Carboniferous Palaeoecology

Late Paleozoic glacial diamictites occur in many localities in western Argentina, indicating that the region was strongly affected by glaciation during the mid-Carboniferous (late Serpukhovian-early Bashkirian). In most instances these diamictites are found in steeply walled paleovalley settings in the Andean Precordillera. This study presents new data from a locality north of the Precordillera that suggests an additional, distinct, volume of ice existed in the region during the Carboniferous. The glacigenic diamictites in the Rio Blanco Basin were ultimately emplaced as gravity flows, precluding inferences of paleo-ice volume. Fold nose orientation and soft-sediment groove orientations within the diamictites indicate that the deposits were emplaced from north to south, suggesting that glacial ice was most likely not sourced from the proto-Precordillera at this locality, requiring the need for another ice center to the north of the basin. Diamictite facies indicates that the sediment was initially supplied to the study area by a warm-based glacier.

Late Paleozoic glacial diamictites occur in many localities in western Argentina, indicating that the region was strongly affected by glaciation during the mid-Carboniferous (late Serpukhovian-early Bashkirian). In most instances these diamictites are found in steeply walled paleovalley settings in the Andean Precordillera. This study presents new data from a locality north of the Precordillera that suggests an additional, distinct, volume of ice existed in the region during the Carboniferous. The glacigenic diamictites in the Rio Blanco Basin were ultimately emplaced as gravity flows, precluding inferences of paleo-ice volume. Fold nose orientation and soft-sediment groove orientations within the diamictites indicate that the deposits were emplaced from north to south, suggesting that glacial ice was most likely not sourced from the proto-Precordillera at this locality, requiring the need for another ice center to the north of the basin. Diamictite facies indicates that the sediment was initially supplied to the study area by a warm-based glacier.

Late Paleozoic glacial diamictites occur in many localities in western Argentina, indicating that the region was strongly affected by glaciation during the mid-Carboniferous (late Serpukhovian-early Bashkirian). In most instances these diamictites are found in steeply walled paleovalley settings in the Andean Precordillera. This study presents new data from a locality north of the Precordillera that suggests an additional, distinct, volume of ice existed in the region during the Carboniferous. The glacigenic diamictites in the Rio Blanco Basin were ultimately emplaced as gravity flows, precluding inferences of paleo-ice volume. Fold nose orientation and soft-sediment groove orientations within the diamictites indicate that the deposits were emplaced from north to south, suggesting that glacial ice was most likely not sourced from the proto-Precordillera at this locality, requiring the need for another ice center to the north of the basin. Diamictite facies indicates that the sediment was initially supplied to the study area by a warm-based glacier.

The Carboniferous is characterized by drastic climatic and environmental fluctuations, which include multiple phases of glaciation resulting in an icehouse climate. Additionally, dynamic continental reconfigurations forced the contraction of the Rheic Ocean resulting in the closure of the Rheic-Tethyan Gateway, which precluded further faunal exchanges between the North American and Eurasian marine realms. Interestingly, cartilaginous fishes seem to be relatively immune to these drastic climatic and environmental changes. The Eurasian fossil record of Paleozoic sharks is strongly biased towards intensively sampled localities from England, Ireland, Scotland, and the Russian Platform. Here we present rare dental material from the Serpukhovian (early Carboniferous) of Austria, adding new information to the paleogeographic distribution of ctenacanthiform sharks. The new material revealed the first record of the genus Saivodus in Central Europe and allowed us to recognize a new species, Cladodus gailensis sp. nov., and a remnant of fossilized cartilage. In an attempt to identify possible linkages between climatic or environmental fluctuations on shark diversity throughout the Carboniferous, we provide a synopsis of the distribution and diversity of elasmobranchs based on primary literature. This preliminary assessment at genus level indicates two pronounced events of extinction, with the first one occurring during the latest Mississippian and the second one towards the end of the Pennsylvanian. The first extinction event distinctly correlates with the known diversity decline of other marine inhabitants and the second occurred during an unstable period of multiple phases of glaciation.

Based on experimental impacts of hailstone and rain droplets on clayey sediment, distinct differences between their imprints are shown. The key difference that unequivocally differentiates these impact structures is that raindrop imprints are always part of a sphere, even after different degrees of compaction, whereas hailstone imprints never have such a shape, forming a more or less regular funnel, terminated by a ''nipple-like'' structure that usually retains the original shape of the hailstone. We show and discuss the reasons why hailstone imprints have never been reported in the sedimentary record, albeit their fossilization potential seems to be much higher than that of raindrop imprints, which are commonly reported from various types of sedimentary rocks of widely differing ages. Inferred hailstone imprints are illustrated from the fossil record for the first time, from the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian transition of western Africa. The origin of paleohailstones required specific dynamic conditions of the atmosphere similar to those of the Recent atmosphere. Present-day hailstorms are generally restricted to specific geographic regions, e.g., mid-latitude, along mountain ranges, and they are largely absent from circum-polar and circum-equatorial areas. Correspondingly, hailstone impact structures preserved in the sedimentary record may possess interpretational value, regarding fundamental questions concerning the dynamics of the paleoatmosphere and perhaps paleogeography of ancient continents. PRESERVATION OF HAILSTONE AND RAINDROP IMPRINTS There are several conditions that must be met in order to preserve possible hailstone or raindrop imprints: 1) The surface upon which a hailstone or raindrop falls should be of suitable plasticity-sufficiently soft to be affected by falling droplets or lumps of ice, but firm enough to retain their shape afterwards. Sediment that is too soft will collapse and settle back to a flat or almost flat surface after the impact. Similarly, a substrate that is too firm will make the impact structures subtle and difficult to interpret (e.g., lacking the external rim). 2) The precipitation should be of rather short-term duration, like summer showers of low intensity. Heavy rain or hail will destroy the

