A new site from the Spanish Middle Pleistocene with cold-resistant faunal elements: La Parte (Asturias,Spain)

The La Parte (Asturias) northern Spain site contains a cold-adapted mammal faunal assemblage that corresponds to a level radiometrically dated to a minimum age of 150 ka. It represents the most ancient site with cold resistant fauna in the Iberian Peninsula.Among the species recorded in La Parte, Coelodonta antiquitatis and Rangifer tarandus represent the typical cold-adapted large mammal association.The presence of the woolly rhino at La Parte provides relevant environmental information about the Mammoth Steppe. This species was not as abundant in the Middle Pleistocene as during the Late Pleistocene, when its cold-adapted features can be studied from an evolutionary perspective. The remains attributed to R. tarandus suggest an open steppe ecosystem.The presence of Marmota sp. is also confirmed in La Parte. A first interpretation would suggest an alpine or periglacial ecosystem, but based on recent results which do not support the correlation between phylogeny and climatic tolerance for extant species of Marmota (López and Cuenca, 2002. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 186, 311), we propose the presence of this rodent suggests an open landscape with cold conditions.The rest of the taxa included in the La Parte assemblage (Crocuta crocuta, Panthera leo, Cervus elaphus, Megaloceros cf. giganteus, Bison priscus and Equus caballus) are usually associated with typical cold-adapted faunas, but they are also found in woody temperate zones so they do not characterize by themselves a cold period. The faunal association from La Parte suggests a combination of steppic and open woodland ecological conditions.     

Discovery of three new mordellids (Coleoptera, Tenebrionoidea) from the Yixian Formation of western Liaoning, China

In this paper one new genus and three new species Bellimordella capitulifera gen. et sp. nov., B. longispina gen. et sp. nov., B. robusta gen. et sp. nov., all placed within the subfamily Praemordellinae of the family Mordellidae, are described and illustrated. The specimens were recovered from the Yixian Formation of Beipiao City, Liaoning Province, NE China. The key to the species of this new genus is given. Furthermore, we discuss evolution of the pygidium and possible food for those ancient mordellids.     

Formation of the Upper Pleistocene terraces of Lake Van (Turkey)

Sedimentological and geomorphological studies of terraces around Lake Van (1647 m) provided a preliminary framework for lake‐level variations. The elevations of terraces and past lake level were measured with a differential global positioning system. A chronology is developed using ²³⁴U/²³⁰Th dating of travertines, ³⁹Ar/⁴⁰Ar dating of pyroclastites and ¹⁴C dating of organic matter. Facies and stratigraphic correlations identify four transgressions (C1′, C1″, C2′ and C2″), each followed by a regression which ended with low lake levels that caused river incision and terrace formation. Evidence of the oldest transgression (C1′) is found in the uppermost reaches of valleys up to 1755 m, an altitude higher than the present lake threshold (1736 m). This C1′ transgression may be related to pyroclastic flows which dammed an outlet located in the western part of the lake basin and which is dated to before 105 ka. After 100 ka, a second transgression (C1″) reached 1730/1735 m, possibly related to a younger ignimbrite flow, in association with high water inflow (warm and/or wetter conditions). The two younger transgressions reached 1700–1705 m. The first one (C2′) is dated to 26–24.5 cal. ka BP and the second one (C2″) to 21–20 cal. ka BP. Available data suggest that the long‐term lake‐level changes responded mainly to climate oscillations. Additional events such as river captures caused by volcanic falls filling valleys, tectonism, erosion and karstic diversion may have impacted these long‐term lake‐level changes. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Palaeontology,stratigraphy and sedimentology of Woodeaton Quarry (Oxfordshire) and a new microvertebrate site from the White Limestone Formation (Bathonian,Jurassic)

Woodeaton Quarry in Oxfordshire has previously yielded a number of large sauropod vertebrae and other (unpublished) dinosaur remains from a horizon in the Rutland Formation. No review of the wider terrestrial fauna from Woodeaton has been published to date. Here we present an overview of new material recovered from a microvertebrate site at the top of the White Limestone Formation (Middle Jurassic, Bathonian, Great Oolite Group, Retrocostatum Zone) and review the stratigraphy to provide a comprehensive local stratigraphic framework and place the quarry in the correct regional context. The terrestrial fauna is similar to that found from other UK Bathonian microvertebrate sites and includes probable dromaeosaurid theropods, ornithischians, tritylodontids and mammaliaforms such as amphitheriids, docodonts, ‘eutriconodonts’, ‘haramyids’ and multituberculates. Placement of the White Limestone Formation boundaries are clarified with respect to the Rutland and Forest Marble Formations. This indicates that the microvertebrate bed from Woodeaton is slightly older than that of the well-known mammal bed from nearby Kirtlington Quarry.     

