A New Female Cone, Araucaria beipoiaoensis sp. nov. from the Middle Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation, Beipiao, Western Liaoning, China and Its Evolutionary Significance

A new species of Araucaria, Araucaria beipiaoensis sp. nov., collected from the Middle Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation, southern hill of Shebudai village, near Beipiao city, western Liaoning is based on a permineralized female cone, which is ovate to elliptical in shape, about 11 cm × 7 cm × 4.5 cm in size. The cone bears rhomboid bracts that are spirally attached, texture thicker, with wings on both sides, with a detached lamina-like apex at the tip. In inner structure the ovuliferous scales are thicker and fused with bracts at the end with a ligular sulcns. There is one wingless ovule/seed per seed-scale complex embedded in the ovuliferous scale tissue, with the micropyle directed toward the cone axis. The ovules/seeds are long ovate or elliptical in shape, 1 cm long and near the base about 3 mm in diameter; the ovule/seed integuments have begun differentiation into 3 layers： the sarcotesta, sclerotesta, and endotesta. The nucellus is free from the enclosing integuments except in the chalazal region where it is fused to the inner layer （endotesta） of integument. Some ovules show cellularized nucellar tissue. Mature seeds exhibit the papery-thin wavy nucellus characteristically near to the micropyle. The embryonic tissue appears to be four cotyledons. The morphology and structure of the cone shows a close relationship to the araucarian cones of fossil and living genera but differs from any known species. The new species is distributed in the Middle Jurassic of the northern hemisphere, especially Asia, and has important significance for the evolution of the Family Araucariaceae.     

New Isophlebioid Dragonflies from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia,China(Insecta:Odonata:Isophlebioptera:Campterophiebiidae)

Three new species of fossil dragonflies assigned to Sinokaratawia Nel,Huang and Lin in family Campterophlebildae,i.e.S,daohugouica sp.nov.,S.magica sp.nov.and S.gloriosa sp.nov.,and new materials of male S.prokopi Nel,Huang and Lin,2007 are described from the Middle Jurassic of Daohugou,Inner Mongolia,China.An emended diagnosis of genus Sinokaratawia was proposed.     

大岭子金矿地质特征及选矿浸出率

大岭子金矿V1矿体赋存于中元古界高黎贡山群变质岩中,受韧性剪切带控制,矿石类型以氧化矿石为主。提出选矿依据。     

北祁连中段浪力克—牛头山一带地球化学特征

近年来,部署在重要成矿区带的1：5万区域矿产调查在全国陆续展开,这对提高地质矿产研究程度,进一步圈定找矿靶区具有重要意义。其中要求进行1：5万水系沉积物测量、高精度地面磁测、自然重砂测量和遥感异常提取。本文以甘青交界的浪力克一牛头山一带1：5万区域矿产调查中水系沉积物测量实际资料为依据,探讨了浪力克铜矿区及其区域地球化学特征,认为Cu、Pb、Zn、Au、Ag异常分布与含铜火山岩系分布一致,异常规模显示该矿外围仍具有较大的找矿潜力。     

祁连山南部地区三叠纪弧后前陆盆地——基于沉积填充与大地构造的证据

本文通过对祁连山南部地区三叠纪沉积充填特征的研究,建立了盆地形成过程中沉积充填与区域构造演化的关联。依据沉积充填特征、构造接触关系及区域地质背景,认为祁连山南部地区三叠纪盆地具有弧后前陆盆地的构造属性;综合分析年代学、沉积物性和盆地内部填充单元的差异划分出与柴达木岛弧带和祁连山南部弧后前陆盆地相关的区域大地构造单元。认为早三叠世-中三叠世中期,南部遭受俯冲作用持续向北挤压推覆导致盆地挠曲沉降;中三叠世中期-晚三叠世中期发生弧(东昆仑-柴北缘)-陆(巴颜喀拉地块)碰撞,祁连山南部盆地挠曲沉降增大,其间形成区域性断裂和不整合等盆地记录的地质事件;晚三叠世晚期祁连山南部盆地发生过补偿陆相填充,弧后前陆盆地消亡。     