Paper 1-Marine mudrock partings on the Asbian-Brigantian (Mississippian) carbonate shelf, of North Wales, United Kingdom; a consequence of fluctuations in local climate rather than relative sea level change. 39 Chapter 5: Paper 2-Interplay between carbonate and siliciclastic deposition on the Mississippian limestone platform of North Wales, UK. 86 Chapter 6: Paper 3-Bituminous coals on emergent surfaces in the Asbian, lower Carboniferous, limestone succession on the North Wales carbonate platform and implications for palaeoclimate. Chapter 7: Synthesis Appendix 1: Face logs, Cefn Mawr quarry and Trefor Rocks Llangollen. Appendix 2: BH01 and BH02 lithostratigraphic core logs Appendix 3: Tabulated BH01 and BH02 and field thin section data Appendix 4: BH01 and BH02 tabulated core logs Appendix 5: BH01 and BH02 core sample XRF analysis Appendix 6: Scans of sections of polished core, BH01, from which samples for thin section were taken. Appendix 7: Scans of sections of polished core, BH02, from which samples for thin section were taken. Appendix 8: Selection of core thin section photomicrographs

Squaloraja is a genus of chimaeriform fishes known from the Early Jurassic. It has a dorsoventrally flattened body and a long median rostral cartilage. Males have a lance-like tenaculum that articulates with a central groove on the dorsal face of the median rostral cartilage. The genus is the only member of the family Squalorajidae, itself the only family in the suborder Squalorajoidei of the order Chimaeriformes. Phylogenetic analyses suggest a divergence of the Squalorajoidei from other Chimaeriformes in the Mississippian, implying the existence of a ghost lineage of more than 130 My. A spine that resembles a median rostral cartilage of a male Squaloraja was found in the St. Louis Formation (Visean) of Indiana, USA. As in Squaloraja, the dorsal face has a long narrow groove that would have articulated with a long narrow tenaculum. The spine is designated as the holotype of Sulcacanthus schachti, n. gen. et sp. Sulcacanthus is tentatively assigned to the Squalorajoidei based on morphology, but the possibility of convergence cannot be eliminated. A holocephalan tenaculum from the same locality might belong to the same taxon as the median rostral cartilage but could also belong to the suborder Myriacanthoidei.

The role of Mass Transport Deposits (MTD's) in redistributing sediment from the shelf-break to deep water is becoming increasingly apparent and important in the study of basins. While seismic analysis may reveal the general morphology of such deposits, it is unable to provide information on the detailed geometry and kinematics of gravity-driven transport owing to the limits of seismic resolution. Outcrop analysis of ancient MTD's may therefore provide critical observations and data regarding the internal deformation and behaviour during slope failure. One such field area where geometry and kinematics are clearly exposed is Cerro Bola in the Paganzo basin of northwestern Argentina. This 8 km strike section exposes a mid to late Carboniferous succession, comprising fluvio-deltaic sediments, turbidites and MTDs. Our work focuses on the main MTD that is up to 180 m thick and is characterized by a silty matrix, containing sandstone blocks and siltstone rafts. Although we consider a single slope failure as the most likely scenario, a possible double failure might also explain the occurrence of a folded turbidite marker in the upper zone of the MTD. The MTD is host to a variety of deformational features such as folding, boudinage, shear zones, allochthonous strata, and secondary fabrics among others. These deformational features vary in intensity, scale and style, both vertically

The Permian fusulinoid Monodiexodena commonly forms dense accumulations associated with siliciclastic marine strata. The Monodiexodina-bearing bed of the uppermost Kubang Pasu Formation of Perlis, northwest Peninsular Malaysia is 0.5 to 1.5 m thick and sharply overlies an approximately 15 m thick coarsening upward succession interpreted as a regressive, wave-influenced, coastal shallow marine parasequence. Petrographic analysis of thin sections indicates that it is a mixed siliciclastic-carbonate, sandy allochem limestone. The grains are predominantly composed of a mixture of Monodiexodina tests, bryozoan fragments (Rhombopora sp.), brachiopod shells and crinoid ossicles, but with a significant amount of fine-grained quartz grains (up to 27% rock volume). The long axes of the skeletal grains are generally oriented parallel to bedding. The Monodiexodina-bearing bed is also characterised by giant, round-crested, symmetrical ripples developed on its bedding plane, with wavelengths of up to 1.6 m and amplitudes of up to 10 cm. Smaller, sharp-crested symmetrical ripples are superimposed on the giant ripples. A cross-section of one giant symmetrical ripple indicates the presence of unidirectional cross-stratification. The giant symmetrical ripples are interpreted as storm-generated, coarsegrained, combined oscillatory and unidirectional current flow bedforms, based on the symmetrical profile, unidirectional cross-stratification and close vertical association with other wave-and storm-generated facies. Giant symmetrical ripples are characteristic of coarse-grained storm deposits (commonly referred to as coarse-grained ripples, or CGR), while hummocky cross-stratification is developed in beds of very fine-to fine-grained sand. Palaeocurrent analysis of the ripple marks on the top surface of the Monodiexodina-bearing bed indicates a roughly NW-SE strike orientation for the ripple crests of both the giant and smaller superimposed wave ripples. Modern-day CGRs display ripple crest orientations which are parallel to bathymetric contours, thus it is interpreted that the palaeoshoreline during deposition of the Monodiexodina-bearing bed was generally NW-SE, which is consistent with current palaegeographic reconstructions of Sibumasu during the Permian. The stratigraphic position of the Monodiexodina-bearing bed sharply overlying a regressive unit or parasequence, and successively being overlain by another parasequence indicates that it is a transgressive deposit overlying a flooding surface, with the predominance of wave-and storm-generated facies indicating wave ravinement.

