Taxonomy, Nomenclature, and Evolution of the Early Schubertellid Fusulinids

The types of the species belonging to the fusulinid genera Schubertella and Eoschubertella were examined from publications and type collections. Eoschubertella in general possesses all the features of Schubertella and therefore is a junior synonym of the latter. However, the concept of Eoschubertella best describes the genus Schubertina with its type species Schubertina curculi. Schubertina is closely related to the newly established genus Grovesella the concept of which is emended in this paper. Besides Schubertella, Schubertina, and Grovesella, the genera Mesoschubertella, Biwaella are reviewed and three new species, Grovesella nevadensis, Biwaella zhikalyaki, and Biwaella poletaevi, are described. The phylogenetic relationships of all Pennsylvanian—Cisuralian schubertellids are also proposed. Barrel-shaped Grovesella suggested being the very first schubertellid that appears sometimes in the middle—late Bashkirian time. In late Bashkirian it is then developed into ovoid to fusiform Schubertina. The latter genus gave rise into Schubertella in early Moscovian. First Fusiella derived from Schubertella in late Moscovian, Biwaella—in early Gzhelian and Boultonia—in late Gzhelian time. Genus Mesoschubertella also developed from Schubertella at least in Artinskian, but may be in late Sakmarian

Discovery of Shallow-Marine Biofacies Conodonts in a Bioherm Within the Carboniferous-Permian Transition in the Omalon Massif, NE Russia near the North Paleo-Pole: Correlation with a Warming Spike in the Southern Hemisphere

The conodont genera Hindeodus and Streptognathodus are reported for the first time within the Carboniferous-Permian transition in the northern high latitudes of the Paren’ River, Omolon Massif, NE Russia. Several fossil groups, including brachiopods, bivalves, scaphopods and microgastropods were found to be prolific in the invertebrate-dominated bioherms. These bioherms occur within predominantly siliciclastic sequences with extremely poor fauna, whereas in the studied bioherms the diversity of the bivalves and brachiopods exceeded observed diversity elsewhere in coeval facies in NE Russia. The bioherms are biostratigraphically constrained as uppermost Pennsylvanian to lowermost Cisuralian based on ammonoids. The very unusual peak of bivalve and brachiopod diversity and the occurrence of conodonts that require minimum sea water temperatures of at least 10-12 °C indicate a short lived, but significant warming event at that time, at least of provincial significance. This event most likely corresponds with a short-lived warming event recently discovered in the east of the southern hemisphere, in Timor and Australia. Thus, the event is possibly of global significance

STRATIGRAPHY AND FUSULINIDS OF THE KASIMOVIAN AND LOWER GZHELIAN(UPPER CARBONIFEROUS) IN THE SOUTHWESTERN DARVAZ (PAMIR)

A detailed fusulinid biostratigraphic zonation of the Kasimovian and lowermost Gzhelian in southwestern Darvaz is proposed. Based on the investigation of five stratigraphic sections, five local fusulinid zones were established. These zones correlate with their chronostratigraphic equivalents in the East-European Platform and in the Urals, Arctic and Carnic Alps regions. Eighty-seven species and subspecies, which belong to 18 genera and 7 families of fusulinids, were identified in the Kasimovian and lowermost Gzhelian of Darvaz. Among them, two genera (Kushanella and Darvasoschwagerina), one subgenus (Tumefactus), and 24 species are new ( i. e. Fusiella segyrdashtiensis, Quasifusulina pseudotenuissima, Protriticites putrjai, P. compactus, Obsoletes darvasicus, Schwagerinoides (Schwagerinoides) pamiricus, Schw. (Tumefactus) oblisus, Montiparus kushanicus, M. rauserae, M. pigmaeus, M. memorabilis, M. citreum, M. hirsutus, M. dubius, M. stuckenbergiformis, M. desinens, Triticites umbonoplicatiformis, T. licis, Rauserites concinnus, R. jucundus, R. darvasicus, Kushanella globosa, K. insueta, Darvasoschwagerina donbasica)

