Coralline red algal limestones of the late Eocene alpine Foreland Basin in Upper Austria: Component analysis, facies and palecology

Summary Late Eocene sediments of the Upper Austrian Alpine Foreland Basin discordantly overlie Mesozoic and crystalline rocks, which are deeply eroded and form a distinct pre-Eocene relief. Late Eocene deposits contain red algal limestones with a remarkable lateral extent and a high diversity of sedimentary facies. Towards the south the algal limestones change into more clastic sediments, which are characterized by larger foraminifera and bryozoans. Main components are coralline algal branches and detritus, coralline crusts, rhodoliths, peyssonneliacean aggregates and crusts, nummulitid and orthophragminid foraminifera, corals, bryozoans, as well as terrigenous components. Rank correlation and factor analysis were calculated in order to obtain informations about relations between components. Hierarchical cluster analysis allowed the designation of 17 facies, most of them are dominated by coralline algae. Actualistic comparisons and correlations obtained from statistical analyses allowed the reconstruction of the depositional environments. Main features of the northern area are huge accumulations of unattached coralline algae (branches, rhodoliths, detritus), which are comparable to the present-day “Maerl”-facies. They formed loose frameworks cut by sand channels. The frequency of coralline detritus decreases upsection. Peyssonneliacean algae in higher parts of the profiles show growth-forms that are comparable to peyssonneliaceans of the Mediterranean circalittoral soft bottoms. This succession can be interpreted by an increasing relative sea level. Besides, crustose coralline algal frameworks were growing on morphological highs which are partially comparable to the present-day “Coralligéne de Plateau” of the Mediterranean Sea. In contrast to the northern area, sedimentation rate of the southern area is too low to keep up with rising sea level. The typical succession from nummulitid- to orthophragminid-and bryozoan-dominated facies can be interpreted by an increasing water depth from shallowest subtidal to the deeper photic zone and finally to the aphotic zone.     

Sarmatian (Late Middle Miocene) gastropod assemblages of the Central Paratethys

Summary A rather diverse gastropod fauna from Sarmatian deposits of the Austrian/Hungarian Eisenstadt-Sopron Basin was studied. The fauna derives from two layers of clay and silt within a siliciclastic section at St. Margarethen in Burgenland (Austria). These layers are interpreted as littoral mudflats which formed during the Sarmatian (Late Middle Miocene) along the western coast of the Central Paratethys. Strong shifts in the composition of the gastropod fauna, dominated by Potamididae (Cenogastropoda: Cerithioidea), within each layer indicate successions of limnic-fluvial to oligohaline, brackish-littoral, and marine-littoral environments. These shifts in facies are reflected by an alternational of thePotamides hartbergensis assemblage,Granulolabium bicinctum assemblage, and thePotamides disjunctus assemblage. The speciesJujubinus turriculus (Eichwald, 1850),Gibbula buchi (Dubois, 1831), andCylichnina elongata (Eichwald, 1830) are reported for the first time from the Sarmatian of the Paratethys.Mitrella agenta nov. sp. (Neogastropoda: Columbellidae) is introduced as a new species. These species might represent relics of the diverse Badenian fauna but could also prove a minor ingression of marine species from an adjacent bioprovince in the Late SarmatianMactra “Zone”.     

Microstructural details in shells of the gastropod genera Carychiella and Carychium of the Middle Miocene

Microstructural details are revealed via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in two carychiid species from the early Middle Miocene of Styria, SE Austria. The protoconchs of the shells of Carychiella eumicrum (Bourguignat 1857) and Carychium gibbum (Sandberger 1875) show different types of microstructure on the embryonic shell during ontogeny. Total, superficial punctate structure on the shell of Carychiella eumicrum contrasts with the protoconch–teleoconch demarcation (p/t boundary) observed on the protoconch of Carychium gibbum. Both species exhibit aragonitic microstructure. Diagenetic effects, prismatic, homogeneous and crossed lamellar microstructures are detectible in both species. Rheomorphic folding and dense pitting within the columella of Carychiella eumicrum suggest a structure–function relationship for tensile strength and bulk weight reduction in carychiid snails. We hypothesize that total superficial pitting on the shell of C. eumicum, seen here for the first time in the Carychiidae, suggests paedomorphosis as a life‐history strategy to palaeoecological conditions of the Rein Basin during the early Middle Miocene.     

