Gzhelian fusulinids first discovered in central Iran

Gzhelian deposits established in Iran for the first time are described. They rest with a considerable hiatus on the Moscovian deposits constituting, along with Asselian strata, an integral carbonate succession of the Zaladu Formation in eastern Iran. The Zaladu Formation is correlative with the Vazhnan Formation of the Abadeh region (central Iran) and the Dorud Formation of the Elburz (Alborz) Mountains. An assemblage of Gzhelian fusulinids from the studied section is well comparable with the assemblage of the Ultradaixina bosbytauensis Zone distinguished in the uppermost Gzhelian of the Darvaz, Fergana, the Southern Urals, Donetsk Basin, and Carnic Alps. Two new species of the genus Schellwienia (Sch. anarakensis and Sch. stocklini) are described. Gzhelian and Asselian fusulinids found in the section are figured in two paleontological plates.     

Stratigraphy and palynostratigraphy, Karoo Supergroup (Permian and Triassic), mid-Zambezi Valley, southern Zambia

The Karoo Supergroup outcropst in the mid-Zambezi Valley, southern Zambia. It is underlain by the Sinakumbe Group of Ordovician to Devonian age. The Lower Karoo Group (Late Carboniferous to Permian age) consists of the basal Siankondobo Sandstone Formation, which comprises three facies, overlain by the Gwembe Coal Formation with its economically important coal deposits, in turn overlain by the Madumabisa Mudstone Formation which consists of lacustrine mudstone, calcilutite, sandstone, and concretionary calcareous beds. The Upper Karoo Group (Triassic to Early Jurassic) is sub-divided into the coarsely arenaceous Escarpment Grit, overlain by the fining upwards Interbedded Sandstone and Mudstone, Red Sandstone; and Batoka Basalt Formations.Palynomorph assemblages suggest that the Siankondobo Sandstone Formation is Late Carboniferous (Gzhelian) to Early Permian (Asselian to Early Sakmarian) in age, the Gwembe Coal Formation Early Permian (Artinskian to Kungurian), the Madumabisa Mudstone Late Permian (Tatarian), and the Interbedded Sandstone and Mudstone Early or Middle Triassic (Late Scythian or Anisian). The marked quantitative variations in the assemblages are due partly to age differences, but they also reflect vegetational differences resulting from different paleoclimates and different facies.The low thermal maturity of the formations (Thermal Alteration Index 2) suggests that the rocks are oil prone. However, the general scarcity of amorphous kerogen, such as the alga Botryococcus sp., and the low proportion of exinous material, indicates a low potential for liquid hydrocarbons. Gas may have been generated, particularly in the coal seams of the Gwembe Coal Formation, that are more deeply buried.     

A middle Cambrian shallow water trilobite fauna from the Comstock Formation,near Queenstown,western Tasmania

A limestone lens within the Comstock Formation, from low in the Tyndall Group near the Lyell Comstock Mine near Queenstown, western Tasmania, contains a small trilobite fauna. The trilobites include Ammagnostus cf. laiwuensis, Kootenia sp., Sudanomocarina? sp. and a possible member of the Monkaspidae. These suggest an age somewhere in the range from the upper Ptychagnostus atavus Zone to the Lejopyge laevigata Zone, with regional stratigraphic correlations suggesting the latter zone. This is only the second Tasmanian Cambrian fossil assemblage described from limestone; almost all previously described Tasmanian Cambrian faunas are found in siltstones and shales.     

