Fossil Coals (Gagates) from Pleistocene Sediments in Black Sea Terraces,Southeastern Crimea

Lithology and Mineral Resources - The marine Quaternary (Chaudian) terrace V in the outskirts of Sudak accommodates layers saturated with lenses and fragments of fossil coal scrutinized by the...     

Lower Kungurian shallow-water lagoon biota of Middle Cis-Urals,Russia:towards paleoecological reconstruction

The paper deals with the Lower Kungurian( Philippovian Horizon; Lower Permian) biota of the Middle Cis-Urals,Russia.The biota is characterized on the basis of four representative localities( Philippovskoe Bus-stop,Philippovskian Quarry,Kamai and Kiselevo-Suksun Highway),which are situated in the stratotype area of the Kungurian stage.All the localities can be regarded as Lagersttten,but of authentically low biodiversity,since they represent oligotrophic lagoons of abnormal fluctuating salinity.General reconstruction of the Philippovian near-shore shallow-water ecosystem is given.Two new species of algae Algites philippoviensis sp.nov.,A.shurtanensis sp.nov.,and a new species of the limulids Paleolimulus kunguricus sp.nov.are described for the first time.     

Permian Fossil Plants from the Sediments of the Vorkuta Series at the Pechora Coal Basin in the Collection of the Earth Science Museum of Moscow State University

Permian plant remains from the Vorkuta 1 location collected at the Earth Science Museum of the Moscow State University were characterized (at outcrop 38 at the left bank of the Vorkuta River within the boundaries of Vorkuta town opposite the Rudnik settlement). The collection includes equisetophytes Paracalamites decoratus (Eichwald) Zalessky, P. frigidus Neuburg, Paracalamitina cf. striata Zalessky emend. Naug.; Annulina neuburgiana (Radczenko) Neuburg, the leaves of ferns (Pecopteris anthriscifolia (Goeppert) Zalessky, P. helenaeana Zalessky, P. vorcutana Zalessky, and P. cf. leptophylla Bunbury), as well as the leaves of Vojnovskyales Rufloria spp. and, probably, of ginkgophytes. In terms of stratigraphy, the considered plant remains originated from the Inta formations of the Vorkuta series (the Ufa stage of the Biarmian (Middle) subdivision of the Permian system). The collection is characterized by significant scientific, exhibition, and didactic potentialities.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Gagariostrobus cylindricus</Emphasis> (Prynada) Mogutcheva and the Permian—Triassic Ecosystem Flora Reorganization in the Tunguska Basin

The ecosystem reorganization of terrestrial vegetation in the Tunguska River basin, which occurred at the Permian—Triassic boundary, was analyzed. The taxonomic composition of Early Triassic floras of the Tunguska basin involved nearly all the main groups of higher plants, typical of floras of the early Mesophytic, which allows one to study in detail the dynamics of the appearance and the early evolution of the Mesozoic vegetation in the region. The reproductive organs of Gagariostrobus cylindricus (Prynada) Mogutcheva have been described in detail on the basis of the comprehensive study of the type and new materials. In situ spores of Gagariostrobus cylindricus have been studied for the first time with the scanning electron microscope, and the spores have been characterized with an indication of their variation modes. The graphic reconstruction of the Gagariostrobus cylindricus strobilus has been proposed, and data on the status of the parent plant that produced the strobili have been analyzed.