Postglacial Early Permian (Late Sakmarian– Early Artinskian) Shallow-Marine Carbonate Deposition Along a 2000 km Transect from Timor to West Australia

Late Sakmarian to early Artinskian (Early Permian) carbonate deposition was widespread in the marine intracratonic rift basins that extended into the interior of Eastern Gondwana from Timor in the north to the northern Perth Basin in the south. These basins spanned about 20° of paleolatitude (approximately 35°S to 55°S). This study describes the type section of the Maubisse Limestone in Timor-Leste, and compares this unit with carbonate sections in the Canning Basin (Nura Nura Member of the Poole Sandstone), the Southern Carnarvon Basin (Callytharra Formation) and the northern Perth Basin (Fossil Cliff Member of the Holmwood Shale). The carbonate units have no glacial influence and formed part of a major depositional cycle that, in the southern basins, overlies glacially influenced strata and lies a short distance below mudstone containing marine fossils and scattered dropstones (perhaps indicative of sea ice). In the south marine conditions became more restricted and were replaced by coal measures at the top of the depositional sequence. In the north, the carbonate deposits are possibly bryozoan–crinoidal mounds; whereas in the southern basins they form thin laterally continuous relatively thin beds, deposited on a very low-gradient seafloor, at the tops of shale–limestone parasequences that thicken upward in parasequence sets. All marine deposition within the sequence took place under very shallow (inner neritic) conditions, and the limestones have similar grain composition. Bryozoan and crinoidal debris dominate the grain assemblages and brachiopod shell fragments, foraminifera and ostracod valves are usually common. Tubiphytes ranged as far south as the Southern Carnarvon Basin, albeit rarely, but is more common to the north. Gastropod and bivalve shell debris, echinoid spines, solitary rugose corals and trilobite carapace elements are rare. The uniformity of the grain assemblage and the lack of tropical elements such as larger fusulinid foraminifera, colonial corals or dasycladacean algae indicate temperate marine conditions with only a small increase in temperature to the north. The depositional cycle containing the studied carbonate deposits represents a warmer phase than the preceding glacially influenced Asselian to early Sakmarian interval and the subsequent cool phase of the mid Artinskian that is followed by significant warming during the late Artinskian–early Kungurian. The timing of cooler and warmer intervals in the west Australian basins seems out-of-phase with the eastern Australian succession, but this may be a problem of chronostratigraphic miscorrelation due to endemic faunas and palynofloras

A Latest Carboniferous Warming Spike Recorded by a Fusulinid-Rich Bioherm in Timor Leste: Implications for East Gondwana Deglaciation

During the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic Timor lay in the northern part of the north–south East Gondwana rift system along which the western margin of Australia later developed. Discovery of a latest Gzhelian bioherm in the central highlands of Timor Leste has implications for latest Carboniferous–earliest Permian climate history and deglaciation in basins further south in the rift system. Limestone outcrop of the Maubisse Formation near the village of Kulau is recognized as a bioherm with a massive lower unit, including reef framework at the base, and a bedded grainstone upper unit. The bioherm developed on a basalt substrate in warm shallow-water, as indicated by photozoan assemblages in the massive lower unit. Foraminifera belonging to 17 genera are recorded from the bioherm. These include representatives of the families Biseriamminidae, Biwaellidae, Bradyinidae, Cornuspiridae, Lasiodiscidae, Palaeotextulariidae, Pseudotaxidae, Ozawainellidae, Schubertellidae, Schwagerinidae, Staffellidae and Textrataxidae. Twenty-one species have been referred to known types and 12 species are left in open nomenclature. The assemblage probably belongs within the uppermost Gzhelian Schwagerina robusta–Ultradaixina bosbytauensis Zone although a possible lowest Asselian correlation cannot be excluded. The bioherm is the oldest carbonate unit so far recorded from the Maubisse Formation, and the oldest sedimentary unit biostratigraphically dated in Timor. The dominantly heterozoan composition of the skeletal component of the limestone (except for the basal photozoan assemblage) and the taxonomic diversity of the larger foraminifera suggest a subtropical environment consistent with a paleolatitude of about 40° S. The late Pennsylvanian was a time of glaciation that in Australia is represented by a significant stratigraphic hiatus in basins to the south of Timor in the East Gondwana rift system. The development of the Kulau bioherm during the latest Gzhelian may have coincided with a global warming spike that led to rapid melting of continental ice sheets and a substantial influx of glacigene sediment (alternating diamictite and mudstone) in the southern basins

