alternations of black and bluishlimestones and black shales, the latter thinly laminated, fis-sile, and pyritic. Limestones, up to 2 m thick, show low-re-

lief scouring, grading and, locally, conspicuous slidingstructures, such as olistostromes and slumps on a metre- todecametre scale (Fig. 3A). Both the shales and limestonescontain phosphatic nodules and crusts. The concentrationof phosphate occurred by repeated alternations of low sedi-mentation rates and condensation (hardgrounds), in situearly-diagenetic precipitation of apatite, winnowing andpolyphase reworking of previously phosphatized skeletonsand hardground-derived clasts. The succession of repeatedcycles of sedimentation, phosphate concentration, and re-working led to multi-event phosphate deposits rich inallochthonous particles (Clausen & Álvaro 2007).Phosphogenesis was primarily mediated by microbial ac-tivity, which is evidenced by the abundance of thromboidtextures (Fig. 3B, C) and phosphatized microbial pseudo-morphs that suggest the establishment of saprophytic tomutualistic, cyanobacterial-fungal consortia (Álvaro &Clausen 2010). Despite the general scarcity of shelly fos-sils, the top of some irregularly phosphatized limestones

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�������" Terreneuvian-Cambrian Epoch 3 stratigraphic synthesis of the study area based on the papers reported in this text.

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������+" Field and microfacies aspects of the Série Noire in the vicinity of Peux, Barre-Peux-Mounes nappe, northern Montagne Noire. • A – preservedslump and collapsed breccia (b) flanking synsedimentary palaeowalls embedded in black limestone/shale alternations. • B – thin-section photomicro-graph of a spiculite, rich in disarticulated hexactinellid sponge spicules (lower part, arrowed) and spherules of uncertain affinity (upper part), embedded ina thromboid texture; cap of a phosphorite crust. • C – thin-section photomicrograph of the centripetal infill of a secondary vuggy pore composed ofbiofilms and microbial mats alternating with micrite, fossil debris and, the remaining porosity, occluded with calcite cements.

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are locally rife with: (i) a rich and diversified, phosphatizedskeletonized microfauna composed of annelid and chan-celloriid sclerites, brachiopods, crustaceans (branchio-pods), halkieriids, molluscs (gastropods), trilobites, andproblematica (Heuraltia Member; Kerber 1988); and (ii)hexactinellid and demosponge spicules (Série Noire; Prian1979; Fig. 3B). These spiculites represent quiet-water,open-marine conditions, which contrast with the laggedbase of some limestone strata, which contain commonquartz silt, carbonate, phosphate, and glauconite clasts.

The Série Noire progressively thickens northward andthe TOC content increases in that direction (up to 25 wt%in the Barre-Peux-Mounes nappe). This means that theoxygen content of bottom waters was decreasing as the wa-ter deepened in that direction, resulting from a decrease interrigenous influx. The overall fine particle, thin laminaeand TOC content suggest that the sedimentary conditionsof the black shale interbeds were a quiet water, stagnant en-vironment in which anoxic conditions were, at least, epi-sodic; the occurrence of pyrite should not be used as an in-dicator of a sulphidic (anoxic) basin as the local abundanceof burrowing structures suggests a low oxygenated sub-strate. The sponge biota also required an oxic or dysoxicsubstrate for their growth, as sponge metabolism requiresfree oxygen (Xiao et al. 2005). Therefore, although euxinicconditions predominated during deposition of the SérieNoire, occasional currents may have brought free oxygento the bottom water column necessary for the growth ofsponges and the record of burrowing (Calvert & Piper2009).

Some authors (e.g., Guérangé-Lozès & Burg 1990)postulated an extremely rapid northward facies changefrom inner platform facies into black shale-dominated,basinal deposition in some nappes of the northern MN.Such a rapid facies change suggested the possibility of aninner-platform edge or fault escarpment, but the absence ofthick breccia lobes within the northern nappes does notseem to support this model. However, a succession of rela-tively steepening slopes is still implied for the episodicpresence of conspicuous submarine sliding. In the Barre-Peux-Mounes nappe, the Série Noire displays commonolistostromes, slumps, and angular discordances bearingpolyphase clasts derived from erosion of the underlyingand contorted strata (Fig. 3). No preferential palae-ocurrents have been measured, thus multidirectional slid-ing suggests that the northern MN platform was broken upinto localized small-scale, fault blocks that respectivelytilted in different directions.