Proneofiber, a new genus of vole (Cricetidae: Rodentia) from the Pleistocene Seymour Formation of Texas,and its evolutionary and stratigraphic significance

A new genus and species of a microtine rodent, Proneofiber guildayi, is named on the basis of rooted teeth with cement from the warm Gilliland local fauna, Seymour Formation of Pleistocene age, Knox County, Texas. Proneofiber guildayi is considered to be ancestral to Neofiber, the round-tailed water rat, now living in the extreme southeastern United States. The presence of Pleistocene faunas prior to the first continental glaciation and the existence of three Pearlette-like volcanic ashes in the Plains Region suggest a revision of the age assignment of Pleistocene deposits from the nonglaciated region.     

辽宁东部地区桥头组微生物诱发沉积构造(MISS）的发现及意义

Through the re-investigation and understanding of the “mud crack-like sedimentary structure” in the Qiaotou Formation from late Mesoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic in the eastern Liaoning, and by comparing with the contemporaneous microbial induced sedimentary structure (MISS) in other areas of the NCC, For the first time, the fractured sedimentary structure discovered in the Qiaotou Formation in Liaoning was identified as MISS.Results: The fissure structure found in the Qiaotou Formation is MISS, which is formed by the physical destruction of microbial mats.Conclusions: The MISS identified in the Qiaotou Formation has spindle-like, three-connected ornithoid and partially connected branched morphology, so it is speculated that the Qiaotou Formation was formed in the sedimentary environment of the upper part of the supratidal zone. This discovery provides basis for stratigraphic and sedimentological studies of the Qiaotou Formation, and is of great significance for studying the evolution of early life on earth and exploring the long-term impact of biota on the atmosphere and hydrosphere.     

辽宁东部地区桥头组微生物诱发沉积构造(MISS）的发现及意义

Through the re-investigation and understanding of the “mud crack-like sedimentary structure” in the Qiaotou Formation from late Mesoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic in the eastern Liaoning, and by comparing with the contemporaneous microbial induced sedimentary structure (MISS) in other areas of the NCC, For the first time, the fractured sedimentary structure discovered in the Qiaotou Formation in Liaoning was identified as MISS.Results: The fissure structure found in the Qiaotou Formation is MISS, which is formed by the physical destruction of microbial mats.Conclusions: The MISS identified in the Qiaotou Formation has spindle-like, three-connected ornithoid and partially connected branched morphology, so it is speculated that the Qiaotou Formation was formed in the sedimentary environment of the upper part of the supratidal zone. This discovery provides basis for stratigraphic and sedimentological studies of the Qiaotou Formation, and is of great significance for studying the evolution of early life on earth and exploring the long-term impact of biota on the atmosphere and hydrosphere.     

巴基斯坦某黄土场地湿陷特性试验

巴基斯坦某地区的黄土为第四纪全新统冲洪积层,对该地区的研究和现有地质资料都比较少,需要做专门的研究。为了确定该区域的黄土地层分布情况及湿陷特性,根据工程场地建筑分布,分别选取典型位置的钻孔,取土样进行土工室内试验研究。利用构度指标定量描述黄土的结构特征,确定黄土的自重湿陷系数和湿陷系数,计算场地自重湿陷量和总湿陷量,并与规范方法进行比较。试验结果表明,该区域场地黄土的干密度和湿陷系数（上覆压力200 kPa）随深度几乎不变,天然含水率随深度整体呈增加的趋势。黄土的构度随综合物理特征量的增加而呈指数形式减小,压缩屈服应力p_sc随含水量的增加而减小,并且与构度呈线性关系。判定该区域黄土的场地为自重湿陷性场地,修正系数建议取小于1,地基湿陷等级为Ⅲ级严重。     