Climate- and Eustasy-Driven Cyclicity in Pennsylvanian Fusulinid Assemblages, Donets Basin (Ukraine)

A model of cyclic recurrence (~ 0.6–1.2 myr) of three fusulinid assemblages in the Middle Pennsylvanian siliciclastic–carbonate succession of the Donets Basin is proposed. Each cycle records progressive turnover of assemblages in shallow marine environments in response to sea-level and regional climate change. A Hemifusulina-assemblage (A), adapted to cooler and reduced salinity seawater records the onset of sea level rise accompanied by humid climatic conditions. Sea level high stand is captured by the Beedeina–Neostaffella–Ozawainella–Taitzehoella (or Beedeina-dominated) assemblage (B), characteristic of relatively deeper-water environments. The B assemblage is successively replaced by the most diverse population of the warm-water Fusulinella-dominated assemblage (C). This assemblage, which occurs in the upper limestones of each fusulinid cycle records the onset of sea level fall accompanied by a shift to drier conditions and likely increased seawater salinity. The proposed model permits robust interbasinal correlation of the Pennsylvanian successions of the Tethyan realm. Fusulinids of the A and C2 assemblages are the most provincial and therefore the most useful for paleogeographic reconstructions. Specifically, they delineate originally contiguous regions that subsequently were dispersed hundreds to thousands of kilometers, whereas fusulinids of the B assemblage hold the highest potential for global correlation. Extinction at the Moscovian–Kasimovian transition of fusulinid genera of the A and B assemblages, which inhabited predominately cooler and normal salinity (perhaps hyposaline) waters, can be explained by the onset of global warming in the earliest Late Pennsylvanian. Fusulinid assemblages define various types of distribution patterns that differ by tectonic setting of the studied basins suggesting that fusulinid assemblage patterns hold potential for reconstructing the paleogeography and tectonic evolution of Pennsylvanian basins of eastern Laurasia

Sequence Stratigraphy and Onlap History of the Donets Basin, Ukraine: Insight into Carboniferous Icehouse Dynamics

The degree to which Permo-Carboniferous cyclothemic successions archive evidence for long-term variations in ice volume during the Late Paleozoic Ice Age is insufficiently resolved. Here we develop the sequence stratigraphy and onlap-offlap history for a 33-my interval of the Carboniferous using the U-Pb calibrated succession of the Donets Basin, Ukraine, in order to assess the relationship between sea-level, high-latitude changes in glacial extent, and climate. Integrated subsurface and outcrop data permit meter-scale correlation of 242 biostratigraphically constrained limestones and coals, and in turn individual cyclothems, across ~250 km of the Donets Basin. Rapid uniform subsidence and basinwide continuity of marker beds indicate Pennsylvanian deposition under relatively stable tectonic conditions. Three scales of sequences (avg. durations of ~140 ky, ~480 ky and 1.6 my) are recognized on the basis of stratigraphic stacking patterns and basinwide architecture of marine to terrestrial facies assemblages. The hierarchy of sequences and the geographic and stratigraphic positions of shifts in base-level sensitive facies across the Donets ramp permit the construction of an onlap-offlap history at a sub-400 ky scale. Major sea-level lowstands occur across the mid-Carboniferous boundary and during the early Moscovian. These lowstands coincide with glacial maxima inferred from high-latitude glacigenic deposits. The middle to late Pennsylvanian is characterized by a stepwise onlap, culminating in an earliest Gzhelian highstand, suggesting contraction of Carboniferous ice sheets prior to the initiation of Early Permian glaciation. The stratigraphic position of climate sensitive facies within individual Donets cyclothems indicates a turnover from seasonal sub-humid or semi-arid climate to everwet conditions during the late lowstand and maximum ice sheet accumulation. Comparison of the stratigraphic and aerial distribution of coals and evaporites in the Donets Basin with the onlap-offlap history further indicates everwet conditions during lowstands and inferred glacial maxima and drier climate during onlap and inferred ice sheet contraction at the intermediate (~0.8 to 1.6 my) and long (106 yr) time-scales. Taken together, the relationship between inferred climate and glacioeustasy suggests a likely teleconnection between high-latitude ice sheet behavior and low-latitude atmospheric dynamics