Streszczenie angielskie: Ginteria fungiforma gen. et sp. nov. is described on the basis of isolated teeth from the Visean (Brigantian) of the Matlock Limestone Formation of Derbyshire, England and the Late Visean (Msta Formation) of the Novgorod District, and the Early Serpukhovian (Steshev Formation) of the Moscow District in Russia. The teeth are very small (0.54 mm maximum tooth height) with a deeply incised, pedestal-like crown/base junction separating the orthodont, enameloid-covered, unornamented crown from a base ...

El estudio de matas microbianas en ambientes marinos costeros silicoclásticos actuales constituye una importante fuente de información para el análisis de análogos fósiles. En el estuario de Bahía Blanca se estudiaron planicies de marea cubiertas por matas desde un enfoque geobiológico, con el objetivo de identificar y describir estructuras inducidas por actividad microbiana (ESIAM), y distinguir rasgos presentes en los sistemas actuales que permitan reconocer estas comunidades de microorganismos en depósitos fósiles. Se realizaron muestreos biológicos y sedimentológicos, y se implementaron técnicas de microscopía óptica y electrónica para la determinación de microorganismos y la identificación de texturas características y minerales autigénicos. Las matas microbianas resultaron estar dominadas por cianobacterias y, en menor proporción, diatomeas; microorganismos que generan sustancias exopoliméricas que bioestabilizan la superficie sedimentaria. Se reconocieron texturas típicas de matas epibentónicas, tales como granos orientados y granos pequeños unidos por la mata, pirita framboidal y ceolitas. En la zona intermareal-supramareal se identificaron domos de gas, fábrica porosa esponjosa y superficies tipo colador. Además se observaron grietas de contracción, dobleces, fragmentos de mata, depresiones y remanentes erosivos, pliegues y arrugas, así como también ondulitas multidireccionales. Las estructuras halladas están relacionadas con condiciones de calma/latencia, exposición prolongada (desecación) y eventos de tormenta con alta energía erosiva sobre la planicie (olas y corrientes fuertes). En este sentido, las ESIAM resultan importantes indicadoras de condiciones ambientales particulares que presentan un elevado potencial de preservación. Su reconocimiento en el registro fósil, a través de rasgos macro y microscópicos, permiten refinar las interpretaciones paleoambientales en sucesiones marino-costeras.

The relatively rich assemblages of shark teeth from pelagic limestone (Mississippian, late Viséan, late Asbian-middle Brigantian) of three northern European regions: the Rhenish Mountains (Westenfeld Quarry, Germany), the Holy Cross Mountains (Todowa Grząba at the edge of Ostrówka Quarry, Poland), and Derbyshire (Cawdor Quarry, Matlock, England, UK) display certain similarities, with the absolute predominance of the teeth of Falcatidae (small Symmoriiformes) and the constant presence of Thrinacodus spp. The largest and most diverse assemblage from Todowa Grząba contains at least three species of a falcatid Denaea, a xenacanthimorph Bransonella nebraskensis, a newly described phoebodontid Thrinacodus dziki sp. nov., a few ctenacanthiform and euselachian teeth, and two abraded euchondrocephalan dental elements. Anachronistidae, common in the most of late Viséan pelagic faunas, are absent from Todowa Grząba and Westenfeld. The material under study differs from the shallow-water chondrichthyan fauna, hitherto described from the Mississippian carbonate platform facies, by its taxonomic content (particularly almost total absence of Euchondrocephali), generally lower diversity, and higher frequency of small teeth.

The Late Carboniferous of Rod El-Hamal Formation, Wadi Araba has some fossil plant remains content. The systematic description of these remains reveals the identification of twelve species representing Lycophyta, Sphenophyta, Pteridospermatophyta, and Cordaitophyta. All are recorded for the first time from this formation.

Predation of Enallagma cyathigerum by an adult Cicindela hybrida (Odonata: Aeshnidae; Coleoptera: Carabidae) – On 26 July 2014 near Nuremberg, Germany, an adult Northern Dune Tiger Beetle Cicindela hybrida was observed capturing a mature male Enallagma cyathigerum and photographed devouring the prey. In contrast to Cicindela larvae adult beetles have not been recorded as predators of Odonata until now.

During preliminary work on the Union Chapel tracksite, researchers were intrigued by numerous circular pits on track-bearing surfaces (Fig. 1). The pits are shallow and many have raised rims. Rainprints (or raindrop imprints) are commonly associated with trackways, and at first we uncritically identified them as rainprints and used them as evidence of subaerial exposure. In time, work by Pashin (2005) and others made it clear that the tracks were made on a freshwater intertidal flat, where raindrop imprints would not be surprising. However, other observations mounted against the interpretation of the circular pits as rainprints, and indeed against any subaerial drying of the beds. I now interpret the tracks to have been made either under water or on a very wet subaerial surface.

