Reinvestigation of conchostracans (Crustacea: Branchiopoda) from the Permian–Triassic transition in Southwest China

Sedimentary deposits of the Permian–Triassic transition are well-exposed in numerous outcrops of South China. Depending on the palaeogeographic positions of the sections, their lithofacies vary from fully marine, shallow marine, lagoonal, lacustrine, and fluvial to alluvial. In the present study, conchostracans (Crustacea: Branchiopoda) were newly collected from the continental deposits of the Kayitou and Jialingjiang formations around the Kangdian Highland elevated by the Emeishan Basalt in the southern Sichuan, western Guizhou, and northeastern Yunnan provinces. The conchostracan fauna of the Kayitou Formation is composed of Pseudestheria chatangensis, Euestheria fuyuanensis, and Euestheria sp. aff. E. gutta. These species occur in varying lithofacies types of different sections. In particular, the late Permian Pseudestheria chatangensis occurs in grey siltstones interbedded with pebbly sandstones, which are interpreted as lacustrine deposits. Euestheria fuyuanensis and Euestheria sp. aff. E. gutta were obtained from yellowish to greenish–grey clay- and siltstones, interpreted as coastal plain deposits. In comparison to other regions, occurrences of Euestheria gutta are indicative of an early Induan to Olenekian (Early Triassic) age. The fossil record of Euestheria fuyuanensis is so far restricted to a few occurrences in the Kayitou Formation of Southwest China and, therefore, using this species for long-distance biostratigraphic correlation requires further investigation. The distribution of late Permian pseudestheriid and Early Triassic euestheriid species in the respective sections possibly depends on the local lithofacies and, therefore, a diachronous age of the Kayitou Formation within the study area can be assumed. Additionally, Magniestheria sp. aff. M. mangaliensis and Magniestheria sp. aff. M. subcircularis were recorded in the Jialingjiang Formation, which represents a lithostratigraphic unit considered as late Early Triassic (Olenekian). Further investigations of both taxonomy and the real stratigraphic ranges of the conchostracan species as well as cross-correlations with other age data are recommended, in order to better constrain the position of the Permian–Triassic boundary and the specific timing of the terrestrial end-Permian mass extinction in continental deposits of Southwest China.     

Palaeoenvironment and taphonomy of a Late Jurassic (Late Tithonian) Lagerstätte from central Poland

A rich assemblage of exceptionally preserved marine and terrestrial fossils occurs in fine‐grained limestones in the upper part of the Late Tithonian (Middle Volgian) shallowing upward carbonate sequence in Central Poland. The richest horizon, a deposit known locally as the Corbulomima horizon, is named after the shallow burrowing suspension feeding bivalve Corbulomima obscura, moulds of which occur in densities of up to 500 per square metre on some bedding planes. The fauna in this bed also includes organic and phosphatic remains of a wide range of other creatures including the exuviae of limulids and decapods, disarticulated fish skeletons and rare isolated pterosaur bones and teeth. There are also perfectly preserved dragonfly wings and beetle exoskeletons. The average stable carbon and oxygen isotope values for ostracod shells and fine‐grained sediment from this horizon suggest precipitation of the calcium carbonate from warm seawater of normal marine salinity. The carbonate sediments overlying the fossiliferous horizon have been interpreted as nearshore to shoreface facies. These pass abruptly into coarse reworked intraclastic sediments interpreted as possible tsunami or storm surge over‐wash deposits. The clasts in this deposit have more positive oxygen isotope values than those in the underlying limestone, which may indicate that they were lithified in a slightly more evaporative, perhaps intertidal, setting. The succession terminates with silicified fine‐grained limestones likely to have formed in extremely shallow lagoonal environments. In contrast with the Solnhofen limestones of Lower Tithonian age in south‐central Germany the Corbulomima horizon is interpreted as a transitional deposit formed in a shallow marine setting by rapid burial with elements of both Konservat‐ and Konzentrat‐Lagerstätte preservation. □Konzentrat and Konservat‐Lagerstätte, Taphonomy, Palaeoenvironment, Paleogeography, Late Jurassic, Poland.     

