Taphonomy of a Baurusuchus (Crocodyliformes,Baurusuchidae) from the Adamantina Formation (Upper Cretaceous,Bauru Basin), Brazil: Implications for preservational modes,time resolution and paleoecology

Upper Cretaceous vertebrate accumulations from the Adamantina Formation are known due to their high taxonomic diversity. On the other hand, taphonomic analyses still are rare, limiting the understanding of processes related to the biostratinomic and fossildiagenetic histories of this lithostratigraphic unit. In 2005, fossils were collected from an outcrop located at Jales municipality, state of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. From this outcrop, a well-preserved Baurusuchus was recovered, which displays a peculiar set of taphonomic signatures. This paper identifies and interprets taphonomic features of a specimen of Baurusuchus (Crocodyliformes, Baurusuchidae; UFRJ DG 418-R) from the Adamantina Formation (Upper Cretaceous of the Bauru Basin), in Jales municipality, state of São Paulo. Brief taphonomic comparisons with other specimens previously studied (crocodiles and dinosaurs) and a lithofaciological analysis of the outcrop were undertaken in order to enhance the knowledge of the stratigraphy and paleoenvironment and improve the time resolution for the Adamantina Formation in the region of Jales. Furthermore, paleoecological data were interpreted based on the taphonomic analysis.The fossil is composed of an articulated segment of vertebral column, ribs, part of the pelvic girdle and gastralia. There is no hydraulic equivalence between both the specimen of Baurusuchus and the size of quartz grain predominant in the fossiliferous layer, suggesting death in situ or short transport as a “water carcass”. Teeth marks identified on the pubes were assigned to a small/juvenile baurusuchid crocodyliform or a theropod dinosaur. The repositioning of some elements (ribs and dorsal osteoderms) is suggestive of mummification. Desiccation marks were observed and attributed to the stage 1 of weathering. These features suggest subaerial exposure of the carcass prior to burial, however, probably after the mummification. On the other hand, the subaerial exposure was short, because the individual was not fully disarticulated. Furthermore, the degrees of articulation and preservation of the specimen nullify the hypothesis of reworking.Lithofaciological and taphonomic analyses suggest a well-drained floodplain as the burial environment and an arid or semi-arid climate in the region of Jales outcrop. In addition, the taphonomic signatures seem to indicate a time resolution about 10⁰–10⁴ years for the layer where the crocodyliforms were collected, but it seems to have, within this time limit, temporal-mixing among terrestrial crocodiles and dinosaurs collected from the same layer, suggesting time-averaging in this outcrop.     

Palaeosols and sequence stratigraphy of the Lower Permian Abo Member,south‐central New Mexico,USA

The relationship between palaeosols and sequence stratigraphy is tested in the Lower Permian Abo Member, south‐central New Mexico, by comparing interfluve and fluvial‐terrace palaeosols with palaeosols that developed within lowstand‐fluvial deposits. Interfluve and fluvial‐terrace palaeosols consist of primary pedogenic features, including vertical root traces, vertic structures, Stage II and III pedogenic calcite and translocated clay (argillans), which are cross‐cut or replaced by low‐aluminium goethite, gley colour mottling, sparry calcite veins and ankerite. The polygenetic character of the palaeosols is consistent with initial development for several thousand to tens of thousands of years on well‐drained interfluves or fluvial terraces, followed by waterlogging due to invasion by a rising water table that locally may have been brackish. In contrast, lowstand‐fluvial sediment that filled incised valleys contains only rooted and vertic palaeosols, whose immaturity resulted from high aggradation rates. Palaeosols similar to those in the Abo Member have been recognized in other ancient strata and, when combined with high‐resolution correlation, provide evidence for interpretation of sequence‐stratigraphic surfaces and systems tracts.     

