Trilobites from the Middle Ordovician Stairway Sandstone,Amadeus Basin,central Australia

Abstract

During the Middle Ordovician (Darriwilian) sandstones and siltstones were deposited in the epicontinental Larapintine Sea, which covered large parts of central Australia. The Darriwilian Stairway Sandstone has, for the first time, been sampled stratigraphically for macrofossils to track marine benthic biodiversity in this clastic-dominated shallow-water palaeoenvironment situated along the margin of northeastern Gondwana. The faunas from the Stairway Sandstone are generally of low diversity and dominated by bivalves but include several animal groups, with trilobites representing 25% of the entire shelly fauna. Thirteen trilobite taxa are described from the Stairway Sandstone; the fauna displays a high degree of endemism. One new species, Basilicus (Parabasilicus) brumbyensis sp. nov. is described.     

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.     

“金镶宝玉闹装绦带三台”考

宋至明的朝服与燕服所用之系带分别为革带和绦带,二者之带头不同,革带之带头称为”三台”,绦带之带环称为“绦环”,其尾缀一钩,可称为绦钩。绦环之称谓不应包括绦钩,须分别定名。明帝王生前所用绦带头类似革带之玉铸三台.笔者暂借以称之为玉绦带三台。     

Late Triassic (Carnian) corals from Timor-Leste (East Timor): their identity,setting, and biogeography

Four scleractinian coral taxa are described from limestones within a sandstone-shale séquence correlated with the Late Triassic Babulu Formation, Manatuto township, on the northern coast of Timor-Leste (East Timor). The coral fauna consists of three phaceloid taxa, Paravolzeia tìmorìca gen. et sp. nov., Craspedophyll ramosa sp. nov., Margarosmilia confluens (Münster), and a generically indeterminate solitary taxon attributed to the family Margarophylliidae. Ali four corals are related at various taxonomie levels to Carnian faunas from the Dolomites of northern Italy. Previously, only Norian coral faunas were known from the Triassic of Timor. The fauna exhibits both similarities to and differences from Carnian faunas of the Dolomites and helps confirm palaeogeographic affinities with the western Tethys, although during Late Triassic time Timor lay in the distant southeastern portai of the Tethys. Despite isolation from the western Tethys, the presence of two species foundalso in the Dolomites indicates that larvai dispersai occurred between the two areas.     

Ordovician biostratigraphy of the Canning Basin,Western Australia

Six biostratigraphically distinct faunas based largely on trilobites and graptolites are defined from the Lower to Middle Ordovician limestone, sandstone and shale sequence of the Canning Basin. They range in age from the Tremadoc (fauna 1), through the Arenig (faunas 2, 3) to the Llanvirn (faunas 4–6).     

An Early Permian brachiopod fauna of Gondwanan affinity from the Baoshan block,western Yunnan,China

The present paper describes and illustrates an Early Permian brachiopod fauna collected from two localities from the upper part of the type Dingjiazhai Formation near Youwang, 30 km south of Baoshan in the Baoshan block, western Yunnan, China. The brachiopod fauna is dominated by Stenoscisma sp. and Elivina yunnanensis sp. nov. and exhibits strong generic and some specific links with faunas from the Bisnain assemblage of Timor and the Callytharra Formation of Western Australia and, to a lesser extent, faunas from the Jilong Formation of southern Tibet, the Tashkazyk Formation of southeastern Pamir, the lower Toinlungkongba Formation of northwestern Tibet, the upper Pondo Group of central Tibet, and the Jimba Jimba Calcarenite of the Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia. Based on these correlations, a Late Sakmarian (Sterlitamakian) age is preferred for the Dingjiazhai brachiopod fauna. Two new species are proposed: Globiella youwangensis sp. nov. and Elivina yunnanensis sp. nov.     

