Teruelia diezii gen. et sp. nov.: an early polysporangiophyte from the Lower Devonian of the Iberian Peninsula

A new basal land plant, Teruelia diezii gen. et sp. nov., is described from the shallow‐water marine deposits of the Lower Devonian (Lochkovian–Pragian) Nogueras Formation of the Iberian Peninsula (north Gondwana palaeocontinent). Teruelia is preserved as a compression fossil and consists of isotomously branched, robust stems terminated in large, fusiform, twisted sporangia. This morphology suggests that Teruelia is very probably equivalent to Aglaophyton, a permineralized early polysporangiophyte known up to now only from the Lower Devonian (early Pragian to ?earliest Emsian) Rhynie Chert in Scotland (Laurussia palaeocontinent), which represents an early terrestrial hot‐spring ecosystem. Accepted phylogenies identify Aglaophyton as sister to vascular plants. Our phylogeny‐based results identify the Aglaophyton/Teruelia biological entity (i.e. Aglaophyton anatomical characters plus Teruelia external morphology) as the most direct vascular plant precursor. It shows that at least one Rhynie Chert type plant had a much wider distribution than previously known and suggests that Aglaophyton was not restricted to hydrothermal environments, unlike other Rhynie Chert plants.     

两种中国白粉菌的订正

在作者(郑儒永、陈桂清,1977)报道似钩状钩丝壳 Uncinula aduncoi-des Zheng & Chen 时,未能从苏联借到和它一样寄生在械属 Acer 上的另外一种钩丝壳柳氏钩丝壳 Uncinula ljubarskii Golov.进行对比研究,因而只能根据其作者(Golovin,1952,1960)两次报道该种时所发表的描述和绘图来加以比较,结果认为两者虽然比较接近,但仍然存在着足以区分为两个不同的种的形态差异:中国的菌的附属丝是向上渐粗的并在顶端钩状部分膨大,往往在基部有一个隔膜并有黄褐色的基部细胞;子囊无柄至近无柄;子囊孢子矩圆-卵形(长:宽=3:2)。苏联的菌的附属丝则是上下近等粗的,无隔膜;子囊有明显的柄;子囊孢子椭圆形(长:宽=2:1)。最近,Braun(1984)重新发表了研究柳氏钩丝壳的模式标本所写的描述。在他的描述中,除附属丝近等粗并且在顶端钩状部分不膨大外,其他方面均与我们的菌一致。根据这种情况,作者决定将似钩状钩丝壳降为柳氏钩丝壳的变种成为改级新组合似钩状柳氏钩丝壳 Uncinula ljubarskiiGolov vàr.aduncoides(Zheng & Chen)Zheng & Chen star.nov.。另外一种钩丝壳,枫香钩丝壳 Uncinula liquidambaris Zheng & Chen,作者(郑儒永、陈桂清,1978)在发表时所依据的标本都是一些很老的标本,子囊果上大部分的短型附属丝多已胶化不在,因而疏忽地把它当作了只有长型附属丝的钩丝壳属来发表。最近,由于有机会看到一份新采自福建的枫香白粉菌,发现除在同一个子囊果上可同时具有长、短两型的附属丝外,其他特征均与作者过去发表过的枫香钩丝壳一致,这才引起了我们的注意并促使我们对过去鉴定为枫香钩丝壳的所有标本重新进行镜检研究。结果表明,枫香上的菌是小钩丝壳属而不是钩丝壳属,因此应成为新组合枫香小钩丝壳 Undnuliella liquidambaris(Zheng＆ Chen)Zheng,Chen & Z.X.Chen comb.nov.。     

Early Cambrian radiolarians and sponge spicules from the Niujiaohe Formation in South China

Most of the reported Cambrian radiolarians are from middle Cambrian (Miaolingian Series, Wuliuan Stage) and onward, the radiolarians from lower Cambrian (Terreneuvian and Cambrian Series 2), on the other hand, are poorly documented, thus their morphological characteristics have not been well understood. In this study, we extracted spherical radiolarians and sponge spicules from the chert of the Cambrian Series 2 Niujiaohe Formation in southern Jiangxi Province, China. The well-preserved radiolarian fossils, identified as Paraantygopora porosa, consist of perforate plate shells pierced by dense pores with elevated rims, and display similarities to those from Lower Ordovician. Seven forms of sponge spicules are recognized, including monaxons, diaxons, tetractines, hexactines, triaxon tetractines, triaxon pentactines and irregular tetraxon tetractines, which are similar to those from the Qiongzhusian Stage in South China. Our results, combined with previously reported early Cambrian radiolarians from South China, indicate that the early Cambrian radiolarians developed advanced spherical skeletons.     