Facies analysis of the old Red Sandstone of Spitsbergen (Wood Bay Formation): Reconstruction of the depositional environments and implications of basin development

Summary The object of this paper is to provide a facies guide that helps subsequent workers recognizing different facies and palaeoenvironments of the terrestrial old Red Sandstone exposed in central N Spitsbergen. Sediments of the Early Devonian Wood Bay Formation represent continental molasse deposition under arid to semi-arid climatic conditions in three main depositional environments (rivers, alluvial plains, perennial lakes) represented by characteristic lithologies, sedimentary structures and microfacies. River channel deposits, consisting of conglomerates, very coarse-to very fine-grained sandstones and sandy siltstones are generally arranged in successive fining-upward sequences marked by specific sedimentary structures in a particular order. The sediments reflect the bed, mixed and suspended load of low sinuosity braided to high sinuosity meandering rivers. Adjacent overbank areas (levees, crevasse splays) and extensive alluvial plains are represented by reddish-brown, fine-grained sandstones to sandy siltstones and silty mudstones. The sediments are the accumulated, mixed and suspended load of floodwaters, which recurrently inundated the lowlands. Various lithofacies types, facies associations and sequences reflect the local formation of palaeosols, ephemeral flood lakes and boggy areas with persistent high water tables. Multicoloured, calcareous successions and single lime-stone beds intercalated in the red beds represent the depositional products of perennial, low relief, low-energy lakes, which developed in topographic depressions of the alluvial plains. The sediments reflect deposition in deep-water, littoral and palustrine sub-environments, forming regressive, shallowing-upward sequences in the central lake areas. The overall arrangement of the various facies reflects a terrestrial basin that developed from a steep-sloped, high-energy, river-dominated molasse trough into a level, lowenergy coastal plain, marked by broad mud flats and the formation of extensive perennial lakes.     

The Luoping biota: exceptional preservation, and new evidence on the Triassic recovery from end-Permian mass extinction

The timing and nature of biotic recovery from the devastating end-Permian mass extinction (252 Ma) are much debated. New studies in South China suggest that complex marine ecosystems did not become re-established until the middle–late Anisian (Middle Triassic), much later than had been proposed by some. The recently discovered exceptionally preserved Luoping biota from the Anisian Stage of the Middle Triassic, Yunnan Province and southwest China shows this final stage of community assembly on the continental shelf. The fossil assemblage is a mixture of marine animals, including abundant lightly sclerotized arthropods, associated with fishes, marine reptiles, bivalves, gastropods, belemnoids, ammonoids, echinoderms, brachiopods, conodonts and foraminifers, as well as plants and rare arthropods from nearby land. In some ways, the Luoping biota rebuilt the framework of the pre-extinction latest Permian marine ecosystem, but it differed too in profound ways. New trophic levels were introduced, most notably among top predators in the form of the diverse marine reptiles that had no evident analogues in the Late Permian. The Luoping biota is one of the most diverse Triassic marine fossil Lagerstätten in the world, providing a new and early window on recovery and radiation of Triassic marine ecosystems some 10 Myr after the end-Permian mass extinction.     

Diatom assemblages in tsunami deposits associated with the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami at Phra Thong Island, Thailand

Diatom assemblages in sandy deposits of the 2004 tsunami at Phra Thong Island, Thailand may provide clues to flow conditions during the tsunami. The tsunami deposits contain one or more beds that fine upward, commonly from medium sand to silty very fine sand. Diatom assemblages of the lowermost portion of the deposit predominantly comprise unbroken beach and subtidal species that live attached to sand grains. The dominant taxa shift to marine plankton species in the middle of the bed and to a mix of freshwater, brackish, and marine species near the top. These trends are consistent with expected changes in current velocities of tsunami through time. During high current velocities, medium sand is deposited; only beach and subtidal benthic diatoms attached to sediment can be incorporated into the tsunami deposit. High shear velocity keeps finer material, including planktonic diatoms in suspension. With decreasing current velocities, finer material including marine plankton can be deposited. Finally, during the lull between tsunami waves, the entrained freshwater, brackish, and marine species settle out with mud and plant trash. Low numbers of broken diatoms in the lower medium sand implies rapid entrainment and deposition, whilst selective breakage of marine plankton (Thalassionema nitzschioides, and Thalassiosira and Coscinodiscus spp.) in the middle portion of the deposit probably results from abrasion in the turbulent current before deposition.     

