A new family of scorpionflies (Insecta; Mecoptera) from the Lower Cretaceous of England

Seven specimens of fossil scorpionflies (Mecoptera) not assignable to any known family were discovered in the Wealden Supergroup (Lower Cretaceous) of southern England. They were found at Rudgwick Brickworks, West Sussex and Smokejacks Brickworks, Surrey and came from the Upper Weald Clay Formation, dated as Barremian (∼129.4–125 Ma). A new family – Englathaumatidae fam. nov., new genus – Englathauma gen. nov. and two new species E. crabbi sp. nov. and E. mellishae sp. nov. are described. A discussion of systematic position of these new taxa within the order Mecoptera is given. Englathaumatidae fam. nov. has been a nomen nudum since the year 2002, due to the first author's untimely death.     

First representative of the genus Helius Lepeletier and Serville, 1828 (Diptera,Limoniidae) from the Lower Cretaceous Álava amber (Spain)

Helius alavensis sp. nov., one of the oldest representative of the genus Helius Lepeletier and Serville, 1828 (Diptera: Limoniidae), is described from the Álava amber (Lower Cretaceous, upper Albian), northern Spain. This is the first representative of the subfamily Limoniinae and of the genus Helius described from this fossil resin.     

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

A recently discovered articulated partial skeleton of Ornithomimus from the Upper Cretaceous Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, Canada is remarkable in the extent and quality of preservation of integumentary structures including feathers. It is the first ornithomimid to preserve a tail bearing extensive plumaceous feathers that are slightly more elongate in comparison to those present on the remainder of the body. However, the underside of the tail and the hind limb distal to the middle of the femur appear devoid of plumage. Overall, the plumage pattern in Ornithomimus is similar to that of Struthio camelus (ostrich) and other large palaeognaths, indicating a probable function in thermoregulation. The specimen also preserves the body outline around the legs, including a skin contour anterior to the femur, analogous to skin webs in extant birds. Whereas the knee web of birds bridges the knee to the abdomen, in Ornithomimus it spans from the mid-femoral shaft to the abdomen, and is herein referred to as an anterior femoral web. This is the first report of such soft tissue structures in non-avian theropods. It may indicate that the resting position of the femur was positioned more anteroventrally in ornithomimids than in most theropods, and in that sense may have been transitional to the situation in modern birds.     

Inoceramid bivalves and biostratigraphy of the upper Albian and lower Cenomanian of the United States Western Interior Basin

Inoceramid bivalves of the upper Albian and lower Cenomanian of the United States Western Interior are revised, Eleven species-level taxa and three genera are described. Two new species, Gnesioceramus mowriensis, characterizing the Mowry Shale of the early, but not the earliest, Cenomanian, and Posidonioceramus merewetheri, of the lower Cenomanian, and on new genus, Posidonioceramus, are recognised. The Western Interior inoceramid species from this interval are strongly endemic and are not good tools for long-distance correlations, although they are very effective in regional dating.In terms of the inoceramid biostratigraphy, middle and upper parts of the upper Albian can be referred to the Gnesioceramus Biozone, represented by G. comancheanus (Cragin) and G. bellvuensis (Reeside). These taxa are endemic to the Western Interior and some adjacent areas (Gulf Coast; Greenland?), but are closely allied to the cosmopolitan species, Gnesioceramus anglicus (Woods). At approximately the Albian-Cenomanian boundary, the endemic clade of ‘Inoceramus’ nahwisi appears, now referred to the newly erected Posidonioceramus, resulting in a distinct P. nahwisi biozone. This zone corresponds to the lower part of the ammonite Neogastroplites’ stratigraphic range. Gnesioceramids re-appear in the early Cenomanian. Close to base of the Cenomanian, for the first in the Western Interior, the genus Inoceramus, represented by Inoceramus irenensis Warren and Stelck, 1958, apparently immigrated into the Western Interior Basin.The Western Interior inoceramids do not allow for direct correlation to chronostratigraphic standard subdivision. The Albian-Cenomanian boundary, as earlier recognized on geochronologic correlations and confirmed, to some extent, based on ammonites, may approximately be located close to the appearance level of the genus Posidonioceramus.     