Insect faunas associated with the Fossil remains of Pinus sylvestris L. in blanket peat from Northeast Scotland

Pine stumps have been found preserved in blanket peats at altitudes of up to 793 m OD in Scotland. Radiocarbon dating by other researchers has demonstrated that these sites were not all contemporary, but most fall within the mid‐Holocene period. Palynological, dendrochronological and stable isotope analyses have previously been carried out on these fossil pine stumps, but not palaeoentomological analysis. This paper reports on the results of an analysis of the fossil beetle remains from two of these sites in the Cairngorms, Monaltrie Moss and a moss on the Mar Lodge estate. The insect faunas indicate that acidic wetland was colonised by pine trees, which developed into mature woodland. The dominance of saproxylic (deadwood) faunas in comparison to those associated with healthier trees suggests that the woodland was always under stress. The pine fauna at Mar Lodge was replaced by montane wetland species once the pine trees died out.     

Wenlock brachiopods from Canberra,Australia

Twenty-four brachiopod species are described from a well-preserved shelly fauna in the Walker Volcanics, collected from the Molonglo valley west of Canberra. There are three inarticulates and twenty-one articulates, of which nine are new, three are closely compared with previously described species and twelve are under open nomenclature. New are Skenidioides thrinax, Salopina mediocostata, Aegiria (Epelidoaegiria subgen. nov.) chilidifera, Morinorhynchus oepiki, Australina (Australina) kausi, Coelospira cavata, Endospirifer anxius, Reticulariopsis silurica and Vadum (gen. nov.) coppinsense. The fauna is shown to be cosmopolitan in character and falls within the scope of Benthic Assemblages 3 to 5 of Boucot (1975). It is of Wenlock age.     

Miocene molluscs and barnacles from Mont Rond,Kerguelen Islands

A sedimentary deposit discovered at Kerguelen Islands in 1988 is interbedded in the Cape MacLear cliffs, near Mont Rond (Ronarc'h Peninsula). The age of this oceanic deposit is considered to be lower to middle Miocene as indicated by isotopic dating of both the underlying and overlying basalts. This deposit yields a fauna essentially consisting of molluscs (bivalves, gastropods) and crustaceans (cirripedes). This fauna exhibits some similarities to Miocene to Recent austral faunas (New Zealand, Argentina) as a result of the establishment of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. However, it has no species in common with the extant Kerguelen fauna. The Mont Rond fossil assemblage is best compared with either of two types of extant communities developed on a bare sandy sea floor where infaunal species are dominant, but most likely to an opportunistic one in depths from approximately 10 to 80 m.     

A new assemblage of graptolites,rhabdopleuran hemichordates and chitinous hydroids from the late Arenig (Ordovician) of the Banestan area,east-central Iran

A rich benthic and planktonic graptolite fauna is associated with encrusting rhabdopleuran hemichordates and chitinous hydrozoans in the late Arenig (Ordovician) part of the Katkoyeh Formation at Banestan, east-central Iran.

New taxa described here are the dendroid graptolites Callograptus huckriedei sp. nov. and Dictyonema bitubulata sp. nov. Other dendroid graptolites Dendrograptus sp. cf. D. flexuosus J. Hall, 1865; Acanthograptus divergens Skevington, 1963; and Thallograptus ?succulentus Ruedemann, 1904 are described. The tuboid graptolite Galeograptus sp., the rhabdopleuran hemichordates Rhabdopleura sp. aff. R. primaevus (Kozlowski, 1967) and Kystodendron sp., and the chitinous hydroid Palaeotuba sp. are also described. Graptoloid graptolites described here are Aulograptus? sp., Didymograptus incertus Perner, 1895, Undulograptus formosus (Mu & Lee, 1958), and Yutagraptus sp. cf. Y. mantuanus Riva, 1994. All but two species-level taxa are described from Iran for the first time.

The fauna is confirmed as being late Arenig or, less likely, early Llanvirn and thus probably correlates with the early part of the Darriwilian stage. It resembles the Atlantic cold water faunas in lacking isograptids and sinograptids.     

Pennsylvanian (Carboniferous) brachiopods from the Itaituba Formation of the Amazon Basin,Brazil

A new brachiopod fauna is described from the lower Itaituba Formation at the Caima Quarry 2 section in the Itaituba area, Amazon Basin, Brazil. The Amazonoproductus amazonensis-Anthracospirifer oliveirai Assemblage is proposed for this fauna, which is considered early Pennsylvanian (Morrowan) as constrained by associated conodont and fusulinacean faunas. Nine brachiopod taxa are described herein, including Amazonoproductus amazonensis gen. et sp. nov., and Buxtonioides itaitubensis sp. nov. and Linoproductus caima sp. nov. The new tribe Marginovatini of the Linoproductoidea (the Productida) is also proposed.     