During her three decades with the Geological Survey of Alabama from 1931 to 1961, Winnie McGlamery (1887–1977) was a key figure in Alabama paleontology and oil and gas exploration. She was a diminutive but feisty woman who arguably did more for the discovery of oil and gas fields than any other state employee during that time, for she logged the cores and cuttings of nearly every permitted well for the Survey’s public files. McGlamery was trained in paleontology at the Johns Hopkins University at a time when few women scientists worked in the field, though microscope work was tolerated. “Miss Winnie” spent much of her career studying Foraminifera, especially after the first successful Alabama oil fields were brought in (notably, the Gilbertown field in 1944 and the Citronelle field in 1955). She also gained extensive field experience, particularly with Coastal Plain mollusks, and was active in local scientific societies. Her advice on fossils and localities was sought by many resear...

Evidence of glacial abrasion is present in the basal part of the Carboniferous section of the Calingasta-Uspallata and Paganzo (western Argentina), where subglacial and proximal glacial-marine diamictites with pebbly (dropstone) shales constitute the dominant facies association. Intraformational striated pavements are exposed in the Hoyada Verde and Leoncito Formations of the Calingasta-Uspallata basin. Marine invertebrate fossils (Levispustula zone) in associated shales indicate a mid-Carboniferous age for both units. A single layer striated boulder pavement is superbly exposed in the Hoyada Verde Formation. Local a-axis clast imbrication in the underlying bouldery diamictite and strong parallel striae on the flattened upper surfaces of boulders indicate a subglacial origin for the pavement. Paleoice flow directions have an NNE-SSW strike. The Leoncito intraformational pavement is shaped on bioturbated, fine-grained sandstones with plant remains. Glacial striations are straight and parallel with subcircular cross-sections. Dome-like features are present in the surface, which is covered in turn by a sandy bouldery diamictite. Four striated surfaces are present in the western Paganzo basin. Three of them (pavements at the San Juan river valley, Loma de Los Piojos and Agua Hedionda) are developed on basement rocks. They contain parallel to subparallel striations, nailhead striations, crescentic gouges, impact marks and furrows. The pavements are overlain by thin (up to 1.5 m), laterally discontinuous diamictite beds with striated clasts, some of them bullet-shaped. Paleo-ice flow directions are N-NE-directed. An intraformational pavement is also present at the San Juan river valley section; it is carved on the top of the basal diamictite and exhibits furrows, probably caused by subglacial soft-sediment grooving. The dispersion of paleo-ice flow directions in the Calingasta-Uspallata and Paganzo basins indicates: (i) regional slopes toward the north into a brackish water embayment and northwest into the open marine conditions; (ii) glacial erosion by ice grounded below sea level and confined to the margins of the basins.

El estudio de matas microbianas en ambientes marinos costeros silicoclasticos actuales constituye una importante fuente de informacion para el analisis de analogos fosiles. En el estuario de Bahia Blanca se estudiaron planicies de marea cubiertas por matas desde un enfoque geobiologico, con el objetivo de identificar y describir estructuras inducidas por actividad microbiana (ESIAM), y distinguir rasgos presentes en los sistemas actuales que permitan reconocer estas comunidades de microorganismos en depositos fosiles. Se realizaron muestreos biologicos y sedimentologicos, y se implementaron tecnicas de microscopia optica y electronica para la determinacion de microorganismos y la identificacion de texturas caracteristicas y minerales autigenicos. Las matas microbianas resultaron estar dominadas por cianobacterias y, en menor proporcion, diatomeas; microorganismos que generan sustancias exopolimericas que bioestabilizan la superficie sedimentaria. Se reconocieron texturas tipicas de ...

The Union Chapel Mine site (Steven C. Minkin Paleozoic Footprint Site) is located in Walker County, Alabama. The fossil-bearing horizon is in the Mary Lee coal zone (above the Mary Lee coal bed) of the Pottsville Formation (Early Pennsylvanian: Westphalian A). It yields diverse and extensive vertebrate and invertebrate ichnofaunas as well as plant and arthropod body fossils. The significance of the tracksite can be evaluated based upon size, ichnotaxonomy, taphonomy, paleoecology, ichnofacies, geography, biogeography, stratigraphy, biostratigraphy, paleoenvironment, preservation, education, sociology and history. The Union Chapel site is globally significant in most of these categories. Buta, R. J., Rindsberg, A. K., and Kopaska-Merkel, D. C., eds., 2005, Pennsylvanian Footprints in the Black Warrior Basin of Alabama. Alabama Paleontological Society Monograph no. 1.

The Union Chapel Mine site (Steven C. Minkin Paleozoic Footprint Site) is located in Walker County, Alabama. The fossil-bearing horizon is in the Mary Lee coal zone (above the Mary Lee coal bed) of the Pottsville Formation (Early Pennsylvanian: Westphalian A). It yields diverse and extensive vertebrate and invertebrate ichnofaunas as well as plant and arthropod body fossils. The significance of the tracksite can be evaluated based upon size, ichnotaxonomy, taphonomy, paleoecology, ichnofacies, geography, biogeography, stratigraphy, biostratigraphy, paleoenvironment, preservation, education, sociology and history. The Union Chapel site is globally significant in most of these categories.