Book review

H. D. Holland, The Chemical Evolution of the Atmosphere and Oceans. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J., 1984. 94 tables and 230 figures, xii + 582 pp., $75.00; paper $24.00.     

Early Permian radiolarians from Southern Thailand,the deglaciation of Gondwana and the age of the basal Ratburi Group

The first radiolarian fauna obtained from Permian carbonates in Thailand is of late Kungurian age and is present in the basal beds of the carbonate–mudstone–chert Phap Pha Formation, Ratburi Group. This succession contains several species of the radiolarian Pseudoalbaillella, and some sponge spicules. The radiolarian fauna consists of abundant Pseudoalbaillella aidensis and P. elegans together with P. fusiformis, P. longtanensis, P. m. rhombothoracata and P. sp. A. Other species include P. cf. aidensis, P. cf. elongata, P. cf. fusiformis, P. cf. ishigai, P. cf. lomentaria, P. cf. longicornis, P. cf. longtanensis, P. cf. ornata, P. cf. simplex, P. cf. m. scalprata, P. cf. m. postscalprata, P. cf. u–forma m. I, P. cf. u–forma m. II, and P. spp. The radiolarian assemblage suggests its correlation to the P. longtanensis Zone which, in turn, is correlated to the P. ishigai Zone of late Kungurian age. The occurrence of an abundant but generically low–diversity radiolarian fauna suggests restricted physical conditions and, with other evidence, suggests deposition along a cool deglaciating or deglaciated continental margin with an abundance of silica possibly provided by glacial meltwaters. The abundant chert in the Phap Pha Formation is part of the widespread Permian Chert Event.     

Iron-mediated anaerobic ammonium oxidation recorded in the early Archean ferruginous ocean

The nitrogen isotopic composition of organic matter is controlled by metabolic activity and redox speciation and has therefore largely been used to uncover the early evolution of life and ocean oxygenation. Specifically, positive δ¹⁵N values found in well-preserved sedimentary rocks are often interpreted as reflecting the stability of a nitrate pool sustained by water column partial oxygenation. This study adds much-needed data to the sparse Paleoarchean record, providing carbon and nitrogen concentrations and isotopic compositions for more than fifty samples from the 3.4 Ga Buck Reef Chert sedimentary deposit (BRC, Barberton Greenstone Belt). In the overall anoxic and ferruginous conditions of the BRC depositional environment, these samples yield positive δ¹⁵N values up to +6.1‰. We argue that without a stable pool of nitrates, these values are best explained by non-quantitative oxidation of ammonium via the Feammox pathway, a metabolic co-cycling between iron and nitrogen through the oxidation of ammonium in the presence of iron oxides. Our data contribute to the understanding of how the nitrogen cycle operated under reducing, anoxic, and ferruginous conditions, which are relevant to most of the Archean. Most importantly, they invite to carefully consider the meaning of positive δ¹⁵N signatures in Archean sediments.     

Geological and geochemical aspects of a Devonian siliceous succession in northern Thailand: Implications for the opening of the Paleo-Tethys

The opening of the Paleo-Tethys are reconstructed, including the depositional setting and redox conditions, based on an analysis of radiolarian fossils and the geochemistry of a Devonian siliceous succession in the Chiang Dao area of northern Thailand. The succession is subdivided into the following five rock types (in ascending stratigraphic order): black shale (Lower Devonian), siliceous shale (Middle Devonian), tuffaceous chert and tuff (Middle/Upper Devonian), and chert (Upper Devonian). The succession was deposited in continental margin and pelagic environments between the Sibumasu Block and the Indochina-North China blocks. The concentrations of terrestrial-derived elements (Al₂O₃, TiO₂, Rb, and Zr) suggest that the succession (except for the chert) was supplied with terrigenous material and volcanic ash from the adjacent continent, deposited within a SiO₂-rich environment. Geochemical indicators of redox conditions (total organic carbon and the Th/U ratio) reveal a gradual change from anoxic to oxic oceanic conditions between the black shale and chert. Taking into account the interpreted depositional setting and redox conditions, the initial Paleo-Tethys developed as a small, closed anoxic-suboxic oceanic basin during the Early to Middle Devonian, located close to the continental margin. Black shale and siliceous shale were deposited in the basin at this time. Opening of the Paleo-Tethys started around the Middle and Upper Devonian boundary, marked by voluminous volcanic activity. The tuffaceous chert was deposited under oxic conditions, suggesting that ash and pumice within the chert were derived from a continental source. After the Late Devonian, the Paleo-Tethys developed as a deep, broad ocean in which pelagic chert was deposited.     