Fusulinid biostratigraphy of the Lower Permian Zweikofel Formation (Rattendorf Group; Carnic Alps,Austria) and Lower Permian Tethyan chronostratigraphy

The Zweikofel Formation of the Rattendorf Group in the Carnic Alps (Austria) is 95–102 m thick and consists of a cyclic succession of thin‐ to thick‐bedded fossiliferous limestone and intercalated thin intervals of siliciclastic sediment. The siliciclastic intervals were deposited in a shallow marine nearshore environment. The variety of carbonate facies indicates deposition in a shallow neritic, normal‐saline, low‐ to high‐energy environment. The Zweikofel Formation is characterized by a paracyclic vertical arrangement of facies and represents sedimentary sequences that are not well understood elsewhere in the Tethys. Fusulinids and conodonts from the upper Grenzland and Zweikofel formations in the Carnic Alps clearly suggest that what has been called ‘Sakmarian’ in the Tethys includes both the Sakmarian and Artinskian stages of the Global Time scale. Fusulinids from the lower part of the Zweikofel Formation at Zweikofel closely resemble those of the Grenzland Formation and approximately correlate with the upper part of the Sakmarian and lower part of the Artinskian of the Global Time scale. The upper part of the Zweikofel Formation correlates approximately with the lower‐middle (?) parts of the Artinskian Stage of the Global Time scale. A new regional Hermagorian Stage of the Tethyan scale is proposed between the Asselian and Yakhtashian. The lower boundary of the Hermagorian Stage is proposed to be located at the base of bed 81 in the 1015 section of Darvaz (Tadzhikistan). The boundary between the Hermagorian and Yakhtashian stages is placed at the base of bed 73 in the Zweikofel section at Zweikofel, Carnic Alps. In the Darvaz region, Tadzhikistan, the type area for the Yakhtashian Stage, this boundary has never been precisely defined. The entire fusulinid assemblage of the upper part of the Grenzland and Zweikofel formations reported herein includes 62 species of 18 genera, of which one subgenus and 12 species and subspecies are new. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Smaller foraminifers of the Lower Permian from Western Tethys

Among the smaller foraminifers from the Lower Permian of Western Tethys (Pamir, Northern Afghanistan, Central and Eastern Iran, Armenia, and Turkey), foraminiferal assemblages characteristic of the Asselian, Sakmarian, Yakhtashian, Bolorian, and Kubergandian stages are distinguished. The first stratigraphic scheme based on smaller foraminifers is elaborated for the Lower Permian (Cisuralian Series) of Western Tethys. Eight biostratigraphic units distinguished in the Lower Permian and one in the Kubergandian Stage are ranked as beds with characteristic foraminiferal assemblages. At particular stratigraphic levels, the beds are recognizable in different paleogeographic provinces of the Tethyan Realm, which enables correlation between deposits concurrently accumulated under dissimilar climatic and facies conditions to be carried. Some of the distinguished beds are recognizable beyond the Tethyan Realm, for instance in the Donetsk basin, Cis-Urals, Pechora coal basin, and Spitsbergen. Among foraminifers that have been studied, 264 species and subspecies, including 16 new taxa, are identified. The following species and subspecies are identified and described for the first time: Hemigordius permicus beitepicus subsp. nov., H. pamiricus sp. nov., Neohemigordius afganicus sp. nov., N. carnicus sp. nov., N. bangi sp. nov., N. zulumarticus sp. nov., N. kubergandinicus sp. nov., Geinitzina grandella sp. nov., G. dentiformis sp. nov., G. bella sp. nov., Pachyphloia paraovata minima sp. nov., P. aucta sp. nov., Frondicularia porrecta sp. nov., Globivalvulina gigantea sp. nov., G. compacta sp. nov., and G. explicata sp. nov.     

The first findings of fusulinids in the sections of the Sabzevar tectonic block (Iran)

The first fusulinids have been recorded from the eastern part of the Sabzevar tectonic block (Kuh-e-Ahuban Mountains, to the north of the town of Kashmar). The fusulinids have been grouped into two complexes. The first complex is represented by several species of the genus Rauserites, of probable Gzhelian age. The second complex is represented by numerous representatives of the Asselian genera Sphaeroschwagerina and Pseudoschwagerina, as well as species of the genera Schubertella, Rugosofusulina, Rugosochusenella and Praepseudofusulina. The age of these complexes is similar to that of complexes previously described from sections of Anarak (the Yazd block) and Zaladou (the Tabas block), but differ in the species composition. Many of the species present in these complexes are similar or identical to species from standard sections of Gzhelian and Asselian Stages of the Moskovian syncline and the Urals, which indicates that there were free connections between the East European and Iranian basins in Gzhelian and Asselian Stages.     