Experimental Studies for the VVER-440/213 Bubble Condenser System for Kola NPP at the Integral Test Facility BC V-213

In the frame of Tacis Project R2.01/99, which was running from 2003 to 2005, the bubble condenser system of Kola NPP (unit 3) was qualified at the integral test facility BC V-213. Three LB LOCA tests, two MSLB tests, and one SB LOCA test were performed. The appropriate test scenarios for BC V-213 test facility, modeling accidents in the Kola NPP unit 3, were determined with pretest calculations. Analysis of test results has shown that calculated initial conditions and test scenarios were properly reproduced in the tests. The detailed posttest analysis of the tests performed at BC V-213 test facility was aimed to validate the COCOSYS code for the calculation of thermohydraulic processes in the hermetic compartments and bubble condenser. After that the validated COCOSYS code was applied to NPP calculations for Kola NPP (unit 3). Results of Tacis R2.01/99 Project confirmed the bubble condenser functionality during large and small break LOCAs and MSLB accidents. Maximum loads were reached in the LB LOCA case. No condensation oscillations were observed

High-Precision U-Pb Zircon Age Calibration of the Global Carboniferous Time Scale and Milankovitch Band Cyclicity in the Donets Basin, Eastern Ukraine

High-precision ID-TIMS U-Pb zircon ages for 12 interstratified tuffs and tonsteins are used to radiometrically calibrate the detailed lithostratigraphic, cyclostratigraphic, and biostratigraphic framework of the Carboniferous Donets Basin of eastern Europe. Chemical abrasion of zircons, use of the internationally calibrated EARTHTIME mixed U-Pb isotope dilution tracer, and improved mass spectrometry guided by detailed error analysis have resulted in an age resolution o

Molecular epidemiological study of clinical cases of acute hepatitis E in Belarus

Relevance. The frequency of occurrence of anamnestic antibodies to the hepatitis E virus (HEV) in the general population of the Republic of Belarus is 7.3%, which is clearly not consistent with the low incidence of hepatitis E (HE). Most of primary HEV infections remain undiagnosed. The intensive epidemic process of HEV in the Belarusian population is hidden. Conducting epidemiological studies, including genotyping of HEV sequences isolated on the territory of the republic, makes it possible to more accurately characterize the sources of HEV infection and the mechanisms of its transmission. Aim molecular epidemiological study of two cases of acute hepatitis E detected in patients from Belarus. Materials and methods. During 20212022, samples of biological material were obtained from two patients undergoing treatment with an established diagnosis of acute hepatitis E. Serum samples were tested to detect antibodies to HEV using enzyme immunoassay, HEV RNA was detected in fecal samples using nested RT-PCR. The nucleotide sequence was determined by an automatic sequencer using the Sanger method. Analysis of nucleotide sequences, their genotyping, and calculation of evolutionary distances were performed using MEGA X software. Results. The HEV sequence isolated from a pregnant woman who had an epidemiological episode of alimentary contact with raw pork meat is clustered into a common phylogenetic clade with HEV sequence obtained from the patient from Belarus with a history of kidney transplantation and HEV sequences isolated from a domestic pigs. The HEV sequence isolated from a patient with a history of travel to Pakistan belongs to the HEV genotype 1 and joins a clade of HEV sequences isolated in Pakistan, India, Nepal and Mongolia