黑龙江省东北部绥滨地区东荣组最上部的沟鞭藻组合--兼论该地区侏罗-白垩系界线

黑龙江省东北部绥滨地区海相东荣组最上部产丰富或较丰富的沟鞭藻类,经鉴定达20属30余种,其中有些在我国为首次发现,包括一新种Leberidocysta suibinensis sp．nov.。文中详细地讨论沟鞭藻Oligosphae-ridium pulcherrimum组合的特征及其地质时代,包括侏罗-白垩系界线等;认为该组合的时代为Berriasian—Valanginian期。这一组合是我国白垩纪最早期的海相沉积,也是白垩系底部的第一个化石组合;首次提出黑龙江省东北部绥滨地区侏罗-白垩系界线应置于Tithonian阶的沟鞭藻Amphorula delicata组合与Berriasian-Valanginian阶的Oligosphaeridium pulcherrimum组合之间,即岩石地层上的东荣组上部与最上部之间。这条沟鞭藻类生物地层界线与双壳类的下、中伏尔加阶的Buchiamosquensis-B．rugosa带与上伏尔加阶的B．fischeriana带之间的分界完全吻合,与目前国际地科联地层委员会建议的侏罗-白垩系界线位于中伏尔加阶与上伏尔加阶之间亦完全一致。     

中国三叠纪海生爬行动物化石研究的回顾与进展

中国三叠纪海生爬行动物化石研究始于20世纪50年代,近10年来取得了重要的进展。此类化石在华南分布广泛,已见于多个省区的十余处地点,涉及自下三叠统奥伦尼克阶至上三叠统诺利阶的至少7个层位,并显示出由东向西产出层位逐渐升高的趋势。我国的三叠纪海生爬行动物化石门类齐全,属种丰富,已知类群包括鱼龙类、海龙类、檐齿龙类、始鳍龙类、原龙类、初龙类和湖北鳄类,显示出典型的西特提斯动物群特征,同时也体现了与东太平洋动物群的某些联系,以及一定的地方色彩。这些化石为研究三叠纪海生爬行动物各个类群的起源、演化和绝灭以及海洋环境的变迁提供了新的材料。     

The statistical analysis of palynofacies of the Ladinian strata of the South east Massif central, France

The area studied corresponds to the western margin of the Triassic intracratonic basin of southeastern France partly revealed in the French Central Massif. During this period, the sedimentation took place in an intermediate environment between the continental domain and the maritime domain. Analyses were carried out on samples taken in the departments of the Rhone (valley of Azergues), of Ardèche (site of Crussol), and of the Gard (sites of Serre and Seyras), places where Triassic rocks out crop well. These are Ladinian in age according to our biostratigraphical results, whereas they were previously considered Late Carnian in age in the valley of Azergues, and Late Ladinian-Early Carnian in the Gard district. The palynofacies are composed of phytoclasts and a spore and pollen assemblage that is dominated by Triadispora. The principal component analysis applied to the phytoclasts, using the terminology and ameliorated classification of Whitaker, shows a particular arrangement of the phytodetrital particles. In order of increasing buoyancy the arrangement of palynomaceral groups is PM1E, PM1T, PM2, PM4E and PM4T. Axis 1, which includes the phytoparticles, is assumed to be the buoyancy axis. The maxima of PM4T particles are associated with low-energy conditions and are delivered by black marls. The maxima of PM1E and PM2 particles are associated with high-energy conditions and delivered by siltstones and sandstones. In this depositional system the buoyancy axis 1 would also correspond to the energy axis.     