High latitude,late Campanian (Cretaceous) Radiolaria from offshore south-eastern Tasmania

A well-preserved, low diversity (ten species), high latitude (palaeolatitude 70°S) radiolarian fauna is recorded from shallow-water late Campanian (Late Cretaceious) sediments recovered in cores taken from the continental slope of southeastern Tasmania. These are the first Radiolaria described from Cretaceous rocks of southeastern Australia. Most forms are previously described species but a new species of Petasiforma is described. Age control is provided by dinoflagellates but the radiolarian fauna is similar to late Campanian-Maastrichtian faunas described from Campbell Plateau. A late Campanian age can also be determined from the Radiolaria, which are correlated with the Patulibracchium dickinsoni Zone. The site has subsided some 3200 m since deposition, at an average rate of about 40–45 m/Ma, consistent with other indicators in the region. Radiolaria are similar to other coeval plankton in exhibiting high latitude characteristics.     

First excavation of intact Middle Stone Age layers at Ysterfontein,Western Cape Province,South Africa: implications for Middle Stone Age ecology

Excavations into a coastal cliff at Ysterfontein (YFT) 1, South Africa, have revealed 2.5–3 m of stratified sands containing classic Middle Stone Age (MSA) stone artifacts, abundant mussel and limpet shells, numerous fragments of ostrich eggshell, and somewhat rarer bones from mammals, birds, tortoises, and snakes. The sands apparently filled a crevice-like, calcrete shelter, where the artifacts and animal remains accumulated partly in place and perhaps partly through slippage down the face of a dune that once stood between the site and the sea. Accelerator radiocarbon dating of ostrich eggshell places the sequence before 33,400 years ago. Artifact typology provisionally suggests that it formed after 70,000 years ago. The fauna resembles faunas from the handful of other known coastal MSA sites and contrasts with faunas from regional Later Stone Age (LSA) sites in its low diversity of coastal marine species and in the large size of its limpets and tortoises. The difference suggests that MSA people exploited local resources less intensively, probably because their populations were less dense.     

A new Late Permian brachiopod fauna from Tanggula,Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its palaeogeographical implications

Weihong He, Jianjun Bu, Zhijun Niu & Yang Zhang, June, 2009. A new Late Permian brachiopod fauna from Tanggula, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its palaeogeographical implications. Alcheringa 33, 113–132. ISSN 0311-5518.

A brachiopod fauna described from the Late Permian of the Gongri and Lizai villages, northwest of the Qoima Co Lake, Tanggula area, southern Qinghai, northwest China, includes ten species in nine genera. This fauna from the (Qiangtang Block) has a strong affinity to coeval faunas of South China, sharing 74% of its species. In addition, the Late Permian Tanggula brachiopod assemblages also demonstrate a clear link with the Middle Permian brachiopod faunas of neighbouring microcontinents including the Indochina block (Malaysia and Cambodia) and the Shan-Thai block (Thailand), as suggested by the presence of Caricula sp. cf. C. salebrosa, Transennatia termierorum and Strophalosiina. This phenomenon indicates that there were relatively narrow seaways between these microcontinents to enable ready interchange of brachiopods during the Permian, and that brachiopods tended to retreat towards the palaeoequatorial region throughout the period.     

Insects in an abandoned landscape: late Holocene palaeoentomological investigations at Sandhavn,Southern Greenland

Abstract

The late Holocene landscape and environment at Sandhavn in Greenland's Eastern Settlement are considered in the light of recent palaeoentomological investigations. Samples dating to post-Norse peat accumulation suggest that Norse activity had no lasting effect on the beetle fauna and environment at Sandhavn after its abandonment in the Medieval period. The faunas recovered may be assumed to be characteristic of the surrounding environment, and indicate that the site was situated in an area of wetland and heath. The assemblages are discussed in the context of the sub-fossil and modern coleopteran faunal history of the North Atlantic islands, and as evidence for post-abandonment environmental conditions in Greenland.     