The schulterkofel section in the Carnic Alps,Austria: Implications for the carboniferous-permian boundary

Summary The upper part of the LowerPseudoschwagerina Limestone (Rattendorf Group), outcropping on the northwestern flank of Schulterkofel Mountain, Carnic Alps (Austria) is described with special emphasis on fusulinid microfossils and facies. This fusulinid-rich section offers an ideal opportunity for biostratigraphy in defining the Permo-Carboniferous boundary in this region. The LowerPseudoschwagerina Limestone is composed of shallow-marine limestones with intercalated thin siltstone and sandstone beds. Fusulinid limestones are represented by two types of wackestones, both containing large quantities of smaller foraminifers. Fusulinid grainstones are rare. Limestones rich in fusulinids were found only within the bedded limestone facies in beds both below and especially above siliciclastic intercalations. This may indicate that the best living conditions for fusulinids existed immediately before and especially after the climax of a regressive phase (sea-level lowstand). The fusulinid limestones were deposited within a protected, shallow-marine shelf environment with normal salinity. Pseudoschwagerinid fusulinids appear in the upper part of the LowerPseudoschwagerina Limestone, in samples SK 107d (undeterminable species) and SK 108, i.e. between 92 m and 93 m above the base of the section within a bedded limestone immediately above the uppermost clastic intercalation. The fusulinid fauna is represented by about 30 species belonging to only a few genera. Species ofTriticites andRugosofusulina dominate, whereas those ofDaixina, Rugosochusenella andPseudofusulina are rare. A characteristic feature of the fauna is the strong similarity with fusulinid faunas described from Russia as well as from Middle and East Asia. Some of the described fusulinids are new for the Carnic Alps. The first appearance ofPseudoschwagerina andOccidentoschwagerina (Occidentoschwagerina alpina Zone) in the upper part of the LowerPseudoschwagerina Limestone in the Schulterkofel section defines the position of the Carboniferous-Permian boundary.     

Carbonate breccias in the lower-middle Ordovician Maggol Limestone (Taebacksan Basin,South Korea): Implications for regional tectonism

Summary Carbonate breccias occur sporadically in the Lower-Middle Ordovician Maggol Limestone exposed in the Taebacksan Basin, South Korea. These carbonate breccias have been previously interpreted as intraformational or fault breccias. Thus, little attention has been focused on tectonic and stratigraphic significance of these breccias. This study, however, indicates that the majority of these breccias are solution-collapse breccias, which are causally linked to paleokarstification. Carbonate facies analysis in conjunction with conodont biostratigraphy suggests that an overall regression toward the top of the Maggol Limestone probably culminated in subaerial exposure of platform carbonates during the early Middle Ordovician. Extensive subaerial exposure of platform carbonates resulted in paleokarst-related solution-collapse breccias in the upper maggol Limestone. This subaerial exposure event is manifested as a major paleokarst unconformity elsewhere beneath the Middle Ordovician sequence, most notably North America and North China. Due to its global extent, the early Middle ordovician paleokarst unconformity (‘the Sauk-Tippecanoe sequence boundary’) has been viewed as a product of second-order eustatic sea level drop during the early Middle Ordovician. Although we recognizes a paleokarst breccia zone in the upper Maggol Limestone beneath the Middle Ordovician sequence, the early Middle Ordovician sequence boundary appears to be a conformable transgressive surface or a drowning unconformity, rather than a major paleokarst unconformity. The paleokarst breccia zone in the upper Maggol Limestone is represented by a thinning-upward stack of exposure-capped tidal flat-dominated cycles that are closely associated with multiple occurrences of paleokarst-related solution-collapse breccias. The paleokarst breccia zone in the upper Maggol Limestone was a likely consequence of repeated high-frequency sea level fluctuations of fourth- and fifth-order superimposed on a second-and third-order eustatic fall in sea level that was less than the rate of tectonic subsidence across the platform. It suggests that second- and thirdorder eustatic sea level drop may have been significantly tempered by substantial tectonic subsidence near the end of maggol deposition. The tectonic subsidence in the basin is also evidenced by the occurrence of coeval off-platform lowstand siliciclastic quarzite lenses as well as debris flow carbonate breccias. With the continued tectonic subsidence, subsequent rise in the eustatic cycle caused drowning and deep flooding of carbonate platform, forming a conformable transgressive surface or a drowning unconformity on the top of the paleokarst breccia zone. This tectonic implication contrasts notably with the slowly subsiding carbonate platform model for the Taebacksan Basin as previously intepreted. Here we propose that the Taebacksan Basin evolved from a slowly subsiding carbonate platform to a rapidly subsiding intracontinental rift basin during the early Middle Ordovician. This study also provides a good example that the falling part of the eustatic sea-level cycle may not produce a significant event at all in a rapidly subsiding basin where the rate of eustatic fall always remained lower than the rate of subsidence.     

