Early Cretaceous

Wang, Y., Shih, C., Szwedo, J. & Ren, D. iFirst article. New fossil palaeontinids (Hemiptera, Cicadomorpha, Palaeontinidae) from the Middle Jurassic of Daohugou, China. Alcheringa, 1–12. ISSN 0311-5518.A new genus and species assigned to the extinct family Palaeontinidae, Synapocossus sciacchitanoae Wang, Shih & Ren, is described from the Middle Jurassic of Daohugou in Inner Mongolia, China. This new genus is established based on well-preserved fossil specimens with body and complete forewings and hind wings. It differs from other described genera by the following characters: small body size, RP and M1 coalescing for an interval on the forewings and M3 + 4 without bifurcation on the hind wings. The RP coalescence with M1 in Synapocossus Wang, Shih & Ren previously reported only in Turgaiella Becker-Migdisova & Wootton, seems to be associated with strengthening of the anterior wing margin. The intra-specific and individual variations of Synapocossus and numerous other insect fossils of northeastern China probably indicate long-lasting ecological stresses and a competitive environment in the Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous ecosystems.Synapocossus sciacchitanoae Wang, Shih&Ren;Palaeontinidae:, RPM1, M3+4, Synapocossus Wang, Shih&RenRPM1Turgaiella Becher-Migdisova&Wootton, Synapocossus

Although fossils of Trionychidae are found as far back as the Early Cretaceous, their evolutionary history, including the origin of the crown clade, is poorly understood. Here, we use a microCT scan of the skull of ‘Trionyx’ kyrgyzensis from the late Early Cretaceous (Albian) of Kyrgyzstan as the basis for a thorough redescription of the cranial morphology of this species. New information includes the pattern of cranial circulation, which is comparable to all extant trionychids. A unique combination of cranial and postcranial characters of ‘Trionyx’ kyrgyzensis allows us to establish for it a new genus Petrochelys gen. nov. The data regarding Petrochelys kyrgyzensis are incorporated into a phylogenetic analysis. When Petrochelys kyrgyzensis is analysed without including additional, extinct taxa, it is placed in a highly derived position within the extant Nilssonia. However, the addition of five Cretaceous–Palaeogene taxa breaks up hypothesized long branches and results in more basal positions for Petrochelys kyrgyzensis within recovered trees. All results support the hypothesis that Petrochelys kyrgyzensis is a crown trionychid and a member of Trionychinae. Our findings highlight the importance of including multiple extinct taxa in phylogenetic analyses prior to using any of those taxa as calibration points in divergence dating estimates. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:592B98BF-87DF-48A8-8AA2-543AAD21FC95

Plate tectonic reconstructions for the Cretaceous have assumed that the major continental blocks-Eurasia, the Late Cretaceous the Atlantic-Indian Ocean complex was a long, narrow, sinuous ocean basin extending off the Tethys and around Africa.

AbstractPelagic carbonate rocks possess many suitable characteristics for paleomagnetic and magnetostratigraphic studies. Paleomagnetic results are summarized for seven lengthy sections of pelagic limestones and marls from Umbria and the southern Alps in Italy. Differences in apparent polar wander paths from these two regions are interpreted in terms of tectonic rotation of allochthonous Umbria. The magnetic stratigraphies of the paleontologically dated sections are independent of their tectonic differences and are combined to form a continuous record of geomagnetic polarity for the Barremian through Maastrichtian stages of the Cretaceous. All but one of the reversals in these sections are confirmed by duplication in at least one other section. Additional Cretaceous reversals have been reported in other land sections and in DSDP (Deep Sea Drilling Project) and IPOD (International Program of Ocean Drilling) cores. Some of these reversals are not defined well magnetically, and confirmation of others is clouded by imprecise paleontological dates. If real, they are probably of short duration. The confirmed reversal sequence correlates well with the Cretaceous oceanic magnetic anomaly sequence. The ages of certain key anomalies are altered: Late Cretaceous anomalies 29–34 are younger, and Early Cretaceous anomalies M0 and M1 are older than previously thought. The longer duration of the Cretaceous magnetic quiet interval of normal polarity results in a reduction of corresponding sea floor spreading rates to about 70% of earlier values, but they are still appreciably higher than during formation of the preceding M sequence anomalies.

Mesozoic continental arcs in the North American Cordillera were examined here to establish a baseline model for Phanerozoic continent formation. We combine new trace-element data on lower crustal xenoliths from the Mesozoic Sierra Nevada Batholith with an extensive grid-based geochemical map of the Peninsular Ranges Batholith, the southern equivalent of the Sierras. Collectively, these observations give a three-dimensional view of the crust, which permits the petrogenesis and tectonics of Phanerozoic crust formation to be linked in space and time. Subduction of the Farallon plate beneath North America during the Triassic to early Cretaceous was characterized by trench retreat and slab rollback because old and cold oceanic lithosphere was being subducted. This generated an extensional subduction zone, which created fringing island arcs just off the Paleozoic continental margin. However, as the age of the Farallon plate at the time of subduction decreased, the extensional environment waned, allowing the fringing island arc to accrete onto the continental margin. With continued subduction, a continental arc was born and a progressively more compressional environment developed as the age of subducting slab continued to young. Refinement into a felsic crust occurred after accretion, that is, during the continental arc stage, wherein a thickened crustal and lithospheric column permitted a longer differentiation column. New basaltic arc magmas underplate and intrude the accreted terrane, suture, and former continental margin. Interaction of these basaltic magmas with pre-existing crust and lithospheric mantle created garnet pyroxenitic mafic cumulates by fractional crystallization at depth as well as gabbroic and garnet pyroxenitic restites at shallower levels by melting of pre-existing lower crust. The complementary felsic plutons formed by these deep-seated differentiation processes rose into the upper crust, stitching together the accreted terrane, suture and former continental margin. The mafic cumulates and restites, owing to their high densities, eventually foundered into the mantle, leaving behind a more felsic crust. Our grid-based sampling allows us to estimate an unbiased average upper crustal composition for the Peninsular Ranges Batholith. Major and trace-element compositions are very similar to global continental crust averaged over space and time, but in detail, the Peninsular Ranges are slightly lower in compatible to mildly incompatible elements, MgO, Mg#, V, Sc, Co, and Cr. The compositional similarities suggest a strong arc component in global continental crust, but the slight discrepancies suggest that additional crust formation processes are also important in continent formation as a whole. Finally, the delaminated Sierran garnet pyroxenites have some of the lowest U/Pb ratios ever measured for silicate rocks. Such material, if recycled and stored in the deep mantle, would generate a reservoir with very unradiogenic Pb, providing one solution to the global Pb isotope paradox.

