A palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the Middle Jurassic of Sardinia (Italy) based on integrated palaeobotanical, palynological and lithofacies data assessment

During the Jurassic, Sardinia was close to continental Europe. Emerged lands started from a single island forming in time a progressively sinking archipelago. This complex palaeogeographic situation gave origin to a diverse landscape with a variety of habitats. Collection- and literature-based palaeobotanical, palynological and lithofacies studies were carried out on the Genna Selole Formation for palaeoenvironmental interpretations. They evidence a generally warm and humid climate, affected occasionally by drier periods. Several distinct ecosystems can be discerned in this climate, including alluvial fans with braided streams (Laconi-Gadoni lithofacies), paralic swamps and coasts (Nurri-Escalaplano lithofacies), and lagoons and shallow marine environments (Ussassai-Perdasdefogu lithofacies). The non-marine environments were covered by extensive lowland and a reduced coastal and tidally influenced environment. Both the river and the upland/hinterland environments are of limited impact for the reconstruction. The difference between the composition of the palynological and palaeobotanical associations evidence the discrepancies obtained using only one of those proxies. The macroremains reflect the local palaeoenvironments better, although subjected to a transport bias (e.g. missing upland elements and delicate organs), whereas the palynomorphs permit to reconstruct the regional palaeoclimate. Considering that the flora of Sardinia is the southernmost of all Middle Jurassic European floras, this multidisciplinary study increases our understanding of the terrestrial environments during that period of time

Anesthesiology, Autonomy, and Justice: Getting It Right

Ethics in medicine is of great importance. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has determined that Professionalism (including ethics) should be a core competency requirement in resident education. Anesthesiologists will be involved in situations where sound knowledge of ethics principles will be of value in guiding appropriate patient care and coordination of that care. In this report we highlight the importance of patient autonomy and justice, the need for understanding ethics principles, and the value of the formal education of our residents in ethics

Anesthesiology, Autonomy, and Justice: Getting It Right

Ethics in medicine is of great importance. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has determined that Professionalism (including ethics) should be a core competency requirement in resident education. Anesthesiologists will be involved in situations where sound knowledge of ethics principles will be of value in guiding appropriate patient care and coordination of that care. In this report we highlight the importance of patient autonomy and justice, the need for understanding ethics principles, and the value of the formal education of our residents in ethics

New evidence for the age of the Athol Formation (Middle Jurassic : Bajocian) in the Tusk-1 and Tusk-2 wells, offshore Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia

The co-occurrence of ammonites with palynomorphs in the Athol Formation of the Tusk-1 and Tusk-2 wells drilled in the offshore Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia confirms the Early Bajocian (Middle Jurassic) age of the Dissiliodinium caddaense dinoflagellate cyst Oppel Zone. The macrofaunas refine this Early Bajocian age to the early Laeviuscula Chronozone. A belemnite from the Tusk-1 well has a strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) ratio consistent with the biostratigraphical age. All the identifiable ammonites belong to Pseudotoites robiginosus (Crick). Pseudotoites is prominent in the Early Bajocian of the Indo-Pacific Realm, being known mainly from onshore Western Australia and the Southern Andes, together with rare occurrences in Irian Jaya (west New Guinea); somewhat surprisingly, it is also rarely present in southern Alaska. The palynofloras studied from the Tusk-1 and Tusk-2 wells contain abundant specimens of the marine dinoflagellate cyst Dissiliodinium caddaense, and are assigned to the Dissiliodinium caddaense Oppel Zone. The Athol Formation is a correlative of the Newmarracarra Limestone of the onshore Perth Basin, Western Australia; the distribution of both these units indicates a marine transgression onto the Australian block during the Early Bajocian

Palaeozoic palynology of the Kingdom Saudi-Arabia

GeoArabia Special Publication 1 Knowledge of the Palaeozoic biostratigraphy of the Arabian Peninsula, situated close to the northern margin of Gondwana, was poorly known until a joint special project was held by the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) and the Commission Internationale de Microflore du Paléozoïque (CIMP) in 1990. Prior to that only a small number of investigations had been published. Few efforts had been made to exploit the strati-graphic potentials of the many undescribed indigenous microfossils. The joint Saudi Aramco-CIMP project was designed to reverse that situation. Comprehensive studies were carried out on a range of microfossil groups throughout the Palaeozoic and results were published in 1995. The 13 papers presented in this GeoArabia Special Publication update those initial findings. They clearly indicate the potential for these palynomorph assemblages to not only to provide a method for well-to-well correlations within Saudi Arabia, but also for establishing the palaeo-biogeographical relationships of the Arabian Plate relative to adjacent landmasses. The conclusions that are proposed here can now be compared with datasets throughout North Africa and with the central and southern parts of South America. Editors: Sa’id Al-Hajri and Bernard Owens 231 pages 40 plates/62 illustrationsSaudi Arabia working group on the Saudi Arabia Platfor