Cephalopods of the “Falang Formation” (Triassic) from Guanling and Zhenfeng Counties, Guizhou Province, China

The 'Falang Formation' of western Guizhou was previously called the 'Halobia Bed' and considered to be I .adinian in age. It was subdivided upward into the Zhuganpo, Laishike and Longchang members based on ammonites and the Trachyceras multitubertulatum Zone of the Longchang Member was put in the Lower Carnian. Here in the present paper, 4 genera and 9 species of ammonites and 1 nautiloid genus and species collected from the upper part of the 'Falang Formation' (i.e. the Wayao Formation used in this paper, equivalent to the Laishike Member from Guanling and Zhenfeng counties are described. The geological and geographical distribution of these cephalopods, as well as the co-existing conodonts, put the Wayao Formation to the late early Carnmian.

Jurassic-Cretaceous Boundary Strata of the Somanakamura Group in NE Japan and their Correlation with Coeval Terrestrial Deposits in China

Defining the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary is a controversy in stratigraphic study of the world. It has been widely accepted that this boundary can be defined at the bottom of Berriasian in Tetbys, with the appearance of the ammonite Berriasellajacobi dating to ca. 145 Ma. However, it is difficult for the widespread terrestrial deposits in China to correlate with the international standard of marine facies. The Somanakamura Group in Japan is represented by a succession of marinecontinental transitional strata. It provides a bridge of marine and nonmarine stratigraphic correlation. The ammonite and radiolarian fossils preserved in this group suggest an age from Bajocian to early Valanginian. The J-K boundary was defined in or atop the Tomizawa Formation of the group according to the ammonite data. The present authors study the fossil spores and pollen newly found from the Tomizawa and Koyamada formations. Three assemblages have been recognized. They are Assemblage 1 （Cyathidites-Classopollis） from the upper part of the Tomizawa Formation, Assemblage 2 （Cyathidites-Jiaohepollis） from the lower part of the Koyamada Formation, and Assemblage 3 （Cyathidites-Spheripollenites-Ephedripites） from the middle to upper part of the Koyamada Formation. With the reference of ammonite evidence, the J-K boundary can be defined between Assemblage 1 and Assemblage 2. This palynological J-K boundary can be correlated with that of terrestrial sequence in China. However, local biostratigraphy imply that the continental J-K boundary in China is of 135 or 137 Ma age. It has a considerable discrepancy from the marine standard. Biogeographically, the distribution pattern of spores and pollen in southern China is in accordance with that in the Somanakamura Group, which parallels the Tuchengzi Formation in northeastern China. By the palynological correlation between the Somanakamura Group and the strata in southern China, and then with the sequence in northeastern China, it is suggested that the continental J-K boundary is located in the Tuchengzi Formation.

Let Us Enjoy Self-made Ammonite Accessories:A Self-learning Practice of Replica-making of Fossils,A Dissemination Activity of the Fukada Geological Institute Since Seven Years Ago

Elaborate and precise replicas taken from real fossils are used for academic researches in place of originals. They are often exhibited in museums in order to avoid demolition of the fragile originals.Replicas not only increase the number of specimens but also expand the chances for people to get direct observation of scientifically valuable materials.Up to now。

FIRST AMMONITE AND INOCERAMID DATA FROM THE UPPER CRETACEOUS OF THE TINGRI SECTION IN SE-TIBET:BIOSTRATIGRAPHICAL AND PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

A section in the Zhepure Mountains near Old Tingri in SE-Tibet,ranging from the Upper Albian to Paleogene,was described in detail by Willems et al.(1996).These authors worked on the litho-and microfacies and set up the biostratigraphical framework by planktonic foraminifera.Willems et al.(1996)established their section as a standard for southern Tibet and compared it to the Gamba area.During the 2004 Tibet-expedition of Chengdu University of Technology in China,in co-operation with Bremen and Kiel universities in Germany,the locality was revisited for the purpose of collecting invertebrate fossils.This field-work included only the Upper Cretaceous part of the Tingri section and its invertebrate faunal content.Until today almost no ammonite and inoceramid data existed for this section.This is true for most Cretaceous sections in Tibet,although the Upper Cretaceous succession was interpreted as shelf environment.which in other parts of the world contains rich faunas of these macrofossil groups.The newly discovered continuous record of rare ammonites and inoceramids is probably limited since the preservation in the wacke-and packstones is poor.In addition,sampling conditions were unfavorable and the environmental conditions disadvantageous for most groups of invertebrates,as possibly indicated by larger amounts of small bivalve debris(filaments)in the upper part of the Gamba Group.Although the collected fauna is sparse and poorly preserved,the following biostratigraphical data can be added to the hitherto described microfauna:Calycoceras?from the Upper Gamba Group is Late Cenomanian in age and is accompanied by indeterminable juvenile desmoceratids.Superjacent follows a record of the ammonite Forresteria sp.,indicating that this level in the upper part of the Gamba Group belongs to the Lower Coniacian.This supports the finding of Inoceramus(Cremnoceramus)waltersdorfensis?hannovrensis?from the same interval.Anagaudryceras?is an individual ammonite finding from the Zhepure Shanbei or Zhepure Shanpo Formation,corresponding to the Santonian-Maastrichtian part of the succession.