Fossil caddisflies (Insecta: Trichoptera) from the Early Cretaceous of southern England II

The following new fossil trichopteran insects are described or revised from the Purbeck Limestone Group and Wealden Supergroup of southern England: Pteromixanum inviolatum gen. et sp. nov., P. ruderatum gen. et sp. nov., P. purbeckianum (Handlirsch) gen. et comb. nov. and P. poxwellense gen. et sp. nov. (Necrotauliidae);Purbimodus minor gen. et sp. nov., P. medius gen. et sp. nov., P. rasnitsyni gen. et sp. nov. and P. saxosus gen. et sp. nov. (Vitimotauliidae);Palaeoludus popovi gen. et sp. nov. (Dysoneuridae);Palaeotarsus desertus gen. et sp. nov. (Plectrotarsidae);Eucrunoecia ridicula gen. et sp. nov. (Lepidostomatidae);Palaeocentropus placidus gen. et sp. nov. (Calamoceratidae) and Helicophidae gen. et sp. incertae sedis. The general composition of the fauna is compared with Early Cretaceous faunas of Asia. The early appearance of several living families is noted.     

Carbon isotope chemostratigraphy and implications of palaeoclimatic changes during the Cisuralian (Early Permian) in the southern Urals,Russia

In order to meet the requirements for potential GSSPs in the Cisuralian Series (Early Permian), isotopic chemostratigraphy from the Carboniferous/Permian boundary to middle Artinskian using bulk carbonates was investigated under high-resolution biostratigraphical and new geochronologic constrains from three GSSP candidate sections at Usolka, Kondurovsky and Dal'ny Tulkas in the southern Urals, Russia. A gradually increasing trend in carbonate carbon isotope (δ¹³C) has been observed in the interval from the base of Asselian to early Sakmarian, which is generally consistent in timing with the increasing development of Glacial III or P1 from the latest Carboniferous to early Sakmarian (Early Permian) which prevailed in southern Gondwana. An excursion with double negative shifts in δ¹³C value is present around the Asselian/Sakmarian boundary in both the Usolka and Kondurovsky sections, which may have great potential to serve as chemostratigraphical marks for intercontinental correlation. The following highly positive excursion of δ¹³C in early Sakmarian indicates the maximium expansion of Glacial III or P1. The negative δ¹³C shift in the middle Sakmarian is possibly related to the quick collapse of Glacial III or P1 on the Gondwanaland. This negative shift is largely correlative with those documented in other areas of Russia, the North American Craton and South China, but further precise biostratigraphical and geochronologic constrains are neccessary to confirm this global signal. The late Sakmarian is characterized by a strong oscillation stage of δ¹³C, which probably indicates a complex climate transition marked by smaller alternating glacial–interglacial transitions during Glacial P2 superimposed on an overall warming trend. The sharp negative δ¹³C shift around the Sakmarian/Artinskian boundary at the Dal'ny Tulkus section is difficult to interpret. This is followed by long-term low values (<?10‰) during the most part of Artinskian Stage. We suggest that the deeply depleted δ¹³C values in the Artinskian at the Dal'ny Tulkas section might result regionally from the enhanced input of organic carbon after the melt-out of ice sheets and the subsequent degradation and isotopic refractionation of the microbial chemosynthetic processes on the buried organic matter.     

