New Devonian plant fossil occurrences on the New South Wales South Coast: geological implications

Devonian fossil localities are summarised for coastal southeastern Australia, including both marine invertebrates representing a major late Frasnian (Late Devonian) transgression, and plant remains of Middle–Late Devonian age in associated non-marine strata. Lycopsid plant specimens (Leptophloeum) from near Majors Creek, NSW, first documented by Edgeworth David and E. F. Pittman in association with marine fossils to demonstrate a Late Devonian age, are illustrated for the first time. Lycopsid plants of presumed Middle Devonian age are illustrated from three new localities: Yowrie River inland from Cape Dromedary, Tuross River northwest of Narooma and Charlies Forest Road northeast of Braidwood. The Yowrie River occurrence (in float) indicates probable Middle Devonian strata upstream that are not shown on published maps. The Tuross River occurrence is in sheared and folded strata previously mapped as Ordovician, and the Braidwood occurrence demonstrates Devonian black shales adjacent to previously mapped Ordovician. Evidence supporting alternative thrust or simple fold interpretations for the Budawang Synclinorium is discussed, and relevant Ordovician fossil localities are listed.     

四川盐边稗子田志留系与泥盆系的界线划分及地质意义

四川省盐边县北部稗子田地区的专留系发育良好,牙形刺化石极为丰富,与上覆泥盆系连续沉积,并呈整合接触。该剖面为我国扬子区较为理想的志留纪地层剖面,其代表和反映了扬子区西部一种新的断陷盆地碳酸盐岩沉积类型,丰富了区内志留系的研究内容。笔者详细记述了稗子田专留系至下泥盆统下部剖面的岩性特征和生物化石的垂直分布状部,在此基础上建立和完善区内新的地层系统,提出地层划分的对比依据和建议。新方案除对志留系底的黑     

“路易贝贝”产出层位时代及其古环境

"路易贝贝"恐龙胚胎化石产于中国河南省南阳市西峡县阳城乡,位于西峡盆地上白垩统高沟组下(底)部,是Macroelongatoolithus xixaensis(西峡巨型长形蛋)的胚胎骨骼化石。西峡盆地上白垩统自下而上划分为高沟组、马家村组、寺沟组。高沟组产有丰富的恐龙蛋化石和少量恐龙骨骼化石,以及少量的双壳类、腹足类、介形类、轮藻、植物孢粉、植物化石碎片和丰富的遗迹化石。依据上述化石的地质时代并结合高沟组与上覆马家村组整合接触关系和寺沟组化石组合情况,以及高沟组与下伏泥盆系南湾组角度不整合接触关系和周边相邻盆地的地层对比,将西峡盆地高沟组地质时代置于晚白垩世中晚期的康尼亚克期(Coniacian)。高沟组下、中部为半干旱温热气候条件下的红色陆相类磨拉石建造的陆源碎屑岩,属间歇性的、以牵引流为主的浑水河流冲积扇沉积物;高沟组上部为冲积扇和辫状河沉积。"路易贝贝"所在层位的古地理环境是冲积扇扇端朝向南的、缓坡状宽阔平坦的冲积扇扇面,可归入冲积扇相-扇端亚相-漫流微相。     

西准噶尔克拉赛勒克山和布克河组晚泥盆世化石的发现及其地层归属

西准噶尔地区广泛分布的和布克河组已被证明是洪古勒楞组的晚出异名,本文在西准噶尔克拉赛勒克山原划为下石炭统"和布克河组"的碎屑岩地层中发现了丰富的动、植物化石,包括:三叶虫Phacops sp.,菊石Manticoceras sp.,腕足类Tylothyris sp.,Aulacella sp.,"Mucrospirifer"sp.,Cyrtospirifer sp.,植物Leptophloeum rhombicum,Syringodendron sp.,Knorria sp.,其时代显示为晚泥盆世。根据岩性组合特征将其厘定为上泥盆统铁列克提组,而非"和布克河组"的替代名称洪古勒楞组。通过区域地质调查工作,证明了西准噶尔玛依力山地层小区内没有洪古勒楞组的分布,其晚泥盆世地层仅由铁列克提组组成,洪古勒楞组只分布在沙尔布尔提山地层小区,两个地层小区的界线为孟布拉克北侧至谢米斯台山南坡的深大断裂。晚泥盆世两个地层小区沉积分异明显,直到早石炭世早期才进入统一的盆地演化阶段,地层小区的分区性也随之消失。     