Calibration of the Albian/Cenomanian Boundary by Ammonite Biostratigraphy:U.S.Western Interior

Calibration of numerical ages to the geological time scale is a long scientific pursuit that requires the integration of multiple data sets. A case study of the Albian/Cenomanian stage boundary, also the Lower/Upper Cretaceous series boundary, illustrates the calibration process. The numerical age of this boundary has shifted from 96 Ma to 99 Ma over a time span of nearly fifty years. Recalibration resulted first from improvements in radiometric dating, and later from inferences about ammonite phylogeny, and most recently from radiometric dates of newly discovered volcanic beds interbedded with diagnostic guide fossils. However, the calibration process continues with study of cosmopolitan dinoflagellates.

Dispersal events of Triassic-Jurassic boundary faunas, and paleoenvironment of Tibetan Himalaya

End-Triassic ammonoid and bivalve faunas of the Germig area, Tibetan Himalaya, lived in a tropical, shallow-water environment during the Triassic-Jurassic boundary interval. High stratigraphic resolution based on ammonite-biochrons allows to tracing the place of origin of several faunal elements. The bivalves Aguilerella and Ctenostreon occurred first in the Tibetan Himalaya and migrated from there to the eastern South Pacific, exhibiting a pantropic dispersal pattern. This dispersal route is supported by the distribution pattern of the ammonites Choristoceras, Discamphiceras, Pleuroacanthites, and Psiloceras calliphyllum. A few taxa, which went extinct everywhere else by the end of the Triassic, survived in the Tibetan Himalaya into early Early Jurassic times. They include the ammonites Choristoceras and Eopsiloceras, and the bivalves Newaagia, Terquemia, Persia, Ryderia guangdongensis, and Cultriopsis angusta. This suggests that the Tibetan Himalaya may have played a refugia role in the course of the end-Triassic mass extinction.

Ammoniteand bivalve-based biostratigraphy and Panboreal correlation of the Volgian Stage

The current ammonite- and buchiid-based biostratigraphical successions of the Volgian Stage are outlined, with an analysis of the most important data that support correlation throughout the Panboreal Superrealm. Updated ammonite zonal schemes were proposed for the Volgian of the type region (the Russian Platform) and Svalbard. The lower Volgian successions in all areas except the Russian Platform, with its eudemic virgatitid lineage and Submediterranean faunal elements, were dominated by Pectinatites and Eosphinctoceras-Subdichotomoceras. The last two genera were especially common eastwards from the Ural Mountains. During the middle Volgian, provincialism developed quickly within the ammonites, and unified assemblages with early Palvovia and Dorsoplanites at the base of the substage were replaced by numerous local eudemic faunas. Despite this, migrations of species of Crendonites, Laugeites, Epivirgatites Epipallasiceras, Epilaugeites, and Taimyrosphinctes occurred at regular intervals and these enable precise correlations between the faunal sub-provinces. The zonation of the upper Volgian is mainly based upon the succession of Craspedites (on Subcraspedites in England and North Sea), and can be traced throughout the Arctic. Zonation based on the bivalve Buchia enables correlations to be made between the successions over much of the Northern Hemisphere, including Northern California, British Columbia, Arctic areas, and the Russian Platform. Each substage of the Volgian is characterized by buchiids with different types of the ontogenetic development. Research on the infrazonal subdivision of the Volgian Stage based on buchiids is currently in progress. Our analyses of the ammonite and buchiid successions of the Panboreal Superrealm lead us to conclude that there are no major faunal gaps in Volgian successions of the Russian Platform and Northern Siberia.

Late Jurassic ammonite evolution and paleoenvironment of the Russian Platform

The stratigraphic record shows a considerable decrease in ammonoid taxonomic diversity and distinct changes of ammonite shell morphology toward end of the Jurassic in the Central Russian Basin. By the end-Volgian, ammonites were represented by only two genera, belonging to a single family Craspeditidae, which differ markedly from previous ammonite families in their shell form. The end-Jurassic decrease in ammonoid biodiversity started in the mid-Volgian and is mainly correlated with shallowing of the shelf.

Callovian-Oxfordian hecticoceratins from western India:Their biostratigraphic and palaeobiogeographic implications

The Kutch Basin of western India is famous for its rich assemblages of the Callovian-Oxfordian ammonites.The family Oppelidae Douvillé is the second most diverse ammonite group after perisphinctids during the Middle-Upper Jurassic.Hecticoceratinae is the most diverse subfamily within Oppelidae and has wide palaeobiogeographic(near cosmopolitan) and temporal distributions(Bathonian-Oxfordian).Some species were well timediagnostic and thus help in interprovincial correlation.The taxonomy of the subfamily Hecticoceratinae of Kutch was in a state of flux until recently.It was not revised since Spath’s(1927-1933) great contribution.Many genera and species were morphogenera or morphospecies and they again suffer from excessive subjective splitting.It was therefore badly needed for a comprehensive taxonomic revision of the subfamily with modern aspects of systematics i.e.,sexual dimorphism and population dynamics.A lithostratigraphic framework has already been well documented in the Kutch Basin of western India.A high resolution biostratigraphy incorporating stage-intrastage fossil assemblages have been used in interbasinal correlation based on the Callovian-Oxfordian hecticoceratins.Near cosmopolitan distribution of many hecticoceratin genera were widely used for biostratigraphic zonation as well as an understanding of the palaeobiogeographic pattern.The phylogeny of the subfamily Hecticoceratinae has been used to construct the cladograms depicting area relationships among different provinces during the Callovian-Oxfordian.