New Permian Aliyak and Kariz Now formations,Alborz Basin,NE Iran: correlation with the Zagros Mountains and Oman

Two new Permian‐aged formations ‘Kariz Now Formation’ and ‘Aliyak Formation’ are proposed for a 65–150 m‐thick succession in the Kariz Now area, with the type section for both (79.5 m thick) located 9 km northeast of Aliyak village ca. 100 km southeast of Mashhad city, northeastern Iran. The lower Kariz Now Formation is composed of siliciclastics. The age of this Formation is poorly constrained but its correlation with the Shah Zeid Formation in the Central Alborz suggests a possible Asselian‐Hermagorian age for the Kariz Now Formation, which implies a hiatus of Yakhtashian–mid Midian (Artinskian–mid Capitanian) age between the siliciclastics of the Kariz Now Formation and carbonates of the disconformably overlying Aliyak Formation. There is also the possibility of a potential correlation of this Formation with the Kungurian Faraghan Formation in the Zagros area. The succeeding Aliyak Formation is mostly composed of carbonate rocks capped by a thin basaltic lava flow. The Aliyak Formation is unconformably overlain by dolostones that are correlated with the Middle Triassic Shotori Formation. Samples were collected from the Kariz Now and Aliyak formations, but fossils were only recovered from the Aliyak Formation. These include calcareous algae, small foraminiferans, fusulinids, crinoid stems and brachiopods. The recovered fusulinid assemblage from the Aliyak Formation is consistent with that of the upper Capitanian Monodiexodina kattaensis–Codonofusiella erki and Afghanella schencki–Sumatrina brevis zones of the Zagros Mountains and with the upper part of the Ruteh Fm in the Alborz Mountains. Although not radiometrically dated, the basaltic lava flow most probably corresponds to similar basaltic lava flows occurring in the uppermost part of the Ruteh Formation in Central Alborz. Thus, the Permian in the studied region developed in a basin that extended westward as far as the Central Alborz. A late Capitanian age for the Aliyak Formation implies it correlates with the Capitanian KS5 in Al Jabal Al‐Akhdar in Oman, with Aliyak Unit 5 potentially representing the Permian maximum flooding surface MFS P25. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

嘉禾石炭—二叠系界线新认识

近年来的研究资料证明,在Misellina claudiae带之下马平组灰岩(船山组)上部,产二叠纪的(竹蜓)类、珊瑚和腕足类,其时代相当于阿舍利阶(Asselian)上部至萨克马尔阶(Sakmarian)和阿丁斯克阶(Artinaskian)的一部分。湖南嘉禾袁家剖面,船山组灰岩上部盛产该期代表分子Mccloudia,许寿永等称Mccioudia带,并以该带的底,视作石炭一二叠系的分界。据此,笔者将嘉禾袁家剖面二叠系的底界,下移到船山组灰岩第六层产Mccloudia带的底。该剖面的船山组灰岩为跨时的岩石地层单位。石炭一二叠系为连续沉积。本文还讨论该剖面与邻区的对比及其古地理环境。     

Solution-collapse breccias of the Minkinfjellet and Wordiekammen Formations, Central Spitsbergen, Svalbard: a large gypsum palaeokarst system

