Coevolution between Terrestrial Ecosystem and Earth Environment

Coevolution between terrestrial ecosystem and Earth environment is a hot research topic in both biology and geology. Last progresses in these field are reported from following research subjects: evolution of jawed vertebrates(gnathostomata) from Silurian; occurrence of earliest forests from Devonian of Xinjiang; biodiversity of insects in amber from Cretaceous of Myanmar; Evolution of primates and geochemistry studies from Eocene/Oligocene; studies of Longdan fauna from Lingxia basin, Gansu Province of earlier Pleistocene and endemic cloven-breast fishes from Pliocene Tibet; the correlations thick-boned fish,Hsianwenia wui, and the aridification of the Qaidam Basin; monsoon climate and its impact on biodiversity; study on the flora from Mankang, Tibet of Miocene and its palaeoclimate; depositional environment and its impact on the preservation of fossils; contraction of high resolution Stratigraphic series by using data of paleomagnetism and mammal fossils.     

The Carboniferous coal swamp floras of England: a window on an ancient tropical ecosystem

England has an exceptional range of Westphalian—Stephanian (late Bashkirian—Moscovian) fossil floras spanning some 10 million years. They represent vegetation growing in part of a swamp that covered large areas of tropical Euramerica and which was responsible for the removal of vast quantities of carbon from the atmosphere. This coincided with significant global climatic cooling—the Late Palaeozoic Ice Age. The cratonic Pennine Basin in central and northern England has some of the best preserved fossil floras of this age anywhere in the world, especially notable being those of the Barnsley Thick Seam in Yorkshire and Derbyshire, the Bensham Seam in Northumberland and Durham, and the Coseley Ten Foot Ironstone in the West Midlands. The floras in southern England are mostly not as well preserved but include the historically important Radstock flora of Somerset. The taxonomic diversity dynamics of the fossil floras of the Pennine Basin are rather different from those seen in South Wales, probably due to differences in landscape and habitat, which in turn probably reflect the different tectonic settings. However, evidence of a significant change from lycophyte- to fern-dominated vegetation in latest Westphalian times, recognisable across Euramerica, can be seen in the English floras.     

Absence of regional stratigraphic hiatus in the late Carboniferous (Asturian - Stephanian) in the northern Variscan foreland: a review of the bio- and lithostratigraphical evidence in central england

An extensive regional stratigraphic hiatus has been proposed in the Asturian to Stephanian foreland basin successions lying to the north of the main Variscan deformation belt, stretching from north west Europe to eastern North America. The hiatus is inferred on megafloral grounds and involves the absence of most if not all of Stephanian Substages B and C. If present it would have great significance for the understanding of regional basin dynamics in the later stages of the Variscan orogeny. However, its existence has been strongly contested. One of the keys to this hypothesis is the correct identification and interpretation of plant fossils from the Warwickshire Coalfield (Central England). The published identifications are here shown to be incorrect, and revised determinations taken in conjunction with other stratigraphic data from Central England suggest that a regional hiatus is not present in the early-mid Stephanian, and that any stratigraphic hiatuses at other horizons in the succession are of purely local extent. A review of known occurrences of the Asturian and Stephanian successions in basins stretching from eastern Canada to Germany suggests that, while facies developments may be similar, there is little uniformity in stratigraphic style and little evidence for a major Stephanian hiatus.     

煤古植物学:历史、现状与展望

据对５０年来的文献分析，简要评述了煤古植物学这一分支学科的产生背景，研究现状和未来发展趋势；并指出，煤古植物学尽管有广泛的应用前景，但由于受研究方法和研究手段的限制，它仍处于发展的初级阶段。     

Plant remains from the Lower Cretaceous Fossil-Lagerstätte of Pietraroja,Benevento, southern Italy

Plant macrofossils with epidermal features from the Lower Albian (Lower Cretaceous) Plattenkalk 2 as exposed in “Le Cavere” quarry within Pietraroja Fossil-Lagerstätte, southern Italy, include sterile foliage-bearing shoots and reproductive structures of gymnosperms and possible angiosperm leaves occurring in a controversial marine depositional environment. The following taxa are recorded: Brachyphyllum sp., Frenelopsis sp., Cheirolepidiaceae gen. et sp. indet. and Nageiopsis?. Bituminous strata of the lower Plattenkalk 2 are full of plant debris composed mainly of isolated leaves and sterile axes. Taphonomic considerations suggest parautochtonous deposition for Frenelopsis while the other plant remains are allochthonous. Among the plants studied, the cheirolepidiaceous conifers have ecological significance owing to their (debated) xeromorphic foliar features. These adaptations suggest a warm and dry, or possibly coastal palaeoenvironment. Studied plant fossils together with sedimentological and palaeozoological considerations do not exclude a lagoonal hypothesis for Pietraroja sedimentary basin. This research expands the phytotaxonomic knowledge of the emergent lands within the Early Cretaceous Apenninic Carbonate Platform (ACP).     

The Westphalian D floral biostratigraphy of Saarland (Fed. Rep. Germany) and a comparison with that of South Wales

The fossil plant distribution in the Carboniferous of Saarland indicates that the base of the Westphalian D is in the upper Luisenthal Formation. Two distinctive changes in the middle Westphalian D floras are noted in the Heiligenwald Formation, very similar to those reported in the Upper Pennant Measures of South-Wales. These changes in the floras, recognizable in two distantly separated coalfields, are made the basis of a threefold biozonation of the Westphalian D. This is the most detailed biostratigraphical resolution presently available for non-marine strata of this age.     

Preliminary data on a new Albian flora from the Valle del Río Martín, Teruel, Spain

A newly discovered plant fossil assemblage in the Albian Escucha Formation, located at Valle del Río Martín (Teruel, Spain), shows similarities with the classic early Cretaceous flora of the Potomac Group in the USA. This is the first time that a flora of this age and composition has been found in Spain. It comprises representatives of ferns, Ginkgoales, Bennettitales, Caytoniales, conifers and angiosperms and suggests a possible mixing of the European and Potomac provinces in the early Cretaceous within the Iberian Peninsula, in a subtropical, semi-arid climate.     

Macrofloral biostratigraphy of the Newent Coalfield,Gloucestershire

Boreholes recently drilled by the British Geological Survey provide the first extensive collection of fossil plants from the Newent Coalfield, Gloucestershire. They belong to the Lobatopteris vestita Biozone, indicating a late Westphalian D age. The Newent sequence is thus homotaxial with part of the Forest of Dean Coalfield, and supports the view of Wills (1956) that there was a ‘strait’ extending across St George's Land during the late Westphalian.