Cyclostratigraphy of the Ediacaran Nama Group in Namibia based on photogrammetry

The middle Nama Group, deposited during the late Ediacaran in southern Namibia, is a 1 km-thick mixed carbonate-siliciclastic shallow-marine succession that displays observable regularity in its weathering profile. However, the possible role of astronomical climate forcing in this succession remains poorly understood. As a first step to understand the origin of the regularity, an initial cyclostratigraphic framework was developed using Google Earth satellite images and published U-Pb zircon ages of volcanic ash beds. Although the estimated average periodicity of 120-180 k.y. for the dominant scale of variation falls within the frequency band of astronomical forcing, it is not yet possible to discriminate between an origin related to short (~100 k.y.) eccentricity or 173 k.y. obliquity amplitude modulation. In order to refine the framework, we generated high-resolution quantitative records of the weathering profile based on drone photogrammetry. Spectral analysis on the depth series of slope steepness reveals significant spectral power related to the dominant variation at a scale of tens of meters. Additionally, it captures spectral power related to smaller-scale variations at less than 10 m. For age control, the depth series are linked to published U-Pb ages as well as to newly collected volcanic ash samples more closely tied to the analyzed sections. New high-precision dates will be crucial to determine the astronomical origin of these cycles.