Large volumes of carbonate breccia occur in the late syn-rift and early post-rift deposits of the Billefjorden Trough, Central Spitsbergen. Breccias are developed throughout the Moscovian Minkinfjellet Formation and in basal parts of the Kazimovian Wordiekammen Formation. Breccias can be divided into two categories: (i) thick, cross-cutting breccia-bodies up to 200 m thick that are associated with breccia pipes and large V-structures, and (ii) horizontal stratabound breccia beds interbedded with undeformed carbonate and siliciclastic rocks. The thick breccias occur in the central part of the basin, whereas the stratabound breccia beds have a much wider areal extent towards the basin margins. The breccias were formed by gravitational collapse into cavities formed by dissolution of gypsum and anhydrite beds in the Minkinfjellet Formation. Several dissolution fronts have been discovered, demonstrating the genetic relationship between dissolution of gypsum and brecciation. Textures and structures typical of collapse breccias such as inverse grading, a sharp flat base, breccia pipes (collapse dolines) and V-structures (cave roof collapse) are also observed. The breccias are cemented by calcite cements of pre-compaction, shallow burial origin. Primary fluid inclusions in the calcite are dominantly single phase containing fresh water (final melting points are ca 0 °C), suggesting that breccia diagenesis occurred in meteoric waters. Cathodoluminescence (CL) zoning of the cements shows a consistent pattern of three cement stages, but the abundance of each stage varies stratigraphically and laterally. δ¹⁸O values of breccia cements are more negative relative to marine limestones and meteoric cements developed in unbrecciated Minkinfjellet limestones. There is a clear relationship between δ¹⁸O values and the abundance of the different cement generations detected by CL. Paragenetically, later cements have lower δ¹⁸O values recording increased temperatures during their precipitation. Carbon isotope values of the cements are primarily rock-buffered although a weak trend towards more negative values with increasing burial depth is observed. The timing of gypsum dissolution and brecciation was most likely related to major intervals of exposure of the carbonate platform during Gzhelian and/or Asselian/Sakmarian times. These intervals of exposure occurred shortly after deposition of the brecciated units and before deep burial of the sediments.     

Ceno-Tethyan Jurassic Radiolarian Fauna from the Raskoh Arc, Balochistan, Pakistan

The Raskoh arc is about 250 km long, 40 km wide and trends in ENE direction. The arc is convex towards southeast and terminated by the Chaman transform fault zone towards east. This arc is designated as frontal arc of the Chagai-Raskoh arc system. The Late Cretaceous Kuchakki Volcanic Group is the most widespread and previously considered the oldest unit of the the Raskoh arc followed by sedimentary rock formations including Rakhshani Formation (Paleocene), Kharan Limestone (Early Eocene) and Nauroze Formation (Middle Eocene to Oligocene), Dalbandin Formation (Miocene to Pleistocene), and semi-unconsolidated Subrecent and Recent deposits. The Rakhshani Formation is the most widespread and well-exposed unit of the Raskoh arc. During the present field investigation the Rakhshani forma-tion in the southeastern part of the Raskoh arc, is identified as an accretionary complex, which is designated as Raskoh accretionary complex. The Raskoh accretionary comple is subdivided into three units: (a) Bunap sedimen-tary complex, (b) Charkohan radiolarian chert, and (c) Raskoh ophiolite melange. The Bunap sedimentary complex is farther divided into three tectonostratigraphic units viz., northern, middle and southern. Each unit is bounded by thrust faults, which is usually marked by sheared serpentinites, except northern unit, which has gradational and at places faulted contact with the Kuchakki Volcanic Group. The northern unit is mainly composed of allochthonous fragments and blocks of limestone, sandstone, mudstone and the volcanics in dark gray, greenish gray and bluish gray siliceous flaky shale. At places the shale is metamorphosed into phyllite. This unit is thrust over the middle unit, which exhibits relatively a coherent stratigraphy, represented by greenish gray calcareous flaky shale with intercalation of thin beds and lenticular bodies of mudstone, sandstone and limestone. The middle unit is again thrust over the southern unit, which is mainly composed of large exotic blocks of volcanic rocks, limestone, sand-stone, mudstone and conglomerate embedded in dark gray, greenish gray and bluish gray siliceous flaky shale which is generally moderately argillized. The unit is thrust over the Kharan Limestone. During the present field investigation about 350 meter thick sequence of thin-bedded maroon and green chert intercalated with the siliceous flaky shale of the same colour are discovered within this unit, which is found in the southeastern part of the Ras-koh arc. This chert sequence occurs on the margins of a large exotic block (350m X 3 km) of volcaniclastic rocks of unknown origin, which makes an overturned syncline. This chert sequence is developed on its both limbs and has lower faulted contact with the Bunap sedimentary complex. Two samples collected from this chert sequence yielded radiolarian fauna, which include Parvicingula sp., Laxto-rum sp., Parahsuum cf. simplum, Parahsuum sp., Nassellaria gen. et sp. indet., Hsuum cf. Matsuokai., Archaeo-spongoprunum sp., Nassellaria gen. et sp. indet. and Hagias gen. et sp. indet., Tricolocapsa sp., Hsuum sp., Ris-tola sp., Archaeospongoprunum sp. and Tritrabinate gen. et sp. indet. This radiolarian chert sequence represents the late Early to Middle Jurassic pelagic sediment deposited in Ceno-Tethyan ocean floor; prior to the inception of volcanism in the Raskoh arc and accreted with the arc during Late Cretaceous to Eocene along with the Bunap sedimentary complex of Late Jurassic age.     

