Late Ordovician (post–Sardic) rifting branches in the North Gondwanan Montagne Noire and Mouthoumet massifs of southern France

Upper Ordovician–Lower Devonian rocks of the Cabrières klippes (southern Montagne Noire) and the Mouthoumet massif in southern France rest paraconformably or with angular discordance on Cambrian–Lower Ordovician strata. Neither Middle–Ordovician volcanism nor associated metamorphism is recorded, and the subsequent Middle Ordovician stratigraphic gap is related to the Sardic phase. Upper Ordovician sedimentation started in the rifting branches of Cabrières and Mouthoumet with deposition of basaltic lava flows and lahar deposits (Roque de Bandies and Villerouge formations) of continental tholeiite signature (CT), indicative of continental fracturing. The infill of both rifting branches followed with the onset of: (1) Katian (Ka1–Ka2) conglomerates and sandstones (Glauzy and Gascagne formations), which have yielded a new brachiopod assemblage representative of the Svobodaina havliceki Community; (2) Katian (Ka2–Ka4) limestones, marlstones and shales with carbonate nodules, reflecting development of bryozoan-echinoderm meadows with elements of the Nicolella Community (Gabian and Montjoi formations); and (3) the Hirnantian Marmairane Formation in the Mouthoumet massif that has yielded a rich and diverse fossil association representative of the pandemic Hirnantia Fauna. The sealing of the subaerial palaeorelief generated during the Sardic phase is related to Silurian and Early Devonian transgressions leading to onlapping patterns and the record of high-angle discordances.Research was funded by projects CGL2010-39417, CGL2012-39471 and CGL2013-48877-P from Spanish MINECO.Peer reviewe

Cascading trend of Early Paleozoic marine radiations paused by Late Ordovician extinctions

The greatest relative changes in marine biodiversity accumulation occurred during the Early Paleozoic. The precision of temporal constraints on these changes is crude, hampering our understanding of their timing, duration, and links to causal mechanisms. We match fossil occurrence data to their lithostratigraphical ranges in the Paleobiology Database and correlate this inferred taxon range to a constructed set of biostratigraphically defined high-resolution time slices. In addition, we apply capture-recapture modeling approaches to calculate a biodiversity curve that also considers taphonomy and sampling biases with four times better resolution of previous estimates. Our method reveals a stepwise biodiversity increase with distinct Cambrian and Ordovician radiation events that are clearly separated by a 50-million-year-long period of slow biodiversity accumulation. The Ordovician Radiation is confined to a 15-million-year phase after which the Late Ordovician extinctions lowered generic richness and further delayed a biodiversity rebound by at least 35 million years. Based on a first-differences approach on potential abiotic drivers controlling richness, we find an overall correlation with oxygen levels, with temperature also exhibiting a coordinated trend once equatorial sea surface temperatures fell to present-day levels during the Middle Ordovician Darriwilian Age. Contrary to the traditional view of the Late Ordovician extinctions, our study suggests a protracted crisis interval linked to intense volcanism during the middle Late Ordovician Katian Age. As richness levels did not return to prior levels during the Silurian-a time of continental amalgamation-we further argue that plate tectonics exerted an overarching control on biodiversity accumulation.Peer reviewe

The “Ordovician Window” in the Devonian of the Portalegre Syncline (Portugal): history, biostratigraphy and geodynamics