Magnetic polarity stratigraphy of the middle Pleistocene (Ensenadan) Tarija Formation of southern Bolivia

The Tarija Formation of southern Bolivia, which is well known for its classic vertebrate faunas, is of prime importance in understanding of the chronology of the Ensenadan Land Mammal Age. This formation consists of well-exposed and relatively fossiliferous sections of clays, clayey silts, sands, gravels, and tuffs which were deposited in a predominately fluviatile regime in a Pleistocene structural basin. Four stratigraphic sections, each measuring 110 m or less, were studied to establish a magnetic polarity stratigraphy. Paleomagnetic samples were collected from the finer-grained sediments at 100 sites spaced at stratigraphic intervals of 5 m or less. All paleomagnetic specimens were demagnetized in alternating fields of least 250 oersteds (oe). Some specimens were also thermally demagnetized at 200°C or more. Of the 100 sites, 77 were ultimately used to determine the magnetic polarity zonation. Based on the four sections sampled, the Tarija Formation spans a time interval from about 1 my to about 0.7 my B.P. or perhaps younger. The lower half of the composite section is of reversed polarity punctuated by a short normal event. This sequence probably represents the late Matuyama chron with the Jaramillo subchron. The upper part of the section is of normal polarity and represents early Brunhes time. A tuffaceous unit 43 m above the Brunhes-Matuyama boundary yielded a fission track (zircon) age of 0.7 ± 0.2 by B.P. These data indicate that the classic Tarija fauna is middle Pleistocene Ensendan in age.     

塔里木盆地吐依洛克组发现沟鞭藻化石

新疆塔里木盆地西南缘的吐依洛克组化石罕见,以前依据岩性将其定为晚白垩世。郝诒纯等（2001）、郭宪璞（1990）根据在该组所产的有孔虫、介形虫等化石组合,将该组时代划为古新世,并将白垩系与古近系界线划在该组与依格孜牙组之间。本次在该组命名剖面—吐依洛克剖面上部岩性段发现了20余种沟鞭藻化石,增添了新的古生物门类和生物地层材料,这是带有白垩纪与古近纪过渡色彩的沟鞭藻化石组合,其所反映的古环境是温暖的近岸滨海—浅海环境。     

A new pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Santana Formation (Cretaceous) of Brazil

A partial skull comprising fused maxilla/premaxilla and palate of a ctenochasmatoid pterosaur from the Santana Formation of the Araripe Basin in NE Brazil is named as the new genus and species Unwindia trigonus gen. et sp. nov. on account of its long slender rostrum, isodonty with raised dental alveoli and dentition of seven tooth pairs restricted to the portion of the rostrum anterior to the nasoantorbital fenestra. Unwindia is assigned to the Ctenochasmatoidea, and is probably basal within the clade.     

泥河湾盆地马坡发现早更新世旧石器和动物化石

泥河湾盆地是东亚古人类活动遗址最为丰富的区域,探索和发现早更新世旧石器地点仍然是学术界关注的热点。马坡是泥河湾盆地新发现的一处早更新世旧石器地点,出土石制品24件,包括修理品2件和石片22件,其中多为碎屑,还伴生606件动物的骨骼和牙齿化石,其中大多数为小于10 cm的碎骨片,部分表面带牙齿咬痕,多数保存完好,也有少数风化较为严重。马坡所在地层属于下更新统泥河湾组小长梁段,其年龄推测大约1.6 Ma。马坡地点的发现,进一步扩大了探索泥河湾盆地早更新世人类活动的视野,同时也为研究更新世早期人类及其有关哺乳动物生存环境增添了一个科学实证。马坡地点的发现有助于泥河湾科学含量的提升。马坡石制品应该归属Nihewanian。

     

Stratigraphy of the Koobi Fora Formation (Pliocene and Pleistocene) in the Ileret region of northern Kenya

Exposures of Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits in the Ileret region include all eight members of the Koobi Fora Formation and represent at least 533 m of section from the base of the Lonyumun Member to the top of the Chari Mb. This thickness is more than twice that reported by earlier workers (∼260 m) and compares well with the composite section of the Koobi Fora Formation (525 m). Thus the Ileret region provides a very complete and representative outcrop of the Koobi Fora Formation. As Koobi Fora Formation member boundaries are placed at the base of specified tuffs, not all member boundaries can be recognized in the Ileret region. For this reason, the stratigraphy is described in terms of the following members (thicknesses in parentheses): Lonyumun (110 m), undifferentiated Moiti and Lokochot (104 m), Tulu Bor (54 m), Burgi (55 m), KBS (74 m), Okote (45 m), and Chari (93 m). Moreover, the boundary between the Okote Member and the KBS Member in the Ileret region is placed at a prominent caliche which must closely approximate the age of the Okote Tuff in its type section.     