Phoebodus is a chondrichthyan, which was widely distributed during the Devonian. It includes around 13 species that are largely based on their characteristic tricuspid teeth so far (Ginter et al. 2010). Teeth associated to remains of skulls and a few axial skeletons were recently found in Famennian (Late Devonian) outcrops of the eastern Anti-Atlas of Morocco. The skulls are often three-dimensionally preserved enabling CT-scanning and subsequent reconstruction of brain endocasts, branchial arches, orbits and jaws. The teeth of these specimens show some important characteristics of Phoebodus politus that was found in the Cleveland Shales of Ohio before (Newberry, 1889). First examinations on the remains show affinities to hybodontiform sharks and to the Carboniferous Thrinacoselache gracia Grogan & Lund, 2007 that already was suggested to be closely related to Phoebodus (by, e.g., Ginter et al. 2010). Moreover, morphological similarities to the modern, only distantly related, thrille...

The ichnogenus Psammichnites Torell 1870 includes a wide variety of predominantly horizontal, sinuous to looped, backfilled traces, characterized by a distinctive median dorsal structure. Though commonly preserved in full relief on upper bedding surfaces, some ichnospecies of Psammichnites may be preserved in negative hyporelief. Psammichnites records the feeding activities of a subsurface animal using a siphon-like device. Several ichnogenera reflect this general behavioral pattern, including Plagiogmus Roedel 1929 and the Carboniferous ichnogenera Olivellites Fenton and Fenton 1937a and Aulichnites Fenton and Fenton 1937b. Based on analysis of specimens from the United States, Spain, and the United Kingdom, three Carboniferous ichnospecies of Psammichnites are reviewed in this paper: P. plummeri (Fenton and Fenton, 1937a), P. grumula (Romano and Meléndez 1979), and P. implexus (Rindsberg 1994). Psammichnites plummeri is the most common Carboniferous ichnospecies and is characterized by a relatively straight, continuous dorsal ridge/groove, fine transverse ridges, larger size range, and non-looping geometric pattern. It represents a grazing trace of deposit feeders. Psammichnites grumula differs from the other ichnospecies of Psammichnites by having median dorsal holes or protruding mounds. The presence of mounds or holes in P. grumula suggests a siphon that was regularly connected to the sediment-water interface. This ichnospecies is interpreted as produced by a deposit feeder using the siphon for respiration or as a device for a chemosymbiotic strategy. Psammichnites implexus is characterized by its consistently smaller size range, subtle backfill structure, and tendency to scribble. Although displaying similarities with Dictyodora scotica, P. implexus is a very shallow-tier, grazing trace. Changes in behavioral pattern, preservational style, and bedform morphology suggest a complex interplay of ecological and taphonomic controls in Carboniferous tidal-flat Psammichnites. A first distributional pattern consists of guided meandering specimens preserved in ripple troughs, probably reflecting food-searching of buried organic matter concentrated in troughs. A second is recorded by concentration of Psammichnites on ripple crests and slopes. In some cases, the course is almost straight to slightly sinuous and closely follows topographic highs, suggesting a direct control of bedform morphology on trace pattern. Occurrences of Carboniferous Psammichnites most likely represent an opportunistic strategy in marginal-marine settings. Analysis of Carboniferous Psammichnites indicates the presence of a siphon-like device in the producer and reestablishes the possibility of a molluscan tracemaker.

The ichnogenus Psammichnites Torell 1870 includes a wide variety of predominantly horizontal, sinuous to looped, backfilled traces, characterized by a distinctive median dorsal structure. Though commonly preserved in full relief on upper bedding surfaces, some ichnospecies of Psammichnites may be preserved in negative hyporelief. Psammichnites records the feeding activities of a subsurface animal using a siphon-like device. Several ichnogenera reflect this general behavioral pattern, including Plagiogmus Roedel 1929 and the Carboniferous ichnogenera Olivellites Fenton and Fenton 1937a and Aulichnites Fenton and Fenton 1937b. Based on analysis of specimens from the United States, Spain, and the United Kingdom, three Carboniferous ichnospecies of Psammichnites are reviewed in this paper: P. plummeri (Fenton and Fenton, 1937a), P. grumula (Romano and Meléndez 1979), and P. implexus (Rindsberg 1994). Psammichnites plummeri is the most common Carboniferous ichnospecies and is characterized by a relatively straight, continuous dorsal ridge/groove, fine transverse ridges, larger size range, and non-looping geometric pattern. It represents a grazing trace of deposit feeders. Psammichnites grumula differs from the other ichnospecies of Psammichnites by having median dorsal holes or protruding mounds. The presence of mounds or holes in P. grumula suggests a siphon that was regularly connected to the sediment-water interface. This ichnospecies is interpreted as produced by a deposit feeder using the siphon for respiration or as a device for a chemosymbiotic strategy. Psammichnites implexus is characterized by its consistently smaller size range, subtle backfill structure, and tendency to scribble. Although displaying similarities with Dictyodora scotica, P. implexus is a very shallow-tier, grazing trace. Changes in behavioral pattern, preservational style, and bedform morphology suggest a complex interplay of ecological and taphonomic controls in Carboniferous tidal-flat Psammichnites. A first distributional pattern consists of guided meandering specimens preserved in ripple troughs, probably reflecting food-searching of buried organic matter concentrated in troughs. A second is recorded by concentration of Psammichnites on ripple crests and slopes. In some cases, the course is almost straight to slightly sinuous and closely follows topographic highs, suggesting a direct control of bedform morphology on trace pattern. Occurrences of Carboniferous Psammichnites most likely represent an opportunistic strategy in marginal-marine settings. Analysis of Carboniferous Psammichnites indicates the presence of a siphon-like device in the producer and reestablishes the possibility of a molluscan tracemaker.

