Late Ordovician and Early Silurian conodonts from the “Uralba Beds”, northern New South Wales

Limestone outcrops that form a north-south belt approximately 1.4 km long, 15 km east of Manilla and previously referred to as the Uralba Beds, and associated rocks, are shown to be an olistostromal component of the Wisemans Arm Formation. Elongate olistoliths up to 100 m in length are flanked by limestone conglomerate with clasts set in a volcaniclastic matrix derived from a range of volcanic rock types. Volcanic olistoliths, including a mass of ankaramitic basalt, are also present. Conodont faunas of differing ages were obtained from various outcrops. A Late Ordovician (Eastonian, Ea3) fauna of over 400 elements from some outcrops is identical to one recently documented from elsewhere in the Wisemans Arm Formation. A small Early Silurian (late Llandovery-early Wenlock) fauna from four outcrops (including two formerly thought to be Ordovician) comprises the first documented conodont fauna of this age from the New England Fold Belt.     

Early Ordovician conodonts from Zhejiang Province,southeast China and their biostratigraphic and palaeobiogeographic implications

Forty-two conodont species are documented from the Liuxia, Shijiatou and Jingshan formations in Zhejiang Province of southeast China, located palaeogeographically on the Jiangnan Slope offshore to the Yangtze Platform. From these faunas, eight successive conodont biozones of Tremadocian to middle Floian (Early Ordovician) age are recognized, including the Cordylodus lindstromi Biozone, Cordylodus angulatus Biozone, Chosonodina herfurthi Biozone, Paltodus deltifer Biozone, Paroistodus proteus Biozone, Triangulodus bifidus Biozone, Serratognathus diversus Biozone and Prioniodus elegans Biozone. Several zonal index species of the Baltoscandian succession—Paltodus deltifer, Paroistodus proteus and Prioniodus elegans—are described and illustrated in detail for the first time from South China. Co-occurrence of P. proteus and Serratognathus bilobatus in several samples below the appearance of P. elegans also confirms correlation of the S. diversus Biozone (basal Floian) with the upper P. proteus Zone of the Baltoscandian succession. These Zhejiang faunas are dominated by pandemic forms, and are similar to those of the Open-Sea Realm elsewhere, inhabiting deep, offshore environments.     

A quantitative study of the Ordovician cephalopod species Sinoceras chinense (Foord) and its palaeobiogeographic implications

FANG, X., ZHANG, Y., CHEN, T., &; ZHANG, Y., February 2017. A quantitative study of the Ordovician cephalopod species Sinoceras chinense (Foord) and its palaeobiogeographic Implications. Alcheringa 0, 000–000. ISSN 0311-5518.

Sinoceras chinense (Foord) is one of the most important and dominant cephalopods in lower Upper Ordovician deposits of China and has been used traditionally as an index species for the lower Katian of South China. Eight published subspecies, including some morphologically diverse forms, have been assigned to the species, and a taxonomic revision of Sinoceras chinense is required. Based on an examination of the 33 published specimens and 12 new specimens, the relationships of Sinoceras chinense and its allies are analysed using cluster analysis and non-metric multi-dimensional scaling. The results segregate these specimens into three discrete groups: (1) the Sinoceras chinense (Foord) Group; (2) the Sinoceras eccentrica (Yü) Group; and (3) non-Sinoceras chinense Group. Accordingly, we emend the diagnosis of Sinoceras chinense and exclude the specimens of the non-Sinoceras chinense Group. Based largely on this taxonomic redefinition and previously published occurrences of Sinoceras chinense, the palaeobiogeographical distribution of Sinoceras is reconstructed in the South China, North China, Tarim and Tibet. Based on the occurrences, ranges and phylogeny of this genus and its included species, we conclude that Sinoceras originated in South China in late Darriwilian, subsequently dispersed into neighbouring blocks in the Sandbian to the early Katian, and became entirely extinct abruptly in the early late Katian.

