FUSULINOIDEANS FROM THE PUENTELLÉS FORMATION (UPPER CARBONIFEROUS, NW SPAIN): DISCUSSION ON PHYLOGENY, PALEOECOLOGY AND PALEOBIOGEOGRAPHY

The Cantabrian Zone is the only area in Western Europe that contains marine successions of Kasimovian and Gzhelian (late Late Carboniferous, late Pennsylvanian) age. These successions yield fusulinoideans that are presently the subject of an in depth-study by members of a IUGS SCCS working group intending to find stratigraphic markers for the subdivision of the Carboniferous System. The youngest fusulinoidean faunas of the Cantabrian Zone are recorded in the Puentellés Formation, a succession of calcareous strata consisting of two members. The lower member is made up of reworked and re-sedimented carbonates, which form shallow turbidite deposits showing frequent lateral changes of facies, whereas the upper member corresponds to autochthonous limestones, mainly consisting of dark mudstones, skeletal wackestones and thick-bedded boundstones. Generally speaking, the lower member is late Kasimovian in age while the upper one is early Gzhelian. However, there are also a few successions of late Kasimovian age that show sedimentary facies similar to those of the upper member. The fusulinoidean assemblages from the lower member are dominated by elongated species of the genus Ferganites, which sometimes occur with Schubertella and Staffella species. Rauserites, Tumefactus, Jigulites, Quasifusulina, as well as certain Ferganites species showing obese shell, mainly appear in strata belonging to the upper member.Detailed analyses of the fusulinoideans from the Cantabrian Zone have allowed several questions related to their paleoecology, biostratigraphy, and paleobiogeography to be ascertained. First, it has been shown that the Ferganites accumulated in the strata of the lower member could have lived in near-shore and high-energy environments. The presence of some relevant forms (e. g. Rauserites cf. rossicus, and Jigulites sp.) allow a correlation between the Cantabrian successions and the standard stratigraphic units of the Russian Platform. Moreover, the composition of the fusulinoidean assemblages clearly shows the biogeographic affinities of the Cantabrian Zone with the Carnic Alps and the Central Asian regions. On the contrary, these assemblages differ greatly from those in other western Eurasian areas, such as the Russian Platform and the Donets Basin, suggesting that these areas were not well-connected with the Paleo-Tethys.   Some observations give rise to relevant questions on more general aspects dealing with the latest Carboniferous fusulinoideans while yielding, at the same time, preliminary data for solving them. This is the case of the phrenotheca, an inner partition existing in some fusulinoidean shells whose functional role is still uncertain. The abundance in the Cantabrian Zone strata of Tumefactus specimens showing phrenotheca provides information for reconstructing its geometry as well as enabling speculation on its likely function. Another problematic aspect concerns the origin and distribution of the genus Triticites. It is noteworthy that this genus seems to be absent from both the Cantabrian Zone and most Eurasian areas, bringing up the question of whether the American and the Eurasian Triticites really had a common ancestor. The possibilities involved are discussed here.&nbsp

Fusulinoideans from the early Midian (late Middle Permian) Metadoliolina dutkevitchi-Monodiexodina sutchanica Zone of the Senkina Shapka section, South Primorye, Far East Russia.

Fusulinoideans from the Metadoliolina dutkevitchi-Monodiexodina sutchanica Zone of the lower part of the Chandalaz Formation in the Senkina Shapka section in South Primorye, Far East Russia, are described. The fusulinoidean zone is assigned to the early Midian (=Capitanian: late Middle Permian) based mainly on the morphologie and biostratigraphic characteristics of Metadoliolina dutkevitchi. Previously, a Midian age has been established for the Metadoliolina dutkevitchi-Monodiexodina sutchanica Zone by the coexistence of Lepidolina species. However, the occurrence of Lepidolina with the two zonal species in this area has not been verified by the illustration of Lepidolina specimens. We examined a fusulinoidean-bearing sample from the Metadoliolina dutkevitchi-Monodiexodina sutchanica Zone, and three fusulinoidean species, Monodiexodina sutchanica, Pseudofusulina sp. and Metadoliolina dutkevitchi, are de-scribed and illustrated.<br /

Characterization of sulfate mineral deposits in central Thailand

In this paper we present petrographic and geochemical data of sulfate mineral deposits in northeast Nakhon Sawan, central Thailand, and provide new constraints on their age. The deposits are made up mainly of strongly deformed nodular and massive gypsum in the upper part, and less deformed layered anhydrite in the lower part. They are intruded by andesitic dikes that contain Middle Triassic zircons (ca 240 Ma). These dikes are probably part of the regional magmatic activity of the Sukhothai Arc during the Early to Middle Triassic. Sulfur (δ34S) and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotopic compositions of the sulfates range from 15.86‰ to 16.26‰ and from 0.70810 to 0.70817, respectively. Comparisons with the Phanerozoic seawater isotopic evolution curve indicate that those values are best explained by precipitation of the sulfates from Carboniferous seawater, in particular seawater of late Mississippian age (ca 326 Ma), and this would be consistent with previous studies of calcareous fossils in the limestones that crop out around this site. Our interpretation is that evaporitic gypsum was originally precipitated from hypersaline seawater on a shallow lagoon or shelf on the Khao Khwang Platform during the Serpukhovian, and that this gypsum changed to anhydrite during early burial. The anhydrite was then cut by andesitic dikes during the Middle Triassic, and more recently the upper part of which was rehydrated during exhumation to form secondary gypsum near the surface