Augmentation and revision of the relatively diverse Valanginian brachiopod faunas from NorthEast Greenland confirm the existence of two mutually exclusive but broadly coeval assemblages, associated with two contrasting facies types. A Boreal, relatively shallow-water assemblage dominated by large terebratulids and ribbed rhynchonellids, including Cyrtothyris, Lamellaerhynchia and Praelongithyris characterizes the Falskebugt fauna. By contrast the Albrechts Bugt and Rødryggen fauna contains Tethyan elements, more typical of deeper water, including Lacunosella, Placothyris, Pygope and Rugitela. This early Cretaceous Out-of-Tethys migration confirms the early and persistent northward track of a proto Gulf Stream current. A new taxon, Placothyris kegeli, is described from the Albrechts Bugt and Rødryggen members of the Palnatokes Bjerg Formation.

During the evolution of the Calpionellidae , the calcite composition of their loricas , hitherto considered as one of the major taxonomic criteria of this family , changed several times. During periods of calcium carbonate hypersaturation of seawater , the calcite deposited in the walls of the lorica could replace their original chitinous composition. From this point of view , we regard chitinous Chitinoidella , Deflandronella and Praecolomiella or Parachitinoidella as direct relatives of calcareous 'true' calpionellids. Taking into consideration ecological aspects of the distribution of individual calpionellid forms , we have modified the model of their middle Tithonian to early Albian evolution , within the frame of which we have recognized five diversification stages. These are (1) chitinoidellid (tiny microgranular loricas) ; (2) crassicollarian (simple hyaline loricas) ; (3) remaniellid (advanced loricas with plicate collars) ; (4) praecolomiellid (reset of microgranular forms) ; and (5) colomiellid stage (hyaline forms with more or less articulated collars) .

Three-dimensional seismic mapping of interpretative sub-surface time slice sections, incorporating age data and detailed structural observations places constraints on the structural architecture and stratigraphic evolution of the Icotea pull-apart basin in the central Maracaibo basin, Venezuela. All four fault-bounded sides of the Icotea basin, its ,3-km-thick Eocene basin fill of clastic sediments and faults pre-dating the opening of the basin can be mapped in three dimensions. The development of the Icotea basin provides an excellent observational basis for understanding the structural history of three sets of regionally extensive faults and testing two models for the formation of pull-apart basins in general. Three main fault trends produced at different periods in the formation of the Cretaceous-Recent Maracaibo basin are mapped using 3D seismic data in the central part of the basin: (1) N-NE-striking normal faults, including the Icotea fault; these faults formed originally during Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous rifting and reactivated as left-lateral strike-slip faults during late Paleocene-Eocene convergent deformation between the Caribbean and South American plates; (2) NW striking faults formed by late Paleocene-Eocene overthrusting of the Caribbean plate and downward flexure of the South American plate to create a major foreland basin depocenter; and (3) NE-striking normal faults, of pre-Cretaceous age, were reactivated during late Paleocene-Eocene plate convergence. Three-dimensional architecture of the Icotea basin interpreted from five time slices through the basin and its flank areas supports the simple pull-apart model for the Eocene opening of the Icotea basin. The amount of extension across the suite of normal faults ranges between 0.8 and 2.25 km. This range of offset is consistent with some previous estimates of minor left-lateral displacement along the Icotea fault but is inconsistent with either low-angle or high-angle thrusting during Eocene time, as inferred from previous interpretations of widely spaced two-dimensional seismic lines. The normal faults that formed the pull-apart basin reactivated pre-existing faults due to plate flexure.

Two specimens of Thysanoptera with forked sensilla on third and fourth antennal segments were described from the Lebanese Neocomian and the Spanish Albian ambers, and attributed to the new genus Tethysthrips n. gen. in the family Thripidae Stevens 1829. One specimen with a tubular tenth abdominal segment was also discovered in the Lebanese Neocomian amber, and attributed to the new genus Rohrthrips n. gen. belonging to the family Phlaeothripidae Uzel 1895. Thripidae and Phlaeothripidae are nowadays the most species-rich families of Thysanoptera. The present discoveries of Early Cretaceous fossils show how diversifi ed these families and thrips already were at that time. Moreover, this tubuliferan Rohrthrips specimen has plesiomorphies no longer present in the recent genera, in particular on the wings. Therefore it brings new insight in the evolution of Tubulifera.