Photosynthesis in the Archean Era

The earliest reductant for photosynthesis may have been H₂. The carbon isotope composition measured in graphite from the 3.8-Ga Isua Supercrustal Belt in Greenland is attributed to H₂-driven photosynthesis, rather than to oxygenic photosynthesis as there would have been no evolutionary pressure for oxygenic photosynthesis in the presence of H₂. Anoxygenic photosynthesis may also be responsible for the filamentous mats found in the 3.4-Ga Buck Reef Chert in South Africa. Another early reductant was probably H₂S. Eventually the supply of H₂ in the atmosphere was likely to have been attenuated by the production of CH₄ by methanogens, and the supply of H₂S was likely to have been restricted to special environments near volcanos. Evaporites, possible stromatolites, and possible microfossils found in the 3.5-Ga Warrawoona Megasequence in Australia are attributed to sulfur-driven photosynthesis. Proteobacteria and protocyanobacteria are assumed to have evolved to use ferrous iron as reductant sometime around 3.0 Ga or earlier. This type of photosynthesis could have produced banded iron formations similar to those produced by oxygenic photosynthesis. Microfossils, stromatolites, and chemical biomarkers in Australia and South Africa show that cyanobacteria containing chlorophyll a and carrying out oxygenic photosynthesis appeared by 2.8 Ga, but the oxygen level in the atmosphere did not begin to increase until about 2.3 Ga.     

Cherty carbonate facies of the Montoya Group, southern New Mexico and western Texas and its regional correlatives: a record of Late Ordovician paleoceanography on southern Laurentia

The Upper Ordovician Montoya Group in southern New Mexico and westernmost Texas records predominantly subtidal deposition on a gently dipping carbonate ramp that was subsequently nearly entirely dolomitized. The medial unit of the Montoya Group, the Aleman Formation is unique because it contains abundant chert (10–70% by volume). The chert occurs as: (1) thin continuous beds of sponge spicules within mudstone or calcisiltite; (2) discontinuous, lenses or nodules within skeletal wackestones and packstones; or (3) as a replacement of skeletal grains and burrows. Coeval skeletal grainstones and muddy peritidal facies contain little chert. Phosphate (up to 5 wt.%) occurs within the underlying Upham Formation and the Aleman Formation as replacement of fossils and peloids. The abundance of chert and phosphate in these subtidal facies indicates they formed within a region of strong upwelling. Regional correlation with Upper Ordovician cherty units along the periphery of southern Laurentia and other low latitude continents suggests that upwelling was widespread and long-lived during the Late Ordovician. The upwelling is interpreted to record vigorous oceanic circulation produced by the onset of glaciation on Gondwana during this period. Late Ordovician relative sea-level curves around the periphery of Laurentia indicate correlative third-order (1–3 my duration) fluctuations that may provide a means for high-resolution global correlations. However, the mechanism(s) that produced these long-term fluctuations are unclear.     

徐淮地区新元古代九顶山组燧石结核的地球化学特征

徐淮地区新元古代九顶山组燧石结核中保存有很好的丝状、球形蓝藻和细菌化石。为了探讨其化石化过程和沉积环境,我们利用地球化学方法对燧石结核进行了分析,结果显示,该燧石结核中Al/(Al Fe Mn)值为0.127—0.383,平均0.247;Ti O2和Al2O3含量较低;与地壳克拉克值相比,Ba,Co,Nb,Cu,Be,V,Sr,Ni相对亏损,Ti,Cr,Mn强烈亏损。稀土元素总量低,轻稀土元素大于重稀土元素;具弱的Ce负异常和较明显的Eu正异常,北美页岩标准化模式曲线呈平坦状或右倾。这些地球化学特征反映了九顶山燧石结核形成于离大陆较近的边缘浅海碳酸盐台地沉积环境,在其形成的过程中伴有海相热液的作用。化石的保存与Si O的快速沉积和硅化有关。