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The southern Cévennes is a pre-Variscan inlier, flanked tothe north by a Variscan pluton (the so-called Saint Guiral

granite). From north to south, five tectonostratigraphicunits can be distinguished: the Col de Moures-Arrigas,Col de Mourèzes, Sumène, Vigan and Saint Bresson na-ppes and the Malines autochthon (Alabouvette et al.1986, Ortenzi 1986). The Cambrian stratigraphy of theMalines ‘autochthon’ and the Saint Bresson nappe(Fig. 1) is similar to that known from the MN and Sardinia(Verraes 1979, 1983; Ortenzi 1986), and the lithostratig-raphic nomenclature and correlation with the southernMN are well established (Orgeval et al. 1997, 2000; Faureet al. 1999; Fig. 2). The Falguières (= Marcory) Forma-tion, ca 300 m thick, consists of sandstones, acidic volca-noclastic strata and purple shales bearing hyolithids,chancelloriid and trilobite sclerites. It is overlain by theSanguinède and Malines (= Pardailhan) formations. Theformer is composed of alternations of shales and carbona-tes, up to 70 m thick, locally rich in hyolithids, trilobites,bradoriids, and phyllocarids, whereas the limestones ofthe latter show ooidal textures reflecting shoal environ-ments (Verraes 1979, 1983). Both units are overlain bythe Saint Bresson (= Lastours) Formation, 300–400 mthick, which consists of massive dolostones that locallycontain karstic cavities occluded by phosphatic crusts(Orgeval & Capus 1978). In the Sanguinède area, the lo-wermost strata of the Sanguinède Formation and the SaintBresson dolostones that cap the so-called Saint-Bressonvolcano have yielded Botoman archaeocyaths (Debrenneet al. 1976). The Saint Bresson Formation contains volca-nosedimentary interbeds and sedex-type Pb-Zn ore mine-ralizations, similar to those known in the northern MNand Sardinia (see a synthesis in Orgeval et al. 2000). TheLes Malines mine ores are Triassic in age and hosted wit-hin karstified dolostones of the Saint-Bresson Formation,whereas the Sanguinède and Montdardier mineralizationsare hosted in the Sanguinède Formation. Some authors(Lacerda & Bernard 1984, Chantal & Leblanc 1986) haveproposed the mineralization as being syngenetic strati-form deposits of Cambrian age, whereas others have sug-gested a Variscan (Michaud 1980a, b) or Mesozoic age(Verraes 1979; Charef & Sheppard 1988; Macquar et al.1988, 1990). Le Guen et al. (1991) and Orgeval et al.(2000) subsequently synthesized the relationships bet-ween ore minerals and tectonic features and suggested aVariscan emplacement, similar to the mechanisms propo-sed for the northern MN, partially affected by Mesozoicreworking.

As in the case of the northern MN (Debrenne et al.2002), the Cambrian Epoch 2 of the SC area has also beeninterpreted in terms of an inner carbonate-dominated plat-form (Sanguinède and Saint Bresson formations), probablyless than 40 km wide, separated by the northern homoge-neous fine-grained siliciclastic strata and black shales (theso-called crystalline slates of the Cévennes s.s. sensuBrouder 1963, 1964), by a volcanogenic palaeohigh and an

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unpreserved slope masked by the presence of the SaintGuiral granite (Verraes 1979, Ortenzi 1986, Alabouvette etal. 1988).

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As in the aforementioned carbonate-dominated successi-ons, the carbonate sediments of SW Sardinia were also de-posited from middle Ovetian/Atdabanian to early Cam-brian Epoch 3 times. These include the Matoppa, PuntaManna, Santa Barbara, San Giovanni, Planu Sartu, and lo-wer part of the Campo Pisano formations (Pillola et al.1995, Perejón et al. 2000). The palaeogeographic frame-work of the area can be summarized as the chronologicalsuccession of a homoclinal ramp, a rimmed shelf, and anisolated platform (Bechstädt et al. 1985, 1988; Bechstädt &Boni 1989, 1994), with evaporitic precipitation in the lastphase.

