Introduction. Upper Cretaceous deposits are widespread on the northwestern shelf of the Black Sea. They were discovered by drilling 35 wells on 18 areas and are considered promising for hydrocarbons. In these deposits, the Shmidtivske (Maastrichtian) gas field was discovered, and non-industrial gas inflows were observed in the Golitsynske and Odeska fields, in the Karkinitska, Flangova and Shtileva areas, as well as numerous oil and gas shows. The success of further geological prospecting and exploration works depends on a reliable stratigraphic framework of sedimentary strata promising for hydrocarbons.
Materials and methods. We analyzed the drilling materials of 35 deep wells that exposed Upper Cretaceous sediments of the northwestern shelf of the Black Sea and 14 wells of the adjacent land, the latest seismic data and the results of previous geological and geophysical studies in the region, our own developments and generalizations, as well as information on the geological structure of the study area obtained from the reports on the implementation of research work on geological study of the subsoil, which are stored in the State Research and Production Enterprise “Geoinform of Ukraine”. The reference wells were selected as those whose sections were the most informative for stratigraphic constructions based on a set of geological factors (paleontological determinations of fossil fauna groups to establish the relative geological age of rocks, lithological description of stone material, geophysical surveys of wells, etc. To distinguish local stratigraphic units in the Cenomanian, Turonian, Coniacian and Santonian sediments, we used the sections of wells located on the adjacent land, namely: well Myrnivska-1, well Krasnoperekopska-2, well Henicheska-5 and well Borysivska-3. They characterize the same conditions of sedimentation of the marine basin, respectively, during each of the listed ages within the South Ukrainian monocline. Main research methods: bio-lithostratigraphic, lithological and geophysical.
Results. For this purpose, a revision of the local stratigraphic units of the Upper Cretaceous deposits of the Ukrainian sector of the northwestern shelf of the Black Sea was carried out using a set of methods on a geophysical basis (logging), taking into account the results of regional seismic studies, paleontological determinations of the geological age of rocks, literary and stock materials in the Cretaceous section of the northwestern shelf Black Sea. These stratons were included in the stratigraphic scheme of 2013, as well as those highlighted by the authors of the article in 2015. Based on the results of the research, local stratigraphic subdivisions of Formations rank were distinguished: Semyhatkivska, Partizanska, Ryftova, Hamburtsevska, Bezimenna and Kornilovska for Cenomanian deposits; Myrnivska, Borysivska – Turonian-Coniacian deposits; Selskogo, Borysivska, Fedorovska, Nyzhnodniprovska and Pivnichnoarabatska – Santonian deposits; Selskogo and Zmiina – Campanian deposits; Selskogo – Maastrichtian deposits. Turonian-Santonian sediments, represented by andesite and diabase porphyrites with layers of sandstones and found in the well Illichivska-2 well in the depth interval of 1200-1745 m, are distinguished as part of a layer of sandstones, diabase porphyrites and limestones according to [2].
Сonclusions. The proposed stratons will be included in the new stratigraphic scheme of the Cretaceous deposits of the northwestern shelf of the Black Sea.
Jules Ferreira, Hugo Josse, Lucas Denadai de Campos
et al.
Fossil insects are valuable indicators of the evolutionary history of the clades to which they belong. According to their state of preservation, fossil insects are often partially described for key morphological characters, such as forewing venation in crickets (Orthoptera, Grylloidea). In parallel, the use of 3D microtomography is increasingly becoming common for studying some fossils, which allowed here the precise reconstruction and interpretation of the venation pattern in the smallest known cricket with a stridulatory apparatus, †Picogryllus carentonensis, found in opaque amber. The 3D reconstructions have revealed the general structure of the venation of the forewing and have enabled the identification of all its veins and cells, validating its similarity with that of extant crickets. Putative homologies are established according to previous studies, and some particularities are observed, such as the presence of two crossveins in the mirror, a rare feature in extant crickets that is discussed in the frame of cricket venation evolution. These findings highlight the importance of 3D microtomography as a powerful tool for examining fossil insects and also provide crucial information for taxonomic identification and evolutionary studies, offering a validated morphological basis for future phylogenetic analyses incorporating fossils.
