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Dickinsonia tenuis reported by Retallack et al. 2021 is not a Fossil, Instead an Impression of an Extant ‘fallen beehive’ by S.K. Pandey, Shamim Ahmad and Mukund Sharma. Jour. Geol. Soc. India, v.99, 2023, pp.311–316

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Journal of the Geological Society of India

Abstract

We consider existing reliable data indicate the depositional age of the uppermost sandstone (Maihar Sandstone) of the Vindhyan Supergroup to be closer to 1000 Ma. We consider the penultimate statement by Pandey et al. (2023) “… the Maihar Sandstone is deposited within the Ediacaran Period” (our italics) is erroneous. In this note, we address both the dubious geochronology and the dubious biostratigraphy called on by Pandey et al. (op. cit.), and comment on the impropriety of changing extant stratigraphy on the basis of either.

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Acknowledgments

We are thankful to Profs. S. K. Tandon, J. S. Ray, Ashok Sahni, D. M. Banerjee, and Zhongwu Lan who informally reviewed our draft response and offered constructive suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Heroy Geology Laboratory, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, 13244-1070, USA

    Marion E. Bickford

  2. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA

    Abhijit Basu

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  1. Marion E. Bickford
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  2. Abhijit Basu
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Correspondence to Abhijit Basu.

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Dickinsonia tenuis reported by Retallack et al. 2021 is not a Fossil, Instead an Impression of an Extant ‘fallen beehive’ by S.K. Pandey, Shamim Ahmad and Mukund Sharma. Jour. Geol. Soc. India, v.99, 2023, pp.1033–1036

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Bickford, M.E., Basu, A. Dickinsonia tenuis reported by Retallack et al. 2021 is not a Fossil, Instead an Impression of an Extant ‘fallen beehive’ by S.K. Pandey, Shamim Ahmad and Mukund Sharma. Jour. Geol. Soc. India, v.99, 2023, pp.311–316. J Geol Soc India 99, 1033–1036 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-023-2427-5

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