The Santa Barbara Formation contains evaporatesfound in two kinds of environmental setting: (i) arid, re-stricted tidal environments on a platform well-docu-mented by the presence of moulds from anhydriteor gypsum, rosettes of former gypsum, and localidiomorphic gypsum/anhydrite crystals, probably of dia-genetic origin (Cocozza & Gandin 1990); (ii) tidal envi-ronments characterized by subaerial tufas containingmicrobial carbonates, laminated fenestrae and eva-poritic moulds on platform margins. Local cyclic sedi-ments were deposited during repeated, small-scale tilt-ing that formed tectonically enhanced grabens withsmall ponds infilled with partly slumped material and fi-nally covered by laminated tidal to supratidal carbonates(Bechstädt & Boni 1989).

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The study of several Variscan relics of SW Europe (in ourcase study, Iberian Peninsula, southern France, and Sardi-nia) allows reconstruction of some Cambrian Epoch 2 pala-eogeographic features of West Gondwana. There, the endof the Cadomian orogeny and the subsequent infill of‘molasse’ troughs recorded a change from synrift (mecha-nical subsidence) to post-rift (thermal subsidence) frame-works (Álvaro et al. 2008).

The margin was dominated by an extensional regimeassociated with prolific rift-related tholeiitic-alkaline vol-canism in neighbouring areas, such as Morocco andOssa-Morena (Gasquet et al. 2005, Pereira et al. 2006).The extensional regime resulted in the formation of grabenand halfgraben systems, which controlled the distributionof carbonate platforms and slope and deeper basin facies(Fig. 4).

The variety and abundance of ooidal shoals, micro-bial-archaeocyathan reefs, and primary to early-diageneticevaporitic relics (gypsum, anhydrite, and halite) suggestthat extensive arid conditions were locally associated withthe evolution of the Cambrian Epoch 2 carbonate-domi-nated and mixed platforms. Carbonates were producedin the Cantabro-Iberian Basin and MN-Sardinia platformsduring the late Ovetian/Atdabanian-early Cambrian Epoch3 interval. The existence of a Terreneuvian-CambrianEpoch 2 southern hemisphere arid belt is envisaged in WestGondwana (Álvaro et al. 2000a, Álvaro & Debrenne,2010): arid climate conditions probably favoured the early,widespread and pervasive dolomitization of peritidal envi-ronments (lower Láncara in the CZ, Vegadeo Formation inthe WALZ, Ribota and Valdemiedes formations in the IC,upper Lastours Formation in the MN, and Sta. Barbara For-mation in Sardinia; Fig. 2).

As a result of tectonic activity and open-sea communi-cation of inner platforms across the Cambrian Epoch 2–3transition, this stratigraphic interval is commonly repre-sented in the study area by dolostone/limestone anddolostone/shale contacts.

Another process recorded across the same epoch transi-tion is a diachronous extensional phase, which led to thebreakdown of all of the reported platforms (already estab-lished in the isolated Sardinian platform with the Sta.Barbara Formation), general drowning patterns related toMilankovitch-like cyclicity, and the end of carbonate pro-ductivity during the early Cambrian Epoch 3 (Álvaro et al.2000c).

Both the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian transition andthe Terreneuvian-Cambrian Epoch 2 were time spansof intense accumulation of sedimentary organic matter

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������-" Tentative Cambrian Epoch 2 palaeogeographic reconstructionof the inner-platform/basin transects through the SW-European margin ofWest Gondwana.

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worldwide. Although the Terreneuvian-Cambrian Epoch2 was characterized by non-simultaneous organic matterdeposition in shallow epeiric seas, especially in low andmid latitudes of the southern hemisphere, some authorshave assigned most of the organic matter-rich deposits toglobal anoxic events. In fact, the so-called Sinsk event(Botoman in age) was proposed in Siberia to explain thedecline and extinction of numerous taxonomic clades as-sociated with the significant accumulation of non-bioturbated black shales in subtropical epeiric platforms(Zhuravlev & Wood 1996, Ivantsov et al. 2005). TheBotoman Sinsk anoxic event is marked by a characteristicnegative excursion in the δ13C record of carbonates andorganic matter, usually with a sharp drop from around+2.2‰ to –1.6‰ in Siberia, which was associated withenhanced burial of organic matter (Brasier et al. 1994).Other Tommotian-Atdabanian black carbonaceous lime-stones and shales are known worldwide, such as theYangtze Platform (South China; Goldberg et al. 2007,Zhou & Jiang 2009), where sponge-rich Lagerstättensimilar to those described in the northern MNphosphorites, are reported (Xiao et al. 2005). In our casestudy, the distribution of kerogenous limestones andblack shales is restricted to the slope-to-basinal settingsexposed in the northern MN and SC. Their age does notsupport an exclusive Botoman Sinsk event, althoughtheir youngest occurrence in the Brusque nappe(Debrenne & Courjault-Radé 1986) may suggest themaximum worldwide extension of the Sinsk event insubtropical, low and middle latitudes.