A controversy on the degree of marine influence in the paleoenvironments represented by many Paleozoic stegocephalian-bearing fossiliferous localities has persisted for decades. Many authors have equated the absence of a typical stenohaline marine fauna with freshwater environments, but this ignores continental salt lakes and the many transitional environments (deltaic, estuarine, lagoonal, and some epicontinental seas that receive much freshwater influx, like the Baltic Sea) that separate typical marine environments from freshwater environments. This is problematic because it seems plausible that many of the late Paleozoic sediments that have been preserved were deposited on coasts in deltas and estuaries. The author had compiled a dataset of paleoenvironmental interpretations of Devonian to Early Permian stegocephalian (“tetrapod”)-bearing fossiliferous localities in 2010. How have these interpretations withstood the test of time, especially in the face of new results from different kinds of evidence? An updated dataset and a new literature review show that the case for a marine origin of stegocephalians has strengthened, especially through additional discoveries or reinterpretations of fossils that suggest marine influence in various classical vertebrate-bearing Permo-Carboniferous localities traditionally interpreted as freshwater, and a recent analysis of stable isotopes in Late Devonian localities.
The objects of study are the terracotta figurines, discovered in Tanais and on the periphery of Remontnoye village, Rostov Oblast, which are dated 1st c. BCE — 1st c. CE. Iconographic and morphological analysis interprets the figurines as depictions of Mēn, Mithra and Attis. Their syncretic cult found its way in the region from Pont in 2nd c. BCE. The connection of these cults with the Kabeiri’s earlier cult of agricultural deities can be clearly observed. As for the studied figurines, the fact that they were discovered on Lower Don, as well as in remote regions of Rostov Oblast, demonstrates that this Pontic syncretic cult was popular among settlers of the eastern periphery of Bosporan Kingdom and neighboring territories in 1st c. BCE — 1st c. CE.
H. M. Palmer, V. Padilla Vriesman, R. M. W. Banker
et al.
<p>The shells of marine invertebrates can serve as high-resolution records of
oceanographic and atmospheric change through time. In particular, oxygen and
carbon isotope analyses of nearshore marine calcifiers that grow by
accretion over their lifespans provide seasonal records of environmental and
oceanographic conditions. Archaeological shell middens generated by
Indigenous communities along the northwest coast of North America contain
shells harvested over multiple seasons for millennia. These shell middens,
as well as analyses of archival and modern shells, have the potential to
provide multi-site, seasonal archives of nearshore conditions throughout the
Holocene. A significant volume of oxygen and carbon isotope data from
archaeological shells exist, yet they are separately published in archaeological,
geochemical, and paleoceanographic journals and have not been comprehensively
analyzed to examine oceanographic change over time. Here, we compiled a
database of previously published oxygen and carbon isotope data from
archaeological, archival, and modern marine mollusks from the California
Current System (North American coast of the northeast Pacific, 32 to
55<span class="inline-formula"><sup>∘</sup></span> N). This database includes oxygen and carbon isotope data from 598
modern, archaeological, and sub-fossil shells from 8880 years before present
(BP) to the present, from which there are 4917 total <span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>13</sup>C</span> and
7366 total <span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>18</sup>O</span> measurements. Shell dating and sampling
strategies vary among studies (1–345 samples per shell, mean 44.7 samples
per shell) and vary significantly by journal discipline. Data are from
various bivalves and gastropod species, with <i>Mytilus</i> spp. being the most commonly
analyzed taxon. This novel database can be used to investigate changes in
nearshore sea surface conditions including warm–cool oscillations, heat
waves, and upwelling intensity, and it provides nearshore calcium carbonate
<span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>13</sup>C</span> and <span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>18</sup>O</span> values that can be compared to the
vast collections of offshore foraminiferal calcium carbonate <span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>13</sup>C</span> and <span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>18</sup>O</span> data from marine sediment cores. By
utilizing previously published geochemical data from midden and museum
shells rather than sampling new specimens, future scientific research can
reduce or omit the alteration or destruction of culturally valued specimens
and sites. The dataset is publicly available through PANGAEA at