Microfacies controls on weathering of carbonate building stones: Devonian (northern Sauerland,Germany)

Summary The Beisinghausen Limestone (Upper Givetian to Frasnian) in the Eslohe-Reiste area (northern Sauerland), used in the past as building stone, corresponds to proximal carbonate turbidites which have been derived from the Attendom-Elspe ‘reef’ complex. The particles of this allodapic limestone originated in different parts of the carbonate complex as shown by facies-diagnostic microfossils (foraminifera, calcisphaeres, calcareous algae, microproblematica). The fossils as well as the other dominating grain types (lumps, peloids) point to source areas located within lagoonal and slope environments. Reef-derived material is rare. The turbidites exhibit four microfacies types, differentiated by composition and size of the grains as well as by micrite content and corresponding to the common vertical and lateral textural variation of limestone turbidites. These MF types were recognized in outcrops as well as from building stones used in building the St. Pankratius church in Eslohe-Reiste (northern Sauerland) in 1849 and in the renovation of the church in 1963/64. The comparison of microfacies and the degree of the destruction of ‘old’ and ‘new” building stones by weathering (macroscopically described by the ◂Fabric Index’: Product of the ‘Rock Destruction Risk’ and the ‘Rock Preparation Destruction Degree’) shows that intrabioclastic rudstones (MF type 1) and bioclastic grainstones (MF type 2), both characterizing the basal parts of the turbidite beds, are more resistant to weathering destruction originating from freezing and thawing than packstones (MF type 4). Weathering of micritic facies types (e.g., MF 4) is more intensive due to the stronger development of joint systems affecting not only the surface of the building stones but the entire dimension stone. Porosity or the existence and amount of stylolites seem to have had no significant impact on the weathering of the building stones studied. The stronger weathering of building stones used in the original construction of the church as compared with the stones applied in this century is caused by the greater time interval available for mechanical weathering connected with freezing and thawing. The consideration of microfacies of limestone turbidites should facilitate the exploitation of weathering-resistant carbonate building stones.     

Middle Triassic carbonate deposits and calcareous algae from the Sasca zone (Southern Carpathians,Romania)

Summary The Sasca zone situated in the innermost part of the Getic Domain from the South Carpathians comprises mainly Triassic deposits of Scythian-Anisian (?Ladinian) age that can be ascribed to four different members forming the Sasca Formation. Three of the members consist of carbonate deposits. Their study permitted a brief characterization of the main microfacies types, and especially in the Valea Susara Limestone Member the identification of a relatively rich association of foraminifers and calcareous algae. The assemblage withMeandrospira dinarica, Pilammina densa, Oligoporella pilosa andPoncetella hexaster identified in these limestones indicates a Middle Anisian age (Pelsonian-Lowermost Illyrian). Difficulties arise in differentiating between the forms belonging to theOligoporella-Physoporella group for which a taxonomic revision is necessary. The morphologic characteristics of the three varieties ofDiplopora subtilis allow a splitting into different species.Teutloporella peniculiformis Ott, 1963 is regarded as anomen nudum.     