关于辽西北票组地质时代及区域对比的再讨论

北票组是辽西侏罗纪主要含煤地层,大部分学者从植物化石角度论述其时代为早侏罗世,区域上与窑坡组、永定庄组、富县组、三工河组对比。本文从地层层序、岩性、构造演化、古气候演化等角度对北票组的地质时代和区域对比进行了讨论,认为该组为印支期后地壳伸展阶段早侏罗世早—中期兴隆沟组火山喷发之后和中侏罗世中晚期海房沟组、蓝旗组燕山期火山活动之前的含煤盆地沉积产物。前者火山活动在冀北、京西形成南大岭组,在北疆三工河组局部形成火山岩夹层;后者火山活动在冀北、京西形成九龙山组、髫髻山组,晋北形成云岗组、天池河组,北疆形成头屯河组。北票组底部杂色地层化石稀少,有机质含量低,气候应相对干热,北票组(杂色地层以上部分)、海房沟组、蓝旗组植物化石和孢粉证明古气候由温湿向干热逐渐演化,而该特征和中国北方以至全球早侏罗世晚期干热、中侏罗世从早期到晚期由温湿向干热的演化规律—致。从而,北票组底部杂色地层属于早侏罗世晚期并和三工河组、富县组、永定庄组、阳眷组、窑坡组底部对比;北票组杂色地层以上部分属于中侏罗世早期,与西山窑组、延安组、大同组、下花园组、窑坡组(K1砂岩以上部分)对比。     

The present-day stress field of New South Wales,Australia

The Australian continent displays the most complex pattern of present-day tectonic stress observed in any major continental area. Although plate boundary forces provide a well-established control on the large-scale (>500 km) orientation of maximum horizontal stress (S_Hmax), smaller-scale variations, caused by local forces, are poorly understood in Australia. Prior to this study, the World Stress Map database contained 101 S_Hmax orientation measurements for New South Wales (NSW), Australia, with the bulk of the data coming from shallow engineering tests in the Sydney Basin. In this study we interpret present-day stress indicators analysed from 58.6 km of borehole image logs in 135 coal-seam gas and petroleum wells in different sedimentary basins of NSW, including the Gunnedah, Clarence-Moreton, Sydney, Gloucester, Darling and Bowen–Surat basins. This study provides a refined stress map of NSW, with a total of 340 (A–E quality) S_Hmax orientations consisting of 186 stress indicators from borehole breakouts, 69 stress measurements from shallow engineering methods, 48 stress indicators from drilling-induced fractures, and 37 stress indicators from earthquake focal mechanism solutions. We define seven stress provinces throughout NSW and determine the mean orientation of the S_Hmax for each stress province. The results show that the S_Hmax is variable across the state, but broadly ranges from NE–SW to ESE–WNW. The S_Hmax is approximately E–W to ESE–WNW in the Darling Basin and Southeastern Seismogenic Zone that covers the west and south of NSW, respectively. However, the present-day S_Hmax rotates across the northeastern part of NSW, from approximately NE–SW in the South Sydney and Gloucester basins to ENE–WSW in the North Sydney, Clarence-Moreton and Gunnedah basins. Comparisons between the observed S_Hmax orientations and Australian stress models in the available literature reveal that previous numerical models were unable to satisfactorily predict the state of stress in NSW. Although clear regional present-day stress trends exist in NSW, there are also large perturbations observed locally within most stress provinces that demonstrate the significant control on local intraplate sources of stress. Local S_Hmax perturbations are interpreted to be due to basement topography, basin geometry, lithological contrasts, igneous intrusions, faults and fractures. Understanding and predicting local stress perturbations has major implications for determining the most productive fractures in petroleum systems, and for modelling the propagation direction and vertical height growth of induced hydraulic fractures in simulation of unconventional reservoirs.     

西北太平洋热带云团发展与两类El Nio事件的联系

利用1982—2009年全球热带云团数据集、NCEP/NCAR再分析资料和英国Hadley中心海温资料,并引入热带云团生成率(Genesis Productivity,GP)来分析EP(Eastern Pacific)El Nio和CP(Central Pacific)El Nio事件与西北太平洋热带云团发展的相关性。研究表明,1)夏秋两季GP与Nio3指数在东南区(SE)均为显著正相关,在西南区(SW)仅秋季呈显著正相关;GP与EMI(El Nio Modoki Index)指数在夏季SE区域为显著正相关,在秋季南中国海(South China Sea,SCS)区呈负相关。2)在EP El Nio年,夏季SE区域的GP增大与低层涡度、高层散度以及低层相对湿度的相对增大一致。夏季SW区域与秋季SE区域的GP增大与有利的高低空配置相关,La Nia年则与之相反。3)在CP El Nio年,夏季SE区域的GP增大伴随着低层涡度和高层散度的增加,同时与充足的水汽及弱风切变相吻合;而秋季SCS区域的GP下降源于正涡度带、正散度带以及水汽带的东移。     