A detailed sedimentological study of the first synrift deposits recorded in the Galve sub-basin of NE Spain during the Early Cretaceous aided in the reconstruction of climatic and tectonic influences. The El Castellar Formation is composed of siliciclastics and carbonates (unit 1), claystones, gypsum, and carbonates (unit 2), and marls and limestones (unit 3). Unit 1 facies formed in alluvial and palustrine plains, a local alluvial fan, and low-energy shallow lake subenvironments. Low-energy lacustrine facies characterised unit 2. In contrast, palustrine, low-and high-energy lake facies were identified for unit 3. The spatial and temporal distribution of lithofacies representing the several environments were used to propose a general lacustrine system evolution from isolated ponds and marshes, to low-energy shallow lakes, and finally to an extensive, highenergy lake. Lake evolution is related to changes in the subsidence pattern, from local-to basin-scale subsidence, which was ultimately related to the transition from the initial rift to rift climax stage. Shallowingupwards lacustrine successions have been interpreted as climatically forced and linked to sediment and water supply. Both tectonics and climate determined the change from an overfilled to a balanced-fill lakebasin through time.

A mammal from the Early Cretaceous of the western United States, represented by a lower jaw exceptional in its completeness, presents unambiguous evidence of postcanine dental formula in an Early Cretaceous marsupial-like mammal, and prompts a reconsideration of the early evolution of marsupial dental characters. A marsupial postcanine dental formula (three premolars and four molars) and several marsupial-like features of the lower molars are present in the new taxon, but a hallmark specialization of marsupials (twinning of the hypoconulid and entoconid on lower molars) is lacking.

2014.10 This Atlas of Early Cretaceous Paleogeographic Maps shows the changing paleogeography from the Berriasian (143 Ma) to the late Albian (101.8 Ma).  The maps are from volume 2 of the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2014).
Also numeric time values are from Gradstein, Ogg & Smith (2008).  For several stages there are versions of the map that show maximum sea level (maximum flooding surface) or minimum sea level (supersequence boundary) during that time interval.

The following maps are included in the Atlas of Early Cretaceous Paleogeographic Maps:

Map 23  Early Cretaceous (late Albian, 101.8 Ma)
Map 24  Early Cretaceous (middle Albian, 106 Ma)
Map 25  Early Cretaceous (early Albian, 110 Ma)  Albian Supersequence Boundary and Transgressive System Tract
Map 26  Early Cretaceous (late Aptian, 115.2 Ma)
Map 27  Early Cretaceous (early Aptian, 121.8 Ma)
Map 28  Early Cretaceous (Barremian, 127.5 Ma)
Map 29  Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian, 132 Ma)
Map 30  Early Cretaceous (Valanginian, 137 Ma) Barremian-Hauterivian Supersequence boundary and Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 31  Early Cretaceous (Berriasian, 143 Ma) Berriasian Supersequence boundary and Maximum Flooding Surface

This work should be cited as
Scotese,  C.R., 2014.  Atlas of Early Cretaceous Paleogeographic Maps, PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS, volume 2, The Cretaceous, Maps 23-31, Mollweide Projection, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

Microremains of various sharks, actinopterygians and crocodiles have been recovered from two sites in the Douiret Formation and three sites in the Aïn el Guettar Formation in southern Tunisia. The presence of an actinistian is also suggested based on histological study of hemisegments of lepidotrichia. Convergence in dental enameloid microstructure between neoselachian sharks and actinopterygians sharing a tearing dentition is also documented. The vertebrate assemblage of the Douiret Formation suggests a pre-Aptian age for this formation and the presence of Bernissartia in the Aïn el Guettar Formation confirms faunal exchange between Africa and Europa during the Early Cretaceous. #

The Willow Springs quadrangle lies along the west edge of the
Colorado Plateau physiographic province and the east edge of the
High Plateaus, a transition zone between the Colorado Plateau to
the east and the Basin and Range Province to the west, and is in
the Colorado River drainage basin.
Exposed bedrock ranges from Middle Jurassic to Late Cretaceous
in age and includes (in ascending order) the Entrada Sandstone,
Curtis Formation, Summerville Formation, Morrison Formation,
Cedar Mountain Formation, Dakota Formation, and Mancos
Shale, and is more than 3800 feet (1160 m) thick. The rocks
of the quadrangle dip gently northwestward from the large San
Rafael Swell anticline into the Fish Lake Plateau syncline. This
pattern is interrupted by two folds that are parallel and plunge
northwestward—the Salvation Creek syncline and the Last
Chance anticline. The strata dip northeastward and northward
on the shared limb of these two folds in the southern third of the
quadrangle, mostly from 10 to 20 degrees. A Pliocene tephrite
dike cuts Jurassic strata in the southwest part of the quadrangle.
Quaternary surficial deposits of Holocene to Pleistocene age
include varieties of alluvium, mass-movement deposits, mixed
pediment-mantle and colluvial deposits, and mixed eolian
and alluvial deposits. These deposits cover extensive areas
in the northwest quadrant, Blue Flats, and Last Chance
Desert parts of the quadrangle. Some of these deposits are
associated with landslide and debris-flow hazards.
The Dakota Formation and Ferron Sandstone Member of the
Mancos Shale contain coal deposits, and bentonite mud is mined
in the quadrangle from the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison
Formation. Morrison Formation outcrops are generally littered
with chert (agate and jasper). The Cedar Mountain Formation
has yielded important vertebrate fauna including dinosaurs, the
earliest North American snakes, frogs, early mammals, and the
earliest North American marsupial. Even though exploration
wells drilled into the Last Chance anticline were dry, oil and gas
possibilities in the quadrangle are classified as favorable.