Stratigraphy of the Koobi Fora Formation (Pliocene and Pleistocene) in the Loiyangalani region of northern Kenya

Tuffaceous marker beds in the Loiyangalani region were previously identified as correlative with similar beds in the Shungura and Koobi Fora Formations of southwestern Ethiopia and northwestern Kenya. Associated sedimentary strata correlate with the Koobi Fora Formation, and include intercalated basalt flows. In the Loiyangalani region the Koobi Fora Formation has a composite thickness of at least 257 m, and records one time interval for which no strata are known in the Koobi Fora region. Four members of the Koobi Fora Formation (Lonyumun, Tulu Bor, Burgi, and KBS) are recognized in the region, and a composite member (Moiti–Lokochot) proposed because the Lokochot Tuff, the formal boundary between the Moiti and Lokochot Members has not been identified. This extends the known geographic area of the Koobi Fora Formation 100 km southward. These strata, together with others, were previously termed ‘Loiyangalani formation (or Formation)’. Deposition in the Loiyangalani region began at about the same time as in the Koobi Fora and Nachukui Formations. Newly named basalts are Kankam (3.2–3.3 Ma), Lenderit (2.02 to 2.18 ± 0.02 Ma), and Balo (1.79 ± 0.02 Ma). We also report K/Ar ages on basalts from Mt. Kulal (2.04 ± 0.02 to 2.40 ± 0.03 Ma) east of the region and from Serima Gorge (0.77 ± 0.01 Ma) south of the study area.     

江西南雄盆地晚白垩世主田组中孢粉组合新发现

南雄盆地地跨江西、广东两省,在江西省境内出露约300km2。笔者于1996—1999年在从事1∶5万大塘圩幅的区调过程中,在江西省信丰县大塘镇晚白垩世南雄群主田组下部发现了温带型孢粉组合。这一发现对研究赣南及南岭地区晚白垩纪古植物面貌及古气候变化有着重要的意义。1　化石层位特征南雄群主田组为一套湖泊相细碎屑沉积物,所产孢粉化石位于深湖相泥质页岩中。采集地点在信丰县大塘镇105国道东侧罗西坑—新仓下实测剖面上。现将主田组下部实测剖面简介如下：上覆地层南雄群浈水组（K2zs）紫红色厚—巨厚层状砂砾岩、砾岩。── 整 合 ──…     

Multiproxy analysis of a new terrestrial and a marine Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary site from New Zealand

An integrated study of palynology, Mössbauer spectroscopy, mineralogy and osmium isotopes has led to the detection of the first K-Pg boundary clay layer in a Southern Hemisphere terrestrial setting. The K-Pg boundary layer was independently identified at centimetre resolution by all the above mentioned methods at the marine K-Pg boundary site of mid-Waipara and the terrestrial site of Compressor Creek (Greymouth coal field), New Zealand. Mössbauer spectroscopy shows an anomaly of Fe-containing particles in both K-Pg boundary sections: jarosite at mid-Waipara and goethite at Compressor Creek. This anomaly coincides with a turnover in vegetation indicated by an interval dominated by fern spores and extinction of key pollen species in both sections. In addition to the terrestrial floristic changes, the mid-Waipara section reveals a turnover in the dinoflagellate assemblages and the appearance of global earliest Danian index species. Geochemical data reveal relatively small iridium enrichments in the boundary layers of 321 pg/g at mid-Waipara and 176 pg/g at Compressor Creek. Unradiogenic ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os values of the boundary clay reveal the presence of a significant extraterrestrial component. We interpret the accumulation of Fe nano-phases at the boundary as originating from both the impactor and the crystalline basement target rock. The goethite and jarosite are interpreted as secondary phases formed by weathering and diagenesis. The primary phases were probably controlled by the initial composition of the vapor plume and condensation kinetics rather than condensation thermodynamics. This investigation indicates that identification of Fe in nano-phases by Mössbauer spectroscopy is an accurate and cost-effective method for identifying impact event horizons and it efficiently complements widely used biostratigraphic and geochemical methods.     

