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Upper Triassic (upper + triassic)
Selected AbstractsA NEW SPECIES OF CLEVOSAURUS (LEPIDOSAURIA: RHYNCHOCEPHALIA) FROM THE UPPER TRIASSIC OF RIO GRANDE DO SUL, BRAZILPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 4 2006JOSÉ F. BONAPARTE Abstract:, Well-preserved cranial remains of a small sphenodontian lepidosaur from the Upper Triassic Caturrita Formation of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, are the first record of the genus Clevosaurus Swinton, 1939 from South America. They represent a new species, Clevosaurus brasiliensis, which is distinguished by a very short antorbital region of the skull (corresponding to about 20 per cent of skull length) and the presence of teeth in addition to two longitudinal rows on the pterygoid. C. brasiliensis most closely resembles C. bairdi from the Lower Jurassic of Nova Scotia (Canada) and C. mcgilli from the Lower Jurassic of Yunnan (China). The discovery of Clevosaurus in the Upper Triassic of southern Brazil provides a significant range extension of this widely distributed sphenodontian genus. Along with other recent finds, it also suggests that there may have been less biotic provincialism among terrestrial vertebrates during the Late Triassic than has previously been assumed. [source] Mesozoic,Paleogene sedimentary facies and paleogeography of Tibet, western China: tectonic implicationsGEOLOGICAL JOURNAL, Issue 3 2002Kai-Jun Zhang Abstract In Early,Middle Triassic time, an abyssal sea covered most of the Songpan,Ganzi area, whereas a Central Tibetan Landmass, up to 400,km wide, may have stretched across the Lhasa and Western Qiangtang terrains. In Late Triassic time, the Songpan,Ganzi sea closed, the Central Tibetan Landmass receded westwards away from southern Western Qiangtang, a littoral environment dominated Eastern Qiangtang, middle Western Qiangtang, and southeastern Lhasa, a shelf environment existed only in northern and southeastern Western Qiangtang and northwestern Eastern Qiangtang, and abyssal flysch was spread along the eastern Bangonghu,Nüjiang zone. In Early,Middle Jurassic time, Songpan,Ganzi had become part of the Eurasian continent, abyssal flysch sediments stretched throughout the Bangonghu,Nüjiang zone, the Central Tibetan Landmass was only locally present in southwestern Lhasa, and the Tethyan epicontinental sea nearly covered all Tibet southwest of the Jinsajiang suture. In Late Jurassic time, oceanic flysch deposition existed only along the westernmost Bangonghu,Nüjiang zone, nearly all of Tibet was covered by coastal deposits, and shelf deposits existed only in northern Western Qiangtang and westernmost Lhasa. In the early stage of Early Cretaceous time, the majority of Qiangtang had become dry land, and a supralittoral environment dominated across the entire Lhasa terrain. However, during the late stage of the Early Cretaceous time, platform,shelf carbonates prevailed on southern Western Qiangtang and northern Lhasa. In Late Cretaceous time, the majority of Qiangtang had become emergent land, and a supratidal environment dominated Lhasa, the western rim of Western Qiangtang, and Tarim. In Paleogene time, the majority of Tibet became emergent land, and a supratidal environment existed only on the southern and western rims. The dominance of Upper Triassic,Jurassic shelf carbonates on the northwestern Eastern Qiangtang corner and the northern Western Qiangtang rim suggests a diachronous closing of the Jinsajiang paleo-Tethys ocean, first during latest Triassic time when the Eastern Qiangtang terrain collided with Asia and finally in Jurassic time when the Western Qiangtang terrain was amalgamated to Asia. Rich picotites in Upper Triassic sandstones of middle Qiangtang suggest that the Shuanghu suture could have extended along the middle of Qiangtang, and stable shelf sedimentation during Late Triassic,Middle Jurassic time in the Western Qiangtang terrain shows that the suture probably could not have formed until Middle Jurassic time. The opening time of the Bangonghu,Nüjiang mid-Tethys ocean could be Late Triassic time due to the existence of the Central Tibetan Landmass across Western Qiangtang and Lhasa during Early,Middle Triassic time. However, its opening was diachronous, at Late Triassic time in the east and at Early,Middle Jurassic time in the west. Furthermore, its closing was also diachronous, first in the east at the beginning of Late Jurassic time and later in the west in latest Jurassic to earliest Cretaceous time. Widespread upper Lower Cretaceous limestone up to 5,km thick over the northern half of Lhasa indicates that southern Tibet could have undergone an extensive backarc subsidence during late Early Cretaceous time. Continuous shallow marine sedimentation through the entire Cretaceous time over much of southern Tibet indicates that southern Tibet was intensely elevated only after the end of Paleogene time, its high topography being the product of the Indo-Asian collision. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Fabrics, facies control and diagenesis of lacustrine ooids and associated grains from the Upper Triassic, southwest EnglandGEOLOGICAL JOURNAL, Issue 1 2002P. G. Milroy Abstract Petrographic analysis of ooids from the Upper Triassic (Mercia Mudstone Group) of southwest England provides an opportunity to assess in detail the origins, transport pathways and diagenesis of an ancient oolite. The Clevedon Oolite is dolomitized and contains a variety of dissolved ooids (oomoulds) and associated grains. The oomoulds occur in well-sorted, planar and cross-stratified grainstones, packstones, sandstones and conglomerates associated with shoreface, intershoal, foreshore, beachrock and littoral strandplain deposits. The ooids grew in suspension in the shoreface zone and developed a radial aragonite microstructure. The ooids grew to 0.80 mm in diameter, after which they fractured or ceased growing. Broken grains deposited on or near mobile shoals were rapidly recoated, while other grains, deposited in less agitated, intershoal and lower foreshore areas, were micritized or microbially bound into grapestone aggregates. Locally peloids, intraclasts, quartz grains and micritized grains from intershoal areas supplied nuclei for ooids on nearby shoals. Grains deposited in foreshore areas were rapidly cemented into beachrock and reworked into conglomerates. Soon after deposition, the ooids were subjected to widespread aragonite dissolution followed by dolomitization. The lack of pre-dolomitization calcite, together with the abundance of early (pre-compaction) dolospar cements and fabric-selective dolomitization of micritic fabrics, suggest aragonite dissolution by dolomitizing fluids. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Pseudoplanktonic lifestyle of the Triassic crinoid Traumatocrinus from Southwest ChinaLETHAIA, Issue 3 2006Wang Xiaofeng Colonies of Traumatocrinus (Echinodermata, Crinoidea) attached to driftwood from the lower Upper Triassic (Carnian) Xiaowa Formation of the Guanling area (Guizhou, Southwest China) document a pseudoplanktonic lifestyle for this specialized offshoot of the otherwise benthic Middle Triassic Encrinidae. After the end-Carnian decline of Traumatocrinus, its ecological niche was subsumed in Norian by genera derived from another benthic family (Holocrinidae) with convergent morphological modifications. After the Toarcian (Lower Jurassic), this niche disappeared, possibly due to the emergence of wood-boring bivalves. [source] A NEW SPECIES OF CLEVOSAURUS (LEPIDOSAURIA: RHYNCHOCEPHALIA) FROM THE UPPER TRIASSIC OF RIO GRANDE DO SUL, BRAZILPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 4 2006JOSÉ F. BONAPARTE Abstract:, Well-preserved cranial remains of a small sphenodontian lepidosaur from the Upper Triassic Caturrita Formation of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, are the first record of the genus Clevosaurus Swinton, 1939 from South America. They represent a new species, Clevosaurus brasiliensis, which is distinguished by a very short antorbital region of the skull (corresponding to about 20 per cent of skull length) and the presence of teeth in addition to two longitudinal rows on the pterygoid. C. brasiliensis most closely resembles C. bairdi from the Lower Jurassic of Nova Scotia (Canada) and C. mcgilli from the Lower Jurassic of Yunnan (China). The discovery of Clevosaurus in the Upper Triassic of southern Brazil provides a significant range extension of this widely distributed sphenodontian genus. Along with other recent finds, it also suggests that there may have been less biotic provincialism among terrestrial vertebrates during the Late Triassic than has previously been assumed. [source] The Late Triassic Schilderia Adamanica and Woodworthia Arizonica Trees of the Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, UsaPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 1 2004G. T. Creber Two fossil tree species, both with unusual characteristics, occur in the Upper Triassic of the Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, USA and adjacent areas. The first, Schilderia adamanica, has a highly idiosyncratic secondary xylem structure which contains normal uniseriate and broad complex multiseriate ,herring-bone' rays. The trunk cross-section of the secondary xylem may be either of a normal pycnoxylic type with