Deficiency of the basic helix‐loop‐helix transcription factor DEC1 prevents obesity induced by a high‐fat diet in mice

Obesity is a major public health problem in developed countries resulting from increased food intake and decreased energy consumption and usually associated with abnormal lipid metabolism. Here, we show that DEC1, a basic helix‐loop‐helix transcription factor, plays an important role in the regulation of lipid consumption in mouse brown adipose tissue (BAT), which is the major site of thermogenesis. Homozygous Dec1 deletion attenuated high‐fat‐diet‐induced obesity, adipocyte hypertrophy, fat volume and hepatic steatosis. Furthermore, DEC1 deficiency increased body temperature during daytime and enhanced the expression of uncoupler protein 1, a key factor of thermogenesis, and various lipolysis‐related genes in interscapular BAT. In vitro experiments suggested that DEC1 suppresses the expression of various lipolysis‐related genes induced by the heterodimer of peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor γ and retinoid X receptor α (RXRα) through direct binding to RXRα. These observations suggest that enhanced lipolysis in BAT caused by DEC1 deficiency leads to an increase in lipid consumption, thereby decreasing lipid accumulation in adipose tissues and the liver. Thus, DEC1 may serve as an energy‐saving factor that suppresses lipid consumption, which may be relevant to managing obesity.This work was supported by Grants‐in‐Aid for Science from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (grant numbers 22590223 and 2339042351)

Missing ophiolitic rocks along the Mae Yuam Fault as the Gondwana-Tethys divide in north-west Thailand

Thailand comprises two continental blocks: Sibumasu and Indochina. The clastic rocks of the Triassic Mae Sariang Group are distributed in the Mae Hong Son-Mae Sariang area, north-west Thailand, which corresponds to the central part of Sibumasu. The clastic rocks yield abundant detrital chromian spinels, indicating a source of ultramafic/mafic rocks. The chemistry of the detrital chromian spinels suggests that they were derived from three different rock types: ocean-floor peridotite, chromitite and intraplate basalt, and that ophiolitic rocks were exposed in the area, where there are no outcrops of them at present. Exposition of an ophiolitic complex denotes a suture zone or other tectonic boundary. The discovery of chromian spinels suggests that the Gondwana-Tethys divide is located along the Mae Yuam Fault zone. Both paleontological and tectonic aspects support this conclusion. © 2004 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd

Comparative study of the work load between one-man buses and two-man buses.

The differences in physiological and safety conditions of one-man buses and two-man buses were examined from the view point of occupational fatigue. This survey consisted of a work load study which included a time study, study of subsidiary behavior, auditory task, memory test, Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) and physiological function tests and a self-administered questionnaire which involved items concerning safety and subjective fatigue complaints. The visual and postural restrictions in the one-man bus were greater than in the two-man bus. The mental capacity of the one-man bus drivers was found to be less. Greater mental fatigue and stress were observed in the one-man bus. More subjective fatigue complaints were observed in the one-man bus. More cases of near accidents were observed in the one-man bus. From these results it was concluded that the one-man bus caused bus drivers a greater mental and physical work load.</p

Early Permian ammonoids from the Kaeng Krachan Group of the Phatthalung-Hat Yai area, southern peninsular Thailand

An Early Permian small ammonoid fauna consisting of Neocrimites sp., Agathiceras suessi Gemmellaro, A. girtyi Bo¨se, Agathiceras? sp.,and Miklukhoceras sp. was found in nodules of a fine sandstone bed exposed in the Phatthalung-Hat Yai area of southern peninsular Thailand.The ammonoid-bearing bed belongs stratigraphically to the uppermost part of the Kaeng Krachan Group, which is essentially a clasticdominant, Late Carboniferous (?) to Early Permian stratigraphic unit, widely distributed in western and peninsular Thailand. This ammonoidfauna is considered to be of Bolorian (Kungurian) age and includes Agathiceras girtyi Bo¨se, which is described for the first time from Thailand. The present discovery of Bolorian ammonoids suggests that the uppermost part of the Kaeng Krachan Group is slightly younger than previously considered and around the latest Early Permian. This further implies that the continental margin environment of the Sibumasu Block drastically changed at around Bolorian time from a cool, clastic-dominant shelf condition to a temperate to subtropical, carbonate platform due to rapid northward drift after middle Artinskian rifting