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.     

Stratigraphy and microfacies of the oligocene sequence at Gabal Bu Husah, Marada Oasis, South Sirte Basin, Libya

Summary Stratigraphic and microfacies investigations carried out on the Oligocene sequence exposed at Gabal Bu Husah, northwest of Marada Oasis, south of the Sirte Basin, Libya, showed that the Oligocene sequence conformably overlies the Late Eocene Thamat Formation and unconformably underlies the Early to Middle Miocene Marada Formation (Qarat Jahannam Member). The lithostratigraphic studies of the Oligocene sequence revealed the presence of two rock units, from base to top: 1- Umm Ad Dahiy Formation (Early Oligocene, Rupelian) and 2- Bu Hashish Formation (Late Oligocene, Chattian). The Oligocene sequence yields a rich foraminiferal assemblage with fifty-one benthonic and large formaminiferal species. The foraminiferal analysis allowed to subdivide the sequence into three local foraminiferal assemblage zones, arranged stratigraphically from base to top: 1)Elphidium minutum zone comprising the Umm Ad Dahiy Formation. 2)Miogypsinoides complanatus/Nonion granosus assemblage zone covering the lower two thirds of the Bu Hashish Formation. 3) Zone with abundantNummulites spp., including the upper part of the Bu Hashish Formation. The paleoenvironmental significance of the recorded species is described and discussed. The microfacies studies led to the recognition of eleven microfacies types. These microfacies indicate that the lower part of the Umm Ad Dahiy Formation was deposited in a shallow warm marine environment, but the conditions changed to fluviomarine in the uppermost part. The Bu Hashish Formation was deposited in a shallow-marine, inner-shelf environment (as indicated by the operculinid limestone) but a probable hiatus in its middle part is indicated by the presence of a nummulitic coquina and gypsum beds formed in a lagoonal environment. After returning to a shallow marine environment at the end of Oligocene the marine sedimentation ended.     

Carbonate facies dominated by syndepositional cements: a key component of Middle Triassic platforms. The Marmolada case history (Dolomites, Italy)

Summary This article deals with the discussion of the role of the syndepositional cementation for the growth of the Middle Triassic pre-volcanic carbonate platforms of the Dolomites (Southern Alps, Northern Italy). The study is concentrated on the Marmolada Buildup, which escaped the facies destroying dolomitization which affected many surrounding platforms. The investigations took place within an almost isochronous uppermost Anisian palcogeographic transect, ranging from the platform-top to the margin and the upper slope. Methods used include geological mapping, sedimentological and paleontological studies, evaluation of the microfacies, as well as SEM and EDS epifluorescence analyses. The well bedded platform-top succession consists of intra-bioclast calcarenites and calcirudites, interbedded with subordinate boundstones, and organized in shallowing upward, meter scale depositional cycles, sometimes capped by subaerial surfaces. The platform margin belt is rich in boundstones and lacks a primary framework formed by organisms; metazoan skeletons form less then 5% of the rock volume. The outer margin and the uppermost slope are characterized by decimeter-scale boundstone blocks, coated and linked to each other by huge amounts of radiaxial fibrous calcite cements, arranged in concentric crusts. These cements (“evinospongiac”) represent the main component of the margin and upper slope facies. Epifluorescence analyses suggest the existence of abundant organic residual matter associated not only with the bioclasts and peloids, but also with the syndepositional cements. Organic matter likely played a significant role in carbonate cementation and was a key factor for the early lithification of the platform as well as for the sediment production. Minor element microanalyses reveal an uniform Mg content in different calcite types (2–4 Mole % MgCO₃), independently from the primary nature of the components. Late diagenetic sparry calcites exhibit similar Mg values but no iron. These data point to a homogenization of minor element distribution, probably associated with a slow but long-lasting semi-closed fluid circulation, possibly related with the Neogene uplifting of the Dolomite Mountains.     

