Unique Marine Olenekian-Anisian Boundary Section from South Primorye, Russian Far East

To show paleontological characteristics of the Olenekian-Anislan boundary beds in the Russian Far East, a review of new data on the Upper Olenekian and Lower Anisian biostratigraphy of South Primorye is given on the basis of five sections： Golyi Cape, Petrovka River, Zhitkov Peninsula, Tchernyschew Bay and Atlasov Cape, using new ammonoid, brachiopod and conodont findings. The most representative ammonoid assemblage at the base of the Anisian was discovered in the Ussuriphyllites amurensis Zone （10.6 m thick） of the Atlasov Cape Section： Parasageceras sp. nov., Prionitidae gen. et sp. nov. , Ussuriphyllites amurensis （Kiparisova） （dominant）, Megaphyllites atlasoviensis Zakharov, Leiophyllites praematurus Kiparisova, Leiophyllites sp. , Ussurites sp. , Paradanubites sp. indet., Paracrochordiceras sp. nov., Prohungarites popowi Kiparisova, Arctohungarites primoriensis Zakharov, A. solimani （Toula）, Salterites sp. indet. （gigantic shell）, and Tropigastrites sublachontanus Zakharov. Conodonts Neospathodus cf. homeri （Bender） were found in the lower part of the Ussuriphyllites amurensis Zone of the Atlasov Cape. The Atlasov Cape seems to be one of the very promising sections of the Russian Far East for detailed investigation of the Olenekian-Anisian boundary.

Nitrogen and Carbon Isotope Data of Olenekian to Anisian Deposits from Kamenushka/South Primorye, Far-Eastern Russia and Their Palaeoenvironmental Significance

The Kamenushka Formation, exposed in the northern part of South Primorye （Kamennshka-1 and Kamenushka-2 sections）, is one of the few localities in the world with richly fossiliferous Lower-Upper Olenekian sedimentary successions. Lower to Middle Triassic ammonoid-, brachiopod- and conodont-bearing silty-clayey deposits of the Kamenushka-1 and Kamenushka-2 sections have been isotope-geochemically investigated in detail. As a result, these sections, together with the previously investigated Abrek Section, exposed in the southern part of South Primorye, provide almost complete ^15Non- and ^13Corg- records for the Lower Triassic of this region. Nine N- isotope intervals and the five negative C-isotope excursions, reflecting, apparently, unstable climatic and hydrological conditions, have been distinguished in the Lower Triassic of South Primorye. On the basis of the new C-isotope data the Mesohedenstroemia bosphorensis Zone （upper part）, Shimanskyites shimanskyi and Neocolumbites insignis zones of South Primorye are correlated now with the Lower Smithian part of the Yinkeng Formation, the Upper Smithian part of the Helongshan Formation and the Middle Spathian part of the Nanlinghu Formation in South China, respectively, as has been observed in the Abrek, Kamenushka-2, West Pingdingshan and Majiashan sections.

Recovery of Brachiopod and Ammonoid Faunas Following the End-Permian Crisis:Additional Evidence from the Lower Triassic of the Russian Far East and Kazakhstan

After the End-Permian mass extinction, ammonoids reached levels of taxonomic diver- sity higher than in the Changhsingian by the Dienerian Substage of the Induan. However, brachiopods exhibit a prolonged delay in recovery, and their taxonomic diversity had not recovered to Late Permian levels even by the Olenekian. The differential patterns of recovery between these two clades may reflect fundamental differences in physiology and behavior. Brachiopods were benthic organisms that were dependent on specific trophic sources, and their general reduction in size during the Early Triassic may have been a response to a relative paucity of food resources. In contrast, ammonoids were sluggish- nektic organisms that utilized a wider range of trophic sources and that suffered no comparable size decrease during the Early Triassic. Brachiopods may have been at a disadvantage also due to vulner- abilities associated with their larval stage, during which they had to locate a suitable substrate for set- tlement. In contrast, ammonoids had no larval stage and juveniles may have been dispersed widely into favorable habitats. These factors may account for differences in the relative success of ammonoids and brachiopods at high-latitude regions following the End-Permian mass extinction： ammonoids success- fully reeolonized the Boreal region during the Early Triassic whereas brachiopods did not.

Pole to Equator Temperature Gradient for Coniacian Time,Late Cretaceous:Oxygen and Carbon Isotopic Data on the Koryak Upland and Hokkaido

The purpose of this study was to estimate the Coniacian latitudinal thermal gradient in the Northern Hemisphere. Both hemipelagic （ammonoids） and benthic （brachiopods and bivalves） δ18O and δ^13C records were used. They originated from Coniacian shallow-water sequences across a wide range of paleolatitudes, from the Koryak upland （northern Kamchatka, Russian Far East） in the north, to Hokkaido （Japan） in the south. Among Coniacian ammonoids, both migrants from Hokkaido living in high latitudes （Kamchatka） and endemic forms dwelling in middle-low latitudes （Hokkaido） indicate seemingly close optimal growth temperatures. Nevertheless, certain differences in climatic conditions, prevailing during high-latitude coldest seasons, undoubtedly provoked growth cessation in some groups of ammonites. Our isotopic study suggests latitudinal temperature changes of only 0.12 ℃ per degree of latitude for the Northern Hemisphere in Coniacian times, while the average annual temperature in North Kamchatka seems about 3.3 ℃ lower than that in Hokkaido.