Middle Eocene vertebrates from the sabkha of Gueran,Atlantic coastal basin,Saharan Morocco,and their peri-African correlations

The sabkha of Gueran in the Southwest Moroccan Sahara has yielded a rich and diverse fauna of late middle Eocene vertebrates that include the world's richest Bartonian age archaeocete assemblage. Archeocete remains were described previously and here we report on the rest of the vertebrate fauna. The Gueran fauna includes abundant chondrichthyan species belonging to Lamniformes, Carcharhiniformes and Rhinopristiformes, and actinopterygian assemblage consisting of Cylindracanthus, of a siluriform, and of Perciformes. Turtles are represented by at least two marine taxa referred to as Cheloniidae and Dermochelyidae. Crocodylian remains belong to at least two longirostrine species, including gavialoid remains. Snakes are represented by Pterosphenus cf. schweinfurthi (Palaeophiidae). Seabirds are represented by a pseudo-toothed bird (Pelagornithidae). The avian fossil belonged to a gigantic soaring bird and constitutes the earliest occurrence of the genus Pelagornis. The presence of proboscideans is attested by dental fragments. This fossil assemblage from Gueran shows affinities with those of the Eocene beds of Egypt and Libya. The numerous shared taxa support a close biogeographical connection between faunas from southeastern and southwestern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea.     

TECTONIC EVOLUTION OF THE EOCENE DROSH-VOLCANO-SEDIMENTARY BASIN IN NW-KOHISTAN ISLAND ARC TERRANE, HINDUKUSH, N. PAKISTAN

In NW Himalayas, the suture zone between the collided Indian and the Karakoram plates is occupied by crust of the Cretaceous Kohistan Island\|Arc Terrane [1] . Late Cretaceous (about 90Ma) accretion with the southern margin of the Karakoram Plate at the site of the Shyok Suture Zone turned Kohistan to become an Andean\|type margin. The Neotethys was completely subducted at the southern margin of Kohistan by Early Tertiary, leading to collision between Kohistan and continental crust of the Indian plate at the site of the Main mantle thrust.More than 80% of the Kohistan terrane comprises plutonic rocks of (1) ultramafic to gabbroic composition forming the basal crust of the intra\|oceanic stage of the island arc, and (2) tonalite\|granodiorite\|granite composition belong to the Kohistan Batholith occupying much of the intermediate to shallow crust of the terrane mostly intruded in the Andean\|type margin stage [2] . Both these stages of subduction\|related magmatism were associated with volcanic and sedimentary rocks formed in Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary basins. This study addresses tectonic configuration of Early Tertiary Drosh basin exposed in NW parts of the Kohistan terrane, immediately to the south of the Shyok Suture Zone.     

辽东半岛早白垩世地壳运动性质——来自兰河峪岩体的证据

通过对辽东半岛兰河峪岩体锆石SHRIMP U-Pb年龄和地球化学特征进行研究,将兰河峪岩体高钾钙碱性系列岩石形成时代归入早白垩世.本溪县兰河峪岩体形成的压力环境为0.8~1.0 GPa,推测本区的花岗岩岩浆形成时源区物质来源于30~40 km的地壳深处,地壳较薄.在花岗岩Rb-（Y+Nb）图和Y-Rb图解中,所有的样品都落入板内花岗岩区内,判断当时辽东陆块处在后造山期,岩石圈减薄环境中,反映当时处于伸展构造环境中.兰河峪花岗岩为辽东陆块在早白垩世处于伸展环境中提供了又一有利的证据.     

Palaeomagnetically defined rotations of fault-bounded continental blocks in the North Anatolian Shear Zone, North Central Anatolia

The 1200 km-long North Anatolian Transform Fault connects the East Anatolian post-collisional compressional regime in the east with the Aegean back-arc extensional regime to the west. This active dextral fault system lies within a shear zone reaching up to 100 km in width, and consists of southward splining branches. These branches, which have less frequent and smaller magnitude earthquake activity compare to the major transform, cut and divide the shear zone into fault delimited blocks. Comparison of palaeomagnetic data from 46 sites in the Eocene volcanics from different blocks indicate that each fault-bounded block has been affected by vertical block rotations. Although clockwise rotations are dominant as expected from dextral fault-bounded blocks, anticlockwise rotations have also been documented. These anticlockwise rotations are interpreted as due to anticlockwise rotation of the Anatolian Block, as indicated by GPS measurements, and the effects of unmapped faults or pre-North Anatolian Fault tectonic events.     

Eckfeld Maar: Window into an Eocene Terrestrial Habitat in Central Europe

<正>To mark the occasion of the 175th anniversary of the Rheinische Naturforschende Gesellschaft in 2009 and of the centennial of the Mainz Natural History Museum in 2010,we present a short account of our present knowledge of the Eckfeld Maar after 20 years of continuous research.This paper does not attempt to include all of the detailed results on the geology of the Eckfeld site or its biota.To date,nearly 250 papers and books have been published since the start of our project.An up-to-date list of these publications can be found at www.eckfeldermaar. de.     