Detrital provenance,depositional environment,and palaeogeographic implications of Lower Triassic marine sediments in central Tibet

We present our new investigation into the depositional environment and provenance of the Yingshuiquan Formation in the central Qiangtang region of northern Tibet, in order to further our understanding of the environment of the Longmu Co–Shuanghu Palaeo–Tethys during the Early Triassic. The Yingshuiquan Formation is composed of oolitic limestone, calcareous sandstone, calcarenite, thin-bedded ribbon limestone, bioclastic limestone, and coarse oolite limestone that were deposited in a shallow-marine basin and contain abundant Lower Triassic conodont fossils (e.g. Hadrodontina anceps, Pachycladina sp., gen. et sp, Pachyclaina oblique, Hibbardelloides sp). We selected detrital zircons from four calcareous sandstone samples for U–Pb dating, yielding minimum age peaks of 263, 269, 275, and 280 Ma, respectively, and a minimum age of 249 Ma, based on several zircons around the same age. Analysis of the conodont biofacies and zircon LA-ICP-MS dating of calcareous sandstone indicates that the data is consistent with deposition in the Early Triassic. The Yingshuiquan Formation records Early Triassic shallow-water sediment in the Longmu Co–Shuanghu Palaeo–Tethys, and has a Southern Qiangtang and Northern Qiangtang terranes provenance. During the Early Triassic, the carbonate sediments of the Yingshuiquan Formation were deposited in an active environment around the Longmu Co–Shuanghu Palaeo–Tethys, which has became a residual sea basin.     

The Lower Permian Wasp Head Formation,Sydney Basin: high‐latitude,shallow marine sedimentation following the late Asselian to early Sakmarian glacial event in eastern Australia

The Lower Permian Wasp Head Formation (early to middle Sakmarian) is a ～95 m thick unit that was deposited during the transition to a non‐glacial period following the late Asselian to early Sakmarian glacial event in eastern Australia. This shallow marine, sandstone‐dominated unit can be subdivided into six facies associations. (i) The marine sediment gravity flow facies association consists of breccias and conglomerates deposited in upper shoreface water depths. (ii) Upper shoreface deposits consist of cross‐stratified, conglomeratic sandstones with an impoverished expression of the Skolithos Ichnofacies. (iii) Middle shoreface deposits consist of hummocky cross‐stratified sandstones with a trace fossil assemblage that represents the Skolithos Ichnofacies. (iv) Lower shoreface deposits are similar to middle shoreface deposits, but contain more pervasive bioturbation and a distal expression of the Skolithos Ichnofacies to a proximal expression of the Cruziana Ichnofacies. (v) Delta‐influenced, lower shoreface‐offshore transition deposits are distinguished by sparsely bioturbated carbonaceous mudstone drapes within a variety of shoreface and offshore deposits. Trace fossil assemblages represent distal expressions of the Skolithos Ichnofacies to stressed, proximal expressions of the Cruziana Ichnofacies. Impoverished trace fossil assemblages record variable and episodic environmental stresses possibly caused by fluctuations in sedimentation rates, substrate consistencies, salinity, oxygen levels, turbidity and other physio‐chemical stresses characteristic of deltaic conditions. (vi) The offshore transition‐offshore facies association consists of mudstone and admixed sandstone and mudstone with pervasive bioturbation and an archetypal to distal expression of the Cruziana Ichnofacies. The lowermost ～50 m of the formation consists of a single deepening upward cycle formed as the basin transitioned from glacioisostatic rebound following the Asselian to early Sakmarian glacial to a regime dominated by regional extensional subsidence without significant glacial influence. The upper ～45 m of the formation can be subdivided into three shallowing upward cycles (parasequences) that formed in the aftermath of rapid, possibly glacioeustatic, rises in relative sea‐level or due to autocyclic progradation patterns. The shift to a parasequence‐dominated architecture and progressive decrease in ice‐rafted debris upwards through the succession records the release from glacioisostatic rebound and amelioration of climate that accompanied the transition to broadly non‐glacial conditions.     