琼-粤西-桂东南成矿带资源特征与潜力分析

琼-粤西-桂东南成矿带含广西壮族自治区东南部分地区、广东省西南部分地区以及海南省全部。该区位于欧亚板块、印度板块和太平洋板块接合区。大地构造属于武夷云开岛弧系。本文以新的研究成果和找矿突破为基础,通过综合分析,在该地区划分新的重要成矿部署区带,并命名为琼-粤西-桂东南成矿带。本区成矿地质条件优越,矿产丰富多彩。目前已涌现像抱伦金矿、富湾铅锌银矿、大降坪硫铁矿为代表的一大批大型、超大型矿床。对本成矿带的矿床成矿特征进行了研究,划分了14个成矿系列,建立了成矿谱系,并对资源潜力进行了评价。研究区主要矿床类型为沉积变质型、热水沉积型、热液脉型、接触交代型、斑岩型和表生型。成矿受构造作用影响明显。在此基础上,部署了广东云浮地区金、银、铁矿重点远景区、广西陆川地区金银一般远景区、海南石碌铁、金矿一般远景区。为指导本区勘查工作提供了依据。     

Architecture and recognition criteria of ancient shelf ridges; an example from Campanian Almond Formation in Hanna Basin,USA

Shelf ridges are sedimentary bodies formed on the continental shelf due to transgressive reworking (tidal or storm) of lowstand deposits. Common on modern shelves, they are under‐represented in the geological record due to a lack of recognition criteria and facies model. This article proposes a new facies and architectural model for shelf ridges, linked to their inception–evolution–abandonment cycle and the process regime of the basin. The model is mainly based on new outcrop data and interpretations from three sandstone bodies of the Almond Formation, an overall transgressive interval during the infill of the Campanian Western Interior Seaway. Building from the case study, and ancient and modern examples, six characteristics are proposed for the recognition of ancient shelf ridges. Shelf ridges: (i) are encased between thick marine mudstone intervals; (ii) have a basal unconformity that erodes into marine muds or into the remnants of a previous shoreline; (iii) have a non‐erosional upper boundary that transitions into marine muds; (iv) are characterized by clean and well‐sorted sandstones, often cross‐bedded; (v) contain fully marine ichnofauna; and (vi) present compound architectures with large accretion surfaces and lower order structures. Although shelf ridges have been described in previous studies as generated exclusively by either tidal or storm currents, it is clear, from modern examples and the case study, that these two processes can be recorded and preserved in a single shelf ridge. The stratigraphy of these sandstone bodies is therefore much more complex than previously recognized, bearing the signature of changing tidal and storm intensity through time. Because they are developed during transgressions, shelf ridges are commonly subject to strong changes in process regime as sea‐level changes can easily affect the oceanographic conditions and the morphology of the basin. For this reason, shelf ridges can provide the best record of shelf process variability during transgressions.     

Fissure swarms and fracture systems within the Western Volcanic Zone,Iceland – Effects of spreading rates

The Western Volcanic Zone (WVZ) in Iceland is ∼120 km long and 40 km wide. It offers an opportunity to study rift zones in a local ultra-slow spreading area close to a hotspot. Fractures were mapped from aerial photographs and digital elevation models. Most surface fractures are located in the southern part of the WVZ. The majority of the fractures have a north-northeasterly orientation, some deviations occur from this, especially in the north part of the WVZ. Fracture orientations are therefore quite uniform in the southern, faster spreading part of the WVZ, but more irregular in the slower-spreading northern part. This suggests different stress fields in the north part, which could be due to the influence of the Hreppar microplate and possibly also due to stress fields induced by crustal deformation because of changes in glacial load in the area. Such glacially-induced stress fields may have similar or even more influence than crustal spreading in the slower spreading northern part of the WVZ. Lower fracture density towards the north within the WVZ suggests lower frequency of rifting events in the north part, in accordance with less spreading in the north as measured by GPS geodetic measurements.