RESUMO: A “janela” ou “ilha” ordovícica do Devónico de Portalegre, descoberta por Nery Delgado em 1901 a sul do Monte Sete, foi sendo perpetuada na literatura geológica portuguesa sem nunca se conseguir reencontrar. Neste trabalho, apresenta-se a localização, litoestratigrafia e associações paleontológicas deste afloramento clássico. Os níveis aflorantes compreendem uma sucessão que abarca as formações Brejo Fundeiro, Monte da Sombadeira e Fonte da Horta. Na Formação Brejo Fundeiro foram identificadas trilobites (Ectillaenus, Eodalmanitina, Zeliszkella?, Crozonaspis?, Colpocoryphe e Neseuretus), ostracodos (Medianella?), graptólitos (Didymograptus) e raros braquiópodes (Rowellella e Orthidae indet.); a Formação Monte da Sombadeira não proporcionou nenhum fóssil e a Formação Fonte da Horta trilobites (Neseuretus e Plaesiacomia) e um braquiópode (Apollonorthis). Estas associações fossilíferas caracterizam, respetivamente, o Oretaniano e o Dobrotiviano inferior (Ordovícico Médio, Darriwiliano). Discute-se o contexto geodinâmico desta ocorrência (cavalgamento, desligamento, olistólito ou antiforma) com base nas diferentes interpretações cartográficas do sinclinal que têm sido propostas quer no setor português, quer espanhol (Sinclinal de La Codosera).ABSTRACT: The Ordovician "window" or "island" of the Devonian of Portalegre, discovered by Nery Delgado in 1901 in a location south of the village of Monte Sete, was perpetuated in the Portuguese geological literature without ever being found again. In this paper we present the location, lithostratigraphy and fossil assemblages of this classic site. The outcropping levels comprise a succession that includes the Brejo Fundeiro, Monte da Sombadeira and Fonte da Horta formations. In the Brejo Fundeiro Formation trilobites (Ectillaenus, Eodalmanitina, Zeliszkella?, Crozonaspis?, Colpocoryphe and Neseuretus), ostracods (Medianella?), graptolites (Didymograptus) and rare brachiopods (Orthidae indet. and Rowellella) occur, while in the Fonte da Horta Formation only trilobites (Neseuretus and Plaesiacomia) and one brachiopod (Apollonorthis) were identified. No fossils were recovered from the Monte da Sombadeira Formation. These assemblages characterize, respectively, the Oretanian and the lower Dobrotivian (Middle Ordovician, Darriwilian). The geodynamic context of this occurrence is discussed based on the different cartographic interpretations of the syncline which have been proposed both in the Portuguese and Spanish sectors of this structure.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Contribution of Driving Efficiency to Vehicle-to-Building

[EN] Energy consumption in the transport sector and buildings are of great concern. This research aims to quantify how eco-routing, eco-driving and eco-charging can increase the amount of energy available for vehicle-to-building. To do this, the working population was broken into social groups (freelancers, local workers and commuters) who reside in two cities with different climate zones (Alcalá de Henares-Spain and Jaén-Spain) since the way of using electric vehicles is different. An algorithm based on the Here® application program interface and neural networks was implemented to acquire data of the stochastic usage of EVs of each social group. Finally, an increase in the amount of energy available for vehicle-to-building was assessed thanks to the algorithm. The results per day were as follows. Owing to the algorithm proposed a reduction ranging from 0.6 kWh to 2.2 kWh was obtained depending on social groups. The proposed algorithm facilitated an increase in energy available for vehicle-to-building ranging from 13.2 kWh to 33.6 kWh depending on social groups. The results show that current charging policies are not compatible with all social groups and do not consider the renewable energy contribution to the total electricity demand.S

Lower–Middle Ordovician brachiopods from the Eastern Cordillera of Peru: biostratigraphical and palaeobiogeographical significance