辽东太子河地区中寒武世古气候特征

根据蒸发岩及伴生沉积构造、沉积红层、碳酸盐岩及鲕粒沉积、古生物、古风化壳类型、海绿石等沉积标志,恢复中寒武世古气候。以本溪地区为重点,结合太子河沉积区的特征,将该区中寒武世古气候划分为6个潮湿—干燥炎热气候变化周期,进而确定研究区当时属于温带—亚热带半干旱气候地区。     

New data on the Baraba Formation age (the Sredinnyi Range of Kamchatka)

In the Sredinnyi Range of Kamchatka, the Baraba Formation of continental conglomerates is assumed to be of the late Campanian age based on found flora remains, but data of isotopic geochronology suggest the Eocene age of these deposits. New data on radiolarians from cherty pebbles are considered in this work along with results of fission-track dating of zircons from pebbles and matrix of the Baraba conglomerates. Fission-track dates obtained for zircons from matrix approve the Eocene age of the Baraba Formation, and new dates characterizing pebbles are not contradicting this conclusion. The Baraba Formation structural position can hardly be lower, therefore, than that of the Irunei Formation.     

Approaches to stratigraphy of the paleogene volcanogenic sequences in northwestern Kamchatka

“Volcanogenic Complex” as a stratigraphic term is substantiated. Also discussed are peculiarities of the volcanic process, the nature and evolution time of the volcanic structures, the complete and incomplete volcanic cycles. Data of comprehensive geological, stratigraphic and paleovolcanologic study are used to subdivide the Kinkil’skii Formation of Paleogene volcanogenic rocks in the northwestern Kamchatka, which has undivided previously, into the Shamanka, Rebro, Bozhedomova, and Geeklen volcanogenic complexes of concurrent or different ages. As a result, two epochs of volcanism (the late Ypresian-Lutetian and late Bartonian-Priabonian) are distinguished. A hiatus separating the epochs was a time of intense scouring and leveling the landforms and of the weathering crust formation. In conclusions, some problems of the paleogeography in Kamchatka and adjacent territories are discussed.     

Contrasting environmental effects of astronomically driven climate change on three Eocene hemipelagic successions from the Basque–Cantabrian Basin

Several processes can contribute to the formation of hemipelagic limestone–marl alternations as a consequence of astronomically driven climate change. The aim of this study was to decipher which environmental factors governed the formation of three Eocene hemipelagic successions of the Basque–Cantabrian Basin using a comprehensive set of physical and bulk carbonate geochemical data (bed thickness, mineralogy, %CaCO₃, δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O). The results show that the significance of several environmental processes varied depending on the palaeogeographic setting and eccentricity‐modulated precessional seasonality. In the Sopelana starved deep‐sea basin, limestones were formed as a consequence of high pelagic carbonate productivity during periods of warm seawater and sluggish circulation, which corresponded with periods of low seasonality (summers at aphelion); conversely, marls accumulated when pelagic carbonate productivity decreased during periods with cooler waters and more vigorous circulation, which occurred when seasonality was higher (summers at perihelion). In the Gorrondatxe submarine fan fringe, marls accumulated when high seasonality produced significant continental rainfall and run‐off, causing the dilution of pelagic carbonate sedimentation with terrigenous supplies. In the Oyambre upper slope, marls also accumulated when seasonality was high, as pelagic carbonate productivity decreased due to both the expansion of low‐salinity waters on the ocean surface and the increase in continentally derived nutrients, which caused detrimental seawater conditions for calcareous plankton. Both in Gorrondatxe and Oyambre, limestones accumulated when boreal summer at aphelion caused low seasonality, which allowed relatively stable conditions to prevail. At minimum eccentricity, when precession‐driven seasonality contrast diminished, changes in pelagic carbonate productivity were significant in the three sections. On the contrary, at maximum eccentricity, when seasonality peaked due to summers occurring at perihelion, the effects of other environmental processes, such as continental and oceanic currents, became influential. However, the influence of these processes minimized when summertime coincided with aphelion at maximum eccentricity and seasonality was weakest.     

论浙江东部早白垩世中期断陷事件和断陷岩套

早白垩世中期中国东南部发生过一次断陷事件,并形成一事件地层单元——断陷岩套。叙述了断陷岩套的形成机理、特征和类型,并利用事件地层单元同时性原理,论证了建组剖面"塘上组"的层位与永康群下部馆头组相同,而非高居永康群之上的"新构造亚层";也论证了嵊县三界一带的所谓"大爽组二段"应为馆头组。这两个断陷岩套中所含生物群证实:事件地层学原理所得的关于其层位与时代的结论是正确的。