云南早泥盆世植物稳定碳同位素特征及其古气候意义*

受到植物化石材料局限性与时代久远性的限制,目前用古生代植物化石δ¹³C值来反演古环境的研究程度较低。文中通过对云南省曲靖市下泥盆统徐家冲组和文山州下泥盆统坡松冲组的部分植物化石进行稳定碳同位素测试,分析了早泥盆世植物的光合作用途径以及古环境。结果表明: 徐家冲组镰蕨属(Drepanophycus)δ¹³C值为-29.0‰~-22.8‰,平均值为-24.5‰,其中镰蕨属茎轴的δ¹³C值高于叶片0.1‰~0.3‰;坡松冲组工蕨属(Zosterophyllum)和始叶蕨属(Eophyllophyton)δ¹³C值分别为-24.8‰~-22.1‰和-23.0‰~-22.6‰,平均值分别为-23.2‰和-22.7‰;三者的δ¹³C值分布范围都与现代C3植物一致。自徐家冲组第57至第79沉积旋回,δ¹³C值总体呈上升趋势,达到2‰左右,推测可能与早泥盆世大气CO₂浓度下降和气候变冷相关。镰蕨属和工蕨属的C_i/C_a值较为稳定,说明这2种植物可能对大气CO₂浓度变化较为敏感,曲靖市古气候可能为当今的热带疏林草原气候或热带季风气候。     

Biomolecular Preservation of Miocene Fossil Liquidambar from Tiantai, China and Clarkia, USA: Implications for Palaeoenvironmental Study

Biomolecular characteristics of fossil Liquidambar from the Miocene Shengxian Formation, Tiantai, Zhejiang province in eastern China and Miocene Clarkia sediment, Idaho, U.S.A., are obtained by means of Pyrolysis-Gas chromatography-Mass spectrometry analysis (Py-GC-MS). Their modern equivalent (Liquidambar formosana) collected from Nanjing, eastern China, is also analyzed for comparison. The total ion chromatograms (TIC) of modern L. formosana leaves shows abundant pyrolysates of lignin, polysaccharide, aliphatic acid, and amino acid. However, only one polysaccharide molecule, i.e., levoglucosan, is retained in fossil Liquidambar leaves from the two Miocene sites with the Tiantai specimen possessing higher intensity. As expected, some lignin pyrolysates including benzene, phenol, guaiacol, vinylphenol and their derivatives, are detected in Miocene Tiantai L. miosinica. However, the lignin components with large molecular weight other than benzene and phenol compounds, are absent in Miocene Clarkia L. pachyphyllum. Abundant pristene and homologous series of n-alk-1-ene/n-alkane pairs with a long retention time are shown in pyrograms of both Tiantai and Clarkia fossils. Based upon our Py-GC-MS data, the molecular preservation in these Liquidambar leaf samples can be ranked as the following (from high to low quality respectively): modern sample >Tiantai sample >Clarkia sample. Vinyl phenol, an important compound, is present in modern and Tiantai Liquidambar leaves, while absent in Clarkia sample, implying that vinyl phenol may be sourced from lignin for Liquidambar leaves. Our data support the hypothesis of in situ polymerization for the origin of long-chain homologous series of n-alk-1-ene/n-alkane pairs as leaf alteration products. Our data have implications of the impact of leaf degradation toward biases for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction using stable carbon isotope of fossil plants, and suggest the importance of evaluating molecular preservation of fossil leaf tissues prior to the application of carbon isotope compositions of fossil leaves.     

A Novel Angiosperm from the Early Cretaceous and Its Implications for Carpel‐Deriving

The Yixian Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of China is famous for its fossils of early angiosperms, and these fossils have shed otherwise unavailable light on the evolution of angiosperms. The seeds in Archaefructus and Nothodichocarpum are inserted along the dorsal of the fruits while those in Sinocarpus are along the ventral of the fruits, suggesting different Bau‐plans and pathways deriving the carpels in these plants of the Early Cretaceous. Adding further fossil evidence, here we report a novel fossil angiosperm, Neofructus lingyuanensis gen. et sp. nov, with its seeds inserted on both ventral and dorsal sides of the fruits documented through light microscopic and SEM observations, suggesting a novel way forming gynoecium in the Yixian Formation. These fossil angiosperms indicate that angiosperm gynoecia in the Yixian Formation (the Barremian to Aptian) are derived in obviously different ways, implying an evolutionary scenario for angiosperms quite different from formerly assumed.     