Xiang Fang^* [xfang@nigpas.ac.cn], Yunbai Zhang [ybzhang@nigpas.ac.cn], Tingen Chen [chenten40@126.com], Yuandong Zhang^? [ydzhang@nigpas.ac.cn], Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, PR China. ^*Also affiliated with: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, PR China. ^?Also affiliated with: Key Laboratory of Economic Stratigraphy and Palaeogeography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, PR China. Received 2.6.2016; revised 15.9.2016.     

Revised stratigraphy of the Xiazhen Formation (Upper Ordovician) at Zhuzhai,South China,based on palaeontological and lithological data

Lee, D.-C., Park, J., Woo, J., Kwon, Y.K., Lee, J.-G., Guan, L., Sun, N., Lee, S.-B., Liang, K., Liu, L., Rhee, C.-W., Choh, S.-J., Kim, B.-S. & Lee, D.-J., September 2012. Revised stratigraphy of the Xiazhen Formation (Upper Ordovician) at Zhuzhai, South China, based on palaeontological and lithological data. Alcheringa 36, 393–412. ISSN 0311-5518.

Three exposures of the Upper Ordovician Xiazhen Formation at Zhuzhai, Yushan, Jiangxi Province, China are re-measured and described in detail. Comparison of palaeontological and lithological data from the exposures (designated sub-sections ZU1, ZU2 and ZU3) reveals that the sub-sections overlap stratigraphically. Nearly identical assemblages of trilobites and brachiopods occur in mudstones of ZU1 and ZU3, whereas a different assemblage occurs in those of ZU2. Identical coral species occur in the overlapped intervals of ZU1 and ZU2, and ZU1 and ZU3, respectively. In addition, a distinctive identical lithological succession consisting of brachiopod-bearing nodular limestone at the base to coral floatstone at the top is evident in the overlapped interval of ZU1 and ZU2; prism-cracked algal laminites are found in the same interval; and bioclastic limestone beds, which represent bioherms consisting mainly of corals and stromatoporoids, occur in both ZU1 and ZU3. A thrust fault system appears to be responsible for the repetition in the subsections, and the faulting was probably due to the major post-Ordovician structural movements exerted on the Zhe-Gan Platform of the Jiangnan Region of the South China Block.

Dong-Chan Lee [dclee@hit.ac.kr], Department of Heritage Studies, Daejeon Health Sciences College, 300-711, Daejeon, Republic of Korea; Jino Park [jinopark@korea.ac.kr], Suk-Joo Choh [sjchoh@korea.ac.kr], Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Korea University, 136-701, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Jusun Woo [jusunwoo@kopri.re.kr], Division of Polar Earth-System Sciences, Korea Polar Research Institute, 406-840, Incheon, Republic of Korea; Yi Kyun Kwon [kyk70@kigam.re.kr], Marine and Petroleum Division, Korea Institutue of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, 305-350, Daejeon, Republic of Korea; Jeong-Gu Lee [leejg@mest.go.kr], Seung-Bae Lee [sblee@mest.go.kr], Exhibition Planning and Coordination Division, Gwacheon National Science Museum, 427-060, Gwacheon, Republic of Korea; Liming Guan [glm.1103218@yahoo.com], Ning Sun [sun@andong.ac.kr], Kun Liang [ibcaskun@126.com], Lu Liu [liulu323@hotmail.com], Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Andong National University, 760-749, Andong, Republic of Korea; Dong-Jin Lee [djlee@andong.ac.kr], Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Andong National University, 760-749, Andong, Republic of Korea and College of Earth Science, Jilin University, Changchun 130061, PR China; Chul-Woo Rhee [gloryees@chungbuk.ac.kr], Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Chungbuk National University, 361-763, Cheongju, Republic of Korea; Byong-Song Kim [kbs1972@163.com], Department of Resources Exploration Engineering, Kim Chaek University of Technology, Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea and College of Earth Science, Jilin University, Changchun 130061, PR China. Received 16.10.2011, revised 4.1.2012, accepted 16.1.2012.     