<a href="https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.941373">https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.941373</a> (Palmer et al.,
2021).</p>
Abstract The Milos, Christiana‐Santorini‐Kolumbo (CSK) and Kos‐Yali‐Nisyros (KYN) volcanic complexes of the Aegean Volcanic Arc have repeatedly produced highly explosive eruptions from at least ∼360 ka into historic times and still show recent unrest. We present the marine tephra record from an array of 50, up to 7.4 m long, sediment cores along the arc collected in 2017 during RV Poseidon cruise POS513, which complements earlier work on distal to ultra‐distal eastern Mediterranean sediment cores. A unique set of glass‐shard trace element (LA‐ICPMS) compositions complements our major element (EMP) data on 220 primary ash layers and 40 terrestrial samples to support geochemical fingerprinting for correlations with 19 known tephras from all three volcanic complexes and with the 39 ka Campanian Ignimbrite from the Campi Flegrei, Italy. The correlations include 11 eruptions from CSK (Kameni, Kolumbo 1650, Minoan, Cape Riva, Cape Tripiti, Upper Scoriae 1 and 2, Middle Pumice, Cape Thera, Lower Pumice, Cape Therma 3). We identify a previously unknown widespread tephra from a plinian eruption on Milos (Firiplaka Tephra). Near the KYN we correlate marine tephras with the Kos Plateau Tuff, the Yali 1 and Yali 2 tephras, and the Upper and Lower Pumice on Nisyros. Between these two major tephras, we found two tephras from Nisyros not yet observed on land. The four Nisyros tephras form a systematic trend toward more evolved magma compositions. In the companion paper we use the tephrostratigraphic framework established here to constrain new eruption ages and magnitudes as a contribution to volcanic hazard assessment.
Abstract The Middle Triassic Luoping Biota in south-west China represents the inception of modern marine ecosystems, with abundant and diverse arthropods, fishes and marine reptiles, indicating recovery from the Permian–Triassic mass extinction. Here we report a new specimen of the predatory marine reptile Diandongosaurus, based on a nearly complete skeleton. The specimen is larger than most other known pachypleurosaurs, and the body shape, caniniform teeth, clavicle with anterior process, and flat distal end of the anterior caudal ribs show its affinities with Diandongosaurus acutidentatus, while the new specimen is approximately three times larger than the holotype. The morphological characters indicate that the new specimen is an adult of D. acutidentatus, allowing for ontogenetic variation. The fang-like teeth and large body size confirm it was a predator, but the amputated hind limb on the right side indicate itself had been predated by an unknown hunter. Predation on such a large predator reveals that predation pressure in the early Mesozoic was intensive, a possible early hint of the Mesozoic Marine Revolution.
N. Adam Smith, Thomas A. Stidham, Jonathan S. Mitchell
The relatively extensive fossil record of owls (Aves, Strigiformes) in North America and Europe stands in stark contrast to the paucity of fossil strigiformes from Africa. The first occurrence of a fossil owl from the Paleogene of Africa extends the fossil record of this clade on that continent by as much as 25 million years, and confirms the presence of large-sized owls in Oligocene continental faunas. The new fossil is tentatively referred to the Selenornithinae, a clade of large owls previously restricted to Europe. This new fossil owl was likely similar in size to the extant Eagle Owls of the genus <i>Bubo</i>, and suggests that the niche of large, volant, terrestrial avian predator, although relatively rare throughout avian evolutionary history, may be an ecological role that was more common among extinct owls than previously recognized.
Abstract In recent years, the reconstruction of individual life history by the multi-isotope analysis of different skeletal elements has become an active topic in bioarchaeological field. However, most studies focus on the persons with high social status and none cares for craftsmen with low social status. In this study, we undertook a comprehensive analysis on a human skeleton buried in the Oupan kiln, Anhui, China to recover his osteobiography. The archaeological context and dating result (534–644 cal. AD) indicate that he might be a potter at the kiln during the Sui and early Tang Dynasty, characteristic of low social hierarchy. The osteological investigation suggests that he had abnormal vertebrae related to long-term physical labor. In general, the isotopic data demonstrate that he mainly consumed C3(wheat, beans)/C4(millets)-based terrestrial foods. The isotopic (C, N) profiles of dentin sections and isotopic data (C, O) of bone apatite and teeth enamel indicate that he had experienced dramatic dietary changes and/or several migrations throughout the childhood and adulthood. His turbulent life trajectory was highly relevant to his identity and low social status. Our study provides a pilot insight into the life history of craftsmen who was generally overlooked in archaeological, historic and anthropological research.