LowerâMiddle Ordovician brachiopods are well known from the Central Andean Basin of Argentina and Bolivia, but relatively little data comes from its northern prolongation in the Altiplano and the Eastern Cordillera of Peru. Here we present information about brachiopods collected from the San José Formation (Fm) from several sections located at the northeast of the Apurímac River valley in the surroundings of Kimbiri city in the Eastern Cordillera. From northwest to southeast the sections and their locations are: Libertad, in the mountain trail between this hamlet and the city of Pichari; Catarata and Nueva Alianza, in the mountain trail between Oroya and the last hamlet; and Kimbiri (K), in the trail parallel to the Kashiroveni stream north of the village of Kimbiri Alto. In these localities the San José Fm lies unconformably on Neoproterozoic rocks, reaching the maximum thickness of about 700 m. This shale-dominated formation comprises a biostratigraphically almost complete succession of the upper Tremadocian to lower Sandbian strata and contains graptolites, trilobites, brachiopods, molluscs, echinoderms and ostracods, as well as some conodonts and other microfossils. The upper part of the San José Fm is unconformably overlain by a thick sandy and diamictic succession, known as the Kimbiri Fm. About 30 fossiliferous levels have been found in the San José Fm in the Kimbiri section, nine of which contain identifiable brachiopod remains and most of them are precisely constrained by graptolites. The lowermost brachiopod-bearing fossiliferous bed (K-03) occurs about 115 m above the base of the section, being assigned to the Baltograptus minutus Graptolite Biozone (GB) (upper Floian, Fl3) and containing a single specimen of a small indeterminate orthid. Stratigraphically higher in the formation, the next two assemblages in the beds K-07 and K-11, containing also upper Floian graptolites, provided Paralenorthis immitatrix. This species was originally described from the San Lucas locality of the Bolivian Eastern Cordillera, from rocks tentatively correlated with the upper Floianâlower Darriwilian. It also occurs in the San José Fm in the Inambari River section located in the Peruvian Eastern Cordillera, ca. 250 km to the east of Kimbiri, in the interval corresponding to the upper FloianâDapingian(?). Sandstones occurring about 40 m higher, in the fossiliferous bed K-12, yielded a slightly more diverse assemblage composed of Mollesella planidorsalis, P. immitatrix and an indeterminate orthoid. M. planidorsalis is characteristic of the Loma del Kilómetro Member of the Suri Fm in the central Famatina Range, correlated with the Floian to middle(?) Dapingian based on the occurrence of conodonts of the Prioniodus elegans, Oepikodus evae and Baltoniodus navis conodont biozones. Less than 10 m higher, the sandstones of the bed K-13 only yielded two poorly preserved unidentifiable specimens of Ahtiella. Slightly higher, in the bed K-15 just below the Holmograptus lentus or Didymograptus artus GB, a more diverse assemblage is dominated by a new species of Phragmorthis as well as by P. immitatrix; additionally it contains few specimens of Ahtiella zarelae and a new species of Dalmanella. A. zarelae was exclusively reported from the San José Fm at the Inambari River section. From this level upwards, the brachiopod assemblages become homogeneous in the Kimbiri section (but dominance changes) and co-occur with graptolites of the Didymograptus artus GB (middle Darriwilian, Dw2). For instance, in the bed K-16 a new species of Dalmanella becomes predominant. The bed K-17 yielded only P. immitatrix. The highest sampled bed with brachiopods (K-21) is dominated by A. zarelae and a new Phragmorthis species, P. immitatrix is still present and unidentifiable specimens of Christiania occur. This particular assemblage occurs about 30 m below shales of the Nemagraptus gracilis GB (lower Sandbian, Sa1). The brachiopod occurrences cited above improve the knowledge of the late Early Ordovicianâearly Middle Ordovician faunas of the Peruvian Eastern Cordillera and emphasize strong connections of this region with the Bolivian Eastern Cordillera and Argentinian Famatina Range during that epoch. Additionally, the occurrence of Phragmorthis suggests connections with several low-latitude terranes and palaeocontinents, such as the Mayo Terrane, Laurentia, Baltica, and South China

Microgrids with energy storage systems as a means to increase power resilience: An application to office buildings