Ethical behavior is not only the right way to act, but also the most practical way. Amateurs and professionals should aspire to an ethical standard higher than that required by the law. However, no one is perfect, so it important to retain the ability to forgive.

The holotype of Psephodus minutus Wellburn, 1901, from the Millstone Grit Group (Carboniferous, Lower Pennsylvanian Series, Marsdenian Substage) of Lancashire (now Greater Manchester), England, was originally interpreted as a set of three articulated tooth plates of a chondrichthyan fish. No figure was published with the description, though a drawing was published 32 years later. Examination of the specimen shows it to be a steinkern of an indeterminate high-spired gastropod. Psephodus minutus is thus rendered as a nomen nudum.

The Union Chapel Mine site (Steven C. Minkin Paleozoic Footprint Site) is located in Walker County, Alabama. The fossil-bearing horizon is in the Mary Lee coal zone (above the Mary Lee coal bed) of the Pottsville Formation (Early Pennsylvanian: Westphalian A). It yields diverse and extensive vertebrate and invertebrate ichnofaunas as well as plant and arthropod body fossils. The significance of the tracksite can be evaluated based upon size, ichnotaxonomy, taphonomy, paleoecology, ichnofacies, geography, biogeography, stratigraphy, biostratigraphy, paleoenvironment, preservation, education, sociology and history. The Union Chapel site is globally significant in most of these categories.

El estudio de matas microbianas en ambientes marinos costeros silicoclásticos actuales constituye una importante fuente de información para el análisis de análogos fósiles. En el estuario de Bahía Blanca se estudiaron planicies de marea cubiertas por matas desde un enfoque geobiológico, con el objetivo de identificar y describir estructuras inducidas por actividad microbiana (ESIAM), y distinguir rasgos presentes en los sistemas actuales que permitan reconocer estas comunidades de microorganismos en depósitos fósiles. Se realizaron muestreos biológicos y sedimentológicos, y se implementaron técnicas de microscopía óptica y electrónica para la determinación de microorganismos y la identificación de texturas características y minerales autigénicos. Las matas microbianas resultaron estar dominadas por cianobacterias y, en menor proporción, diatomeas; microorganismos que generan sustancias exopoliméricas que bioestabilizan la superficie sedimentaria. Se reconocieron texturas típicas de matas epibentónicas, tales como granos orientados y granos pequeños unidos por la mata, pirita framboidal y ceolitas. En la zona intermareal-supramareal se identificaron domos de gas, fábrica porosa esponjosa y superficies tipo colador. Además se observaron grietas de contracción, dobleces, fragmentos de mata, depresiones y remanentes erosivos, pliegues y arrugas, así como también ondulitas multidireccionales. Las estructuras halladas están relacionadas con condiciones de calma/latencia, exposición prolongada (desecación) y eventos de tormenta con alta energía erosiva sobre la planicie (olas y corrientes fuertes). En este sentido, las ESIAM resultan importantes indicadoras de condiciones ambientales particulares que presentan un elevado potencial de preservación. Su reconocimiento en el registro fósil, a través de rasgos macro y microscópicos, permiten refinar las interpretaciones paleoambientales en sucesiones marino-costeras.

Ein Flügelfragment aus Seeablagerungen der Meisen heim-Formation des Unteren Rotliegend (Autunium) bei Obermoschel ist der erste Nachweis von Riesen-Urlibellen für das Permokarbon des Saar-Nahe-Beckens. Mit einer Flügelspannweite von mindestens 60 Zentimetern war das Tier in etwa so groß wie Meganeura monyi aus dem Stefanium von Commentry in Frankreich und ist das derzeit größte in Deutschland nachgewiesene Insekt. Als einen wahrscheinlichen Faktor, der den Riesenwuchs dieser Stammgruppenvertreter der heutigen Libellen erst möglich machte, diskutieren wir den hohen Sauerstoffgehalt der Atmosphäre im Oberkarbon bis Mittelperm. Die Paläoumwelt des Obermoschel-Sees war durch größere Seen und Flussläufe geprägt und bot den großen Meganeuriden die offenen Flächen, die sie als agile Flugjäger bevorzugten.
Abstract First record of giant griffenflies (Odonatoptera: Meganisoptera: Meganeuridae) in the Permocarboniferous of the Saar-Nahe Basin (Rhineland-Palatinate, SW-Germany)
A wing fragment from lake deposits of the Meisenheim Formation (Lower Rotliegend, Autunian) near Obermoschel is the first record of giant griffenflies for the Permo-Carboniferous of the Saar-Nahe Basin. With a reconstructed wing span of at least 60 centimetres the animal was comparable in size to the iconic Meganeura monyi from the Stephanian of Commentry/France and is currently the largest known insect from Germany. The increased partial pressure of oxygen in the Upper Carboniferous to mid-Permian is discussed as a possible factor controlling the maximum size of griffenflies. The palaeoenvironment of Lake Obermoschel was characterized by large lakes and fluvial systems that provided the open spaces preferred by meganeurids, which were probably agile hawker predators.