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The Ovetian-Marianian (or Atdabanian-Botoman, Cam-brian Epoch 2) limestone and limestone/shale strata of SWEurope have yielded numerous trilobite assemblages do-minated by endemic genera and species. However, someof these associations comprise distinct genera shared withother subtropical carbonate-dominated continental mar-gins. These are: Hebedescina (Sardinia, South China andAustralia), Dolerolenus (South China, Sardinia, IC, and theHimalayas), Sardaspis (= Mianxianella; Sardinia, SouthChina), Eoredlichia (= Archaeops, Saukiandops, Parared-lichia, Galloredlichia; South China, Australia, Sardinia,MN, and Ossa-Morena), Pagetiellus (= Delgadella; Spain,Portugal, Sardinia, Siberia, Mongolia, Newfoundland),Metadoxides (Siberia, South China, Sardinia, CZ, MN, Bo-hemia), Kuanyangia (Sardinia, South China), and Long-duia (Sardinia, South China); see references in Álvaro etal. (2003).

As a result, biogeographic connection with similarsubtropical carbonate platforms from East Gondwana(mainly South China) favoured migration of equatorial

and subtropical trilobite genera, such as Dolerolenus,Eoredlichia, Metaredlichia, Protolenus, Redlichia,and Sardaspis. This link would be episodically re-estab-lished during the late Languedocian (latest CambrianEpoch 3)-Furongian time span, as a result of residual tem-perate-water carbonate production in West Gondwana(Álvaro et al. 2003, 2007).

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The Cambrian Epoch 2 strata of SW Europe provide a keyopportunity to reconstruct several palaeogeographictransects, subsequently bent by the Variscan Ibero-Armorican Belt, with a bathymetric range from shallowmarine (IC, CZ, WALZ, southern MN, and Sardinia) tohemipelagic shelf and basin (northern MN and SC) set-tings. During the Cambrian Epoch 2, the CZ-WALZ car-bonate platform (Vegadeo and lower Láncara formations)was characterized by a general westward-dippinginner-platform complex of ramps, bounded at the west bythe Vivero Fault. The latter would represent the boundarywith the basinal sedimentation recorded in the Cen-tral–Iberian Zone.

In contrast, the Cambrian Epoch 2 exposures of MNand SC have preserved a complex of northward-dippingplatforms, including a complete facies transect rangingfrom peritidal, shoal and reef barrier (Pardailhan-Lastoursformations and Sanguinède-Saint Bresson formations, re-spectively) to slope and basin (Série Noire in the northernMN and ‘crystalline slates’ in the Cévennes) settings. Inthe slope-to-basin palaeogeographic areas, the general fa-cies trend was complicated by the onset of a complex tec-tonically enhanced palaeorelief, which resulted in stronglateral thickness and facies variation of black shales andkerogenous limestones.

Finally, the Cambrian Epoch 2–3 boundary intervalrecorded a conspicuous (although diachronous) exten-sional phase, which led to the diachronous breakdown ofall the reported platforms (already begun on the isolatedSardinian platform), general drowning patterns, and theend of carbonate productivity during the early CambrianEpoch 3.

During the Cambrian Epoch 2, the biogeographicconnection of the margins of Gondwana (sharing similarsubtropical conditions) and nucleation of carbonate fac-tories favoured migration of equatorial and subtropicaltrilobite genera. After carbonate productivity ceasedat the beginning of Cambrian Epoch 3, this bio-geographic link disappeared and was only episodicallyre-established during the late Languedocian (latest Cam-brian Epoch 3)-Furongian time span, as a result of resid-ual temperate-water carbonate production in WestGondwana.

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The authors wish to thank Thilo Bechstädt and Stephen M. Row-land for constructive and peer revision. This paper is a contribu-tion to projects ANR (JC07_194555) financed by the FrenchCNRS-USAR, and CGL 2010-19491 financed by the SpanishMICINN and FEDER.

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