Late Givetian ammonoids from Hassi Nebech (Tafilalt Basin, Anti-Atlas, southern Morocco)

The Hassi Nebech area of the SE Tafilalt (Tafilalt Basin, Anti-Atlas, Morocco) yielded the richest and most diverse late Givetian ammonoid fauna on a global scale. Above the distinctive regional "Lower Marker Bed" (<i>Synpharciceras clavilobum</i> Zone), abundant loosely collected limonitic specimens derive from hypoxic shales of the <i>Taouzites taouzensis</i> to <i>Petteroceras errans</i> zones. The ontogenetic morphometry and intraspecific variability of a total of 30 species representing five families, the Acanthoclymeniidae, Taouzitidae, Pharciceratidae, Petteroceratidae, and Tornoceratidae, are documented. New taxa are: <i>Pseudoprobeloceras praecox</i> n. sp., <i>Scaturites minutus</i> n. gen. n. sp., <i>Darkaoceras velox</i> n. sp., <i>Pharciceras decoratum</i> n. sp., <i>Ph. fornix</i> n. sp., <i>Ph. subconstans</i> n. sp., <i>Ph. involutum</i> n. sp., <i>Lunupharciceras incisum</i> n. sp., <i>Transpharciceras procedens</i> n. gen. n. sp., <i>Stenopharciceras progressum</i> n. sp., <i>Pluripharciceras</i> n. gen. (type species: <i>Synpharciceras plurilobatum</i> Petter, 1959), <i>Plu. orbis</i> n. sp., <i>Synpharciceras frequens</i> n. sp., <i>Lobotornoceras bensaidi</i> n. sp., <i>Nebechoceras eccentricum</i> n. gen. n. sp., and <i>Phoenixites lenticulus</i> n. sp. The documentation of conch and particularly suture ontogeny and intraspecific variability necessitates a revised diagnosis for ten taxa. <i>Manticoceras pontiformis</i> Termier & Termier, 1950, <i>Probeloceras costulatum</i> Petter, 1959, and <i>Pseudoprobeloceras nebechense</i> Bensaïd, 1974 are regarded as subjective junior synonyms of <i>Ps. pernai</i> (Wedekind, 1918). <i>Sandbergeroceras acutum</i> Termier & Termier, 1950 is a subjective synonym of <i>Taouzites taouzensis</i> (Termier & Termier, 1950). <i>Pharciceras applanatum</i> Bensaïd, 1974 is transferred to <i>Extropharciceras</i>. Other forms (<i>Ph</i>. aff. <i>tridens</i>, <i>Ph</i>. cf. <i>subconstans</i> n. sp., <i>Extropharciceras</i> n. sp. 2, <i>Ex</i>. cf. <i>arenicum</i>, <i>Ex</i>. cf. <i>applanatum</i>, <i>Synpharciceras</i> sp., <i>Plu</i>. cf. <i>plurilobatum</i>) are described in open nomenclature. <br><br> doi:<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mmng.201300001" target="_blank">10.1002/mmng.201300001</a

The ammonoids from the Dalle à <i>Merocanites</i> of Timimoun (Late Tournaisian–Early Viséan; Gourara, Algeria)

The ammonoids from the Early Carboniferous (Mississippian) Dalle à Merocanites of Timimoun (Gourara, Algeria) are described. The following new ammonoid taxa are introduced: subfamily Hammatocyclinae n. subfam., Hammatocyclus pollex n. sp., Hammatocyclus corrugatus n. sp., Neopericyclus arenosus n. sp., Ammonellipsites pareyni n. sp., Ammonellipsites menchikoffi n. sp., Ammonellipsites conradae n. sp., Muensteroceras fabrei n. sp., Eurites commutatus n. sp., Eurites pondus n. sp., subfamily Trimorphoceratinae n. subfam., Trimorphoceras n. gen., Trimorphoceras crassilens n. sp., Trimorphoceras absolutum n. sp., Trimorphoceras molestum n. sp., Obturgites n. gen., Obturgites polysarcus n. sp., Obturgites oligosarcus n. sp., Dzhaprakoceras dzhazairense n. sp., and Merocanites merocanites n. sp. These species occur in one very prolific horizon and can be attributed to the North African Ammonellipsites-Merocanites Assemblage (Fascipericyclus -Ammonellipsites Genus Zone; Late Tournaisian to Early Viséan). They represent one of the most diverse ammonoid faunas known from this time interval. doi:10.1002/mmng.200900011</a

Sparse Matrix-Based HPC Tomography

Tomographic imaging has benefited from advances in X-ray sources, detectors and optics to enable novel observations in science, engineering and medicine. These advances have come with a dramatic increase of input data in the form of faster frame rates, larger fields of view or higher resolution, so high performance solutions are currently widely used for analysis. Tomographic instruments can vary significantly from one to another, including the hardware employed for reconstruction: from single CPU workstations to large scale hybrid CPU/GPU supercomputers. Flexibility on the software interfaces and reconstruction engines are also highly valued to allow for easy development and prototyping. This paper presents a novel software framework for tomographic analysis that tackles all aforementioned requirements. The proposed solution capitalizes on the increased performance of sparse matrix-vector multiplication and exploits multi-CPU and GPU reconstruction over MPI. The solution is implemented in Python and relies on CuPy for fast GPU operators and CUDA kernel integration, and on SciPy for CPU sparse matrix computation. As opposed to previous tomography solutions that are tailor-made for specific use cases or hardware, the proposed software is designed to provide flexible, portable and high-performance operators that can be used for continuous integration at different production environments, but also for prototyping new experimental settings or for algorithmic development. The experimental results demonstrate how our implementation can even outperform state-of-the-art software packages used at advanced X-ray sources worldwide