A contribution towards the reconstruction of Eemian vegetation and climate in central Europe: First results of pollen and oxygen-isotope investigations from Mondsee, Austria

In this paper, the results of pollen analysis and oxygen-isotope investigations of two new cores from Mondsee are discussed. The climatic progression from the end of the penultimate glaciation to the end of the Eemian interglacial is compared with reconstructions from Bispingen and Gräbern, northern Germany. The rise in temperature, between thePinus phase and the climate optimum in theCorylus phase, appears to have occurred in two steps. Evidence for climatic deterioration is first recorded during thePicea-Pinus phase, i.e. after theCarpinus phase. These reconstructions are in agreement with those based on the Gräbern pollen data, but contrast with recent reconstructions based on the Bispingen pollen profile and the GRIP ice core from Greenland.     

Facies pattern and genesis of the Jebel Rheris biostromes (Givetian,Eastern Anti-Atlas,Morocco)

Summary During Givetian times, the Jebel Rheris area was situated in a transitional zone at the northern margin of Gondwana, between the emerged Ougnate High in the north and the Mader Basin in the south. A facies pattern developed from stacked or amalgamated coral-stromatoporoid biostromes in the northern near-shore area to an alternating biostrome–crinoidal grainstone succession, which passed over a low angle slope setting towards the south to a pure crinoidal grainstone facies with abundant slumping structures. Finally in the south, a basinal turbiditic facies evolved. In the shallow sea, biostromes probably developed due to the lack of a ‘binder guild’ in the fossil community, which hampered the establishment of mound-like structures, stable enough to resist high-energy storm events. Repeated termination of the coral-stromatoporoid growth is attributed to transgressions. During suitable conditions, colonisation of the sea floor proceeded in three phases: a) cluster settlement; pioneer communities, mostly consisting of tabulate corals and domical to bulbous stromatoporoids, started growing in laterally delimited clusters; b) lateral dispersion; from these centres, settlement prograded laterally, until large areas of the sea-floor were covered; c) vertical accretion; the organisms more and more grew on each other, causing a homogeneous vertical expansion. A significant difference of this up to 200 m thick biostrome—crinoidal grainstone succession compared to continuously growing reefs is the fact that communities repeatedly had to start with the colonisation stage, thus could not reach a mature or climax stage.     

Basin elevation and salinity changes: late Holocene development of two freshwater lakes at the Karelian White Sea coast,northwest Russia as reflected in their sediments

In this paleolimnological multi-proxy study, anthropogenic influences and salinity changes of the northwest Russian lakes Erchovskye Ozero East (ESE) and Erchovskye Ozero West (ESW) were assessed using diatoms, pollen and other microfossils from ²¹⁰Pb-dated sediment cores. Both lakes are situated on the Fennoscandian Shield in direct vicinity to the White Sea coast, a region that is still subject to isostatic land uplift processes today. The analyses showed that both lakes evolved from typical saltwater-dominated coastal waters to freshwater lakes within the last two centuries. Salinity was found to be the determining environmental factor for the aquatic biota whereas no significant anthropogenic influences on the lakes could be detected. The decreasing salinity in both lakes was caused by basin elevation and isolation due to isostatic rebound of the Fennoscandian Shield. A hypothetical land uplift rate of 5.7 mm yr⁻¹ was calculated based on data from the sediment cores analysed. Guest editors: K. Buczkó, J. Korponai, J. Padisák & S. W. Starratt Palaeolimnological Proxies as Tools of Environmental Reconstruction in Fresh Water     

Growth of cotton under continuous salinity stress: influence on allocation pattern,stomatal and non-stomatal components of photosynthesis and dissipation of excess light energy