An attempt has been made to understand, within a cause-and-effect framework, the sequence-building pattern in Proterozoic time that witnessed non-uniformiteranean microbial mat growth and epeiric sea development. Marine or marginal marine successions in three Neoproterozoic formations, the Sonia Sandstone in western India, and the Sirbu Shale and Upper Bhander Sandstone in central India have been examined here for this purpose. The strikingly common feature of all three formations is vertical stacking of highstand systems tracts without intervention of any significant transgressive deposits. In one instance only, the transgressive systems tract is represented by a thin granular transgressive lag, and in all other cases the evidence of transgression is simply marked by the presence of marine flooding surfaces. The absence of transgressive strata relates to the low sea floor gradients, which facilitated rapid transgressions, combined with a generally low sediment supply. Aggradation under normal regressive highstand conditions, in spite of the low sediment supply, was promoted by the prolific growth of microbial mats, which reduced the effects of wave and current reworking by organic binding of clastic particles. D

A B S T R A C T The Eyam Limestone Formation of Steeplehouse Quarry, Wirksworth, Derbyshire, UK yields a diverse assemblage of Lower Carboniferous vertebrate remains. The assemblage is dominated by dermal denticles of the enigmatic selachian Petrodus patelliformis M'Coy, 1848, but also contains teeth of petalodonts, hybodonts and neoselachians. Actinopterygian remains also occur. The assemblage has yielded the earliest Neoselachian, Cooleyella fordi (Duffin and Ward, 1983) and the earliest British lonchidiid, Reesodus wirksworthensis (Duffin 1985). The first occurrence of the enigmatic spiny shark Acanthorhachis (Listracanthidae) is reported from the Viséan, extending its range back some 10 million years. Associated invertebrate remains and sedimentological data indicates a thriving fore-reef environment, deposited in a low energy off-reef setting. The vertebrate remains are well preserved with little abrasion, indicating short transport distances. Conodont elements indicating a late Brigantian age (Early Carboniferous, Viséan) have unusual and extensive euhedral apatite overgrowths.

The extensive matgrounds in Carboniferous-Permian open-marine deposits of western Argentina constitute an anachronistic facies, because with the onset of penetrative bioturbation during the early Paleozoic microbial mats essentially disappeared from these settings. Abundant microbially induced sedimentary structures in the Argentinean deposits are coincident with the disappearance of trace and body fossils in the succession and with a landward facies shift indicative of transgressive conditions. Deposits of the Late Carboniferous-Early Permian glacial event are well developed in adjacent basins in eastern Argentina, Brazil, South Africa and Antarctica, but do not occur in the western Andean basins of Argentina. However, the deglaciation phase is indirectly recorded in the studied region by a rapid rise in sea level referred to as the Stephanian-Asselian transgression. We suggest that an unusual release of meltwater during the final deglaciation episode of the Gondwana Ice Age may have dramatically freshened peri-Gondwanan seas, impacting negatively on coastal and shallow-marine benthic faunas. Suppression of bioturbation was therefore conducive to a brief re-appearance of matground-dominated ecosystems, reminiscent of those in the precambrian. Bioturbation is essential for ecosystem performance and plays a major role in ocean and sediment geochemistry. Accordingly, the decimation of the mixed layer during deglaciation in the Gondwana basins may have altered ecosystem functioning and geochemical cycling.

Facies analysis, distinct depositional paleoflow directions and grain size ranges suggest that different fluvial systems fed coeval distinct, independent river-dominated and tide-dominated braid delta systems in the Mesoproterozoic Aç uruá Formation. The river-dominated delta system is characterized by: (a) vertical stacking of parasequences up to 30 m which are characterized by coarsening-and thickeningupward trends; (b) gradationally based vertical succession of prodelta, delta front, distributary channels, and floodplain; (c) grain size of sandstone from delta front and distributary channels varies respectively from very fine to medium and medium to coarse; (d) lacking of wave or tide reworking suggests delta development in a relatively low energy marine basin; (e) paleocurrent readings indicate delta front sandstone bodies shifting laterally towards NE to SE directions. The tide-dominated delta system is characterized by: (a) vertical stacking of parasequences up to 25 m which are characterized by coarseningand thickening-upward trends; (b) gradationally based vertical succession of prodelta, delta front and tide-influenced distributary channels; (c) grain size of sandstone from delta front and tide-influenced distributary channels varies respectively from very fine to coarse and fine to granular; (d) abundance of tide-influenced sedimentary structures suggest tidal dominated delta development; (e) consistent bidirectional paleocurrents with northwards ebb-tide direction and no lobe shifting. The studied braid delta systems belong to a highstand system tract and as such, they exhibit classic parasequence sets with progradational stacking pattern. The facies association variability and overall characteristics of these Mesoproteozoic delta systems are compatible with delta systems of all ages. However, contrary to typically Phanerozoic deltas -which are characterized by progradational clinoforms -the coalescence of the studied braid delta facies associations promoted fairly sheet-like geometry limited by marine flooding surface that more likely resulted from the response of deposition on shallow and wide epeiric sea. .br (A.J.C. Magalhães). different dynamics (e.g. river-and tide-dominated) at the same age, especially for the Precambrian.