Tournaisian (Early Carboniferous/Mississippian) ammonoids from the Ma'der Basin (Anti-Atlas, Morocco)

Three succeeding assemblages of Early Tournaisian (Mississippian) ammonoids are described from Fezzou (Ma'der) in the Anti-Atlas of Morocco; they are, in ascending order, composed of the following genera: (1) <i>Gattendorfia-Eocanites</i> Assemblage: <i>Acutimitoceras, Costimitoceras, Imitoceras, Kornia, Gattendorfia, Kazakhstania</i>, and <i>Eocanites</i>; (2) <i>Gattendorfia-Kahlacanites</i> Assemblage: <i>Acutimitoceras, Hasselbachia, Gattendorfia, Becanites</i>, and <i>Kahlacanites</i>; and (3) <i>Goniocyclus-Protocanites</i> Assemblage: <i>Globimitoceras, Imitoceras, Gattendorfia, Goniocyclus, Eocanites</i>, and <i>Protocanites</i>. The following taxa are newly described: <i>Globimitoceras rharrhizense</i> n. sp., <i>Acutimitoceras sarahae</i> n. sp., <i>A. endoserpens</i> n. sp., <i>A. pentaconstrictum</i> n. sp., <i>Costimitoceras aitouamar</i> n. sp., <i>Hasselbachia arca</i> n. sp., <i>Kornia citrus</i> n. gen. n. sp., <i>Gattendorfia lhceni</i> n. sp., and <i>G. gisae</i> n. sp. <br><br> Drei aufeinander folgende Vergesellschaftungen von Ammonoideen aus dem Tournaisium (Mississippium) werden von Fezzou (Ma'der) im Anti-Atlas von Marokko beschrieben; diese werden, in aufsteigender Reihenfolge, durch die folgenden Gattungen zusammen gesetzt: (1) <i>Gattendorfia-Eocanites</i> Assemblage: <i>Acutimitoceras, Costimitoceras, Imitoceras, Kornia, Gattendorfia, Kazakhstania</i> und <i>Eocanites</i>; (2) <i>Gattendorfia-Kahlacanites</i> Assemblage: <i>Acutimitoceras, Hasselbachia, Gattendorfia, Becanites</i> und <i>Kahlacanites</i>; und (3) <i>Goniocyclus-Protocanites</i> Assemblage: <i>Globimitoceras, Imitoceras, Gattendorfia, Goniocyclus, Eocanites</i> und <i>Protocanites</i>. Die folgenden Taxa werden neu beschrieben: <i>Globimitoceras rharrhizense</i> n. sp., <i>Acutimitoceras sarahae</i> n. sp., <i>A. endoserpens</i> n. sp., <i>A. pentaconstrictum</i> n. sp., <i>Costimitoceras aitouamar</i> n. sp., <i>Hasselbachia arca</i> n. sp., <i>Kornia citrus</i> n. gen. n. sp., <i>Gattendorfia lhceni</i> n. sp. und <i>G. gisae</i> n. sp. <br><br> doi:<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mmng.200700003" target="_blank">10.1002/mmng.200700003</a

A new ammonoid fauna from the <i>Gattendorfia-Eocanites</i> Genozone of the Anti-Atlas (Early Carboniferous; Morocco)

From the eastern part of the Tafilalt (Anti-Atlas, Morocco), rich assemblages of ammonoids of the Gattendorfia-Eocanites Genozone are described. The detailed investigation of an outcrop near Mfis in the south-eastern Tafilalt yielded a diverse fauna with 24 species, of which 13 are new. The genus Weyerella n. gen. is newly erected with Weyerella protecta n. sp. as type species. Furthermore, the following new species are described: Paragattendorfia aboussalamae n. sp., Acutimitoceras hollardi n. sp., Acutimitoceras posterum n. sp., Acutimitoceras mfisense n. sp., Acutimitoceras occidentale n. sp., Imitoceras oxydentale n. sp., Kazakhstania nitida n. sp., Zadelsdorfia debouaaensis n. sp., Weyerella minor n. sp., Eocanites simplex n. sp., Eocanites rtbeckeri n. sp., and Eocanites dkorni n. sp. The state of preservation of the ammonoids as limonitic steinkern specimens permits a detailed study of sutures and conch ontogeny. Aus dem östlichen Tafilalt (Anti-Atlas, Marokko) wird eine Ammonoideen-reiche Abfolge aus der Gattendorfia-Eocanites Genus-Zone beschrieben. Ein im Detail untersuchtes Profil bei Mfis hat eine individuenreiche und diverse pelagische Fauna mit 24 Arten geliefert, von denen 13 neu sind. Die Gattung Weyerella n. gen. wird mit Weyerellaprotecta n. sp. als Typusart aufgestellt. Weitere neue Arten sind: Paragattendorfiaaboussalamae n. sp., Acutimitocerashollardi n. sp., Acutimitocerasposterum n. sp., Acutimitocerasmfisense n. sp., Acutimitocerasoccidentale n. sp., Imitocerasoxydentale n. sp., Kazakhstanianitida n. sp., Zadelsdorfiadebouaaensis n. sp., Weyerellaminor n. sp., Eocanitessimplex n. sp., Eocanitesrtbeckeri n. sp. und Eocanitesdkorni n. sp. Die in Limonit erhaltenen Steinkerne erlauben eine Detailuntersuchung der Lobenlinien und der Gehäuse-Ontogenie. doi:10.1002/mmng.200600003</a