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) plants were grown in flowing-culture solutions containing 0%, 26% and 55% natural seawater under controlled and otherwise identical conditions. Leaf Na⁺ content rose to 360 mM in 55% seawater, yet the K⁺ content was maintained above 100 mM. The K⁺/Na⁺ selectivity ratio was much greater in the saline plants than in the control plants. All plants were healthy and able to complete the life cycle but relative growth rate fell by 46% in 26% seawater and by 83% in 55% seawater. Much of this reduction in growth was caused by a decreased allocation of carbon to leaf growth versus root growth. The ratio of leaf area/plant dry weight fell by 32% in 26% seawater and by 50% in 55 % seawater while the rate of carbon gain per unit leaf area fell by only 20% in 26% seawater and by as much as 66% in 55% seawater. Partial stomatal closure accounted for nearly all of the fall in the photosynthesis rate in 26% seawater but in 55% seawater much of the fall also can be attributed to non-stomatal factors. As a result of the greater effect of salinity on stomatal conductance than on CO₂-uptake rate, photosynthetic water-use efficiency was markedly improved by salinity. This was also confirmed by stablecarbon-isotope analyses of leaf sugar and of leaf cellulose and starch. — Although non-stomatal photosynthetic capacity at the growth light was reduced by as much as 42% in 55% seawater, no effects were detected on the intrinsic photon yield of photosynthesis nor on the efficiency of photosystem II photochemistry, chlorophyll a/b ratio, carotenoid composition or the operation of the xanthophyll cycle. Whereas salinity caused in increase in mesophyll thickness and content of chloroplast pigments it caused a decrease in total leaf nitrogen content. The results indicate that the salinity-induced reduction in non-stomatal photosynthetic capacity was not caused by any detrimental effect on the photosynthetic apparatus but reflects a decreased allocation to enzymes of carbon fixation. — Rates of energy dissipation via CO₂ fixation and photorespiration, calculated from gas-exchange measurements, were insufficient to balance the rate of light-energy absorption at the growth light. Salinity therefore would have been expected to cause the excess excitation energy to rise, leading to an increased nonradiative dissipation in the pigment bed and resulting increases in non-photochemical fluorescence quenching and zeaxanthin formation. However, no such changes could be detected, implying that salinity may have increased energy dissipation via a yet unidentified energy-consuming process. This lack of a response to salinity stress is in contrast to the responses elicited by short-term water stress which caused strong non-photochemical quenching and massive zeaxanthin formation.Abbreviations and Symbols A net rate of CO₂ uptake - A_c calculated rate of CO₂ uptake at constant p_i - Chl chlorophyll - E rate of transpiration - EPS epoxidation state of xanthophyll cycle components - F, F_m fluorescence emission at the actual, full reduction of PSII reaction centers - F_v variable fluorescence - g_s stomatal conductance to water vapor - g_w conductance to CO₂transfer from intercellular spaces to chloroplasts - NPQ non-photochemical fluorescence quenching - p_a, p_i, p_c atmospheric, intercellular and chloroplastic partial pressures of CO₂ - PCRO photosynthetic carbon reduction and oxygenation cycle sum of the rate of carboxylation and oxygenation - PFD photon flux density - PSII photosystem II - V+A+Z pool size of xanthophyll cycle components - ¹³C carbon-isotope composition - (_PSII) photon yield of PSII photochemistry at the actual reduction state in the light * C.I.W.-D.P.B. Publication No. 1115, CNR-RAISA paper No. XXXWe thank Connie Shih for skilful assistance in growing plants and for conducting HPLC analyses and Barbara Mortimer for conducting the nitrogen analyses. Thanks are also due to C. Barry Osmond (now, Australian National University, Research School of Biological Sciences, Canberra) and Larry Giles of the Department of Botany, Duke University, Durham, N.C., for conducting carbonisotope analysis. E.B. was partially supported by the National Research Council of Italy, Special Project RAISA, Sub-Project No. 2. A Carnegie Institution Fellowship to E.B. is also gratefully acknowledged. This work was supported by grant No. 89-37-280-4902 of the Competitive Grant Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to O.B.     