异珊瑚目的地史分布与化石组合

异珊瑚化石始发现于早泥盆世 ,早石炭世为鼎盛时期 ,至早二叠世末全部绝灭。本研究将异珊瑚划分为 4个化石组合 ,并对异珊瑚的起源、分布及迁移规律及生态环境等进行了讨论。化石组合由老至新分别为 :早泥盆世 Tetraphyllia组合 ;晚泥盆世 Oligophylloides-H eterophyllia组合 ;早石炭世 Pentaphyllia-H exaphyllia-Radiciphyllia 组合 ;早二叠世 Dichophyllia-H eterophyllia-H exaphylloides组合。并指出异珊瑚属于热带—亚热带至暖温带的生物类群 ,起源中心可能为中国华南板块     

High Temperature as a Mechanism for Plant Cytoplasm Preservation in Fossils

Because the cytoplasm of a plant normally degrades after the death of the plant, finding cytoplasm in a plant body after a prolonged period of time, especially in fossil plants, is unexpected. Recent work on several 100-Myr-old plant fossils from Kansas, USA indicates, however, that cells and their contents can be preserved. Most of the cells in these fossil plants appear to be in a state of plasmolysis, and these fossil cells bear a strong resemblance to laboratory-baked cells of extant plant tissues. Based on a comparison with extant material plus biophysical and biochemical analyses of the cytoplasm degrading process, a new hypothesis for cytoplasm preservation in nature is proposed： high temperature, a concomitant of commonly seen wildfires, may preserve cytoplasm in fossil plants. This hypothesis implies that fossilized cytoplasm should be rather common and an appropriate substance for research, unlike previously thought. Research on fossil cytoplasm closely integrates paleobotany with biochemistry, biophysics, as well as fire ecology, and invites inputs from these fields to paleobotany to interpret these provocative findings.     

东濮凹陷沙三段正常三角洲沉积中遗迹化石及意义

通过对钻井岩心的观察和遗迹化石的鉴定,在东濮凹陷古近纪沙河街组沙三段发现遗迹化石10属15种,包括:Skolithos vertivalis,Skolithos linearis,Skolithos isp.,Palaeophycus tubularis,Palaeophycus isp.,Planolites montanus,Planolites beverlegensis,Planolites isp.,Mermoides isp.,Taenidium isp.,Teichichnus isp.,Helminthoidichnites tenuis,Helminthopsis isp.,Beaconites isp.和Thalassinoides isp.。根据岩性特征、沉积构造和遗迹化石的组成、分布特征,研究区沙三段主要发育正常三角洲前缘亚相、前三角洲亚相,并划分了反映不同沉积环境和水体深度的2种遗迹组合,分别为Palaeophycus-Planolites遗迹组合和Planolites-Helminthoidichnites遗迹组合。     

甘肃省重要古植物化石产地区划及保护利用

古植物化石是地质历史时期各类植物实体或遗迹的残留。对古植物化石产地进行系统的调查和区划研究是开展古生物化石保护和利用工作的基础。在资料研究和实地调查的基础上,对甘肃省24处重要古植物化石产地进行了评价和区划研究。甘肃省古植物化石产地可划分为北山地区、祁连山——河西走廊地区、鄂尔多斯和秦岭地区4个古生物化石大区以及6个古植物化石产地集中区。根据古植物化石产地的科学价值和美学价值,具体从科学性、稀有性、完整性、保存程度、可保护性5个单因素分别对24处重要古植物化石产地进行了评价。在单因素评价基础上进行了综合鉴评,共鉴评出世界级化石产地1处,国家级化石产地7处,省级化石产地16处。根据产地自然区划、行政区划等要素划分了古植物化石产地集中保护区6个。根据保护区内古植物化石产地级别及重要程度,划分出特级保护区2个,重点保护区2个和一般保护区2个。提出对重要古植物化石产地实行化石标本保护加原产地保护的建议。     

甜水海岔路口地区早石炭世地层化石的发现和帕斯群的建立

在1∶25万岔路口幅区域地质填图时,在原划中泥盆统落石沟组中采到了大量腕足、珊瑚类化石,经鉴定其成时代为早石炭世中期。该套地层可与西邻区域地层进行对比,对此新建下石炭统帕斯群。     