A new peculiar muensterellid coleoid (Cephalopoda) from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation of Dorset (England)

A concretion from the lower Tithonian Kimmeridge Clay Formation (Pectinatus Zone) found by Steve Etches yielded a gladius of a coleoid cephalopod. It is peculiar in shape and has an unusual ornamentation of radiating ribs and tubercles. The new form is named Etchesia martilli n. gen. n. sp. and preliminarily placed within the octobrachian family Muensterellidae based on its limpet-like gladius. Through the presence of radiating ribs as well as the absence of a narrow anterior rachis E. martilli n. gen. n. sp. is similar to Pearceiteuthis buyi from the Oxford Clay Formation (Callovian). The new muensterellid is unique in having an enrolled patella apex, which is located close to the posterior gladius rim. E. martilli n. gen. n. sp. represents the first muensterellid coleoid from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation. A phylogenetic relationship of E. martilli n. gen. n. sp. (and Pearceiteuthis) with cirrate and incirrate octopods is discussed, although further information on soft parts such as the muscular mantle is necessary.     

泥河湾盆地鹿角梁发现早更新世动物化石和旧石器

泥河湾盆地有成效的科学开拓已经整一个世纪,它以早更新世化石哺乳动物群而名扬世界,现今又以盛产早更新世旧石器遗址而令人密切关注。泥河湾盆地越来越多的考古发现表明,人类走出非洲不可能晚于200万年前。鹿角梁是泥河湾盆地新发现的一处早更新世旧石器地点,出土石制品34件,包括修理品2件、石片18件、石核5件和断块9件,还有大量哺乳动物的骨骼和牙齿化石,其中草原猛犸象（Mammuthus trogontherii）和裴氏板齿犀（Elasmotherium peii）特别引人瞩目。鹿角梁地点所在层位略高于小长梁遗址层位,推测其年龄接近于1.5 Ma。鹿角梁地点的发现,不仅填补了泥河湾盆地早更新世人类遗址序列的一个缺环,而且也增加了泥河湾动物群的一些不多见的化石材料,为研究草原猛犸象和裴氏板齿犀在中国乃至东亚地区的出现和演化提供了实物证据。

     

Discovery of the fossiliferous Cu Brei Formation (Lower Devonian) in the Kon Tum Block (South Viet Nam)

Lower Devonian corals and stromatoporoids have recently been discovered in limestones among low grade metamorphic rocks on the western margin of the Kon Tum Block (South Viet Nam). This unit has been identified as the Cu Brei Formation. Coral and stromatoporoid species have been described including Squameofavosites aff. spongiosus, Parallelostroma cf. multicolumnum, Amphipora cf. rasilis, A. cf. raritalis, Simplexodictyon cf. artyschtense, Stromatopora cf. boriarchinovi and Stromatopora sp. indet. The Cu Brei Formation is exposed in a small area 6 km in length and 3 km wide at the foot of Cu Brei Mountain (Sa Thay District, Kon Tum Province). As this formation is in marine shelf facies it is probable that further exposures of Lower Devonian sediments may be discovered in the Kon Tum Block. This discovery raises the question of the tectonic history of the metamorphic Kon Tum Block. It is possible that the block was not an area of positive uplift from the beginning of Paleozoic as has been supposed, but was submerged in a marine environment, at least on its outer margins, in the Devonian, and possibly even earlier, in Early Paleozoic.     

臭牛沟组命名剖面(竹蜓)类的发现

<正> 臭牛沟组的命名剖面地点,位于甘肃武威西南35km的臭牛沟河北岸,现属甘肃天祝藏族自治县祁连乡管辖。据袁复礼研究,臭牛沟组不整合于早古生代南山系变质岩之上,其上为上石炭统假整合覆盖。袁氏将臭牛沟组粗略划分为四层,由下而上为,1.石英岩和砂岩(50m),2.砂岩和页岩,底部页岩产植物化石(12m),3.砂岩和页岩,未获化石(5m),4.灰岩和页岩,富含化石(68m)。袁氏在层4中采集的大批海相动物化石,经赵