Transverse Ridges (transverse + ridge)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


On the head morphology of Tetraphalerus, the phylogeny of Archostemata and the basal branching events in Coleoptera

CLADISTICS, Issue 3 2008
Rolf G. Beutel
Internal and external features of Tetraphalerus bruchi were studied using X-ray microtomography (µ-CT) and other techniques, and head structures were described in detail. µ-Ct is highly efficient for the assessment of anatomical data. A data matrix with 90 morphological characters of recent and fossil beetles was analyzed with different approaches (parsimony, Bayesian analysis). The results of the parsimony analysis resulted in the following branching pattern: (,Tshekardocoleidae + (,Permocupedidae, ,Rhombocoleidae + (,Triadocupedidae + ((Adephaga + (Myxophaga + Polyphaga))) + Archostemata s.str. [including Jurodidae]))). Sikhotealinia is placed as sister group of ,Jurodes (Jurodidae), and Jurodidae as sister group of the remaining Archostemata (Bayesian analysis) or of a clade comprising Micromalthidae, Crowsoniellidae, ,Ademosynidae, ,Schizophoridae and ,Catiniidae. The monophyly of Ommatidae and Cupedidae is well supported and Priacma is placed as the sister group of all other Cupedidae. Important events in the early evolution of Coleoptera are the shortening of the elytra and the transformation of the elytral venation (Coleoptera excluding ,Tshekardocoleidae), the formation of a closed subelytral space (Coleoptera excluding ,Tshekardocoleidae and ,Permocupedidae), the reduction of two apical antennomeres, and the loss of the broad prothoracic postcoxal bridge (Coleoptera excluding ,Tshekardocoleidae, ,Permocupedidae and ,Rhombocoleidae). Plesiomorphic features preserved in extant Archostemata are the tuberculate cuticle, the elytral pattern with parallel longitudinal ribs and window punctures, a mesoventrite with a transverse ridge, triangular mesocoxae with a distinct meron, and the exposed metatrochantin. The fossils included in the analyses do not only contribute to the reconstruction of character evolution but also influence the branching pattern. An understanding of the major evolutionary events in Coleoptera would not be possible without considering the rich fossil record of Permian and Mesozoic beetles. © The Willi Hennig Society 2007. [source]


The systematic position of Meruidae (Coleoptera, Adephaga) and the phylogeny of the smaller aquatic adephagan beetle families

CLADISTICS, Issue 2 2006
Rolf G. Beutel
A phylogenetic analysis of Adephaga is presented. It is based on 148 morphological characters of adults and larvae and focussed on a placement of the recently described Meruidae, and the genus-level phylogeny of the smaller aquatic families Gyrinidae, Haliplidae and Noteridae. We found a sister group relationship between Gyrinidae and the remaining adephagan families, as was found in previous studies using morphology. Haliplidae are either the sister group of Dytiscoidea or the sister group of a clade comprising Geadephaga and the dytiscoid families. Trachypachidae was placed as the sister group of the rhysodid-carabid clade or of Dytiscoidea. The monophyly of Dytiscoidea including Meru is well supported. Autapomorphies are the extensive metathoracic intercoxal septum, the origin of the metafurca from this structure, the loss of Mm. furcacoxalis anterior and posterior, and possibly the presence of an elongated subcubital setal binding patch. Meruidae was placed as sister group of the Noteridae. Synapomorphies are the absence of the transverse ridge of the metaventrite, the fusion of abdominal segments III and IV, the shape of the strongly asymmetric parameres, and the enlargement of antennomeres 5, 7 and 9. The Meru -noterid clade is the sister group of the remaining Dytiscoidea. The exact position of Aspidytes within this clade remains ambiguous: it is either the sister group of Amphizoidae or the sister group of a clade comprising this family and Hygrobiidae + Dytiscidae. The sister group relationship between Spanglerogyrinae and Gyrininae was strongly supported. The two included genera of Gyrinini form a clade, and Enhydrini are the sister group of a monophylum comprising the remaining Enhydrini and Orectochilini. A branching pattern (Peltodytes + (Brychius + Haliplus)) within Haliplidae was confirmed. Algophilus, Apteraliplus and the Haliplus -subgenus Liaphlus form a clade. The generic status of the two former taxa is unjustified. The Phreatodytinae are the sister group of Noterinae, and Notomicrus (+ Speonoterus), Hydrocoptus, and Pronoterus branch off successively within this subfamily. The search for the larvae of Meru and a combined analysis of morphological and molecular data should have high priority. © The Willi Hennig Society 2006. [source]