a central pith and rays radiating from that or it may consist of appressed ,xylem masses' with rays curving towards one another at their extremities. The second, Woodworthia arizonica, has narrow, horizontal vascular traces traversing the entire radial width of the secondary xylem. By analogy with extant tree species, these traces would have terminated on preventitious buds deeply embedded in the bark which, in the case of these fossil trunks, have failed to be silicified. Such buds have the capacity to develop into epicormic shoots when the crown foliage of the tree is damaged. A further specimen of W. arizonica is recorded for the first time from the Permian of southern Brazil. Reconstruction drawings of both trees are produced. [source] A Primitive Late Triassic ,ictidosaur' from Rio Grande Do Sul, BrazilPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 4 2001José F. Bonaparte A primitive ,ictidosaur' from lower Norian beds of southern Brazil, Riograndia guaibensis gen. et sp. nov., represented by a fragmentary skull and a lower jaw bearing a complete dentition, shows a more generalized morphology than Chaliminia from the Upper Triassic of Argentina and PachygenelusDiarthrognathus from the Lower Jurassic of South Africa, Canada and Greenland. The frontal bone borders the orbit, and ventrally contacts the dorsal process of the palatine. The secondary bony palate extends back to the last postcanine. I1 and i2 are reduced, whereas I2-3 and i1 are hypertrophied. Both PC 1,7 and pc 1,7 have blade-like crowns without cingula and with 5,9 small sharp cuspules. The upper postcanine crowns are semicircular in labial view with the cuspules around their margins. The lower postcanine crowns are asymmetrical with most of the cuspules dorsodistally distributed. The possible origin of this peculiar dentition is interpreted as the retention of the juvenile dentition of ancestors. The hypothesis that Riograndia guaibensis and the so-called ,ictidosaurs' might have been derived from gomphodont cynodonts is presented. [source] Source Rocks for the Giant Puguang Gas Field Sichuan Basin: Implication for Petroleum Exploration in Marine Sequences in South ChinaACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA (ENGLISH EDITION), Issue 3 2008ZOU Huayao Abstract: Detailed geochemistry studies were conducted to investigate the origin of solid bitumens and hydrocarbon gases in the giant Puguang gas field. Two types of solid bitumens were recognized: low sulfur content, low reflectance (LSLR) solid bitumens in sandstone reservoirs in the Xujiahe Formation and high sulfur content, high reflectance (HSHR) solid bitumens in the carbonate reservoirs in the Lower Triassic Feixianguan and Upper Permian Changxing formations. Solid bitumens in the Upper Triassic Xujiahe Formation correlate well with extracts from the Upper Triassic to Jurassic nonmarine source rocks in isotopic composition of the saturated and aromatic fractions and biomarker distribution. Solid bitumens in the Feixianguan and Changxing formations are distinctly different from extracts from the Cambrian and Silurian rocks but display reasonable correlation with extracts from the Upper Permian source rocks both in isotopic composition of the saturated and aromatic fractions and in biomarker distribution, suggesting that the Permian especially the Upper Permian Longtan Formation was the main source of solid bitumens in the carbonate reservoirs in the Feixianguan and Changxing formations in the Puguang gas field. Chemical and isotopic composition of natural gases indicates that the majority of hydrocarbon gases originated from sapropelic organic matter and was the products of thermal cracking of accumulated oils. This study indicates that source rock dominated by sapropelic organic matter existed in the Upper Permian and had made major contribution to the giant Puguang gas field, which has important implication for petroleum exploration in marine sequences in South China. [source] Biostratigraphy of Triassic Marine Reptiles in Southwest Guizhou and Its Adjacent AreaACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA (ENGLISH EDITION), Issue 4 2001WANG Liting Abstract, This paper briefly reviews the Triassic marine reptile fossils in Guizhou Province, especially the fossils that have been recently found in the Guanling area. Based on three sections at Guanling and Xingyi, Guizhou Province and Luoping, Yunnan Province, four horizons with vertebrate fossils are recognized in the Middle and Upper Triassic of this area; They are from bottom to top: Member I and Member II of the Guanling Formation, and the Zhuganpo Member and the Wayao Member of the Falang Formation. [source] | ||||||||||