New specimens of a fossil ostrich from the Miocene of Kenya

Fossilised hind limb bones from the late Middle Miocene (approximately 14 million-year-old [MYA]) Fort Ternan, Kadianga West and Ngorora localities in Western Kenya indicate the presence of a new representative of the ostrich genus Struthio. These new fossils represent some of the oldest known records for Struthio yet described, slightly younger than Struthio coppensi, from the Lower Miocene of Namibia. Because the four sub-species of the modern-day ostrich (Struthio camelus camelus, Struthio camelus australis, Struthio camelus massaicus, and Struthio camelus molybdophanes) inhabit the plains of Africa, and as recently as the 1940s, a fifth sub-species was also present in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia (Struthio camelus syriacus), records of Struthio from Kenya and Namibia testify to the much wider distribution of these cursorial birds in the relatively recent past. This is further supported by the very high frequency of ostrich eggshell fragments found across Africa and Eurasia, which vastly outweighs the amount of skeletal material uncovered over the last century.     

A pronounced dry event recorded around 4.2 ka in brine sediments from the northern Red Sea

Partly laminated sediments were sampled from the brine-filled, anoxic Shaban Deep basin in the northern Red Sea. At about 4200 cal yr BP more than two millennia of anoxic sedimentation is replaced by a sub-oxic facies strongly suggesting the episodic absence of the brine. At the same time stable oxygen isotopes from surface dwelling foraminifera show a sharp increase (within less than 100 yr) pointing to a strong positive salinity anomaly at the sea surface. This major evaporation event significantly enhanced the renewal of deep water and the subsequent ventilation of the small Shaban Deep basin. The timing and strength of the reconstructed environmental changes around 4200 cal yr BP suggest that this event is the regional expression of a major drought event, which is widely observed in the neighboring regions, and which strongly affected Middle East agricultural civilizations.     

Présence d'une mangrove à Avicennia au Miocène moyen dans la région de Digne (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence,France) : implications stratigraphiques et paléoclimatiques

Avicennia pollen grains have been discovered in marine facies from the Middle Miocene deltaic series of Châteauredon (southeastern France). Based on the local stratigraphy, an age between 15.8 and 16.5 Ma is proposed for these grains. The age and the transgressive context of the Avicennia bearing-levels are in agreement with the maximum extension of the mangrove known in the western Mediterranean during interval N8–NN4 pro parte, in relation with the Langhian highstand. This mangrove occurrence at 42°N latitude during Middle Miocene is a more northern witness of the mangrove sites known in Languedoc and Provence areas. It also implies a lower climatic gradient than today. To cite this article: J.-J. Châteauneuf et al., C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006).     

Surface pollen and its relationship to vegetation on the southern slope of the eastern Qilian Mountains

The objective of this study is to investigate pollen-vegetation relationship in the Qilian Mountains. The eastern Qilian Mountains are located in the transitional zone of the Tibetan Plateau, the Loess Plateau and the arid region of Northwest China, which is one of the key areas of global environmental change. A total of 13 surface pollen samples from main vegetation have been collected. Pollen percentages were calculated in all samples. In order to reveal the relationship between pollen composition and the vegetation types from which the soil samples have been collected, Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) ordination method was employed on the pollen data. The results show that dominating vegetation types can be recognized by their pollen spectra: Picea crassifolia forest, alpine shrub and alpine meadow as well. Altitude and temperature determine the distribution of the surface pollen and the vegetation. The good agreement between modern vegetation and surface samples across this area provides a measure of the reliability of using pollen data to reconstruct paleoenvironment and paleovegetation patterns in this or other similar regions. However the loss of Betula pollen in forest needs further investigation. Pollen oxidation is the most important factor contributing to the damage of modern pollen in the study area. Pollen concentrations decrease with the increase of pH values of soils, and decrease sharply when the pH exceeds 7.6.