From shelf to abyss : record of the Paleocene/Eocene-boundary in the Eastern Alps (Austria)

In the Eastern Alps (Austria) several marine successions, which were deposited ranging from shallow shelf to bathyal slope and abyssal basin, provide detailed records across the Paleocene/Eocene-boundary. These records indicate a two-step event starting with a prominent sea-level fall and followed by climatic changes. At the northern and southern shelves that fringed the Penninic Basin, the shallow-water sedimentary records are incomplete across the Paleocene/Eocene transition. Erosional surfaces indicate a major sea-level drop, which was terminated by an early Eocene (Ypresian) transgression within calcareous nannoplankton Zone NP12. As a proxy for the onset of this sea-level fall a strong increase in the terrestrially-derived input into the Penninic Basin can be used. The abyssal Anthering section from the northern part of the basin comprises a complete succession from NP9 to the upper part of NP10 (upper Thanetian-lower Ypresian). The thickest turbidite beds of this 250 m thick succession appear just before the carbon isotope event in the upper part of zone NP9, which is used to recognize the Paleocene/Eocene-boundary. A major lithological change from a sandstone-dominated facies to a claystone-dominated facies occurs at the onset of the carbon isotope event. This might be the result of a climatic change, resulting in increased intra-annual humidity gradients and increased physical erosion of the hinterland. Consequently, mainly fine-grained suspended material would have come into the basin and caused an increase in hemipelagic sedimentation rates by about a factor of 6. A similar value has been calculated for the bathyal Untersberg section, which was deposited on the southern slope of the basin, where an increased input of siliciclastic material is associated with a carbonate dissolution event during the carbon isotope event. At the southern shelf, a stratigraphic gap within the Gosau Group in the Krappfeld area (Carinthia) comprises the Maastrichtian and Paleocene. After a sea-level rise nummulitic marlstone and limestone were deposited in the lower part of zone NP12. Since the northern and southern shelves of the Penninic Basin belonged to different tectonic domains, with different potentials of crustal subsidence, the temporal similarity of sea-level changes on both shelves in the latest Paleocene and earliest Eocene suggests that these sea level fluctuations were mainly eustatic in origin

Traits and phylogenies modulate the environmental responses of wood-inhabiting fungal communities across spatial scales

Identifying the spatial scales at which community assembly processes operate is fundamental for gaining a mechanistic understanding of the drivers shaping ecological communities. In this study, we examined whether and how traits and phylogenetic relationships structure fungal community assembly across spatial scales. We applied joint species distribution modelling to a European-scale dataset on 215 wood-inhabiting fungal species, which includes data on traits, phylogeny and environmental variables measured at the local (log-level) and regional (site-level) scales. At the local scale, wood-inhabiting fungal communities were mostly structured by deadwood decay stage, and the trait and phylogenetic patterns along this environmental gradient suggested the lack of diversifying selection. At regional scales, fungal communities and their trait distributions were influenced by climatic and connectivity-related variables. The fungal climatic niches were not phylogenetically structured, suggesting that diversifying selection or stabilizing selection for climatic niches has played a strong role in wood-inhabiting communities. In contrast, we found a strong phylogenetic signal in the responses to connectivity-related variables, revealing phylogenetic homogenization in small and isolated forests. Synthesis. Altogether, our results show that species-level traits and phylogenies modulate the responses of wood-inhabiting fungi to environmental processes acting at different scales. This result suggests that the evolutionary histories of fungal traits diverge along different environmental axes.Peer reviewe

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) fingerprinting of Palaeogene deposits in Denmark

In this study, we test if cost-efficient X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyses can be used to fingerprint Palaeogene clay and marl deposits in Denmark. A total of 67 samples from key sites in Denmark have been analysed. Our preliminary results indicate that it is possible locally within 10–30 km to distinguish between most of the Palaeogene units, but on a regional scale across Denmark, the units are not unique, and this probably reflects variations in clay mineralogy, grain size and calcareous content. Accordingly, we suggest that a comprehensive reference database is now needed if the full potential of the method is to be utilised, and this will ultimately result in more reliable geological models

A revised lithostratigraphy for the Palaeogene – lower Neogene of the Danish North Sea

Intense drilling activity following the discovery of the Siri Field in 1995 has resulted in an improved understanding of the siliciclastic Palaeogene succession in the Danish North Sea sector (Fig. 1). Many of the new wells were drilled in the search for oil reservoirs in sand bodies of Paleocene–Eocene age. The existing lithostratigraphy was based on data from a generation of wells that were drilled with deeper stratigraphic targets, with little or no interest in the overlying Palaeogene sediments, and thus did not adequately consider the significance of the Palaeogene sandstone units in the Danish sector. In order to improve the understanding of the distribution, morphology and age of the Palaeogene sediments, in particular the economically important sandstone bodies, a detailed study of this succession in the Danish North Sea has recently been undertaken. An important aim of the project was to update the lithostratigraphic framework on the basis of the new data. The project was carried out at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) with participants from the University of Aarhus, DONG E&P and Statoil Norway, and was supported by the Danish Energy Agency. Most scientific results cannot be released until September 2006, but a revised lithostratigraphic scheme may be published prior to that date. Formal definition of new units and revision of the lithostratigraphy are in preparation. All of the widespread Palaeogene mudstone units in the North Sea have previously been formally established in Norwegian or British wells, and no reference sections exist in the Danish sector. As the lithology of a stratigraphic unit may vary slightly from one area to another, Danish reference wells have been identified during the present project, and the lithological descriptions of the formations have been expanded to include the appearance of the units in the Danish sector. Many of the sandstone bodies recently discovered in the Danish sector have a limited spatial distribution and were sourced from other areas than their contemporaneous counterparts in the Norwegian and British sectors. These sandstone bodies are therefore defined as new lithostratigraphic units in the Danish sector, and are assigned Danish type and reference sections. There is a high degree of lithological similarity between the Palaeogene–Neogene mudstone succession from Danish offshore boreholes and that from onshore exposures and boreholes, and some of the mudstone units indeed seem identical. However, in order to acknowledge the traditional distinction between offshore and onshore stratigraphic nomenclature, the two sets of nomenclature are kept separate herein. In recent years oil companies operating in the North Sea have developed various in-house lithostratigraphic charts for the Paleocene–Eocene sand and mudstone successions in the Danish and Norwegian sectors. A number of informal lithostratigraphic units have been adopted and widely used. In the present project, these units have been formally defined and described, maintaining their original names whenever feasible, with the aim of providing an unequivocal nomenclature for the Palaeogene – lower Neogene succession in the Danish sector. It has not been the intention to establish a sequence stratigraphic model for this succession in the North Sea; the reader is referred to the comprehensive works of Michelsen (1993), Neal et al. (1994), Mudge & Bujak (1994, 1996a, b), Michelsen et al. (1995, 1998), Danielsen et al. (1997) and Rasmussen (2004)