An attempt has been made to understand, within a cause-and-effect framework, the sequence-building pattern in Proterozoic time that witnessed non-uniformiteranean microbial mat growth and epeiric sea development. Marine or marginal marine successions in three Neoproterozoic formations, the Sonia Sandstone in western India, and the Sirbu Shale and Upper Bhander Sandstone in central India have been examined here for this purpose. The strikingly common feature of all three formations is vertical stacking of highstand systems tracts without intervention of any significant transgressive deposits. In one instance only, the transgressive systems tract is represented by a thin granular transgressive lag, and in all other cases the evidence of transgression is simply marked by the presence of marine flooding surfaces. The absence of transgressive strata relates to the low sea floor gradients, which facilitated rapid transgressions, combined with a generally low sediment supply. Aggradation under normal regressive highstand conditions, in spite of the low sediment supply, was promoted by the prolific growth of microbial mats, which reduced the effects of wave and current reworking by organic binding of clastic particles. D

Kurzfassung: Der Nachweis von Pfeilschwanzkrebsen (Xiphosurida) aus dem permokarbonischen Saar-Nahe-Becken gelang erstmals vor zwei Jahrzehnten. Seitdem sind eine ganze Reihe weiterer Funde getätigt worden, die bisher alle aus der Meisenheim-Formation stammten. Kürzlich erschlossen Straßenbauarbeiten ein deutlich jüngeres Vorkommen, welches hier vorgestellt wird. Die Fundhorizonte werden lithofaziell und paläoökologisch ausgewertet und miteinander verglichen. Gemeinsam ist allen, dass es sich um Ablagerungen aus mäßig tiefen bis tiefen Seen mit zumindest zeitweiser Durchlüftung bis zum Seeboden und im Einflussbereich eines Deltas handelt.

Forests are expected to expand into northern polar latitudes in the next century. However, the impact of forests at high latitudes on climate and terrestrial biogeochemical cycling is poorly understood because such forests cannot be studied in the modern. This study presents forestry and geochemical analyses of three in situ fossil forests from Late Permian strata of Antarctica, which grew at polar latitudes. Stem size measurements and stump spacing measurements indicate significant differences in forest density and canopy structure that are related to the local depositional setting. For forests closest to fluvial systems, tree density appears to decrease as the forests mature, which is the opposite trend of self-thinning observed in modern forests. We speculate that a combination of tree mortality and high disturbance created low-density mature forests without understory vegetation near Late Permian river systems. Stable carbon isotopes measured from permineralized wood in these forests demonstrate two important points: (i) recently developed techniques of high-resolution carbon isotope studies of wood and mummified wood can be applied to permineralized wood, for which much of the original organic matter has been lost and (ii) that the fossil trees maintained a deciduous habit at polar latitudes during the Late Permian. The combination of paleobotanical, sedimentologic, and paleoforestry techniques provides an unrivaled examination of the function of polar forests in deep time; and the carbon isotope geochemistry supplements this work with subannual records of carbon fixation that allows for the quantitative analysis of deciduous versus evergreen habits and environmental parameters, for example, relative humidity.

Late Paleozoic glacial diamictites occur in many localities in western Argentina, indicating that the region was strongly affected by glaciation during the mid-Carboniferous (late Serpukhovian-early Bashkirian). In most instances these diamictites are found in steeply walled paleovalley settings in the Andean Precordillera. This study presents new data from a locality north of the Precordillera that suggests an additional, distinct, volume of ice existed in the region during the Carboniferous. The glacigenic diamictites in the Rio Blanco Basin were ultimately emplaced as gravity flows, precluding inferences of paleo-ice volume. Fold nose orientation and soft-sediment groove orientations within the diamictites indicate that the deposits were emplaced from north to south, suggesting that glacial ice was most likely not sourced from the proto-Precordillera at this locality, requiring the need for another ice center to the north of the basin. Diamictite facies indicates that the sediment was initially supplied to the study area by a warm-based glacier.

ABSTRACT—During her three decades with the Geological Survey of Alabama from 1931 to 1961, Winnie McGlamery (1887–1977) was a key figure in Alabama paleontology and oil and gas exploration. She was a diminutive but feisty woman who arguably did more for the discovery of oil and gas fields than any other state employee during that time, for she logged the cores and cuttings of nearly every permitted well for the Survey’s public files.
McGlamery was trained in paleontology at the Johns Hopkins University at a time when few women scientists worked in the field, though microscope work was tolerated. “Miss Winnie” spent much of her career studying Foraminifera, especially after the first successful Alabama oil fields were brought in (notably, the Gilbertown field in 1944 and the Citronelle field in 1955). She also gained extensive field experience, particularly with Coastal Plain mollusks, and was active in local scientific societies. Her advice on fossils and localities was sought by many researchers. Although McGlamery published relatively little, she had a great influence on Alabama paleontology and biostratigraphy in her long association with the Geological Survey of Alabama.

Ginteria fungiforma gen. et sp. nov. is described on the basis of isolated teeth from the Viséan (Brigantian) of the Matlock Limestone Formation of Derbyshire, England and the Late Viséan (Msta Formation) of the Novgorod District, and the Early Serpukhovian (Steshev Formation) of the Moscow District in Russia. The teeth are very small (0.54 mm maximum tooth height) with a deeply incised, pedestal-like crown/base junction separating the orthodont, enameloid-covered, unornamented crown from a base of overall anachronistid design. A lingually-offset occlusal crest lacks cusps and divides the crown into a short lingual section and a triangular labial section with a slightly concave surface, expanded to form a pronounced labial flange.