Marine and Non-marine Jurassic： Boundary Events and Correlation——International Symposium on the Jurassic Boundary Events and the First Annual Symposium of the International Geoscience Program IGCP 506

The ＂International symposium on the Jurassic Boundary Events＂ and the First Annual Symposium of IGCP 506 was successfully held from November 1-4, 2005 in Nanjing, China. About 100 participants from 14 countries joined this meeting, including USA, UK, France, Germany, Russia, Sweden, Romania, Poland, Australia, Japan, Thailand, India, Viet Nam and China. The project IGCP 506 aims to use the integrated multidisciplinary methods （including palaeontology, lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, sequence stratigraphy, lithology, sedimentology, geochemistry, isotopic dating and geophysical approaches） to solve the related problems of correlation between marine and non-marine Jurassic,

＂Changing Scenario in Palaeobotany and Allied Subjects＂--The Diamond Jubilee International Conferences on Palaeobotany

The International Conferences on ＂Changing Scenario in Palaeobotany and Allied Subjects＂ was held on the auspicious occasion of Diamond Jubilee Year of Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany （BSIP）, Lucknow, India, from 15-18 November, 2006. The conference was inaugurated by Governor of Uttar Pradesh T. V. Rajeshwar. Dr Harsh Kumar Gupta, President of Indian Science Congress and Raja Ramana fellow, was Guest of honor of the inaugural function. On this occasion special postal cover and cancellation cachet of the BSIP were released by Mrs. Neelam Srivastava, Chief Postmaster General, Department of Post and Telegraoh. Government of India.

＂Ancient Life and Modern Approaches＂ —Second International Palaeontological Congress （IPC2006） Beijing, China, June 17-21, 2006

The Second International Palaeontological Congress （IPC2006）, a remarkable event known in the public media as the ＂Olympic Games of Global Palaeontologists＂, was successfully held from June 17-21, 2006 at the Peking University （PKU）, Beijing, China. Approximately 800 participants from 40 different countries attended this great event, including 403 participants from outside China. The participating countries included Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Finland, France, Hungary, India, Iran, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Namibia, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, and Viet Nam.

Phototropism of Petrified Wood and Its Relation with the Rotation of Different Blocks in China and the Possibility of Application in the World

Normally, trees on the side directly exposed to sunlight will grow faster than the opposing side. This phenomenon is termed plant phototropism. Moreover, palaeomagnetists have revealed that the Junnar Block has never rotated since the Mesozoic. The petrified woods in the Jiangjunmiao area of Qitai County show the positive phototropism direction of SSW220. By compared with the modern normal growth stumps in plain area, which have positive phototropism direction of SSW 219 ± 5, this observation supports the conclusion of palaeomagnetic researchers: the Junggar basin has never rotated since the Late Jurassic.

Preliminary study on Late Triassic to Early Jurassic strata and floral variation in Hechuan region of Chongqing,southern Sichuan Basin

The end-Triassic mass extinction event is extensively known, however, the terrestrial response of this event is still poorly understood. Here we briefly report our preliminary results on the variation of floral diversity through the Triassic/Jurassic boundary deposits in the Tanha section of Hechuan region, Chongqing, southern China. It is recognized that the floral hiodiversity of the Hechuan region shows a distinct change through the Triassic and Jurassic transition; and the floral diversity loss reaches up to 92. 5% at species level. Meanwhile, in northeastern region of the Sichuan Basin, the floral diversity declines by about 50% across the T/J boundary at species level with a remarkable turnover of genera and species. The potential reasons and mechanisms that cause the floral diversity differentiation of the T/J boundary in the Sichuan Basin are briefly discussed in this note.

Preliminary investigations on fossil diversity variation of Mesozoic Marattialean ferns in China

The Marattiales is one of the oldest lineages of vascular plants with extensive fossil records dated back to the Carboniferous. Understanding the fossil diversity variation and distribution pattern is helpful for exploring the evolutionary history of this fern group. In this work, the preliminary analysis of diversity change and distribution of the Mesozoic Marattialean fossil records in China are reported covering the Triassic and Jurassic periods based on available published data. In addition, a brief discussion is made regarding to the potential causes for these variation and distribution of this fern group.

Bifunctional two-carbon reagent made from acetylene via 1,2-difunctionalization and its applications

There are very limited approaches to directly gluing two molecules for the production of internal alkenes using the vastly abundant acetylene via 1,2-difunctionalization. Conversion of gaseous acetylene to internal alkenes via 1,2-difunctionalization in a desired manner is not as easy as it might be expected due to the potential competition reactions between acetylene and alkene produced and the difficulty in handling this harmful reagent and controlling the regio-and stereoselectivity. In this work, we designed an efficient catalytic system for the incorporation of acetylene gas into tremendous(E)-β-bromo vinylsulfones, which are bench-stable, easy to operate, and can function as bifunctional acetylene and show a rich reactivity profile in Sonogashira coupling, Heck coupling, substituted reaction, and various desulfonylation transformations, providing numerous internal alkenes.