Sedimentary facies analysis of the subsurface triassic and hydrocarbon potential in the United Arab Emirates

Summary The Triassic sediments in the subsurface of the United Arab Emirates has been divided into three formations (from bottom to top): Sudair, Jilh (Gulailah) and Minjur. The Sudair Formation consists of four lithofacies units composed mainly of limestones and minor dolomites interbedded with terrigenous shaley mudstones and anhydritic dolomitic limestones. These were deposited in shallow marine supratidal to subtidal settings. The Jilh (Gulailah) Formation has five lithofacies units dominated by anhydritic dolomitic limestone, fine terrigenoclastic sediments and bioclastic and intraclastic limestones. The formation was laid down under lagoonal to supratidal sabkha conditions with little normal marine influence. The Minjur Formation is composed of three lithofacies units characterized by argillaceous quartzitic sandstones, shales, mudstones, dolomitic and ferruginous limestones with thin coal seams. These facies represent deposition in prograding delta lobes, reflecting humid continental to marginal-marine conditions. Diagenesis plays a major role in the reservoir development in the Triassic sediments, the pores are occluded by dolomite and anhydrite. The grains are compacted, leached or cemented by marine cements. Porosity generally ranges from fair to poor with values from 6% to 9% in the carbonates and from 6% to 15% in the clastics. Interparticle and vuggy porosities are the main pore types. The porosity was controlled by diagenesis, depth of burial and lithology. No oil has been discovered so far in the Triassic sediments of the United Arab Emirates but pronounced gas shows have been reported from offshore fields. Western offshore United Arab Emirates is a promising area for potential hydrocarbon accumulations. The Triassic sediments have low to moderate source rock potential; the organic matter is mainly sapropelic kerogen, and the degree of thermal alteration ranges between mature to highly mature stages.     

中国三叠纪海生爬行类综述

三叠纪海生爬行类化石广泛分布于中国南方的安徽、湖北、贵州、云南、广西和西藏。它们不仅包括有世界性分布的鱼龙类、鳍龙类、海龙类、原龙类等,而且还有仅出现于扬子海区的湖北鳄类。简单回顾了中国三叠纪海生爬行类的研究历史。根据化石的地史分布确认了自早三叠世晚期至晚三叠世早期的7个海生爬行类组合带。它们是奥伦尼克期的 Chaohu- saurus-Keichousaurus-Hupehsuchus 组合带,安尼期的 Chinchenia-Sanchiaosaurus 组合带和 Dino- cephalosaurus-Mixosaurus 组合带,拉丁期的 Dingxiaosaurus 带和 Keichousaurus-Nothosaurus 组合带,卡尼期的 Anshunsaurus-Qianichthyosaurus-Sinocyamodus 组合带和诺利期的 Himalayasaurus 带。对化石的古地理环境分析表明,中国早三叠世晚期的海生爬行类主要分布于扬子海区东部(安徽、湖北)的浅海开阔台地和局限海台地。中三叠世由于东部地区的抬升,鱼龙类和鳍龙类向西扩散,在扬子区西部(贵州、云南)辐射发展,在拉丁期达到个体数量和种类的高峰。晚三叠世卡尼期动物的数量依然很多,个体有增大的趋向,但高级分类阶元的数量减少,它们埋藏于海水相对较深的浊积岩相中。晚三叠世诺利期的化石发现于西藏的定日和聂拉木,这是中国惟一属于冈瓦那特提斯区的三叠纪海生爬行类组合带,仅含大型的鱼龙类。受动物的生存环境和埋藏条件的影响,中国三叠纪海生爬行类化石记录并不完整。目前尚有相当数量的化石未经研究,已记述的化石也需要在研究程度上进一步深化。     

Absence of Suction Feeding Ichthyosaurs and Its Implications for Triassic Mesopelagic Paleoecology

