Late neoproterozoic geobiology of the Kimberley region, Northwestern Australia

[Truncated abstract] Neoproterozoic successions are well exposed in the Kimberley region, northwestern Australia. They comprise siliciclastic and carbonate rocks recording two glacial episodes equivalent to the Marinoan and Gaskiers glaciations. Microbially induced sedimentary structures (MISS) are found in the interglacial Ranford and Throssell Shale Formation and in the postglacial Yurabi and Flat Rock Formations. Ediacaran body fossils and trace fossils are relatively rare throughout the Neoproterozoic in Kimberley. Twenty-two morphological types of MISS from Kimberley are recognised, with nine from the Ranford Formation, four from the Throssell Shale, seven from the Yurabi Formation, and three from the Flat Rock Formation. The MISS from the Ranford Formation include erosional remnants (ER), erosional pockets (EP), linear ridges (LR), honeycomb-like wrinkle structure (HLWS), spindle shaped sand crack fills (SSSCF), palimpsest ripples (PR), irregular sand crack fills (ISCF), triradiate cracks (TC), and multidirectional linear ridges (MLR). The Throssell Shale MISS are characterized by irregular bulges (IB), ‘elephant skin’ wrinkle structure (ESWS), pinnacles/tufts (P/T), and drag folded bedding surfaces (DFBS). Alignment of quartz grains (AQG), micrite laminae (ML), pyrite-concentrated laminae (PCL), gas domes (GD), bamboo leaf-like cracks (BLC), worm-like cracks (WLC), and polygonal cracks (PC) were found from the Yurabi Formation. The Flat Rock MISS includes gas domes (GD), millimetre-scale ripples (MR), and ripple patches (RP). Of these, TC, MLR, RB, and ML are reported for the first time from the Neoproterozoic worldwide...