Biostratigraphy,microfacies and depositional environments of upper Viséan limestones from the Burren region,County Clare,Ireland

The Burren region in western Ireland contains an almost continuous record of Viséan (Middle Mississippian) carbonate deposition extending from Chadian to Brigantian times, represented by three formations: the Chadian to Holkerian Tubber Formation, the Asbian Burren Formation and the Brigantian Slievenaglasha Formation. The upper Viséan (Holkerian–Brigantian) platform carbonate succession of the Burren can be subdivided into six distinct depositional units outlined below. (1) An Holkerian to lower Asbian unit of skeletal peloidal and bryozoan bedded limestone. (2) Lower Asbian unit of massive light grey Koninckopora‐rich limestone, representing a shallower marine facies. (3) Upper Asbian terraced limestone unit with minor shallowing‐upward cycles of poorly bedded Kamaenella‐rich limestone with shell bands and palaeokarst features. This unit is very similar to other cyclic sequences of late Asbian age in southern Ireland and western Europe, suggesting a glacio‐eustatic origin for this fourth‐order cyclicity. (4) Lower Brigantian unit with cyclic alternations of crinoidal/bryozoan limestone and peloidal limestone with coral thickets. These cycles lack evidence of subaerial exposure. (5) Lower Brigantian bedded cherty dark grey limestone unit, deposited during the maximum transgressive phase of the Brigantian. (6) Lower to upper Brigantian unit mostly comprising cyclic bryozoan/crinoidal cherty limestone. In most areas this youngest unit is truncated and unconformably overlain by Serpukhovian siliciclastic rocks. Deepening enhanced by platform‐wide subsidence strongly influenced later Brigantian cycle development in Ireland, but localized rapid shallowing led to emergence at the end of the Brigantian. A Cf5 Zone (Holkerian) assemblage of microfossils is recorded from the Tubber Formation at Black Head, but in the Ballard Bridge section the top of the formation has Cf6 Zone (Asbian) foraminiferans. A typical upper Asbian Rugose Coral Assemblage G near the top of the Burren Formation is replaced by a lower Brigantian Rugose Coral Assemblage H in the Slievenaglasha Formation. A similar change in the foraminiferans and calcareous algae at this Asbian–Brigantian formation boundary is recognized by the presence of upper Asbian Cf6γ Subzone taxa in the Burren Formation including Cribrostomum lecomptei, Koskinobigenerina sp., Bradyina rotula and Howchinia bradyana, and in the Slievenaglasha Formation abundant Asteroarchaediscus spp., Neoarchaediscus spp. and Fasciella crustosa of the Brigantian Cf6δ Subzone. The uppermost beds of the Slievenaglasha Formation contain a rare and unusual foraminiferal assemblage containing evolved archaediscids close to tenuis stage indicating a late Brigantian age. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Banatia aninensis n. gen., n. sp., a new complex larger benthic foraminifer from the upper Barremian of Romania

A new larger benthic foraminifera is described as Banatia aninensis n. gen., n. sp. (Family Pfenderinidae Smout & Sugden) from upper Barremian Urgonian-type shallow-water carbonates of the Reşita – Moldova Nouă Zone, southwestern part of Romania. The low to medium trochospiral test of Banatia n. gen. is characterized by marginally undivided chambers and a wide axial part. The latter is made up of pillars continuous between successive chambers and a labyrinthic endoskeleton (plates and pillars) with a fine canal system between. Banatia n. gen. is compared with Pfenderina Henson, Pseudopfenderina Hottinger, and Accordiella Farinacci. The new taxon occurs in algal-foraminiferal wackestones interpreted as deposits of an internal lagoonal realm. So far unrecorded in the literature, the taxon might be paleogeographically restricted (endemic).     