Mesozoic marine reptiles and modern marine mammals are often considered ecological analogs, but the extent of their similarity is largely unknown. Particularly important is the presence/absence of deep-diving suction feeders among Mesozoic marine reptiles because this would indicate the establishment of mesopelagic cephalopod and fish communities in the Mesozoic. A recent study suggested that diverse suction feeders, resembling the extant beaked whales, evolved among ichthyosaurs in the Triassic. However, this hypothesis has not been tested quantitatively. We examined four osteological features of jawed vertebrates that are closely linked to the mechanism of suction feeding, namely hyoid corpus ossification/calcification, hyobranchial apparatus robustness, mandibular bluntness, and mandibular pressure concentration index. Measurements were taken from 18 species of Triassic and Early Jurassic ichthyosaurs, including the presumed suction feeders. Statistical comparisons with extant sharks and marine mammals of known diets suggest that ichthyosaurian hyobranchial bones are significantly more slender than in suction-feeding sharks or cetaceans but similar to those of ram-feeding sharks. Most importantly, an ossified hyoid corpus to which hyoid retractor muscles attach is unknown in all but one ichthyosaur, whereas a strong integration of the ossified corpus and cornua of the hyobranchial apparatus has been identified in the literature as an important feature of suction feeders. Also, ichthyosaurian mandibles do not narrow rapidly to allow high suction pressure concentration within the oral cavity, unlike in beaked whales or sperm whales. In conclusion, it is most likely that Triassic and Early Jurassic ichthyosaurs were ‘ram-feeders’, without any beaked-whale-like suction feeder among them. When combined with the inferred inability for dim-light vision in relevant Triassic ichthyosaurs, the fossil record of ichthyosaurs does not suggest the establishment of modern-style mesopelagic animal communities in the Triassic. This new interpretation matches the fossil record of coleoids, which indicates the absence of soft-bodied deepwater species in the Triassic.     

四川江油渔洞子下三叠统飞仙关组巨鲕灰岩中疑似蓝细菌及早三叠世疑似蓝细菌的双幕式爆发

二叠纪末海洋生态环境的恶化导致海洋底栖生物的大灭绝及早三叠世蓝细菌的爆发,有关这一时期我国华南蓝细菌化石的报道主要来自早三叠世早期的微生物岩。四川江油渔洞子剖面下三叠统飞仙关组下部巨鲕灰岩中首次发现有丰富的疑似蓝细菌,在种类和结构上与以往所报道的蓝细菌有着明显区别。疑似蓝细菌在巨鲕内和围岩中的富集,表明巨鲕灰岩的成因与疑似蓝细菌的活动有关,与飞仙关组底部微生物岩在成因上有着密切联系,显示早三叠世早期在这一地区发生了疑似蓝细菌的双幕式爆发,同时,暗示着这一地区二叠纪-三叠纪之交至少发生了两次海洋环境恶化及动物灭绝事件。疑似蓝细菌的爆发性生长,对于海洋生态环境的修复和海洋含氧条件的改善,进而为早三叠世末、中三叠世的生物全面复苏、辐射有着重要意义。     

Reworked marine sandstone concretions: a record of high-frequency shallow burial to exhumation cycles

Concretions, with abundant calcite-dolomite cement-replacement textures originally hosted in shallow-marine sandstones, were reworked into Lower Cretaceous fluvio-deltaic conglomerates and shoreface sandstones (External Zones, Betic Cordillera). A cycle of host sand deposition, early diagenetic concretion formation and concretion reworking is documented: (1) Well-sorted shoreface sandstone deposited. (2) Spherical to ovoid, non-ferroan calcite-cemented concretions formed below flooding surfaces at shallow-burial depths during early eodiagenesis. Non-ferroan calcite cements were precipitated from the bicarbonate derived from seawater and from dissolution of marine bioclasts, as shown by isotope analyses. (3) Concretions were reworked and exposed on the seafloor in a high-energy setting as indicated by the presence of numerous bivalve borings (Entobia ichnofacies), laminated micritic microbial crusts around the concretions, and epilithobionts (oysters, barnacles and corals) on the concretion surface. Concretions also appear as erosional remnants on the floor of channels which were incised into the shoreline sandstone when sea-level fell. (4) The fluvio–deltaic channels were filled with sediment during flooding in the late lowstand of sea-level. (5) The concretions are partly dolomitized, and the presence of siderite, pyrite and barite in the outer part of the concretions precipitated before the dolomite, suggests that the latter formed during shallow burial.     

