Diamictic sediments within high Arctic lake sediment cores: evidence for lake ice rafting along the lateral glacial margin

Sediment cores from six small lake basins in the Canadian high Arctic reveal a gravel‐rich (≤30% by weight) to gravel‐poor (≥2%) diamict facies underlying massive, post‐glacial, clayey silt. Ten other lakes contain a second diamict facies within what are interpreted to be glaciolacustrine sedimentary assemblages. The sedimentology, clast fabrics and fossil remains (diatoms, ostracodes and chironomid head capsules) within both diamict facies suggest that these deposits are not tills. Clast fabrics yielded low S₁ (0·41–0·57) and high S₃ (0·09–0·22) eigenvalues, placing them within the range of ice‐rafted diamictons and glacigenic sediment flows. The high percentage of clast dip angles >45° (15–61%), random clast azimuth and lower diamict contacts conformable to underlying current‐bedded sediment favours an origin as a rain‐out or settling deposit. Samples of the matrix and scrapings of clasts from the diamicts revealed a diatom assemblage dominated by littoral and planktonic forms, such as are found in the littoral regions of the lakes today. This contrasts sharply with the assemblages within the overlying clayey silt, in which benthic forms predominate. Clasts are thus interpreted to have been rafted from the littoral areas of the lake. The process proposed to explain this is rafting by the lake ice cover in a glacial‐marginal environment. Early season meltwater, impounded along the lateral margin of retreating cold‐based glaciers, would buoyantly lift the lake ice cover and any adfrozen lake sediment. Higher lake levels and increased areal extent of seasonal freeze‐on between the lake ice cover and the lake bed would allow the redeposition of littoral sediments to the benthic regions through greater lateral shifting of the ice cover as it broke up. Incision by meltwater streams into the lateral glacial margins would later isolate the lake, allowing seasonal warming of lake water, enough to support the growth and maturation of the ostracode and chironomid species found as fossils within the diamicts.     

Taxonomy, facies relationships and palaeobiology of bakevelliid bivalves from the Lower Cretaceous of west-central Argentina

Cretaceous bakevelliids in Argentina are restricted to the Lower Cretaceous. They are recorded in shallow marine deposits in two Mesozoic basins located in the Andes foothills in Patagonia. In the Austral Basin (44°–55°S) there is only one genus, Gervillella, represented by a single specimen from the Barremian. In the Neuquén Basin (30°–40°S) two genera, Gervillaria and Gervillella, occur, ranging from the Berriasian to the Lower Barremian. In the Pilmatué Member of the Agrio Formation two species are identified: Gervillaria alatior (Imlay) and Gervillella aviculoides (J. Sowerby). The former is also recorded in Mexico while the latter is more widespread, occurring in Europe, Asia, and Africa. In the Bajada del Agrio section they come from eight tabular shell beds located near and on top of shallowing-upwards cycles. They were abundant only in four of these levels. These shell beds are interpreted as having been deposited in the mid-ramp (middle of cycles), and upper mid-ramp (top of cycles). A functional analysis of shells revealed two life habits: epibyssate and endobyssate.     

A Review of the Taxonomy and Palaeoecology of the Anurognathidae (Reptilia, Pterosauria)

The anurognathids are an enigmatic and distinctive clade of small, non-pterodactyloid pterosaurs with an unusual combination of anatomical traits in the head, neck, wings and tail. They are known from very limited remains and few have been described in detail, and as a result, much of their biology remains uncertain. This is despite their importance as potentially one of the earliest branches of pterosaur evolution or even lying close to the origins of pterodactyloids. This review covers the taxonomy and palaeoecology of the anurognathids, which remain an interesting branch of pterosaurian evolution.     

中扬子二叠系碳酸盐岩岩相模式

从相分析着手,重点剖析京山、崇阳两条岩相剖面,系统地研究了岩石、古生物、地球化学组分及分布规律。在此基础上提出了中扬子二叠系碳酸盐岩岩相模式。二叠系碳酸盐岩属台地碳酸盐岩岩相,包括潮坪、局限台地、台地浅滩、开阔台地A、开阔台地B、边缘浅滩、斜坡等七个次级相。该模式较合理地解释了中扬子二叠系碳酸盐岩的发育规律,并对硅质岩、白云岩的成因提出了新认识。     

元数据标准及其在古生物数据库中的应用

元数据(Metadata)是关于数据的数据,元数据标准在数据共享中有重要的作用。目前,元数据已越来越为人们所重视,许多国家已经发布实施元数据内容标准,并开发了许多元数据操作工具。通过对国内外一些元数据标准的研究分析,阐述元数据的定义、作用、意义和标准化问题,并介绍各相关领域的元数据标准的主要内容,从而为制定古生物学元数据标准提供参考。