Recent field mapping has refined our understanding of the stratigraphy and geology of southeastern Bohol, which is composed of a Cretaceous basement complex subdivided into three distinct formations. The basal unit, a metamorphic complex named the Alicia Schist, is overthrust by the Cansiwang mélange, which is, in turn, structurally overlain by the Southeast Bohol Ophiolite Complex. The entire basement complex is overlain unconformably by a ~ 2000 m thick sequence of Lower Miocene to Pleistocene carbonate and clastic sedimentary rocks and igneous units. Newly identified lithostratigraphic units in the area include the Cansiwang mélange, a tectonic mélange interpreted as an accretionary prism, and the Lumbog Volcaniclastic Member of the Lower Miocene Carmen Formation. The Cansiwang mélange is sandwiched between the ophiolite and the metamorphic complex, suggesting that the Alicia Schist was not formed in response to emplacement of the Southeast Bohol Ophiolite Complex. The accretionary prism beneath the ophiolite complex and the presence of boninites suggest that the Southeast Bohol Ophiolite Complex was emplaced in a forearc setting. The Southeast Bohol Ophiolite Complex formed during the Early Cretaceous in a suprasubduction zone environment related to a southeast-facing arc (using present-day geographical references). The accretion of this ophiolite complex was followed by a period of erosion and then later by extensive clastic and carbonate rock deposition (Carmen Formation, Sierra Bullones Limestone and Maribojoc Limestone). The Lumbog Volcaniclastic Member and Jagna Andesite document intermittent Tertiary volcanism in southeastern Bohol.

The Aptian-lower Albian succession of the Vocontian Basin (SE France) consists of marine hemipelagic sediments including several black shale horizons. The latter are partly of regional and partly of global distribution. This sedimentary succession records the nannoplankton evolution of the Aptian-early Albian interval and thus provides an excellent opportunity to calibrate the calcareous nannofossil record with Tethyan ammonite and planktic foraminiferal biostratigraphy. The calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy presented in this paper supports previous zonations, but it also provides a much higher resolution and thus improves the correlation of different black shale horizons on a supraregional scale. Up to 23 major (supraregionally significant) and minor (regionally significant) first and last occurrences of calcareous nannofossil taxa are recognized. Nannoconid abundances decrease rapidly in the upper Lower Aptian (nannoconid crisis I, NCI) and in the middle Upper Aptian (nannoconid crisis II, NCII). Both decreases correlate with carbonate-platform drowning events. The upper Lower Aptian interval above the NCI is characterized by high abundances of large specimens of Assipetra infracretacea and Rucinolithus terebrodentarius probably of supraregional significance. The uppermost Aptian-Lower Albian is characterized by high abundances of the calcareous nannoplankton taxon Repagulum parvidentatum, reflecting boreal influence on the Tethyan Realm. This suggests a temporary decrease in surface-water temperatures in the Vocontian Basin.

Mesozoic brackish-water bivalve faunas in Japan diversified in three steps: at the beginning of the Early Jurassic, Early and Late Cretaceous. The Hettangian Niranohama Fauna in northeastern Honshu represents the establishment of a heterodont-dominated brackish-water fauna that persisted until the early Late Cretaceous. No similar composition is known from the Triassic. The infauna consists mostly of non-siphonate and some short-siphonate heterodonts, while the epifauna is represented by diverse pteriomorphian families. In the Early Cretaceous Tetori Group in central Honshu, the long-siphonate heterodonts Tetoria (Corbiculidae) and the semi-infaunal soft-bottom oyster Crassostrea appeared. The evolutionary diversification of the latter, known as the most important element of modern brackish-water faunas, may thus originate at that time. In the early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of the Goshoura and Mifune Groups in west Kyushu, several euryhaline deep-burrowing heterodont families, such as Veneridae and Tellinidae, further diversified in the brackish and marine environments. The Late Cretaceous is characterized by massive shell biolithic beds in which large Crassostrea species are common, a feature common for Cenozoic brackish-water faunas. The longterm changes in the composition of the brackish-water faunas in Japan represents thus an evolutionary record, irrespective of the severe physiological and environmental conditions imposed on the highly conservative nature of the fauna.

The Bengal Basin, in the north-eastern part of the Indian subcontinent, contains a thick (± 22 km) early Cretaceous-Holocene sedimentary succession. The Neogene succession in the Sylhet Trough of the basin reaches a thickness of more than 6 km of which the Surma Group contains important sandstone reservoirs. Lithologically, the group consists of a succession of alternating shales, siltstones, sandy shales and sandstones, with minor conglomerates. This research work is a sedimentological analysis of the subsurface Neogene succession encountered in the petroleum exploration wells in the Sylhet Trough of the Bengal Basin. Detailed lithologic logs of the cores, based on considering texture and sedimentary structure, permit a subdivision into eight lithofacies, e.g., a shaledominated facies, interbedded fine sandstones and mudstones, ripple-laminated sandstones, parallel-laminated sandstones, massive sandstones, cross-bedded sandstones, cross-bedded sandstones with pebble/granule lag and conglomerates. Characteristic sedimentary structures of the Surma Group, such as flaser-, wavy-and lenticularbedding, bipolarity of ripple cross-stratification, evenly laminated sand/silt-streaked shales, reactivation surfaces within cross-bedded sandstone sets, mud-drapes on foreset laminae and herringbone cross-stratification as well as small-scale vertical sequences (several fining-upward cycles) are diagnostic for tidal influence. On the basis of the lithofacies associations and prograding character of the deposits revealed from the electrofacies associations, the Surma Group sediments have been interpreted as representing deposits of tide-dominated deltaic depositional setting.