Autochthonous facies and allochthonous debris flows compared: Early oligocene carbonate facies patterns of the Lower Inn Valley (Tyrol, Austria)

Summary This study presents a microfacies analysis and palaco-environmental interpretations of Early Oligocene carbon ates from the Lower Inn Valley Tertiary (“Unterinntal-Terti?r”) of Austria. The well preserved biogenic components allow detailed investigations of component relationships and controlling ecological parameters. The carbonates are dominated by coralline algae, corals, small and large benthic foraminifers, bryozoans and lithoclasts. Bivalves, gastropods, echinoderms, brachiopods and serpulids are subordinate. The limestones are present as A) autochthonous carbonates transgressing directly above the Triassic basement and B) allochthonous debris flows within deeper-water marls. These carbonates are found within the Paisslberg Formation. The Werlberg Member within this formation, pertains to the autochthonous carbonates and larger debris flows. Five facies types are separated following fabric analysis and statistical treatment (correlation, cluster analysis, principal components analysis) of semi-quantitative data consisting of component frequencies of thin sections. Facies distribution patterns are principally controlled by variations in substrate characteristics, turbulence and light along a depth gradient. Reconstruction of facies pattern distribution reveal both lateral and proximal-distal facies trends: coral-coralline algal facies, coralline algal facies as well as foraminiferal facies were situated in shallower environments, laterally adjacent to each other. These grade distally into coralline algal-bryozoan facies, bryozoan facies and finally into mollusc rich marls. Debris flows consisting of reworked material from all of the known facies (bioclastic packstone facies) is restricted to the debris flow and possible represents transport induced differentiation of components and grain size within distal debris flows.     

Rethinking cystic fibrosis pathology: the critical role of abnormal reduced glutathione (GSH) transport caused by CFTR mutation

Though the cause of cystic fibrosis (CF) pathology is understood to be the mutation of the CFTR protein, it has been difficult to trace the exact mechanisms by which the pathology arises and progresses from the mutation. Recent research findings have noted that the CFTR channel is not only permeant to chloride anions, but other, larger organic anions, including reduced glutathione (GSH). This explains the longstanding finding of extracellular GSH deficit and dramatically reduced extracellular GSH:GSSG (glutathione disulfide) ratio found to be chronic and progressive in CF patients. Given the vital role of GSH as an antioxidant, a mucolytic, and a regulator of inflammation, immune response, and cell viability via its redox status in the human body, it is reasonable to hypothesize that this condition plays some role in the pathogenesis of CF. This hypothesis is advanced by comparing the literature on pathological phenomena associated with GSH deficiency to the literature documenting CF pathology, with striking similarities noted. Several puzzling hallmarks of CF pathology, including reduced exhaled NO, exaggerated inflammation with decreased immunocompetence, increased mucus viscoelasticity, and lack of appropriate apoptosis by infected epithelial cells, are better understood when abnormal GSH transport from epithelia (those without anion channels redundant to the CFTR at the apical surface) is added as an additional explanatory factor. Such epithelia should have normal levels of total glutathione (though perhaps with diminished GSH:GSSG ratio in the cytosol), but impaired GSH transport due to CFTR mutation should lead to progressive extracellular deficit of both total glutathione and GSH, and, hypothetically, GSH:GSSG ratio alteration or even total glutathione deficit in cells with redundant anion channels, such as leukocytes, lymphocytes, erythrocytes, and hepatocytes. Therapeutic implications, including alternative methods of GSH augmentation, are discussed.     