Handbook for the measurement of macrofungal functional traits : A start with basidiomycete wood fungi

Functional traits are widely recognized as a useful framework for testing mechanisms underlying species community assemblage patterns and ecosystem processes. Functional trait studies in the plant and animal literature have burgeoned in the past 20 years, highlighting a need for standardized ways to measure ecologically meaningful traits across taxa and ecosystems. However, standardized measurements of functional traits are lacking for many organisms and ecosystems, including fungi. Basidiomycete wood fungi occur in all forest ecosystems world-wide, where they are decomposers and also provide food or habitat for other species, or act as tree pathogens. Despite their major role in the functioning of forest ecosystems, the understanding and application of functional traits in studies of communities of wood fungi lags behind other disciplines. As the research field of fungal functional ecology is growing, there is a need for standardized ways to measure fungal traits within and across taxa and spatial scales. This handbook reviews pre-existing fungal trait measurements, proposes new core fungal traits, discusses trait ecology in fungi and highlights areas for future work on basidiomycete wood fungi. We propose standard and potential future methodologies for collecting traits to be used across studies, ensuring replicability and fostering between-study comparison. Combining concepts from fungal ecology and functional trait ecology, methodologies covered here can be related to fungal performance within a community and environmental setting. This manuscript is titled "a start with" as we only cover a subset of the fungal community here, with the aim of encouraging and facilitating the writing of handbooks for other members of the macrofungal community, for example, mycorrhizal fungi. A is available for this article.Peer reviewe

Do plant-based biogeographical regions shape aphyllophoroid fungal communities in Europe?

Aim: Aphyllophoroid fungi are associated with plants, either using plants as a resource (as parasites or decomposers) or as symbionts (as mycorrhizal partners). In spite of their strong association with plants, it is unknown how much plant distributions determine their biogeographical patterns compared with environmental factors such as climate and human land use. In this study, our aims are to (1) describe the spatial diversity patterns of aphyllophoroid fungi in Europe and (2) identify the factors shaping these patterns. Location: Europe, as well as the adjacent Subarctic to Arctic islands (Greenland, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Svalbard), Palestine and the south-east coast of the Caspian Sea. Methods: We compiled a dataset consisting of 14,030 fruitbody occurrences of 1,491 aphyllophoroid fungal species from 39 geographical areas (17 countries) belonging to eight biogeographical regions. We assessed the differences in fungal species richness and overall diversity and its nestedness and turnover components across biogeographical regions of Europe, as well as between southern and northern Europe (based on geographical latitude of 50 degrees as threshold). We used cluster and ordination analyses to classify the European aphyllophoroid communities biogeographically and evaluated the importance of climate, host-tree species, topography and human land-use intensity in explaining biogeographical variation. Results: The importance of biogeographical regions in determining European aphyllophoroid fungal communities varies for different diversity components. Species richness and nestedness are best explained by plant-based biogeographical regions, whereas overall beta diversity and species turnover are driven mostly by variation in climate, and nestedness mostly by tree species occupancy. Beta-diversity patterns of aphyllophoroid fungi do not differ between southern and northern Europe. Main conclusions: At the continental scale, aphyllophoroid fungi are less shaped by historical legacies than vascular plant and animal communities, and trends of overall beta diversity in southern and northern Europe are similar to patterns found for bryophytes.Peer reviewe

The Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Lutetian Stage at the Gorrondatxe section, Spain

The GSSP for the base of the Lutetian Stage (early/ middle Eocene boundary) is defined at 167.85 metres in the Gorrondatxe sea-cliff section (NW of Bilbao city, Basque Country, northern Spain; 43º22'46.47" N, 3º 00' 51.61" W). This dark marly level coincides with the lowest occurrence of the calcareous nannofossil Blackites inflatus (CP12a/b boundary), is in the middle of polarity Chron C21r, and has been interpreted as the maximumflooding surface of a depositional sequence that may be global in extent. The GSSP age is approximately 800 kyr (39 precession cycles) younger than the beginning of polarity Chron C21r, or ~47.8 Ma in the GTS04 time scale. The proposal was approved by the International Subcommission on Paleogene Stratigraphy in February 2010, approved by the International Commission of Stratigraphy in January 2011, and ratified by the International Union of Geological Sciences in April 2011.Published86-1082.2. Laboratorio di paleomagnetismoJCR Journalrestricte