The Laramide orogeny is the Late Cretaceous to Paleocene (80 to 55 Ma) orogenic event that gave rise to the Laramide block uplifts in the United States, the Rocky Mountain fold-and-thrust belt in Canada and the United States, and the Sierra Madre Oriental fold-and-thrust belt in east-central Mexico. The Laramide orogeny is believed to post-date the Jurassic and late Early Cretaceous accretion of the terranes that make up much of the North American Cordillera, precluding a collisional origin for Laramide orogenesis. Instead, the deformation belt along much of its length likely developed 700-1500 km inboard of the nearest convergent margin. The purpose of this paper is to show, through a review of proposed mechanisms for producing this inboard deformation (retroarc thrusting, "orogenic float" tectonics, flat-slab subduction and Cordilleran transpressional collision), that the processes responsible for orogeny remain enigmatic.

The position of the central axis of deposition over Colombian and Venezuelan continental crust has varied markedly through time. The axis migrated from west to east from Late Cretaceous to Oligocene but at times, secondary drainage divides were established by local uplift events. In Oligocene times with initial inversion of the Eastern Cordillera the central axis of deposition was divided into two main axes, the proto-Magdalena and the proto-Orinoco systems. The west to east migration of the central axis of deposition had a tectonic origin and it occurred in combination with tectonically driven changes in accommodation space. Depocenter evolution can be divided as follows. (1) The axis of the Campanian and early Maastrichtian depocenter was located few km east of the present position of the Central Cordillera of Colombia; it migrated east with gradual uplift of the Central Cordillera. (2) The central axis of late Maastrichtian deposition is positioned approximately over the present-day western foothills of the Eastern Cordillera, possibly crosses the Eastern Cordillera over the Santander Massif and continues into the Maracaibo Lake in western Venezuela. Accommodation space decreased from Campanian to Maastrichtian times. In Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary times parts of the eastern margin of the Eastern Cordillera were uplifted by an initial phase of inversion of deeply rooted Jurassic and Early Cretaceous normal faults. (3) In Paleocene times the central axis of deposition was located along the spine of the Eastern Cordillera and extended into the Maracaibo Basin, and accommodation space continued to decrease. (4) In latest Paleocene times the central axis of deposition shifted to eastern regions of the Eastern Cordillera and accommodation space decreased. The Early Eocene central axis of deposition was located along the present-day eastern foothills of the Eastern Cordillera; accommodation space continued to decrease and the regional Middle Eocene unconformity began to develop. In Middle Eocene times a regional unconformity developed, marking the climax of the pre-Andean Orogeny. Deposition during these times was dominant in the Maracaibo Basin area where large amounts of sediment derived from vast exposed areas accumulated. (6) The Late Eocene central axis of deposition was confined to the present position of the Llanos foothills. Late Eocene deposition reflects a regional increase in accommodation space. In Oligocene times the initial uplift of the Eastern Cordillera divided the main depocenter into two central axes. Accommodation space diminished in uplifted regions but continued to increase in the depocenters allowing sporadic marine ingressions into the present position of the Llanos foothills. As uplift of the Eastern Cordillera continued, the eastern depocenter axis (proto-Orinoco) migrated east and the western depocenter axis (proto-Magdalena) migrated west. This process continued through the rest of the Cenozoic. : S 0 0 3 1 -0 1 8 2 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 7 5 -9

The study provides a regional seismic interpretation and mapping of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic succession of the Lusitanian Basin and the shelf and slope area off Portugal. The seismic study is compared with previous studies of the Lusitanian Basin. From the Late Triassic to the Cretaceous the study area experienced four rift phases and intermittent periods of tectonic quiescence. The

Chamber elongation is a recurring morphological character in Cretaceous and Cenozoic planktonic foraminiferal evolution suggesting that the clavate body-plan takes advantage through particular environmental conditions. Cretaceous planktonic foraminifera bearing radially elongated chambers become repeatedly a consistent component of assemblages in correspondence with the deposition of remarkable organic layers that record the effects of oceanic anoxic events (OAEs). Due to this apparent correspondence, chamber elongation has been recently interpreted as an adaptation to low oxygen levels in the upper water column. The paleoceanographic significance of planktonic foraminifera with radially elongated chambers remains however unclear.

Iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposits, defined primarily by their elevated magnetite and/or hematite contents, constitute a broad, ill-defined clan related to a variety of tectono-magmatic settings. The youngest and, therefore, most readily understandable IOCG belt is located in the Coastal Cordillera of northern Chile and southern Peru, where it is part of a volcano-plutonic arc of Jurassic through Early Cretaceous age. The arc is characterised by voluminous tholeiitic to calc-alkaline plutonic complexes of gabbro through granodiorite composition and primitive, mantle-derived parentage. Major arc-parallel fault systems developed in response to extension and transtension induced by subduction roll-back at the retreating convergent margin. The arc crust was attenuated and subjected to high heat flow. IOCG deposits share the arc with massive magnetite deposits, the copper-deficient end-members of the IOCG clan, as well as with manto-type copper and small porphyry copper deposits to create a distinctive metallogenic signature. The IOCG deposits display close relations to the plutonic complexes and broadly coeval fault systems. Based on deposit morphology and dictated in part by lithological and structural parameters, they can be separated into several styles: veins, hydrothermal breccias, replacement mantos, calcic skarns and composite deposits that combine all or many of the preceding types. The vein deposits tend to be hosted by intrusive rocks, especially equigranular gabbrodiorite and diorite, whereas the larger, composite deposits (e.g. Candelaria-Punta del Cobre) occur within volcano-sedimentary sequences up to 2 km from pluton contacts and in intimate association with major orogen-parallel fault systems. Structurally localised IOCG deposits normally share faults and fractures with pre-mineral mafic dykes, many of dioritic composition, thereby further emphasising the close connection with mafic magmatism. The deposits formed in association with sodic, calcic and potassic alteration, either alone or in some combination, reveal evidence of an upward and outward zonation from magnetite-actinolite-apatite to specular hematite-chlorite-sericite and possess a Cu-Au-Co-Ni-As-Mo-U-(LREE) (light rare earth element) signature reminiscent of some calcic iron skarns around diorite intrusions. Scant observations suggest that massive calcite veins and, at shallower palaeodepths, extensive zones of barren pyritic feldspar-destructive alteration may be indicators of concealed IOCG deposits. The balance of evidence strongly supports a genetic connection of the central Andean IOCG deposits with gabbrodiorite to diorite magmas from which the ore fluid may have been channelled by major ductile to brittle fault systems for several kilometres vertically or perhaps even laterally. The large, composite IOCG deposits originated by ingress of the ore fluid to relatively permeable volcano-sedimentary sequences. The mafic magma may form entire plutons or, alternatively, may underplate more felsic intrusions, as witnessed by the ore-related diorite dykes, but in either case the origin of the ore fluid at greater, unobserved depths may be inferred. It is concluded that external 'basinal' fluids were not a requirement for IOCG formation in the central Andes, although metamorphic, seawater, evaporitic or meteoric fluids may have fortuitously contaminated the magmatic ore fluid locally. The proposed linkage of central Andean and probably some other IOCG deposits to oxidised dioritic magmas may be compared with the well-documented dependency of several other magmatic-hydrothermal deposit types on igneous petrochemistry. The affiliation of a spectrum of base-metal poor gold-(Bi-W-Mo) deposit styles to relatively reduced monzogranite-granodiorite intrusions may be considered as a closely analogous example.

A correlation of tectonic units of the Alpine-Carpathian-Dinaridic system of orogens, including the substrate of the Pannonian and Transylvanian basins, is presented in the form of a map. Combined with a series of crustal-scale cross sections this correlation of tectonic units yields a clearer picture of the three-dimensional architecture of this system of orogens that owes its considerable complexity to multiple overprinting of earlier by younger deformations. The synthesis advanced here indicates that none of the branches of the Alpine Tethys and Neotethys extended eastward into the Dobrogea Orogen. Instead, the main branch of the Alpine Tethys linked up with the Meliata-Maliac-Vardar branch of the Neotethys into the area of the present-day Inner Dinarides. More easterly and subsidiary branches of the Alpine Tethys separated Tisza completely, and Dacia partially, from the European continent. Remnants of the Triassic parts of Neotethys (Meliata-Maliac) are preserved only as ophiolitic mélanges present below obducted Jurassic Neotethyan (Vardar) ophiolites. The opening of the Alpine Tethys was largely contemporaneous with the Latest Jurassic to Early Cretaceous obduction of parts of the Jurassic Vardar ophiolites. Closure of the Meliata-Maliac Ocean in the Alps and West Carpathians led to Cretaceous-age orogeny associated with an eclogitic overprint of the adjacent continental margin. The Triassic Meliata-Maliac and Jurassic Western and Eastern Vardar ophiolites were derived from one single branch of Neotethys: the Meliata-Maliac-Vardar Ocean. Complex geometries resulting from out-of-sequence thrusting during Cretaceous and Cenozoic orogenic phases underlay a variety of multi-ocean hypotheses, that were advanced in the literature and that we regard as incompatible with the field evidence. The present-day configuration of tectonic units suggests that a former connection between ophiolitic units in West Carpathians and Dinarides was disrupted by substantial Miocene-age dislocations along the Mid-Hungarian Fault Zone, hiding a former lateral change in subduction polarity between West Carpathians and Dinarides. The SW-facing Dinaridic Orogen, mainly structured in Cretaceous and Palaeogene times, was juxtaposed with the Tisza and Dacia Mega-Units along a NW-dipping suture (Sava Zone) in latest Cretaceous to Palaeogene times. The Dacia Mega-Unit (East and South Carpathian Orogen, including the Carpatho-Balkan Orogen and the Biharia nappe system of the Apuseni Mountains), was essentially consolidated by E-facing nappe stacking during an Early Cretaceous orogeny, while the adjacent Tisza Mega-Unit formed by NW-directed thrusting (in present-day coordinates) in Late Cretaceous times. The polyphase and multi-directional Cretaceous to Neogene deformation history of the Dinarides was preceded by the obduction of Vardar ophiolites onto to the Adriatic margin (Western Vardar Ophiolitic Unit) and parts of the European margin (Eastern Vardar Ophiolitic Unit) during Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous times.

