Late Cretaceous palynomorphs from the boreholes Thermae 2002 (Valkenburg a/d Geul, the Netherlands) and ‘s-Gravenvoeren (Belgium)

peer reviewe

Summarising spatial and temporal information in CPR data

The Continuous Plankton Recorder survey provides pan-oceanic data on geographic distribution, species composition, seasonal cycles of abundance, and long-term change during the last 70 years. In this paper we compare and contrast some of the historic data-analytic protocols of the survey, focusing primarily on the various means by which spatio-temporal information in CPR data has been exposed. Relative strengths and limitations are assessed, followed by suggestions for future approaches to the visualisation and summarising of CPR data

Neutralising antibody responses in cattle and sheep following booster vaccination with two commercial inactivated bluetongue virus serotype 8 vaccines

Cattle and sheep that had received a primary course of vaccination with an inactivated bluetongue virus serotype 8 (BTV-8) vaccine were booster vaccinated 6 or 12 months later with the homologous vaccine or an alternative inactivated BTV-8 vaccine and neutralising antibody responses were determined. Antibody titres to the alternative vaccine were significantly higher than to the homologous vaccine (P = 0.013) in cattle. There was no significant difference between the antibody responses to alternative and homologous vaccines in sheep. These data indicate that cattle and sheep primed with one inactivated BTV-8 vaccine may be effectively boosted with an alternative commercial inactivated BTV-8 vacci

New observations and synthesis of paleogene heterosporous water ferns

Premise of research. Reproductive structures of modern genera of heterosporous water ferns (Marsileaceae and Salviniaceae) are widespread and abundant in plant mesofossil assemblages from the Paleogene. For Salviniaceae, whole fertile fossil plants give a good understanding of morphology. These fossils can be applied in paleoenvironmental analysis and to study water fern origin, evolution, and diversification. Methodology. New specimens were examined by SEM and TEM. Synchrotron x-ray tomographic microscopy (SRXTM) is evaluated as a nondestructive tool for investigating Azolla Lam. morphology. Pivotal results. Azolla anglica Martin and Salvinia cobhamii Martin (earliest Eocene, United Kingdom) are fully characterized using SEM and TEM. SRXTM enables digital rendering of the float system in Azolla, but individual floats are difficult to distinguish. Modern water fern genera characterize the Paleogene, but extinct sister taxa characterize the Cretaceous. Literature review documents that water ferns are intolerant of salinity over 5 psu. Conclusions. The oldest fully documented Salvinia Séguier sori and spores occur in earliest Eocene deposits at Cobham, United Kingdom, probably linked to warm climates. An unusual co-occurrence of Salvinia with Azolla is preserved at this site. The Azolla species differs from those present in the same region during other Eocene warm-climate intervals. SRXTM offers potential to retrieve taxonomically useful information on internal structures of Azolla. There is a major turnover in water ferns (dominantly extinct to almost entirely modern genera) across the Cretaceous-Paleogene transition. The utility of water ferns as indicator taxa is exemplified by recognition of freshwater ocean surfaces and widespread continental wetlands during the latest Early to earliest Middle Eocene in and around the Arctic and Nordic Seas

Palynostratigraphy of the Triassic–Jurassic transition in southern Sweden

Palynological samples from Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic exposures and borehole sections of the Hoganas and Rya formations (Fm), NW Skane (Sweden), exhibit diverse and generally well-preserved palynomorph assemblages that can be divided into four miospore zones (from bottom to top): (1) the informal "Topmost upper Rhaetian" zone of Lund; (2) the TSI assemblage zone which spans the Triassic-Jurassic (T-J) boundary; (3) the Hettangian Pinuspollenites-Trachysporites Zone and (4) the Sinemurian Cerebropollenites macroverrucosus Zone. Uppermost Rhaetian and T-J boundary strata have previously been considered to be absent in Skane, but are identified palynologically in all but one (Kulla-Gunnarstorp) section in this study. The palynological assemblages characterise continental deposition with intermittent marine influences. The presence of well-preserved miospores in nearly all assemblages indicates minimal transport during dispersal and deposition. The T-J transition is characterised by a spore-spike, not previously recognised in T-J assemblages of Skane. However, the upper Hettangian and Sinemurian assemblages of this study are similar in composition to coeval palynofloras derived from sediments deposited in paralic environments elsewhere in Skane and Denmark

New observations and synthesis of paleogene heterosporous water ferns

Premise of research. Reproductive structures of modern genera of heterosporous water ferns (Marsileaceae and Salviniaceae) are widespread and abundant in plant mesofossil assemblages from the Paleogene. For Salviniaceae, whole fertile fossil plants give a good understanding of morphology. These fossils can be applied in paleoenvironmental analysis and to study water fern origin, evolution, and diversification. Methodology. New specimens were examined by SEM and TEM. Synchrotron x-ray tomographic microscopy (SRXTM) is evaluated as a nondestructive tool for investigating Azolla Lam. morphology. Pivotal results. Azolla anglica Martin and Salvinia cobhamii Martin (earliest Eocene, United Kingdom) are fully characterized using SEM and TEM. SRXTM enables digital rendering of the float system in Azolla, but individual floats are difficult to distinguish. Modern water fern genera characterize the Paleogene, but extinct sister taxa characterize the Cretaceous. Literature review documents that water ferns are intolerant of salinity over 5 psu. Conclusions. The oldest fully documented Salvinia Séguier sori and spores occur in earliest Eocene deposits at Cobham, United Kingdom, probably linked to warm climates. An unusual co-occurrence of Salvinia with Azolla is preserved at this site. The Azolla species differs from those present in the same region during other Eocene warm-climate intervals. SRXTM offers potential to retrieve taxonomically useful information on internal structures of Azolla. There is a major turnover in water ferns (dominantly extinct to almost entirely modern genera) across the Cretaceous-Paleogene transition. The utility of water ferns as indicator taxa is exemplified by recognition of freshwater ocean surfaces and widespread continental wetlands during the latest Early to earliest Middle Eocene in and around the Arctic and Nordic Seas

Oil source rock potential of the lacustrine Jurassic Sim Uuju Formation, West Korea Bay Basin. Part II. Nature of the organic matter and hydrocarbon-generation history

The offshore West Korea Bay (WKB) Basin is one of a series of NE-SW rift basins which formed in Korea and eastern China over thin continental crust during the Late Mesozoic and Early Cenozoic, and is characterised by a two-layered structure - a Cenozoic basin is superposed on a pre-Tertiary basin. In Part I of this paper (Massoud et al., 1991), paraffinic oils recovered from Mesozoic and Tertiary sandstone intervals were found to have been generated from different source beds. Also, a probable thick (400-500 m) Jurassic source bed for the Mesozoic oil was geochemically identified in the basinal offshore area of the lacustrine Sim Uuju sequence penetrated by Well 606. In this Paper, the Authors complete the hydrocarbons survey on the formation by studying the type, amount and maturity of organic matter present, and the history of hydrocarbon generation. They conclude that the Jurassic bed could be considered as a major source for the Mesozoic oil in the WWB Basin, provided that it is of a sufficient extent to have produced large volumes of oil