The Rocky Harbour Formation is an

Ediacaran The Ediacaran ( ) is a geological period of the Neoproterozoic geologic era, Era that spans 96 million years from the end of the Cryogenian Period at 635 Million years ago, Mya to the beginning of the Cambrian Period at 538.8 Mya. It is the last ...

formation cropping out in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

. Its depositional setting was deltaic, with sediments showing the influence of tides and waves.Normore, L.S. (2012). Geology of the Random Island map area (NTS 2C/04), Newfoundland. Curr. Res. Newfoundl. Labrador Dep. Nat. Resour. Geol. Surv. Report 12-1, 121–145. It is also known to preserve pre-

Gaskiers glaciation The Gaskiers glaciation is a period of widespread glacial deposits (e.g. diamictites) that lasted under 340,000 years, between 579.88 ± 0.44 and 579.63 ± 0.15 million years ago — i.e. late in the Ediacaran Period — making it the last major ...

fossils, in the form of

Palaeopascichnid A "Palaeopascichnid" describes a multitude of elongate fossils made up of multiple sausage-shaped chambers. They appear only in Ediacaran sediments. Fossils of Palaeopascichnids consist of an occasionally branching series of globular or elongate c ...

specimens, around 579 Ma.

Facies from top to bottom

As reported in, and partly in. * Herring Cove :

Peperite A peperite is a type of volcaniclastic rock consisting of sedimentary rock that contains fragments of younger igneous material and is formed when magma comes into contact with wet sediments. The term was originally used to describe rocks from th ...

, it is also one of fossil bearing facies of this formation. * Kings Cove Lighthouse :Purple to pink medium/coarse sandstones with rip-up clasts. It is also one of fossil bearing facies of this formation. * Kings Cove North :Wave-influenced, light grey/green/yellow fissile siltstone (weathering white); laminated; interbedding with fine ssts. * Monk Bay :Dark grey trough-crossbedded and rippled sandstones; poor sorting, coarse to fine grains. * Cape Bonavista :Crossbedded coarse pink arkosic sandstones

Type section

Ford's Harbour (previously known (or mapped) as Rocky Harbour).

Paleobiota

The Rocky Harbour Formation is currently the oldest formation in Newfoundland,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, to bear pre-Gaskiers glaciation fossil material at around 579 Ma, although it is beaten by the Lantian Formation, which sits at 602 - 577 Ma. These fossils are of the enigmatic Palaeopascichnids, elongated to agglutinated organisms which consist of multiple sausage-shaped chambers or spherical or hemispherical chambers that occasionally branch.

''incertae sedis''

References

{{Canada-geologic-formation-stub Ediacaran Newfoundland and Labrador Geologic formations of Newfoundland and Labrador Sandstone formations of Canada Siltstone formations of Canada Tuff formations of Canada