In this paper, the current state of knowledge of the taphonomic characteristics of micromammal (rodents and marsupials) remains generated by the action of the different predators (avian raptors and carnivore mammals) of South America (particularly of Argentina), known through actualistic studies, is reviewed. The analyzed taphonomic attributes enabled the adjustment, by means of extensive comparisons among different groups of predators and prey, of the modification categories indicated in the original papers. The data herein revised and assessed suggest that the evaluated South American predators may be grouped into four categories of modification: a) Light (Tyto alba, Bubo virginianus, Strix chacoensis and Asio flammeus); b) Moderate (Athene cunicularia, Geranoaetus melanoleucus, Geranoaetus polyosoma and Pseudoscops clamator); c) Heavy (Circus buffoni, Caracara plancus, Elanus leucurus, Didelphis albiventris, Leopardus geoffroyi and Lontra longicaudis); d) Extreme (Milvago chimango, Puma concolor, Puma yagouaroundi, Conepatus chinga and Lycalopex griseus). Finally, the research herein discussed evaluates how these studies were applied in the fossil record of both palaeontological and archaeological sites of South America.
A new burmagomphid anisopteran, Satelitala soberana gen. et sp. nov. is described from the lower Eocene of Laguna del Hunco, Patagonia, Argentina. The new genus is characterised by hindwing characters such as the subdiscoidal triangle not elongated; anal loop divided longitudinally; paranal cell divided longitudinally; five terminal cells between RP and MA; five terminal cells between MP and CuA; and obtuse angle between PsA and CuP+AA. Burmagomphid
dragonflies were represented so far only by one specimen from the middle Cretaceous of Southeast Asia. This new record extends the distribution to Patagonia, to the Cenozoic, and also to paleolake deposits.
Abstract The mere existence of speciation and extinction make macro-evolutionary processes possible. Speciation and extinction introduce discontinuities in the microevolutionary change within lineages by initiating, disrupting, and terminating the continuity of species lineages. Within a clade, speciation and extinction become potent means of macroevolution in and of themselves. This process, termed species selection, is a macroevolutionary analogue of natural selection, with species playing an analogous part akin to that played by organisms in microevolution. That said, it has proven difficult to think about levels of selection. The concept of species sorting was introduced to help our thinking on this issue by identifying two aspects inherent in hierarchical systems can confuse our attempts to understand them: uncertainty in the level that selection acts and uncertainty about if the pattern of selection is in fact caused at all. Thanks to insights from evolutionary transitions in individuality, we now know more about how to identify the level of selection and how to parse the causal structure in hierarchical evolutionary circumstances. We know that if the fitness of organisms causes the fitness of more inclusive species then they must covary. However, there is no evidence of such a covariance between fitnesses at these two levels. This covariance is just not observed; neither between cells and organisms nor between organisms and species. Rather, speciation and extinction rates appear to be completely divorced from organismal fitness. With this insight, the concept of species sorting shrinks so that it only covers the two processes of species selection and drift. I argue that we are better off focusing on understanding the processes of species selection and drift and that there is therefore no further need for the concept of species sorting.
GIUSEPPE CARONE, ANTONELLA CINZIA MARRA, CATERINA MESIANO
A sirenian rib has been recovered at Motta San Giovanni (Reggio Calabria) in the “Floresta Calcarenites”, a Formation cropping out in Sicily and Calabria and dated late Burdigalian-Langhian. Although the rib is not a diagnostic bone for taxonomy, its presence in southern Calabria extends the knowledge about the paleobiogeography of the Family Dugongidae in the Mediterranean basin. The find is hitherto the only record of sirenians in the Floresta calcarenites. Moreover, the specimen extends back to the Early-Middle Miocene (late Burdigalian-Langhian) the occurrence of sirenians in Calabria, previously determined thanks to substantial material from the Late Miocene (Tortonian) of the Monte Poro area (Vibo Valentia). The paleoenvironment of the Floresta calcarenites was a warm and shallow sea, consistent with the paleoecology of Dugongidae.