Biostratigraphic subdivision and correlation of Uppermost Carboniferous/Lower Permian sediments in the Southern Alps: Fusulinoidean and condont faunas from the Carnic Alps (Austria/Italy), Karavanke Mountains (Slovenia), and Southern Urals (Russia)

Summary In order to establish a refined biostratigraphic subdivision and correlation of the Uppermost Carboniferous/Lower Permian deposits of the Southern Alps (Carnic Alps, Karavanke Mountains; Austria/Italy/Slovenia), two major microfossil groups (fusulinoideans, conodonts) were investigated within the same sample. The fusulinoidean species diversity (71 species, including five new species and three new subspecies) and generic composition were reviewed and complemented. Additionally, the data on fusulinoidean assemblages were supplemented by co-occurring conodont faunas (seven species). Accompanying studies on material from the type sections of the Southern Urals (Russia) were made to improve the biostratigraphic correlation with the Russian standard zonation and to discuss paleobiogeographical aspects of the faunal associations. An integrated microfacies analysis of the sampled material in the Southern Alps serves to evaluate the relationships between certain genera and specific microfacies types. The fusulinoidean fauna of the Lower “Pseudoschwagerina” Limestone is of late Gzhelian age. The Carboniferous/Permian boundary is close to the base of the Grenzland Formation, which covers the entire Asselian and a part of the Sakmarian. The Upper “Pseudoschwagerina” Limestone and Trogkofel Limestone are Lake Sakmarian to Artinskian. The studies sequences in the Karavanke Mountains. formerly known as “carbonate and clastic Trogkofel beds”, correlate to the Lower “Pseudoschwagerina” Limestone, respectively with parts of the Grenzland Formation. Due to the lithologic differences, new formation names (Dolzanova Soteska Fm., Born Fm.) were introduced for the so-called “Trogkofel” Limestone along the Dolzanova Soteska. Whereas late Gzhelian/Asselian fusulinoidean faunas of the Southern Alps correspond to the Southern Uralian faunas to a large extent, Sakmarian and Artinskian faunas reveal an increasing divergence in species and genus composition. Climatic as well as geographic barriers may have prevennted the dispersal of Paleotethyan taxa into the Southern Urals. Biostratigraphic correlation of Sakmarian to Artinskian deposits is therefore possible only on the basis of the sparse conodont faunas.     

The Oligocene Argyrotopos profile in the external lonian basin (Epirus,Greece): Microfacies and microfossils

Summary The Argyrotopos profile of the Oligocene Ayii Pantes Formation in the NW Greece was studied using litho- and biofacies-analysis. The exposed sequence is mainly composed of monotonous marls and sandy marls. A rich fossil content, e.g. calcareous nannoplankton, is recorded. Some sandstone beds and two graded limestone beds with abundant lepidocyclinids and globigerinids are intercalated. The nannofossil assemblages from the measured profile of the Ayii Pantes Formation are attributed to theSphenolithus distentus Zone (NP 24) which is equivalent to theCyclicargolithus floridanus Subzone (CP 19a) of the Chattian, Upper Oligocene. The deposition took place in an euphotic subtidal environment situated on the eastern margin of the Apulian Platform. The lepidocyclinids were derived from this platform and were transported basinwards. The formation of the marls is influenced by sediment flux from the west.     

不同植被条件下实际蒸散的变化特征及其影响因子——以淮河流域为例

基于遥感-过程耦合模型开展淮河流域2001—2012年实际蒸散(ET)的模拟研究,并对其时空变化特征、不同覆被类型下的区域实际蒸散特征及其主要影响因子进行定量分析.结果表明: 研究期间,研究区年均ET在空间上呈现由东南向西北逐渐递减的趋势;时间上呈现逐年增加趋势,月际波动为双峰变化曲线.不同植被类型下ET的差异性表现为: 农田对研究区域实际蒸散总量的贡献最大;混交林的年均单位面积实际蒸散量最大,裸地的年均单位面积实际蒸散量最小;除裸地以外,其他土地覆被类型年均实际蒸散都呈增长趋势,其中常绿阔叶林实际蒸散增加趋势最明显.平均温度等热力学因子是影响淮河流域实际蒸散的主导因子,其次是辐射因子和水分因子.