[EN] This work describes a methodology to quantify the benefits from both a business-related and energy resilience perspectives provided by a microgrid based on photovoltaic solar energy and electrochemical energy storage integrated in large buildings, such as office buildings not open to the general public, which is presented as case study. First it has been identified how, by using distributed renewable energy sources (in particular, photovoltaic solar energy) and electrochemical energy storage systems, the life-cycle cost of the energy in a microgrid connected to the electrical network can be reduced significantly. As novel approach, it has been evaluated how this microgrid design can increase the resilience of a power customer supply, quantified as the time period the microgrid is able to feed an electrical consumer at an outage, which it results of great importance for large office buildings that are used to have several critical loads, such as data servers and data processing centers. It was found that, by adding photovoltaic solar energy and electrochemical storage, it is possible to extend the power resilience of this sort of power customers achieving an average survival time to a power cut of 4 h thanks to the proposed solar photovoltaic and energy storage system. Then, the microgrid could save $112,410 in energy over the 20-year life cycle of the facility, while increasing the amount of time it can survive a power outage. The proposed methodology presented in this paper provides a model that can be applied to other case studies and scenarios where an alternative to the classic diesel-based emergency supply systems are needed.[ES] Este trabajo describe una metodología para cuantificar los beneficios, tanto desde el punto de vista empresarial como de la resiliencia energética, que proporciona una microrred basada en energía solar fotovoltaica y almacenamiento electroquímico de energía integrada en grandes edificios, como edificios de oficinas no abiertos al público en general, que se presenta como caso de estudio. En primer lugar se ha identificado cómo, mediante el uso de fuentes de energía renovables distribuidas (en particular, energía solar fotovoltaica) y sistemas de almacenamiento electroquímico de energía, se puede reducir significativamente el coste del ciclo de vida de la energía en una microrred conectada a la red eléctrica. Como enfoque novedoso, se ha evaluado cómo este diseño de microrred puede aumentar la resiliencia del suministro de un cliente eléctrico, cuantificada como el periodo de tiempo que la microrred es capaz de alimentar a un consumidor eléctrico ante un corte, lo que resulta de gran importancia para grandes edificios de oficinas que suelen tener varias cargas críticas, como servidores de datos y centros de proceso de datos. Se comprobó que, añadiendo energía solar fotovoltaica y almacenamiento electroquímico, es posible ampliar la resiliencia energética de este tipo de clientes eléctricos logrando un tiempo medio de supervivencia a un corte de suministro de 4 h gracias al sistema solar fotovoltaico y de almacenamiento de energía propuesto. Así, la microrred podría ahorrar 112.410$ en energía durante los 20 años de vida útil de la instalación, a la vez que aumenta el tiempo de supervivencia a un corte de suministro. La metodología propuesta en este documento proporciona un modelo que puede aplicarse a otros casos de estudio y escenarios donde se precisen alternativas a los sistemas clásicos basados en sistemas diésel para el suministro de emergencia.S

Lower–Middle Ordovician brachiopods from the Eastern Cordillera of Peru: biostratigraphical and palaeobiogeographical significance