New insights into the origin of perylene in geological samples

The origin of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) perylene in sediments and petroleum has been a matter of continued debate. Reported to occur in Phanerozoic organic matter (OM), fossil crinoids and tropical termite mounds, its mechanism of formation remains unclear. While a combustion source can be excluded, structural similarities to perylene quinone-like components present in e.g. fungi, plants, crinoids and insects, potentially suggest a product-precursor relationship. Here, we report perylene concentrations, ¹³C/¹²C, and D/H ratios from a Holocene sediment profile from the Qingpu trench, Yangtze Delta region, China. Perylene concentrations differ from those of pyrogenic PAHs, and rise to prominence in a stratigraphic interval that was dominated by woody vegetation as determined by palynology including fungal spores. In this zone, perylene concentrations exhibit an inverse relationship to the lignin marker guaiacol, D/H ratios between −284‰ and −317‰, similar to the methoxy groups in lignin, as well as co-variation with spores from wood-degrading fungi. ¹³C/¹²C of perylene differs from that of land plant wax alkanes and falls in the fractionation range expected for saprophytic fungi that utilise lignin, which is isotopically lighter than cellulose and whole wood. During progressive lignin degradation, the relative carbon isotopic ratio of the perylene decreases. We therefore hypothesise a relationship of perylene to the activity of wood-degrading fungi. To support our hypothesis, we analysed a wide range of Phanerozoic sediments and oils, and found perylene to generally be present in subordinate amounts before the evolutionary rise of vascular plants, and to be generally absent from marine-sourced oils, few exceptions being attributed perhaps to a contribution of marine and/or terrestrial-derived fungi, anoxia (especially under marine conditions) and/or contamination of core material by fungi. A series of low-molecular-weight aromatic quinones bearing the perylene-backbone were detected in Devonian and Cretaceous sediments, potentially representing precursor components to perylene.     

甘肃省重要古植物化石产地区划及保护利用

古植物化石是地质历史时期各类植物实体或遗迹的残留。对古植物化石产地进行系统的调查和区划研究是开展古生物化石保护和利用工作的基础。在资料研究和实地调查的基础上,对甘肃省24处重要古植物化石产地进行了评价和区划研究。甘肃省古植物化石产地可划分为北山地区、祁连山——河西走廊地区、鄂尔多斯和秦岭地区4个古生物化石大区以及6个古植物化石产地集中区。根据古植物化石产地的科学价值和美学价值,具体从科学性、稀有性、完整性、保存程度、可保护性5个单因素分别对24处重要古植物化石产地进行了评价。在单因素评价基础上进行了综合鉴评,共鉴评出世界级化石产地1处,国家级化石产地7处,省级化石产地16处。根据产地自然区划、行政区划等要素划分了古植物化石产地集中保护区6个。根据保护区内古植物化石产地级别及重要程度,划分出特级保护区2个,重点保护区2个和一般保护区2个。提出对重要古植物化石产地实行化石标本保护加原产地保护的建议。     

The First Observation on Plant Cell Fossils in China

For a long time, paleontologists have been focusing on hard parts of organisms during different geological periods while soft parts are rarely reported. Well-preserved plant cells, if found in fossils, are treated only as a rarity. Recent prowess in research on fossil cytoplasm indicates that plant cytoplasm not only has excellent ultrastructures preserved but also may be a quite commonly seen fossil in strata. However, up to now there is no report of plant cell fossils in China yet. Here plant cell fossils are reported from Huolinhe Coal Mine （the early Cretaceous）, Inner Mongolia, China. The presence of plant cytoplasm fossils in two cones on the same specimen not only provides further support for the recently proposed hypothesis on plant cytoplasm fossilization but also marks the first record of plant cytoplasm fossils in China, which suggests a great research potential in this new area.     

Insights into preservation of fossil plant cuticles using thermally assisted hydrolysis methylation

The chemical composition of Cretaceous leaf remains showing exceptionally well preserved cuticles was investigated using pyrolysis gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (Py-GC–MS) and thermally assisted hydrolysis methylation (THM)-GC–MS. Samples of Coniferales (Frenelopsis) and Ginkgoales (Nehvizdya penalveri) leaf remains were collected from freshwater and coastal marine depositional environments. Material for pyrolysis included (i) untreated leaves and cuticles obtained after extraction from mineral rock matrix and bleaching, (ii) kerogen fraction from both materials, (iii) non-hydrolysable fraction from kerogen. The THM-GC–MS data from untreated leaves and bleached cuticles show that the fossil cuticle geopolymer essentially released aliphatic components upon thermal treatment, with a dominance of fatty acids (FAs) and n-alkanes/n-alkenes. The FAs are essentially resistant to bleaching and remain after solvent extraction. They occur mainly as short chain compounds ranging from C₆ to C₁₆ and with maximum abundance at C₈–C₉. The n-alkanes/n-alkenes from kerogen and the non-hydrolysable residue occur mainly as short chain compounds in the range C₁₀–C₁₆, with the highest abundance at C₉–C₁₂. The THM-GC–MS pyrograms of the fossil cuticles differ from those of cutan from fresh living plants. They support the preservation model via polymerization of monomers derived from cutin or from unsaturated cell FAs.     