Multivariate analysis of environmentally controlled variation in Lagena: Late Maastrichtian,Sweden

Costate forms of Lagena (benthonic foraminifer) have been studied in an uppermost Maastrichtian bore-hole core sequence (28 levels) from southern Sweden. Analysis of a large sample shows that consistent assignment to previously described “species” of costate Lagena is not possible. This observation is supported by multivariate analysis of five morphologic variables which indicates that there are no distinct clusters of specimens along principal component axes associated with general size, number of costae, and relationships between roundness of test/length and number of costae. Specimens with a basal ring differ from specimens with an apical spine and those with no basal structure with regard to average number of costae. They also differ from specimens with no basal structure with regard to relationships between roundness of test/length and number of costae. These characters grade into each other thus preventing them from being used as taxonomic criteria.Mean ratios of benthonic foraminifers to total benthonic and planktonic formaminifers determined individually for each level are inversely related to mean relative frequencies of costate Lagena and directly related to mean general sizes of costate Lagena. The benthonic/planktonic ratio has been suggested by other workers to represent a paleobathymetric index across a continental slope and shelf when open marine conditions prevailed. If this were so in the Danish basin at the end of the Cretaceous, costate Lagena would have been relatively less frequent and larger at shallower depths.As a result of the study, the analyzed specimens are considered as representing a single morphospecies of the costate species Lagena sulcata. Between-level variation is regarded as ecophenotypic, and within-level variation as natural biologic variation of no taxonomic significance. A total of about 1000 species of Lagena has been described in the literature which is probably many orders of magnitude too great for a genus with such a simple morphology as Lagena. A revision of the taxonomy of Lagena is, therefore, probably necessary on a wide scale.     

西藏南部羊卓雍措地区晚侏罗世维美组沉积特征及环境演化

通过沉积岩石学、岩相学、粒度分析等研究方法,对维美组沉积特征、沉积环境及演化提出新的认识和探讨。晚侏罗世维美组主要为一套陆源碎屑物质沉积,沉积期共经历4个沉积旋回,每个沉积旋回的岩石组合大致为含砾石英砂岩-中、粗粒石英砂岩-细粒石英砂岩(长石石英砂岩)-粉砂岩(泥岩、页岩),由底到顶粒度变细,层厚减薄。识别出6种岩相类别:含砾石英砂岩、石英砂岩、长石石英砂岩、泥质粉砂岩、薄层页岩-泥岩互层;发现平行层理、水平层理、粒序层理和重荷模等沉积构造;识别出陆棚、滨岸和陆棚下切河道3类沉积相,其中陆棚相包括内陆棚和外陆棚亚相,滨岸相包括近滨上部和近滨下部亚相;陆棚下切河道充填结构大致为:下部河道砂砾岩层,中部不等粒长石砂岩、杂砂岩层,上部细粒石英砂岩、泥岩层。综合来看,维美组沉积环境为位于克拉通边缘上浅海环境,沉积物质及沉积序列受海平面升降变化影响显著,主要形成于全球海平面下降之后上升的阶段。     

Facies and architecture of a coarse-grained alluvial-dominated incised valley fill: a case study from the Oligocene Gebel Ahmar Formation,Southern Tethyan-shelf (northern Egypt)

Exposures of multistorey, alluvial deposits from the Oligocene Gebel Ahmar Formation in the Cairo-Suez province (north Eastern Desert, Egypt) show the architecture of an up to 35 m thick continuously prograding fluvial/alluvial filling of an incised valley. The Oligocene base level fall resulted in cannibalization of the Eocene bedrock. Subsequent baselevel rise created accommodation space that was filled by deposition of four stacked storeys: lower storeys (1-2) of low sinuosity sandy braid plains and upper storeys (3-4) of gravelly braid plain. These braid plains were sourced from exposed Upper Cretaceous-Eocene and Paleozoic-Lower Cretaceous siliciclastic successions to the south. These successions dominate the Galala-Araba inverted structures. The sandy braid plain channel belts mainly downstream accretion (DA), downstream oblique accretion(DLA), lateral accretion (LA), sandy bedforms (SB), channel (CH), and Hollow (HO) elements, while the gravelly braid plain consists mainly of gravel bars and sheets (GB), gravel-sandstone foresets (GSF), gravel-sand couplets (GSC), and scour pool filling (SPF) architectures. Incised valley incision is potentially linked to a global drop of sea level caused by glaciation, although hinterland tectonism (i.e. Late Cretaceous-Paleogene tectonic inversion and Late Eocene-Oligocene crustal updoming in the source terrains) as well as Late Oligocene-Miocene rifting play a significant role in the subsequent filling. The hinterland tectonism as well as the climate controls the sediment supply. The understanding of the nature of the Oligocene incised valley fill helps in the constrain potential down depositional dip hydrocarbon reservoirs in Nile Delta, East Mediterranean basins, and similar settings in passive continental margins.     