Debris-covered Glaciers and Rock Glaciers in the Nanga Parbat Himalaya, Pakistan

GEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES A: PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2000
John F. Shroder
The origin and mobilization of the extensive debris cover associated with the glaciers of the Nanga Parbat Himalaya is complex. In this paper we propose a mechanism by which glaciers can form rock glaciers through inefficiency of sediment transfer from glacier ice to meltwater. Inefficient transfer is caused by various processes that promote plentiful sediment supply and decrease sediment transfer potential. Most debris-covered glaciers on Nanga Parbat with higher velocities of movement and/ or efficient debris transfer mechanisms do not form rock glaciers, perhaps because debris is mobilized quickly and removed from such glacier systems. Those whose ice movement activity is lower and those where inefficient sediment transfer mechanisms allow plentiful debris to accumulate, can form classic rock glaciers. We document here with maps, satellite images, and field observations the probable evolution of part of a slow and inefficient ice glacier into a rock glacier at the margins of Sachen Glacier in c. 50 years, as well as several other examples that formed in a longer period of time. Sachen Glacier receives all of its nourishment from ice and snow avalanches from surrounding areas of high relief, but has low ice velocities and no efficient system of debris removal. Consequently it has a pronounced digitate terminus with four lobes that have moved outward from the lateral moraines as rock glaciers with prounced transverse ridges and furrows and steep fronts at the angle of repose. Raikot Glacier has a velocity five times higher than Sachen Glacier and a thick cover of rock debris at its terminus that is efficienctly removed. During the advance stage of the glacier since 1994, ice cliffs were exposed at the terminus, and an outbreak flood swept away much debris from its margins and terminus. Like the Sachen Glacier that it resembles, Shaigiri Glacier receives all its nourishment from ice and snow avalanches and has an extensive debris cover with steep margins close to the angle of repose. It has a high velocity similar to Raikot Glacier and catastrophic breakout floods have removed debris from its terminus twice in the recent past. In addition, the Shaigiri terminus blocked the Rupal River during the Little Ice Age and is presently being undercut and steepened by the river. With higher velocities and more efficient sediment transfer systems, neither the Raikot nor the Shaigiri form classic rock-glacier morphologies. [source]


Seafloor glacial features reveal the extent and decay of the last British Ice Sheet, east of Scotland,

JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE, Issue 2 2009
Alastair G. C. Graham
Abstract Three-dimensional (3D) seismic datasets, 2D seismic reflection profiles and shallow cores provide insights into the geometry and composition of glacial features on the continental shelf, offshore eastern Scotland (58° N, 1,2° W). The relic features are related to the activity of the last British Ice Sheet (BIS) in the Outer Moray Firth. A landsystem assemblage consisting of four types of subglacial and ice marginal morphology is mapped at the seafloor. The assemblage comprises: (i) large seabed banks (interpreted as end moraines), coeval with the Bosies Bank moraine; (ii) morainic ridges (hummocky, push and end moraine) formed beneath, and at the margins of the ice sheet; (iii) an incised valley (a subglacial meltwater channel), recording meltwater drainage beneath former ice sheets; and (iv) elongate ridges and grooves (subglacial bedforms) overprinted by transverse ridges (grounding line moraines). The bedforms suggest that fast-flowing grounded ice advanced eastward of the previously proposed terminus of the offshore Late Weichselian BIS, increasing the size and extent of the ice sheet beyond traditional limits. Complex moraine formation at the margins of less active ice characterised subsequent retreat, with periodic stillstands and readvances. Observations are consistent with interpretations of a dynamic and oscillating ice margin during BIS deglaciation, and with an extensive ice sheet in the North Sea basin at the Last Glacial Maximum. Final ice margin retreat was rapid, manifested in stagnant ice topography, which aided preservation of the landsystem record. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Morphology of Younger Dryas subglacial and ice-proximal submarine landforms, inner Vestfjorden, northern Norway

BOREAS, Issue 3 2009
KAI ROGER FLØISTAD
The sea-floor morphology of two pronounced across-fjord bedrock thresholds located at the mouths of Ofotfjorden and Tysfjorden, northern Norway, has been analysed based on swath bathymetry and seismic data. The Younger Dryas ice front was located here during the recession of one of the large palaeo-ice streams of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet. The thresholds are several kilometres long and wide, rising to several hundred metres above the adjacent sea floor, and the slopes are steep, up to 25°. The Ofotfjorden threshold is draped by acoustically discontinuous to chaotic sediments partly infilling the bedrock relief. A pattern of well-developed, subglacial bedforms (e.g. crag-and-tail formations, drumlins and glacial lineations) on top of both thresholds suggests fast-flowing ice. A series of smaller transverse ridges is identified on both thresholds and probably records ice-front oscillations during the final deglaciation. The distal parts of the sediments have been remobilized by slides that occurred after glacial retreat from the thresholds. Earthquake activity due to the isostatic rebound following ice retreat from this area was the most likely triggering mechanism for the slides. The location of the ice front on a prominent bedrock threshold indicates that the basin configuration was important in locating the maximum position of the climatically induced re-advance, i.e. a topographic control on the maximum Younger Dryas position in the Ofotfjorden and Tysfjorden area is suggested. [source]