Late Pleistocene Palaeoenvironments of the Southern Lake Agassiz Basin,USA

Macroscopic plant remains, pollen, insect and mollusc fossils recovered from a cut bank on the Red River in North Dakota, USA, provide evidence that an extensive wetland occupied the southern basin of Lake Agassiz from 10 230 to 9900 ¹⁴C yr BP. Marsh‐dwelling plants and invertebrates had colonised the surface of a prograding delta during the low‐water Moorhead Phase of Lake Agassiz. A species of Salix (willow) was abundant along distributary channels, and stands of Populus tremuloides (aspen), Ulmus sp. (elm), Betula sp. (birch), and Picea sp. (spruce) grew on the better‐drained sand bars and beach ridges. Most of the species of plants, insects, and molluscs represented as fossils are within their existing geographic ranges. Based on a few species with more northerly distributions, mean summer temperature may have been about 1–2°C lower than the present day. No change in species composition occurred in the transition from the Younger Dryas to Preboreal. At the time that the wetland existed, Lake Agassiz was draining either eastward to the North Atlantic Ocean or northwestward to the Arctic Ocean. The wetland was drowned during the Emerson Phase transgression that resulted in meltwater draining southward to the Gulf of Mexico after 9900 ¹⁴C yr BP. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Trace fossil evidence from the Adigrat Sandstone for an Ordovician glaciation in Eritrea, NE Africa

Trace fossils are described here from the Adigrat Sandstone formation of hitherto uncertain Palaeozoic-Mesozoic age in south-central Eritrea. The formation is subdivided into a lower unit, the Adi MaEkheno Member, and an upper informal unit, Member 2. The formation was deposited on the locally mudcracked top of the glacigenic Edaga Arbi Beds, suggesting that these two rock units were formed in a very short time interval. The Adi MaEkheno Member and the lower part of Member 2 contain trace fossils Arthrophycus alleghaniensis (Harlan), Arthrophycus ?brongniartii (Harlan), Didymaulichnus lyelli (Rouault), Palaeophycus tubularis Hall, Taenidium isp., thin winding ridges, winding ridges and furrows, simple cylinders, and ‘stellate’ forms. A. alleghaniensis is distinctively of Ordovician–Silurian (?Early Devonian) age. The trace fossil association belongs to the Cruziana ichnofacies that indicates a shallow marine environment between the normal and storm wave bases. The trace fossil data and stratigraphic relationships indicate that the Adigrat Sandstone formation and the Edaga Arbi Beds in Eritrea are Ordovician–Silurian in age. The Edaga Arbi Beds are correlated with other Upper Ordovician (Hirnantian) glacial units in northern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, lending these beds the status of a marker unit in the Lower Palaeozoic stratigraphy of the Horn of Africa. The Jurassic “Adigrat Sandstone” in central-west and eastern Ethiopia cannot be correlated with the Adigrat Sandstone formation in its type area and in Eritrea.     

Solenites (Czekanowskiales) from the Late Mesozoic Jehol Biota of Southeastern Jilin, China and its Paleoclimatic Implications

Situated at the easternmost area of the Late Mesozoic Jehol Biota, China, abundant fossils, including invertebrates, vertebrates and plants, were collected from the Early Cretaceous Yingzuilazi Formation of the Baishan Basin, southeastern Jilin. The faunal remains from this formation distinctly belong to the Early Cretaceous Lycoptera–Ephemeropsis–Eosestheria assemblage of the Jehol Biota. Based on the gross leaf morphology and epidermal structures, two new species and one indeterminate species of genus Solenites(Czekanowskiales), S. baishanensis sp. nov., S. gracilis sp. nov. and S. sp. are described in this paper. This is the first fossil plant of Czekanowskiales reported from this new fossil locality of the easternmost area of the Late Mesozoic Jehol Biota, China. The new discovery contributes to improve our knowledge for understanding of leaf morphology, epidermal characters and diversity of this genus during the Early Cretaceous time, and extends geologic and geographic distribution of Solenites in northern China and Eurasia. Along with consideration of associated plant and faunal assemblages and sedimentology, we suggest that the regional climate was warm and moderately humid with seasonal temperature and precipitation variations in warm–temperate zone during the Early Cretaceous.