A short-snouted trematosauroid (Tetrapoda,Temnospondyli) from the Early Triassic of Australia: the oldest known trematosaurine

The trematosauroid temnospondyl Tirraturhinus smisseni gen. et sp. nov. from the Arcadia Formation of central Queensland, Australia, is described on the basis of its rostrum. This is the first trematosaurine (short-snouted) trematosauroid from Australia, and is considered to be most closely related to Tertrema acuta from Spitzbergen. Tirraturhinus smisseni occurs alongside lonchorhynchine (long-snouted) trematosauroids in the Arcadia Formation; the co-occurrence of both trematosauroid morphotypes in that fauna is repeated in a number of non-marine Early Triassic faunas elsewhere in Pangaea. The Arcadia Formation is probably Griesbachian (earliest Triassic), so that T. smisseni is the oldest known trematosaurine.     

中国甘肃地区春秋战国时期镀锡青铜板带錾刻纹饰制作技术研究

在传统意义的"丝绸之路"开通之前,中西方文明其实已经接触和交流,这从大量出土文物中得到了印证。中国西北地区是传统丝绸之路的早期孕育之地,因此,研究此地区出土文物以及他们所携带和涵盖的文化因素,对在"一带一路"大背景下促进文物保护与当代社会建设有着重要意义。近年来,在中国西北地区出土一批春秋战国时期刻纹镀锡青铜板带,其板体轻薄,在变化丰富的几何形纹饰之上施以镀锡层,形成银白色表面。为探讨出土镀锡青铜板带纹饰制作技术,本工作利用三维视频显微镜观察三件甘肃天水地区采集镀锡青铜板带表面纹饰后发现,板带表面纹饰由四种饰线组合而成。其中一件具有典型性纹饰板带样品的金相组织显示,板带基体主要为铸态组织,在靠近短直线、长直线、曲线三种饰线下方金相组织显示有明显的加工退火痕迹,而宽凹槽饰线下方的基体为铸态组织。结合扫描电子显微镜(SEM)和能谱仪(EDS)对宽凹槽纹饰表面微痕观察测试后,判定镀锡青铜板带表面短直线、长直线、曲线三种饰线为錾制,錾制工具为V形刃口錾刀,而宽凹槽饰线为刻制,刻制工具则为砣轮。     

上海创意产业园区的空间分异研究

创意产业园区是一种新的生产空间组织,90年代末以来在一些国际著名大都市中发展迅速。本文试图通过分析上海创意产业集聚园区的空间分布特点和形成机理,研究上海创意产业集聚的时空变化规律。研究表明,上海创意产业园区的分布具有以下两个特点:由黄浦江和内环线围合而成的半环状地带和苏州河沿岸地带,因传统的老工业区,老仓库、老厂房分布集中,伴随传统工业逐步迁出市区,这些旧城建筑为创意产业的发展提供了理想的地理空间;东北、西南地区是大学集中分布地带,是知识溢出的空间,知识型创意产业园区相对比较集中。上海创意产业集聚空间的规律,折射出上海创意产业发展的道路。     

宁夏赴阿拉伯国家出境商务旅游影响因素及机理研究

以宁夏赴阿拉伯国家商务游客为研究对象,通过问卷调查获取相关数据信息,采用主成分分析方法和地理探测器分析方法,对商务旅游的影响因素及机理进行了研究,结果发现：①宁夏赴阿出境商务游客呈现出高学历、高收入、高回访率的“三高”特征。②按影响因子解释力由大到小依次为：增加贸易量 > 收集产品信息 > 广告效应 > 商贸信息传播 > 文化交流 > 旅游购物。商贸活动是赴阿商务旅游的启动因素,其中“增加贸易量”是其最主要的影响因素,文化交流因子影响力较弱,但在赴阿商务旅游与贸易活动中作用独特。③各影响因素之间的互动影响,形成了赴阿商务旅游影响机理：“商贸目的激发商务旅游-形成商贸订单和合作关系-提升贸易额-推动信息传播-产生广告效应-促进文化交流-构建了人际关系-产生了新的商机-引发更大规模的旅游和贸易活动”。