Interaction between sedimentary processes,historical pollution and microfauna in the Tinto Estuary (SW Spain)

The analysis of a short core collected in the Tinto Estuary (SW Spain) permits to delimitate the influence of historical mining activities on sediments and microfauna (Foraminifera and Ostracoda). In very shallow palaeochannels of the middle estuary, a first mining period (~3,600 cal years BP) caused high sediment pollution by Cu, with a significant diminution of the palaeontological record due to continuous acid mining drainage processes. In this core, the polluted levels derived from both Roman extractions (2,000–1,900 years BP) and the extensive mining activities between 1870 and 1935 have been eroded. The 1,800–200 years BP period is characterized by a limited mining activity and an important improvement of this ecosystem. In addition, the effects of recent industrial wastes have been limited in this area.     

环境地质学进展与展望

环境地质学是随着人类活动和地质环境之间相互作用的不断加深而形成和发展的。自５０年代起,我国开展了大量的环境地质工作,未来环境地质学有着广阔的研究领域。环境地质学研究是可持续发展战略的一部分     

河流沉积占优势地层中高频层序地层——以贵州盘县西部龙潭组为例

贵州西部龙潭组主要含有6种沉积相组合:即浅海沉积、细粒滨岸平原沉积、溢岸沉积、小型河道砂体、叠置河道砂体和煤层。多层叠置砂体一般10-25m厚,2-10km宽,常含海绿石,切入下伏的三角洲平原、滨岸平原和浅海沉积中,被认为是下切谷充填。在龙潭组中共识别出广泛发育的10个层序界面,由此所限定的层序大致相当于4级旋回层序。在这些层序中,准层序或准层序组识别不出,然能识别体系域,层序几乎全由海进体系域(TST)和高位体系域(HST)组成,低位体系域(LST)发育不好。在垂向上,它们又可叠置成3级复合层序,并由低位、海进和高位层序组组成。在低位层序组中,河道下切常冲刷掉下伏层序的全部HST和部分TST,致使其与下伏层序的下切谷充填重合。在海进层序组中,下切作用最弱,具最小砂/泥比值,下切谷充填侧向孤立。高位层序组是低位和海进层序的过渡类型,下切谷充填也趋于孤立。     

河流沉积占优势地层中高频层序地层——以贵州盘县西部龙潭组为例

 贵州西部龙潭组主要含有6种沉积相组合:即浅海沉积、细粒滨岸平原沉积、溢岸沉积、小型河道砂体、叠置河道砂体和煤层。多层叠置砂体一般10-25m厚,2-10km宽,常含海绿石,切入下伏的三角洲平原、滨岸平原和浅海沉积中,被认为是下切谷充填。在龙潭组中共识别出广泛发育的10个层序界面,由此所限定的层序大致相当于4级旋回层序。在这些层序中,准层序或准层序组识别不出,然能识别体系域,层序几乎全由海进体系域(TST)和高位体系域(HST)组成,低位体系域(LST)发育不好。在垂向上,它们又可叠置成3级复合层序,并由低位、海进和高位层序组组成。在低位层序组中,河道下切常冲刷掉下伏层序的全部HST和部分TST,致使其与下伏层序的下切谷充填重合。在海进层序组中,下切作用最弱,具最小砂/泥比值,下切谷充填侧向孤立。高位层序组是低位和海进层序的过渡类型,下切谷充填也趋于孤立。     