Several partially articulated specimens and numerous isolated bones of Ozimek volans gen. et sp. nov., from the late Carnian lacustrine deposits exposed at Krasiejów in southern Poland, enable a reconstruction of most of the skeleton. The unique character of the animal is its enlarged plate-like coracoids presumably fused with sterna. Other aspects of the skeleton seem to be comparable to those of the only known specimen of Sharovipteryx mirabilis from the latest Middle Triassic of Kyrgyzstan, which supports interpretation of both forms as protorosaurians. One may expect that the pectoral girdle of S. mirabilis, probably covered by the rock matrix in its only specimen, was similar to that of O. volans gen. et sp. nov. The Krasiejów material shows sharp teeth, low crescent scapula, three sacrals in a generalized pelvis (two of the sacrals being in contact with the ilium) and curved robust metatarsal of the fifth digit in the pes, which are unknown in Sharovipteryx. Other traits are plesiomorphic and, except for the pelvic girdle and extreme elongation of appendages, do not allow to identify any close connection of the sharovipterygids within the Triassic protorosaurians.
Mineralized wood collected from Late Pliocene strata near Gorbki village in the Transcarpathian region of Beregovo Kholmogor'e in southwestern Ukraine was anatomically studied and identified. The wood possesses distinctive anatomical features and has distinct growth rings with an abrupt transition from early- to late-wood. Wood consists of tracheids with 1–3 seriate, dominating bi-seriate, opposite pits on the radial walls and taxodioid cross-field pitting, indentures present. Rays are uni-seriate and 1 to 73 cells high. Ray parenchyma horizontal walls thin and smooth. Axial parenchyma distributed in early- and late-wood and is solitary and diffuse, with end walls nearly smooth or slightly nodular. The combination of features observed in the wood indicates it belongs to the conifer family Taxodiaceae and is most similar to modern Sequoia and assigned to the fossil genus Sequoioxylon. Comparison with species of Sequoioxylon show it is most similar to Sequoioxylon burejense, but ray tracheids were not found in our specimens. We describe the specimens here as Sequoioxylon cf. s. burejense noting this similarity. Extant Sequoia is distributed in the northern California coastal forest eco-region of northern California and southern Oregon in the United States where they usually grow in a unique environment with heavy seasonal precipitation (2500 mm annually), cool coastal air and fog drip. This study supplies magafossil evidence of Sequoioxylon as an element of the Late Pliocene forest community in Ukraine and indicates a climate with heavy seasonal precipitation and fog drip.
The Caledonian orogeny at the end of the Silurian resulted in great changes in the palaeogeography in the Yunnan-Guizhou-Guangxi area of South China; the continental area of the Early Paleozoic evolved into the extensive Dian-Qian-Gui Sea in the Late Paleozoic. Early in the Devonian, as a result of a major transgression, seawater encroached gradually from the south to the north and clastic facies were deposited. Carbonate deposition was then established in the Yunnan-Guizhou-Guangxi area, with a palaeogeography marked by attached platforms, isolated platforms and narrow basins. As a result of the Ziyun movement towards the end of the Devonian, the Upper Devonian strata are regressive and thin out from the open-sea to the land areas. A study of the nature and distribution of sedimentary facies in space and time recognises 13 third-order sequences in the Devonian strata in Yunnan-Guizhou-Guangxi area, and these form two second-order sequences. The strata of the Lower Devonian comprise 5 third-order sequences (SQ1 to SQ5), which are dominated by transgressive clastics. 4 third-order sequences (SQ6 to SQ9) in the Middle Devonian are characterized by alternations of transgressive clastics and highstand carbonates. In the Upper Devonian, carbonates constitute 4 third-order sequences (SQ10 to SQ13), which are generally marked by the transgressive limestones and highstand dolomites. On the basis of earlier biostratigraphic studies, sea-level changes represented by the third-order sequences with their different facies successions are explored, and the sequence stratigraphic framework is established. Therefore, the Devonian strata in the study area provide an example for further understanding of depositional trends within the sequence-stratigraphic framework.