Middle Triassic horseshoe crab reproduction areas on intertidal flats of Europe with evidence of predation by archosaurs

A systematically excavated track site in a 243.5 Myr old Middle Triassic (Karlstadt Formation, Pelsonian, middle Anisian) intertidal carbonate mud‐flat palaeoenvironment at Bernburg (Saxony‐Anhalt, central Germany) has revealed extensive horseshoe crab trackways attributable to the Kouphichnium Nopsca, 1923 ichnogenus. The exposed track bed of a Germanic Basin‐wide spanned intertidal megatrack site is a mud‐cracked biolaminate surface on which detailed tracks have been preserved because of rapid drying and cementation as a result of high temperatures, followed by rapid covering with a protective layer of arenitic storm or tsunami sediments. The different trackway types and their orientations have allowed a tidal sequence to be reconstructed, with the initial appearance of swimming horseshoe crabs followed by half‐swimming/half‐hopping limulids under the shallowest water conditions. The Bernburg trackways, which have mapped lengths of up to 40 m, were all produced by adult animals and exhibit a variety of shapes and patterns that reflect a range of subaquatic locomotion behaviour more typical of mating than of feeding activities. The closest match to the proportions and dimensions of the horseshoe crab tracks at Bernburg is provided by the largest known Middle Triassic limulid Tachypleus gadeai, which is known from the north‐western Tethys in Spain. The horseshoe crab body fossils recognized in the German Mesozoic intertidal zones, instead, are from juveniles. The uniformly adult size indicated by the trackways therefore suggests that they may record the oldest intertidal reproductive zones of horseshoe crabs known from anywhere in the world, with the track‐makers having possibly migrated thousands of kilometres from shallow marine areas of the north‐western Tethys to reproduce in the intertidal palaeoenvironments of the Germanic Basin. Chirotherium trackways of large thecodont archosaurs also appeared on these flats where they appear to have fed on the limulids. With the tidal ebb, smaller reptiles such as Macrocnemus (Rhynchosauroides trackways) appeared on the dry intertidal flats, probably feeding on marine organisms and possibly also on horseshoe crab eggs. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 103 , 76–105.     

Die Verbreitung der limnischen MeduseMedusina limnica Müller 1978 im Rotliegenden Mitteleuropas

The fresh water medusoid fossilMedusina limnica Müller, 1978 has a large regional, but a rather restricted vertical distribution within the continental Rotliegend facies. Its main occurrence is in the higher, but not highest part of the Rotliegend supergroup in red coloured claystones, siltstones, and finegrained sandstones of Artinskian age. Any marine influence can be excluded in Rotliegend sediments of this age in the European hercynian intramontane basin. Kurzfassung: Die fossile limnische MeduseMedusina limnica Müller 1978 hat innerhalb der kontinentalen Rotliegend-Fazies (Oberkarbon-Unterperm) eine große regionale, aber eine ziemlich begrenzte vertikale Verbreitung. Ihr Hauptvorkommen liegt im höheren, aber nicht höchsten Teil des Rotliegenden in rot gefärbten Tonsteinen, Schiuffsteinen und feinkörnigen Sandsteinen, die in das Artinskian eingestuft werden können. In den varistischen Intramontanbecken Europas kann in Rotliegend-Sedimenten dieses Alters jeglicher marine Einfluß ausgeschlossen werden.     

A fan delta succession rich in water escape structures (Upper Turonian, Brandenberg, Austria): Possible record of paleoseismicity