Holocene evolution of a drowned melt-water valley in the Danish Wadden Sea

Cores from the salt marshes along the drowned melt-water valley of river Varde Å in the Danish Wadden Sea have been dated and analysed (litho- and biostratigraphically) to reconstruct the Holocene geomorphologic evolution and relative sea level history of the area. The analysed cores cover the total post-glacial transgression, and the reconstructed sea level curve represents the first unbroken curve of this kind from the Danish Wadden Sea, including all phases from the time where sea level first reached the Pleistocene substrate of the area. The sea level has been rising from − 12 m below the present level at c. 8400 cal yr BP, interrupted by two minor drops of < 0.5 m at c. 5500 cal yr BP and 1200 cal yr BP, and one major drop of ∼ 1.5 m at c. 3300 cal yr BP. Sediment deposition has been able to keep pace with sea level rise, and the Holocene sequence consists in most places of clay atop a basal peat unit overlying sand of Weichselian age and glacio-fluvial origin. In its deepest part, the basal peat started to form around 8400 cal yr BP, and reached a thickness of up to 3.5 m. This thickness is about half of the original, when corrected for auto-compaction. The superimposed clay contains small (63-355 μm) red iron stains in the top and bottom units, and foraminifers of the calcareous type in the middle. The fact that iron stains and foraminifers in no cases coexist, but always exclude each other is interpreted as a result of the difference between salt-marsh facies (iron stains) and tidal-flat facies (foraminifers). This represents a novel and easy way to distinguish between these two otherwise often undistinguishable sedimentary facies in the geological record.     

Conservation status of wetlands in Zimbabwe: past and present

The conservation status of dambos, a particular type of wetland associated with the headwaters of rivers draining the central plateau area of Zimbabwe, is examined in terms of past and present utilisation and erosion problems. Pre- and post-1950 phases are recognized within both the commercial farming areas and the Communal Lands (or peasant farming areas). The pre-1950 phase on commercial farms was one of exploitation of dambos mainly for winter wheat production, such cultivation contributing towards locally serious erosion. Consequently legislation was passed to restrict disturbance of wetlands, especially for cultivation. The post-1950 phase on commercial farms was one of conservation, with minimal use of dambos for grazing and limited erosion. The pre-1950 phase within the Communal Lands, the former native reserves, was one involving progressive modification of the traditional farming system through, in particular, centralisation. Dambo cultivation, a well-established practice, continued throughout this place, but towards the end of this period there were localised signs of degradation associated, in part, with grazing. The post-1950 phase was one of increased pressure on land with a growing human and livestock population. Thus dambos were required to support more and more cattle throughout the year, whilst efforts to curtail dambo cultivation were not well-recieved by peasant farmers and may have compromised general conservation in the reserves.     

Sedimentological and ichnological implications of rapid Holocene flooding of a gently sloping mud‐dominated incised valley – an example from the Red River (Gulf of Tonkin)

The Gulf of Tonkin coastline migrated at an average rate of ca 60 m year^?1 landward during Holocene sea‐level rise (20 to 8 ka). Due to a combination of rapid coastline migration and undersupply of sand, neither coastal barriers nor tidal sand bars developed at the mouth of the Red River incised valley. Only a 30 to 80 cm thick sandy interval formed at the base of full‐marine deposits. Thus, the river mouth represented a mud‐dominated open funnel‐shaped estuary during transgression. At the base of the valley fill, a thin fluvial lag deposit marks a period of lowered sea‐level when the river did not reach geomorphic equilibrium and was thus prone to erosion. The onset of base‐level rise is documented by non‐bioturbated to sparsely bioturbated mud that occasionally contains pyrite indicating short‐term seawater incursions. Siderite in overlying deposits points to low‐salinity estuarine conditions. The open funnel‐shaped river mouth favoured upstream incursion of seawater that varied inversely to the seasonal strongly fluctuating discharge: several centimetres to a few tens of centimetres thick intervals showing marine or freshwater dominance alternate, as indicated by bioturbational and physical sedimentary structures, and by the presence of Fe sulphides or siderite, respectively. Recurrent short‐term seawater incursions stressed the burrowing fauna. The degree of bioturbation increases upward corresponding to increasing marine influence. The uppermost estuarine sediments are completely bioturbated. The estuarine deposits aggraded on average rapidly, up to several metres kyr^?1. Siphonichnidal burrows produced by bivalves, however, document recurrent episodes of enhanced deposition (>0·5 m) and pronounced erosion (<1 m) that are otherwise not recorded. The slope of the incised valley affected the sedimentary facies. In steep valley segments, the marine transgressive surface (equivalent to the onset of full‐marine conditions) is accentuated by the Glossifungites ichnofacies, whereas in gently sloped valley segments the marine transgressive surface is gradational and bioturbated. Marine deposits are completely bioturbated.     