Relief services for the aged in Hunan and Hubei during the Ming and Qing dynasties

Focused on the Hunan and Hubei areas during the Ming and Qing dynasties, this paper provides a discussion on the relief services for the aged. With an emphasis on the quota and object of the aged who needs to be relieved, the constructional scale of the relief houses and the operation patterns of the institutions, it reveals the gap between the ideal and the reality, the policies and the implementation, the philosophy of the philanthropy and the limit of the government budget. __________ Translated from Wuhan University Journal (Humanity and Social Science Edition), 2004: 3     

Palaeobiological features of the coralomorph Amsassia from the Late Ordovician of South China

Lee, M., Elias, R.J., Choh, S.-J. & Lee, D.-J., May 2018. Palaeobiological features of the coralomorph Amsassia from the Late Ordovician of South China. Alcheringa XXX, X–X. ISSN 0311-5518.

Amsassia yushanensis sp. nov. occurs in the Late Ordovician Xiazhen Formation at Zhuzhai, Jiangxi Province of southeastern China. This species is characterized by typical phacelocerioid organization of modules comparable with the other Amsassia species described in recent literature. Bipartite fission, in which a parent module divided into two parts, is by far the most common type of increase in this species; tripartite and quadripartite types of axial fission do occur but are relatively uncommon. Processes of module division are similar to those of A. shaanxiensis and A. koreanensis, and also occurred in tetradiids. In A. yushanensis, restoration of coralla was occasionally accompanied by recovery of a damaged or injured module or group of modules probably following an influx of sediment, as observed in some favositoid corals. Amsassia superficially resembles Lichenaria, a representative genus of the most primitive stock of tabulate corals of Ordovician age, and has likely been mistakenly identified as Lichenaria in the North China Platform. Available information suggests that the validity of a reported occurrence of Lichenaria in the South China Platform is also questionable.

Mirinae Lee [mirinae.lee@kopri.re.kr] Division of Polar Earth-System Sciences, Korea Polar Research Institute, 21990, Incheon, Republic of Korea; Robert J. Elias [Robert.Elias@umanitoba.ca] Department of Geological Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, R3T 2N2, Canada; Suk-Joo Choh [sjchoh@korea.ac.kr] Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Korea University, Seoul, 02841, Republic of Korea; Dong-Jin Lee [djlee@anu.ac.kr] Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Andong National University, Andong, 36749, Republic of Korea and College of Earth Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130061, PR China.     

On the integration of Ordovician conodont and graptolite biostratigraphy: new examples from Gansu and Inner Mongolia in China

Wang, Z.H., Bergström, S.M., Zhen, Y.Y., Chen, X. & Zhang, Y.D., 2013. On the integration of Ordovician conodont and graptolite biostratigraphy: New examples from Gansu and Inner Mongolia in China. Alcheringa 37, 510–528. ISSN 0311-5518.

Few Ordovician successions in the world contain both biostratigraphically highly diagnostic conodonts and graptolites permitting an integration between standard biozones based on these fossil groups. The Sandbian Guanzhuang section in the vicinity of Pingliang in the Gansu Province has an outstanding graptolite record through most of the Nemagraptus gracilis and Climacograptus bicornis graptolite biozones. Calcareous interbeds in the succession yield biostratigraphically important conodonts, including some species used for biozonations in Baltoscandia and the North American Midcontinent. Likewise, the middle–upper Darriwilian Dashimen section in the Wuhai region of Inner Mongolia hosts both diverse graptolites of the Pterograptus elegans, Didymograptus murchisoni and lowermost Nemagraptus gracilis biozones, and conodonts of Midcontinent and Baltoscandic types. The distribution patterns of these index fossil groups provide an unusual opportunity to closely correlate conodont and graptolite biozones in the middle to upper Darriwilian to Sandbian interval. For instance, the base of the C. bicornis Biozone is approximately coeval with the base of the Baltoscandic B. gerdae Subbiozone and a level near the middle of the North American P. aculeata Biozone.