Cantabriconus reocinianus n. gen., n. sp. a new conical agglutinating benthic foraminifera from the upper Aptian-lower Albian of Cantabria,N-Spain

A new large conical agglutinating benthic foraminifer is described as Cantabriconus reocinianus n. gen., n. sp. from the upper Aptian-lower Albian Urgonian limestones of the Basque-Cantabrian Basin. It is characterized by a prominent initial trochospire, an undivided marginal zone, an endoskeleton of massive, vertically aligned, and often fused pillars, as well as a thick, most likely pseudo-keriothecal wall structure. Due to the generic characteristics, the new taxon is assigned to the Coskinolinidae. Cantabriconus n. gen. is compared with the Cretaceous Pseudolituonella Marie, and the early Paleogene taxa Coskinolina Stache and Coskinon Hottinger & Drobne as well as the Middle Jurassic Conicopfenderina Septfontaine. Cantabriconus reocinianus n. gen., n. sp. has been observed in the upper Aptian Reocín Formation and in the lower part of the Albian Ramales and Meruelo Formations to the east of Santander. It might therefore be considered an index taxon for Urgonian-type limestones of the Basque-Cantabrian Basin in this time interval.     

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.     

Rhodophycean algae from the Lower Cretaceous of the Cauvery Basin,South India

The present paper records eight Rhodophycean taxa from the Kallakudi limestone of the Uttatur Group (Lower Cretaceous) exposed in the quarries at Kallakudi and Olaipadi near Govindarajapatnam of the Cauvery Basin, south India. Of these, four species (Melobesioideae gen. et sp. indet 1, Melobesioideae gen. et sp. indet 2, Lithophyllum alternicellum and Pseudoamphiroa propria) belong to corallinaceae family, one species (Polystrata alba) is assigned to Peyssonneliaceae family, two species (Solenopora urgoniana and Parachaetetes asvapatii) are placed under Solenoporaceae; and one species (Sporolithon sp.) is referable to Sporolithaceae family. Among these, three taxa (Solenopora urgoniana, Lithophyllum alternicellum and Pseudoamphiroa propria) are recorded for the first time from India. The study also includes observations on ultrastructural morphological features of Parachaetetes asvapatii. The observations reveal absence of cell fusions, which confirms its affinities with Solenoporaceae. Palaeoecological data indicate that the assemblage from the sequence at the Kallakudi quarry is characteristic of lagoonal to reefal environment, whereas the Olaipadi quarry sequence near Govindarajapatnam points to 20 m to 30 m deep environment characterized by high- to moderate energy conditions.     

Early Cretaceous protist flagellates (Parabasalia: Hypermastigia: Oxymonada) of cockroaches (Insecta: Blattaria) in Burmese amber

Two Early Cretaceous Burmese amber cockroaches contained protists related to mutualistic flagellates occurring in extant Cryptocercus cockroaches and lower termites. The fossil protists are described as Devescovites proteus Poinar n. gen., n. sp. (Parabasalia: Trichomonadida: Devescovinidae), Paleotrichomones burmanicus Poinar n. gen., n. sp. (Parabasalia: Trichomonida), Burmanymphus cretacea Poinar n. gen., n. sp. (Hypermastigia: Trichonymphida: Burmanymphidae n. fam.) and Oxymonas gigantea Poinar, n. sp. Additional putative protists are also illustrated. Evolutionary implications of this discovery are discussed.