Thirteen time interval maps were constructed, which depict the Triassic to Neogene plate tectonic configuration, paleogeography and general lithofacies of the southern margin of Eurasia. The aim of this paper is to provide an outline of the geodynamic evolution and position of the major tectonic elements of the area within a global framework. The Hercynian Orogeny was completed by the collision of Gondwana and Laurussia, whereas the Tethys Ocean formed the embayment between the Eurasian and Gondwanian branches of Pangea. During Late Triassic -Early Jurassic times, several microplates were sutured to the Eurasian margin, closing the Paleotethys Ocean. A Jurassic -Cretaceous north-dipping subduction boundary was developed along this new continental margin south of the Pontides, Transcaucasus and Iranian plates. The subduction zone trench-pulling effect caused rifting, creating the back-arc basin of the Greater Caucasus -proto South Caspian Sea, which achieved its maximum width during the Late Cretaceous. In the western Tethys, separation of Eurasia from Gondwana resulted in the formation of the Ligurian -Penninic -Pieniny -Magura Ocean (Alpine Tethys) as an extension of Middle Atlantic system and a part of the Pangean breakup tectonic system. During Late Jurassic -Early Cretaceous times, the Outer Carpathian rift developed. The opening of the western Black Sea occurred by rifting and drifting of the western -central Pontides away from the Moesian and Scythian platforms of Eurasia during the Early Cretaceous -Cenomanian. The latest Cretaceous -Paleogene was the time of the closure of the Ligurian -Pieniny Ocean. Adria -Alcapa terranes continued their northward movement during Eocene -Early Miocene times. Their oblique collision with the North European plate led to the development of the accretionary wedge of the Outer Carpathians and its foreland basin. The formation of the West Carpathian thrusts was completed by the Miocene. The thrust front was still propagating eastwards in the eastern Carpathians.

With 4 plates, 16 text-figures, 2 tables and 1 appendix Zusammenfassung Die aus der Umer-Kreide (Aptian) stammenden Schadel-und Postcranialiiberreste von Slidost-Australien scheinen die letzten Glieder der Labyrothodomen (Amphibia) zu sein und zu def temnospondylen Superfamilie Brachyopoidea zu gehoren. Koolasuchus cleelandi gen. et sp. novo lebte viel spater als die Labyrimhodomia in anderen Teilen der Welt und wurde vielleicht von einem polar "sicheren Gebiet« geschutzt, das Mitbewerber wie die modernen Krokodile ausschloB. Diese spat-australischen Temnospondyli kommen in grobkornigen Sedimemen vor.

The dinosaur skeletal record from the Early Cretaceous of Spain indicates a diverse fauna, including the richest assemblage known from continental Europe for the Hauterivian–Aptian interval. The Spanish record consists of theropods (all tetanurans: spinosaurids, carcharodontosaurian allosauroids, ornithomimosaurs, and several kinds of maniraptorans, including dromaeosaurids and enantiornithine birds), sauropods (basal macronarians and titanosauriforms, such as brachiosaurids,“euhelopodids” and possible titanosaurians, as ...

1] The Rhodope Metamorphic Province in the area around the Mesta Graben (SW Bulgaria) exposes a structurally lower complex, the Pangaion-Pirin Complex of Variscan continental crust and its cover (mostly orthogneiss and marble), and a higher complex, the Rhodope Terrane of mixed oceanic and continental origin with metamorphosed Jurassic arc magmatites. The boundary between the two is the top-to-thesouthwest Nestos Shear Zone. The regional top-tothe-southwest shearing of the two basement complexes is related to the emplacement of the Rhodope Terrane over the Pangaion-Pirin Complex along this shear zone. Syntectonic and posttectonic Alpine intrusions within the basement can provide age limits for the thrusting. Zircons from the posttectonic Teshovo (south Pirin) Granitoid Pluton in the Pangaion-Pirin Complex yielded crystallization ages of 32 ± 0.2 Ma (LA-SF-ICP-MS U-Pb method). Zircons from two syntectonic granite plutons in the Rhodope Terrane (Dolno Dryanovo and Spanchevo) have circa 143 to 145 Ma old inherited magmatic cores and circa 55 to 56 Ma old magmatic rims. These ages, especially the presence of the Upper Jurassic/Lower Cretaceous cores in the plutons from the Rhodope Terrane, and the structural relations indicate that the southwestward thrusting of the Rhodope Terrane over the Pangaion-Pirin Complex took place in the Paleogene. A model is proposed in which the Pangaion-Pirin Complex represents the margin of Apulia and the structure of the Rhodopes is explained by a switch of subduction polarity from SW dipping in the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous to NE dipping in the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene. Citation: Jahn-Awe, S., N. Froitzheim, T. J. Nagel, D. Frei, N. Georgiev, and J. Pleuger (2010), Structural and geochronological evidence for Paleogene thrusting in the western Rhodopes, SW Bulgaria: Elements for a new tectonic model of the Rhodope

Recent focus on plant-insect associations during the angiosperm radiation from the last 30 million years of the Early Cretaceous has inadvertently de-emphasized a similar but earlier diversification that occurred among gymnosperms. The existence of gymnosperm-insect associations during the preangiospermous Mesozoic is evidenced by mouthparts capable of reaching and imbibing pollination drops or similar fluids, availability of pollen types consistent with entomophily, and opportunities for related consumption of pollen, seeds, and reproductively associated tissues in major seed-plant groups, namely seed ferns, conifers, cycads, bennettitaleans, and gnetaleans. Based on stereotypical plant damage, head-adherent pollen, gut contents, wing structure, mouthpart morphology and insect damage to plant reproductive organs, the likely nectarivores, pollinivores and pollinators were orthopterans, phasmatodeans, webspinners, sawflies and wasps, moths, beetles, mecopteroids, and true flies. These associations are ranked from possible to probable although the last three insect clades provide the strongest evidence for pollinator activity. We document two mid Cretaceous examples of these associations-cycadeoideaceous bennettitaleans and beetles and a cheirolepidiaceous conifer and flies-for which there are multiple lines of evidence for insect consumption of plant reproductive tissues but also pollination mutualisms. These data highlight the independent origin of a major phase of plant-insect pollinator-related associations during the mid Mesozoic that served as a prelude for the separate, iterative and later colonization of angiosperms.