End-Triassic storm deposits in the lacustrine Sichuan Basin and their driving mechanisms

Storm deposits or tempestites are event sequences formed by storms,requiring at least a water temperature of 26.5℃.While inland lakes are unlikely to form storm deposits because of their limited width and water temperature.The Upper Triassic Xujiahe Formation in the Sichuan Basin is a set of coal-bearing,clastic sequences with dominant sedimentary facies varying from braided river delta to lacustrine settings,with storm deposits widely reported.In the Zilanba of Guanyuan area,in situ tree trunks on a palaeosol surface in Member Vof the Xujiahe Formation provide new evidence of a storm event.Six fallen-down directions of nine in situ tree trunks were predominant in the NW direction,contrary to the palaeocurrent direction of the underlying strata,suggesting that the southeasterlies prevailed during the end-Triassic in the northern Sichuan Basin.Massive mud clasts were frequently recorded in sandstones of the Xujiahe Formation,as well as in the Xindianzi section.These mud clasts showed a rip-up or a plastic deformation with upside-down V-shapes,were capped on an erosional surface,showed no transport traces and were therefore interpreted as a storm lag deposit.The megamonsoonal climate prevailed during the Late Triassic,although the megamonsoons themselves could not generate a storm deposition in the Xujiahe Formation due to its low maximum surface wind speed.The driving mechanism for generating storm deposits in the Xujiahe Formation is suggested to be tropical cyclones over the Tethys Ocean moving eastward,further landfalling on the western margin of the Sichuan Basin.Statistics of storm events in the circum-Tethys region show a widespread storm surge in low latitudes during the end-Triassic.The storm deposits at the top of the Xujiahe Formation represent a sedimentary response to the end-Triassic hyperthermal event.

Fertile organs and in situ spores of a matoniaceous fern from the Lower Jurassic of West Hubei

Fossil matoniaceous plants represented by Phlebopteris have been formerly descrinbea and illustrated from the Mesozoic of China mainly based on vegetative leaves, and no information is provided on the fine structure of fertile organs. Recent reinvestigation of the Hsiangchi Flora from the Lower Jurassic of West Hubei, China, obtained a rich collection of well preserved Phlebopteris specimens (both sterile and fertile). Studies on Phlebopteris polypodioides Brongniart using LM and SEM reveal not only the structures of sori and sporangia, but also the details of in situ spores. Comparisons have been made between the in situ spores and other related fossil and extant matoniaceous spores, as well as the dispersed genera.

A metabolic acidity-activatable calcium phosphate probe with fluorescence signal amplification capabilities for non-invasive imaging of tumor malignancy

Dysregulated energy metabolism has recently been recognized as an emerging hallmark of cancer.Tumor cells,which are characterized by abnormal glycolysis,exhibit a lower extracellular pH(6.5–7.0)than nor-mal tissues(7.2–7.4),providing a promising target for tumor-specific imaging and therapy.However,most pH-sensitive materials are unable to distinguish such a subtle pH difference owing to their wide and continuous pH-responsive range.In this study,we developed an efficient strategy for the fabrication of a tumor metabolic acidity-activatable calcium phosphate(CaP)fluorescent probe(termed MACaP9).Unlike traditional CaP-based biomedical nanomaterials,which only work within more acidic organelles,such as endosomes and lysosomes(pH 4.0–6.0),MACaP9 could not only specifically respond to the tumor extra-cellular pH but also rapidly convert pH variations into a distinct fluorescence signal to visually dis-tinguish tumor from normal tissues.The superior sensitivity and specificity of MACaP9 enabled high-contrast visualization of a broad range of tumors,as well as small tumor lesions.

The discovery of Jurassic plants in Shenzhen of Guangdong, southern China and related significance

Investigations of major marine and non-marine geologic and biotic events across the Triassic-Jurassic transition rely predominantly on detailed stratigraphic frameworks and biodiversity analyses. The alternating sequences of marine and terrestrial Triassic-Jurassic formations in Guangdong Province represent one of the most remarkable coal-bearing series in southern China. The Lower Jurassic Jinji Formation is widely distributed in Guangdong, with continuously outcropped sections and rich marine and non-marine fossil fauna. However, as little research has been conducted on fossil plant remains in the Jinji Formation, it is difficult to understand the systematics,diversity, and floral aspects of the Jurassic. Here we report on the recent collection of rich fossil plants from the Jinji Formation in the Dapeng area of Shenzhen, southern Guangdong Province. Our studies demonstrate taxonomical affiliations, preservation status, and diversity features of these plant fossils, which are marked by the close association of densely preserved, pinnae and rachis connected leaves, and the bennettitalean reproductive organs of Williamsoniella, which may represent an Early Jurassic plant community dominated by Otozamites of the bennettitales.This work not only represents the first discovery of fossil plants in the Shenzhen area, but is also the first documentation of Jurassic plants in Guangdong and the Pearl River Delta regions. Research related to these plant fossils will be helpful in the correlation of the Early Mesozoic coal-bearing strata in Guangdong, and will provide a deeper understanding of variations in plant diversity of the Triassic and Jurassic transition in southern China. Additionally, it will provide terrestrial plant evidence for explorations in Jurassic palaeoecology, palaeoclimatology,and palaeogeography of southern China.

Oligocarpia kepingensis sp.nov.from the Lower Permian of the northern Tarim Basin,Xinjiang and its in situ spores

A Palaeozoic gleicheniaceous fern Oligocarpia kepingensis sp. nov. is described from the Lower Permian of the northern Tarim Basin, Xinjiang, China. The material comprises fertile organs including sori, sporangia, spores and associated sterile leaf of the Sphenopteris type. The sori are circular and 0.6—0.8 mm in diameter, and each sorus consists of 4—6 oval sporangia without an indusium. A transverse annulus completely encircles the sporangium. Each sporangium produces probably 256 trilete spores resembling the dispersed genus Leiotriletes. Comparisons are made between O. kepingensis and other species of Oligocarpia in the soral organization and spores. It is reasonable to include Oligocarpia in Gleicheniaceae based on its similarities of fertile character to the extant gleicheniaceous members.