Lower–Middle Ordovician brachiopods are well known from the Central Andean Basin of Argentina and Bolivia, but relatively little data comes from its northern prolongation in the Altiplano and the Eastern Cordillera of Peru. Here we present information about brachiopods collected from the San José Formation (Fm) from several sections located at the northeast of the Apurímac River valley in the surroundings of Kimbiri city in the Eastern Cordillera. From northwest to southeast the sections and their locations are: Libertad, in the mountain trail between this hamlet and the city of Pichari; Catarata and Nueva Alianza, in the mountain trail between Oroya and the last hamlet; and Kimbiri (K), in the trail parallel to the Kashiroveni stream north of the village of Kimbiri Alto. In these localities the San José Fm lies unconformably on Neoproterozoic rocks, reaching the maximum thickness of about 700 m. This shale-dominated formation comprises a biostratigraphically almost complete succession of the upper Tremadocian to lower Sandbian strata and contains graptolites, trilobites, brachiopods, molluscs, echinoderms and ostracods, as well as some conodonts and other microfossils. The upper part of the San José Fm is unconformably overlain by a thick sandy and diamictic succession, known as the Kimbiri Fm. About 30 fossiliferous levels have been found in the San José Fm in the Kimbiri section, nine of which contain identifiable brachiopod remains and most of them are precisely constrained by graptolites. The lowermost brachiopod-bearing fossiliferous bed (K-03) oc curs about 115 m above the base of the section, being assigned to the Baltograptus minutus Graptolite Biozone (GB) (upper Floian, Fl3) and containing a single specimen of a small indeterminate orthid. Stratigraphically higher in the formation, the next two assemblages in the beds K-07 and K-11, containing also upper Floian graptolites, provided Paralenorthis immitatrix. This species was originally described from the San Lucas locality of the Bolivian Eastern Cordillera, from rocks tentatively correlated with the upper Floian–lower Darriwilian. It also occurs in the San José Fm in the Inambari River section located in the Peruvian Eastern Cordillera, ca. 250 km to the east of Kimbiri, in the interval corresponding to the upper Floian–Dapingian(?). Sandstones occurring about 40 m higher, in the fossiliferous bed K-12, yielded a slightly more diverse assemblage composed of Mollesella planidorsalis, P. immitatrix and an indeterminate orthoid. M. planidorsalis is characteristic of the Loma del Kilómetro Member of the Suri Fm in the central Famatina Range, correlated with the Floian to middle(?) Dapingian based on the occurrence of conodonts of the Prioniodus elegans, Oepikodus evae and Baltoniodus navis conodont biozones. Less than 10 m higher, the sandstones of the bed K-13 only yielded two poorly preserved unidentifiable specimens of Ahtiella. Slightly higher, in the bed K-15 just below the Holmograptus lentus or Didymograptus artus GB, a more diverse assemblage is dominated by a new species of Phragmorthis as well as by P. immitatrix; additionally it contains few specimens of Ahtiella zarelae and a new species of Dalmanella. A. zarelae was exclusively reported from the San José Fm at the Inambari River section. From this level upwards, the brachiopod assemblages become homogeneous in the Kimbiri section (but dominance changes) and co-occur with graptolites of the Didymograptus artus GB (middle Darriwilian, Dw2). For instance, in the bed K-16 a new species of Dalmanella becomes predominant. The bed K-17 yielded only P. immitatrix. The highest sampled bed with brachiopods (K-21) is dominated by A. zarelae and a new Phragmorthis species, P. immitatrix is still present and unidentifiable specimens of Christiania occur. This particular assemblage occurs about 30 m below shales of the Nemagraptus gracilis GB (lower Sandbian, Sa1). The brachiopod occurrences cited above improve the knowledge of the late Early Ordovician–early Middle Ordovician faunas of the Peruvian Eastern Cordillera and emphasize strong connections of this region with the Bolivian Eastern Cordillera and Argentinian Famatina Range during that epoch. Additionally, the occurrence of Phragmorthis suggests connections with several low-latitude terranes and palaeocontinents, such as the Mayo Terrane, Laurentia, Baltica, and South China

Annelid Borings on Brachiopod Shells From the Upper Ordovician of Peru. A Long-Distance Co-migration of Biotic Partners

The Recent planktonic larvae of the polychaete spionids are some of the most widespread and abundant group of coastal meroplankton worldwide. To study the possible co-migration of biotic partners and determine whether they were host-specific, the type of biotic relationship between hosts and borers of an Upper Ordovician Peruvian brachiopod collection from the Proto-Andean margin of Gondwana was re-exanimated and compared with material from Wales (Avalonia). The species list studied is composed of Colaptomena expansa (41%), Heterorthis retrorsistria (24%), Horderleyella chacaltanai (19%), Drabovinella minuscula (13%), and Dinorthis cf. flabellulum (3%) and coincides closely with that of the Dinorthis community described in the Caradoc series of North Wales. The borings attributed to these spionids have been identified as Palaeosabella prisca only present in the valves of Colaptomena expansa and Heterorthis retrorsistria. All the studied valves are disarticulated, with very low fragmentation and are randomly oriented in a context below the fair-weather wave base. The settling larvae would feed on their brachiopod host soft parts at an early stage, being the biotic interaction initially of the parasitic type. Since Palaeosabella borings from Peru and Wales are identical, as well as the species specificity of their producers with their brachiopod hosts, it can be concluded that the same spionid annelid species produced them. The Southern Westerlies current that connected the Proto-Andean margin of Gondwana with Avalonia must have been responsible for transporting the larvae of annelids and brachiopods in what had to be a successful biotic relationship over a great transoceanic distance