The closure of the western part of the Neotethys Ocean started in late Early Jurassic. The Middle to early Late Jurassic contraction is documented in the Berchtesgaden Alps by the migration of trench-like basins formed in front of a propagating thrust belt. Due to ophiolite obduction these basins propagated from the outer shelf area (=Hallstatt realm) to the interior continent (=Hauptdolomit/Dachstein platform realm). The basins were separated by nappe fronts forming structural highs. This scenario mirrors syn-orogenic erosion and deposition in an evolving thrust belt. Active basin formation and nappe thrusting ended around the Oxfordian/Kimmeridgian boundary, followed by the onset of carbonate platforms on structural highs. Starved basins remained between the platforms. Rapid deepening around the Early/Late Tithonian boundary was induced by extension due to mountain uplift and resulted in the reconfiguration of the platforms and basins. Erosion of the uplifted nappe stack including obducted ophiolites resulted in increased sediment supply into the basins and final drowning and demise of the platforms in the Berriasian. The remaining Early Cretaceous foreland basins were filled up by sediments including siliciclastics. The described Jurassic to Early Cretaceous history of the Northern Calcareous Alps accords with the history of the Western Carpathians, the Dinarides, and the Albanides, where (1) age dating of the metamorphic soles prove late Early to Middle Jurassic inneroceanic thrusting followed by late Middle to early Late Jurassic ophiolite obduction, (2) Kimmeridgian to Tithonian shallow-water platforms formed on top of the obducted ophiolites, and latest Jurassic to Early Cretaceous sediments show postorogenic character. Graz Palaeozoic unit. GU Gurktal unit. GWZ Greywacke Zone. RFZ Rhenodanubian Flysch Zone. Frame indicate location of Fig. 3 Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch)

The Jabalpur Formation of Jabalpur series, named after Jabalpur city in Central India, is exposed along the Narbada River, in Satpura Basin. The series is divided into the lower Chaugan and the upper Jabalpur stages. The Jabalpur beds occur between Mahadevas and Lametas at Mahadeva Hills, exhibit highest Gondwanan strata, and embody diversified flora. These beds also extend laterally to Bairam and Belkher areas in western part of central India. The highest diversity of the floral assemblage is recorded in the central portion of the basin (Sehora and Hasnapur) whereas the lowest diversity is recorded in Morand River, Parsapani and Tilaksindoor areas. The diversity in floral assemblage indicates the dominance of conifers and pteridophytes along with cycadophytes and certain pteridosperms. The palynofloral assemblage from this formation contains pollen and spores of bryophytic, pteridophytic and gymnospermic groups. The palaeovegetational diversity, biostratigraphic correlation and phytogeographic distribution of the Jabalpur flora are discussed in comparison with various coeval floras of Indian peninsula along with contemporaneous deposits of the other Gondwanan regions. The palaeogeographic analysis suggests that the flora was thriving as mixed vegetation during Early Cretaceous under seasonally hot and dry or alternating with wet and dry condition.

The Mesozoic and Cenozoic positions of the continents that formed Pangea in the Triassic-Jurassic were derived from paleomagnetic and intraplate volcanic data, paleoclimatic observations, such as reef and fossil flora distribution, and geological observations. Major hot spots helped to determine the longitudinal position of Pangea and to construct a model of plate motion during the Pangean break-up.

This work characterizes the source rock potential of the Tarfaya Basin and enabled us to reconstruct its geochemical history. Outcrop samples covering different stratigraphic intervals, plus the northwestern part of the Zag/Tindouf Basin (Bas Draa area), were analyzed for total organic carbon (C org ) and total inorganic carbon contents and total sulfur content. Rock-Eval analysis and vitrinite reflectance measurements were performed on 56 samples chosen on the basis C org content. A set of 45 samples were extracted and non-aromatic hydrocarbons were analyzed by way of gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID) and GC-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Non-isothermal open system pyrolysis at different heating rates was applied to obtain kinetic parameters for modelling petroleum generation from four different source rocks.

The Adriatic-Dinaridic carbonate platform (ADCP) was one of the largest and relatively well preserved Mesozoic platforms in the Mediterranean region (central Tethys). The peninsula Istria, in the northwestern part of the ADCP, is built up predominantly of shallow-water carbonates of the Middle Jurassic (Dogger) to Eocene age and, to a lesser extent, of Paleogene clastic deposits (flysch and calcareous breccia). This study focuses on a Lower Cretaceous (Barremian to Albian) succession of strata at five localities in western Istria. Stratigraphic determinations are based on identification of nine microfossil assemblages (benthic foraminifera and calcareous algae Dasycladales) and on using their taxa as index fossils. The age of strata with these microfossil assemblages, however, is questionable. Most of the age uncertainties are associated with a regional emersion, which occurred on the ADCP during the Aptian or close to the AptianeAlbian transition. It is unclear what portions of the Upper Aptian and/or Lower Albian are missing along this unconformity. A stable isotope study was conducted on homogenous micritic matrix samples in an attempt to resolve some of these uncertainties. Variations in carbon isotope compositions proved useful for stratigraphic correlation between the examined successions of strata, for improving their age determination, and for relating them to other coeval successions that span an important time interval of major oceanographic changes and carbon-cycle perturbations associated with the Early Aptian oceanic anoxic event (OAE 1a).