Paleoecology of Inoceramus amakusensis Nagao et Matsumoto, 1940 (Bivalvia) in a Late Cretaceous shallow clastic sea: The Himenoura Group, Kyushu, Japan

The taphonomic features and paleoecology of this species were investigated focused on vertically embedded individuals of articulated Inoceramus amakusensis Nagao et Matsumoto. In the Hinoshima Formation, Himenoura Group of Kyushu, Japan, this Santonian (Late Cretaceous) inoceramid bivalve characteristically occurs in incised-valley fill siliciclastic marine deposits. Modes of I. amakusensis occurrence and preservation, from in situ (= occurrence in life position) to allochthonous shell fragments, are strongly affected by its paleoecology and depositional environments. Several I. amakusensis (up to 25 cm in shell height) were recovered from bioturbated sandstones associated with storm-influenced deposits. Their commissural planes are almost perpendicular to the bedding plane, with the anterior face oriented downward and the posteroventral portion extending upward. Furthermore, I. amakusensis is morphologically comparable to endobyssate mytilid bivalves today. These results suggest that this Cretaceous species was an orthothetic sand sticker at least during mid-ontogeny that preferentially inhabited a well-oxygenated, nearshore seafloor. I. amakusensis was distributed in various depositional environments and has been regarded as a recliner in offshore muddy substrate. However, the present discovery suggests that it was also well adapted, with an upright life position, to high-energy shallow clastic environments characterized by high sediment supply.     

From a river valley to a ria: Evolution of an incised valley (Ría de Ferrol,north‐west Spain) since the Last Glacial Maximum

The evolution of incised valleys is an important area of research due to the invaluable data it provides on sea‐level variations and depositional environments. In this article the sedimentary evolution of the Ría de Ferrol (north‐west Spain) from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present is reconstructed using a multidisciplinary approach, combining seismic and sedimentary facies, and supported by radiocarbon data and geochemical proxies to distinguish the elements of sedimentary architecture within the ria infill. The main objectives are: (i) to analyse the ria environment as a type of incised valley to evaluate the response of the system to the different drivers; (ii) to investigate the major controlling factors; and (iii) to explore the differentiation between rias and estuaries. As a consequence of the sea‐level rise subsequent to the Last Glacial Maximum (ca 20 kyr bp ), an extensive basin, drained by a braided palaeoriver, evolved into a tide‐dominated estuary and finally into a ria environment. Late Pleistocene and Holocene high‐frequency sea‐level variations were major factors that modulated the type of depositional environments and their evolution. Another major modulating factor was the antecedent morphology of the ria, with a rock‐incised narrow channel in the middle of the basin (the Ferrol Strait), which influenced the evolution of the ria as it became flooded during Holocene transgression. The strait acted as a rock‐bounded ‘tidal inlet’ enhancing the tidal erosion and deposition at both ends, i.e. with an ebb‐tidal delta in the outer sector and tidal sandbanks in the inner sector. The final step in the evolution of the incised valley into the modern‐defined ria system was driven by the last relative sea‐level rise (after 4 kyr bp ) when the river mouths retreated landward and a single palaeoriver was converted into minor rivers and streams with scattered mouths in an extensive coastal area.     

A global perspective of the European chronostratigraphy for the past 650 ka

Characteristic global climatic events are employed to interpret the regional, land-based European stratigraphy. The Chinese loess record shows well expressed, continuous and reliably dated climatic signals of worldwide significance, which are well correlated with the marine oxygen isotope stratigraphy. The sequence in the surroundings of Ferdinandow in Poland plays a key role in the correlation of the European stratigraphy with the loess record and the oxygen isotope record. In particular, the complex but well-expressed Ferdinandowian Interglacial is a key marker because it shows striking similarities with the most pronounced soil complex of the last 700 ka years of the Chinese loess sequence (S5) and, by correlation, Oxygen isotope stages (OIS) 13–15. It follows that the Holsteinian Interglacial corresponds with the S4-soil and OIS 11. This appears to be confirmed by sequences deposited in the craters of the Central Massif, France. Problems of regional stratigraphical correlation in Europe persist, but is suggested that a general framework is now established.     