Summary The Upper Turonian of Brandenberg (Austria) is based by a transgressive fan delta succession rich in water escape structures that, at least in part, may have formed in association with earthquakes. The investigated fan delta is among the oldest deposits of the Lower Gosau Subgroup (Upper Turonian to Lower Campanian), a terrestrial to neritic succession that unconformably overlies older carbonate rocks. In its subaerial part, the fan succession consists mainly of conglomerates deposited from mass flows, interlayered with red claystones to siltstones. Along the fringe of marine transgression, beachface/channel mouth conglomerates and bioturbated siltstones to fine sandstones accumulated. The marine part of the fan delta succession consists mainly of cross-laminated and hummocky cross-laminated arenites deposited in a wave/storm-domainated shoreface. Excellent preservation of sedimentary lamination throughout and near absence of bioturbation indicate (intermittently) rapid sediment accumulation. Intercalated shoreface conglomerates are present as compound channel-fills, and as thin sheets alongside and off channels. Offshore transport of gravels to cobbles into the shoreface may have been driven by river floods (in the most proximal positions) and by storm rip currents (farther seaward). Towards the top of the succession, conglomerate sheets disappear, and the arenites become bioturbated. In the succession of shore zone arenites, abundant water escape structures include distorted/convoluted lamination, short fluidization planes, tabular fissures (some associated with offset of beds), pods and lenses of internal breccias, pillow beds up to more than 1 m thick, and hitherto undescribed, cyclindrical structures (“onion structures”) built by concentrically arranged planes interpreted as water escape routes. The tabular fissures, internal breccias and the pillow beds are closely similar to water escape structures documented from historical earthquakes and from inferred paleo-earthquakes. Storm wave loading or wave-induced microseisms are considered less probable triggers of the larger dewatering structures. Water escape structures represent an hitherto unappreciated, although not strictly diagnostic, indicator of syndepositional tectonism in the Upper Cretaceous of the Eastern Alps.     

Late Triassic sedimentary evolution of Slovenian Basin (eastern Southern Alps): description and correlation of the Slatnik Formation

Successions of the Slovenian Basin structurally belong to the easternmost Southern Alps. During the Late Triassic, they were part of the Adriatic continental margin. Norian–Rhaetian successions of the Slovenian Basin are characterized mainly by dolomite of the Bača Dolomite Formation. However, in the northern part of the basin, Late Triassic limestone is preserved above Bača Dolomite Formation and is formalized as the Slatnik Formation. It is composed of hemipelagic limestone alternating with resedimented limestones. The succession documents an upward progradation of the slope environment composed of three high-frequency cycles. Most prominent progradation is referred to the second, i.e., Early Rhaetian cycle. The Slatnik Formation ends with thin-bedded hemipelagic limestone that records the end-Triassic productivity crisis, or rapid sea-level fall. The overlying resedimented limestones of the Early Jurassic Krikov Formation, document the recovery of production and shedding from the adjacent carbonate platform.     

Figures sédimentaireset traces d'origine biologique du Trias moyen de la bordure orientale du Massif Central signification sédimentologique et paléoécologique

The sandstones with foot-prints of reptiles and saltcasts from the Middle Triassic of the eastern border of the Massif Central (France) show a striking reptilian ichnofauna. The numerous sedimentary figures and trace fossils which are described here allow to deduce the following characteristics of the depositional environment: shallow water, lower flow regime, periodical increase of salinity. The reptiles used to pass through that environment where numerous stretches of water alternated with emerged, plant overgrown areas.     

CARBONATE DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS, SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY AND EXCEPTIONAL SKELETAL PRESERVATION IN THE MUCH WENLOCK LIMESTONE FORMATION (SILURIAN) OF DUDLEY, ENGLAND

Abstract:  The Much Wenlock Limestone Formation of the Dudley inliers, West Midlands, contains one of the world's richest and most exquisitely preserved Silurian marine biotas. However, for most museum specimens, little is known of their exact provenance and mode of preservation. Detailed comparisons between outcrops and museum collections allow the identification of five faunal-lithological associations and numerous horizons of exceptional skeletal preservation. The associations are interpreted as a series of transient carbonate mid-platform environments extending from below storm wave-base to above fair-weather wave-base. Erosive surfaces, condensed sections, flooding surfaces and the stacking patterns of genetically related bed-sets (parasequences) have allowed the formation to be interpreted as a single third-order sequence stratigraphic cycle of sea-level change. The articulated preservation of taxa such as pelmatozoan echinoderms and trilobites can be attributed to either rapid burial by obrution deposits close to fair-weather wave-base or smothering by storm sequestered muds in slightly deeper-water settings. Such intervals of exceptional preservation are commonly associated with flooding surfaces, presumably reflecting reduced likelihood of reworking once rapid burial had taken place.