Zhi-hao Wang [zhwang@nigpas.ac.cn] Xu Chen [xu1936@gmail.com], and Yuan-dong Zhang [ydzhang@nigpas.ac.cn], Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; Stig M. Bergström [stig@geology.ohio-state.edu], School of Earth Sciences, Division of Earth History, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Yong Yi Zhen [yongyi.zhen@austmus.gov.au], Australian Museum, 6 College Street, Sydney NSW 2010, Australia.     

Assessing China’s response to the South China Sea arbitration ruling

Many international legal experts believe that the Philippines v. China arbitration award of 12 July 2016 represents a game changer for South China Sea dispute settlements because the award has brought a breathtaking legal clarity to the complex disputes. This article argues that the sweeping nature of the award had a very paradoxical effect on Chinese policy. The arbitration ruling has led to the hardening of China’s claims, but it has also raised a new readiness among Chinese policymakers to renew negotiations. The sweepingness of the award makes it hard for the Philippines to reach a negotiated compromise with China on the basis of the award, but it also presents a surprising political opportunity in regional politics for the major actors involved to lower tensions and recalibrate policies. Although China’s new readiness to negotiate is welcome, the overall impact of the three-and-a-half-year-long arbitration is likely to create a deadlock in negotiations in the near future. Paradoxically, this may raise the importance of political and power-centred approaches to regional dispute settlements, as the legal approach embodied by arbitration continues to meet Chinese defiance.     

Cambrian–Ordovician non-marine fossils from South Australia

Newly discovered trace and body fossils from the Grindstone Range Sandstone of South Australia reveal evidence of megascopic life on land during the Cambrian–Ordovician. Arthropod trackways (Diplichnites gouldi) are interpreted here to have formed on land. The most persuasive evidence for this view is that footprints vary in clarity along the length of the trackway as it traversed moist then dry silt, then biological soil crust. Compatible, though not diagnostic of walking on land is trackway symmetry, without one side buoyed up by current. The footprints bulge outward and are partially filled with miniature talus cones. Footprints also are alternate as in walking, rather than opposite as in sculling. Arthropod resting traces (Selenichnites sp. indet.) have 11 lateral furrows, and footprints are bundled into sets of 8–11, most like euthycarcinoids. No arthropod dwelling burrows were found in associated palaeosols, so the track maker was more likely amphibious than fully terrestrial. Associated trace fossils include a new ichnotaxon of burrow, Myrowichnus arenaceus gen. et sp. nov. Thallose impressions (Farghera robusta gen. et sp. nov.) have the radiating dichotomous form of lichens, algae and liverworts. All these trace and body fossils were found in weakly developed palaeosols. Other palaeosols in the same formation are evidence of terrestrial ecosystems of modest biomass, weathering, carbon sequestration and stability in dry tropical regions.     

南海主权地缘政治经济透析

南海诸岛自古以来就是中国领土。由于其独特的地理区位及资源战略价值,南海周边国家围绕南海诸岛的领土、领海主权争端愈演愈烈,形成了今天\"六国七方\"的复杂局面。本文从政治经济地理的角度探讨了南海的地缘战略及资源战略价值,阐述了南海主权争端的由来及现状以及中国对南海主权的法律地位,在此基础上对南海主权争端的实质进行了分析,并得出结论,随着2010年中国与东盟自由贸易区的建立和大湄公河次区域经济合作项目的全面启动,中国与南海沿岸各国的经济合作、政治互信和共同利益越来越多,这将有助于减少外部大国遏制中国的借口,南海问题将会由直接有关的各方共同找到一个大家都能接受的解决办法。