Recognizing cryptic environmental changes by using paleoecology and taphonomy of Pleistocene bivalve assemblages in the Oga Peninsula,northern Japan

Multivariate analyses applied to Pleistocene bivalve assemblages from the Oga Peninsula (northern Japan) discriminate three distinct assemblages. The assemblages and their taphonomy were used to recognize environmental settings and changes. The Astarte–Cyclocardia–Glycymeris assemblage indicates shelf environment (below the storm wave base) where gravels and shells are transported from shallower settings. Supply of the exotic coarse sediment probably enabled epifaunal bivalves to inhabit the sea floor. The Glycymeris assemblage is characterized by dominance of G. yessoensis and represents current-swept shoreface environment (above the storm wave base). The Moerella assemblage is characterized by bivalves inhabiting bay to open-marine conditions and diverse deposit-feeders, indicating a moderately land-locked environment, such as an open bay or a bay mouth. Fine-grained substrata rich in organic matters in the bay were probably suitable for the deposit-feeders. Ordination also shows the assemblages along two environmental gradients, a bathymetrical one and the other related to open-marine and bay conditions. The environmental changes are explained mainly by glacio-eustatic sea-level changes and alternation of coastal geomorphology caused by local crustal movements. This study also suggests that fossil assemblages can be a powerful tool to reconstruct environments and depositional dynamics even in intensely bioturbated sedimentary facies.     

Preservation of borings: contrasting examples from the type Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous), southern Limburg,the Netherlands

The taphonomy of trace fossils and their substrates remains an understudied facet of sedimentary geology. Contrary to common prejudice, trace fossils are not invariably preserved in situ, but may be exhumed and reworked following lithification. The trace fossils most commonly found ex situ are borings in mobile shelly substrates. Two notable, but contrasting, examples of post-mortem transport of borings are described from the Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) of southern Limburg, the Netherlands. A long, unusually straight and complete calcareous tube assigned to Teredolites longissimus Kelly and Bromley is an organically secreted internal mould, produced by a teredinid or pholadid bivalve boring in wood and lining their tube. Strictly, this is part of the body fossil of the producing bivalve, but it is also an organically generated internal mould of the boring. A flint steinkern of a right valve of Crassatella bosquetiana d’Orbigny preserves a suite of silicified borings. Caulostrepsis taeniola Clarke is a U-shaped boring with a vane connecting the parallel limbs. Talpina isp. is a slender, simple, branched tunnel. Most unexpected, Spirichnus spiralis Fürsich et al. is a spiral ‘worm’ boring hitherto only known from the Upper Jurassic. This stratigraphic gap is likely an artefact; only mouldic preservation of the bored substrate would expose the distinctive Spirichnus boring. These ichnofossils are united in their occurrence in unusual preservational systems.     

A densely feathered ornithomimid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous Dinosaur Park Formation,Alberta, Canada: A comment

The presence of feathers in Ornithomimus is questioned on poor evidence and a failure to observe scientific process and procedure.     

The geochemistry of carbonate diagenesis: The past,present and future

Stable carbon and oxygen isotopes (δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values) and trace elements have been applied to the study of diagenesis of carbonate rocks for over 50 years. As valuable as these insights have been, many problems regarding the interpretation of geochemical signals within mature rocks remain. For example, while the δ¹⁸O values of carbonate rocks are dependent both upon the temperature and the δ¹⁸O value of the fluid, and additional information including trace element composition aids in interpreting such signals, direct evidence of either the temperature or the composition of the fluids is required. Such information can be obtained by analysing the δ¹⁸O value of any fluid inclusions or by measuring the temperature using a method such as the ‘clumped’ isotope technique. Such data speak directly to a large number of problems in interpreting the oxygen isotope record including the well‐known tendency for δ¹⁸O values of carbonate rocks to decrease with increasing age. Unlike the δ¹⁸O, δ¹³C values of carbonates are considered to be less influenced by diagenesis and more a reflection of primary changes in the global carbon cycle through time. However, many studies have not sufficiently emphasized the effects of diagenesis and other post‐depositional influences on the eventual carbon isotopic composition of the rock with the classic paradigm that the present is the key to the past being frequently ignored. Finally, many additional proxies are poised to contribute to the interpretation of carbonate diagenesis. Although the study of carbonate diagenesis is at an exciting point with an explosion of new proxies and methods, care should be taken to understand both old and new proxies before applying them to the ancient record.