Isocrinid crinoids from the late Cenozoic of Jamaica

Eight species of isocrinines have been documented from the Lower Cretaceous to Pleistocene of Jamaica. New finds include a second specimen of a Miocene species from central north Jamaica, previously regarded as Diplocrinus sp. but reclassified as Teliocrmus? sp. herein. Extant Teliocrinus is limited to the Indian Ocean, although Miocene specimens have been recorded from Japan, indicating a wider distribution during the Neogene. One locality in the early Pleistocene Manchioncal Formation of eastern Jamaica has yielded three species of isocrinine, Cenocrinus asterius (Linné), Diplocrinus maclearanus (Thomson) and Neocrinus decorus Thomson. These occur in association with the bourgueticrinine Democrinus sp. or Monachocrinus sp. These taxa are all extant and suggest a minimum depositional depth for the Manchioneal Formation at this locality of about 180 m. This early Pleistocene fauna represents the most diverse assemblage of fossil crinoids documented from the Antillean region. RÉSUMÉ Huit espèces d'isocrinines de la période du Cretacé infeérieur au Pleéstocene de la Jamatque ont été documentés. Les nouvelles découvertes comprennent un deuxième spécimen d'unc espèce du Miocène du nord central de la Jamaique, auparevant considered comme l'espèce Diplocrinus, mais reclassified en tant que Teliocrinus? aux présentes. Le Teliocrinus existant est limité à l'océan Indien, même si on a relevé des spécimens du Miocene au Japon, ce qui est reVilateur d'une distribution plus répandue au cours du Néogène. Un emplacement de la formation de Manchioneal du Pleéstocene inférieur dans L'est de la Jamalque a livré trois espèces d'isocrinines : le Cenocrinus asterius (Linné), le Diplocrinus maclearanus (Thomson) et le Neocrinus decorus (Thomson). Ceux-ci sont présents en association avec les bourgueticrinines Democrinus ou Monachocrinus. Ces taxons sont tous existants et ils permettent de supposer que la formation de Manchioneal aurait une profondeur minimale de sedimentation d'environ 180 m à cet endroit. Cette faunc du Pleéstocene inférieur représente l'assemblage le plus diversifé de crinoides fossiles documentés dans la région des Antilles. [Traduit par la rédaction

Contradictions in Irish Academic Research

The conditions that govern academic research vary greatly from country to country and research in the Republic of Ireland was and remains markedly different from that of its larger European neighbours and the United States. Despite the quality of its education system and the excellent reputation of its universities, until recently Ireland had relatively low levels of academic research. Pinnacles of excellence could be found in certain disciplines, but state funding was low and issues relating to industrial collaborations, international partnerships, commercialisation and the exploitation of Intellectual Property (IP) rarely arose. Even today the Irish Government’s spending on academic research, though only slightly less than the European average based on GNP, is dwarfed by the Research and Development (R & D) budgets of individual multinational companies. Nonetheless, rapid economic growth has led to a heightened awareness of the need for strategically planned research. The ‘Lisbon Objective’ proposes to make Europe “the most dynamic knowledge-driven economy in the world by 2010”. Consequently research is heavily influenced by this policy and so a range of unfamiliar problems are posed for managers of Irish academic research. Key to successful operational planning and growth is the need to reconcile a number of contradictions at the heart of R & D in Third Level Institutes[1]. [1] ‘Third Level Institute’ is a term used in Ireland to describe any higher education institut

The camerate crinoid Scyphocrinites Zenker in the Upper Silurian or Lower Devonian of New Brunswick, Canada

The mid-Paleozoic Scyphocrinites Zenker has a distal attachment modified into a globular flotation structure and, uniquely for a crinoid, joined the obligate plankton. Such a flotation structure has been found in the Indian Point Formation (Pridolian to Lochkovian) of Flatlands, northern New Brunswick. It is most likely Pridolian (Upper Silurian) based on the primitive morphology. This identification is confirmed by the globular gross morphology, multi-plated calcite structure, age and similarity to coeval fossils from Cornwall, southwestern England

A camerate crinoid from the Upper Silurian (Ludlow) Moydart Formation of Nova Scotia, Canada

Well-preserved fossil echinodcrms are uncommon in the Arisaig Group (early Silurian to early Devonian) of Nova Scotia. Although not preserving sufficient detail to enable specific identification, a crinoid, monobathrid camerate gen. et sp. indet. from the Moydart Formation (late Silurian, late Ludlow), shows the following features: a long, heteromorphic (N212) column of circular section and with convex nodals; a broad, conical dorsal cup with broad, high radials; fixed, uniserial arms which branch twice; 20 long, free arms that are uniserial most proximally, but are otherwise biserial; and numerous, elongate, blade-like pinnules. The column of this species differentiates it from a second taxon commonly preserved perpendicular to bedding in the Moydart Formation. Thus, while one species in this formation is preserved autochthonously in life position, another forms a crinoid lagersiatte and coquinas of more complete specimens, but is, at best, parautochthonous. RÉSUMÉ Les échinodermes fossiles bien conservés sont rares dans le Groupe d'Arisaig (Silurien inférieur au Dévonien inférieur) de la Nouvelle-Écosse. Bien qu'il n'ait pas conservé suffisamment de details pour permettre une identification précise, un erinolde à chambres monobathride de genre et espèce inditérminés provenant de la Formation Moydart (Silurien supérieur, Ludlow supérieur) présente ces caractéristiques : longue colonne hétéromorphe (N212) d'une section circulaire avec nodales convexes; vaste calice dorsal conique avec rayons endosquelertiques élevés et étendus, et bras unisériés à deux niveaux de ramifications; 20 longs bras libres qui sont unisériés proximalcment, mais qui sont bisériés plus loin; ainsi que maintes pinnules oblongues en fer de lance. La colonne de cette espèce la différencie d'un deuxième taxon ordinairement conservé perpendiculairement au litage dans la Formation Moydart. Ainsi, même si une espèce de cette formation est conservée de fa÷on autochtone dans une position vitale, une autre peut être formée de lagersiatte crinoides et de coquillages cunéiformes de specimens plus complets, mais, au mieux, subautochtones. [Traduit par la rédaction

Uncertainty quantification of coal seam gas production prediction using Polynomial Chaos

A surrogate model approximates a computationally expensive solver. Polynomial Chaos is a method to construct surrogate models by summing combinations of carefully chosen polynomials. The polynomials are chosen to respect the probability distributions of the uncertain input variables (parameters); this allows for both uncertainty quantification and global sensitivity analysis. In this paper we apply these techniques to a commercial solver for the estimation of peak gas rate and cumulative gas extraction from a coal seam gas well. The polynomial expansion is shown to honour the underlying geophysics with low error when compared to a much more complex and computationally slower commercial solver. We make use of advanced numerical integration techniques to achieve this accuracy using relatively small amounts of training data