Noeggerathiales as coal-forming plants in Cathaysia: conclusions from an Early Permian vegetational Pompeii in Inner Mongolia

Noeggerathiales are an extinct group of sporebearing plants of uncertain systematic position that are known from Carboniferous and Permian age Euramerican and Cathaysian floras that occurred in presentday Europe, North America, and East Asia. The order Noeggerathiales includes over 50 species of more than 20 fossil genera, but their paleoecology is not well understood yet. Previously this group had been found only in extrabasinal floras or those inhabiting clastic wetlands. Noeggerathiales have never been recorded in coal ball floras. Thus, it is up to now uncertain whether this group has contributed to the formation of coal. Recent investigations of an Early Permian peatforming flora of the Taiyuan Formation near Wuda, Inner Mongolia, which was preserved in a volcanic ash fall has provided evidence that noeggerathialean plants not only existed in the peatforming vegetation but could even be the dominant group in some areas of the coal swamp. The Noeggerathiales in this particular peatforming forest include Tingia unita, Paratingia wudensis, and a new species of Paratingia. Exceptionally well-preserved specimens indicate that these noeggerathialean plants are small trees with a canopy of compound leaves and strobili near the top of an unbranched （monocaulous） stem.     

The largest known odonate in China: Hsiufua chaoi Zhang et Wang, gen. et sp. nov. from the middle jurassic of inner mongolia

A new genus and species, Hsiufua chaoi Zhang et Wang, is established based on a forewing from the Middle Jurassic Haifanggou Formation in Inner Mongolia, China and attributed to Campterophlebiidae, Isophlebioidea, Odonata. It is the largest odonate known in China and the fourth in the world in terms of forewing length. The maximum size (based on forewing length) of Odonata is smaller in the Permian than in the Mesozoic which is probably due to competition for prey between Odonata and Protodonata in the Permian. The reason that the maximum size of Jurassic odonates is larger than that of their extant relatives is most probably less competition and lower predation pressure from contemporary aerial vertebrates.     

Flabellariopteris,a new aquatic fern leaf from the Late Triassic of western Liaoning,China

An aquatic fern leaf, Flabellariopteris mii Sun gen. et sp. nov. from the Late Triassic of Western Liaoning, China, is described and proposed as the type species of the new morphortaxon of the Marsileaceae. The fossil leaves are preserved as impression. No fertile and rhizomatic materials are found. The leaves attached at a common point on the top of the petiole are composed of two leaflets joined basally in an opposite arrangement. The petiole is slender. The leaflet is fan-shaped or semi-circular, and commonly divided into four wedge-shaped lobes. Terminal margin of lobes is usually incised, incisions shallow or deep, with bluntly rounded or notched apex. The veins are conspicu- ously dichotomous, but anastomoses and marginal vein are absent. The unique morphological features, including two- parted thin leaflets, size, shape, veins and slender petiole, indicate that the present specimen represents an aquatic fern, which is the oldest fossil record and the first megafossil evidence assignable to Marsileaceae from the Triassic floras.     

A bizarre <Emphasis Type="Italic">Palissya</Emphasis> ovulate organ from Upper Triassic strata of the Zixing coal field,Hunan Province,China

Palissya,a little-known reproductive organ with a long history,is recorded from China and Asia for the first time.A new species,Palissya hunanensis(sp.nov.) ,is described from the Upper Triassic Rhaetican strata of the Zixing coal field of Hunan Province.The ovulate cone has a compound shoot system that consists of a main axis and many helically-arranged axillary structures re-ferred to as female dwarf shoots,each of which is subtended by a bract.Despite a superficial similarity,P.hunanensis differs from the typical species P.sphenolepis(Braun) Nathorst in a number of subtle but consistent features:the cone is much smaller and narrower,the bracts are much thinner,there are fewer pairs of cup-like seed scales,and the seed scales are adaxially attached to a thick axis rather than to bracts.These traits are all distinctly different from other species of the genus.Moreover,SEM obser-vation of the new species reveals morphological features of the seed scales and seeds and details of the female dwarf shoot;sig-nificantly increases our knowledge of Palissya;and provides new evidence that it is a conifer.Palissya is related to the Lower Permian Lebowskia,a voltzian conifer bearing ovuliferous structures similar to the bract plus dwarf-shoot organization of Palis-sya.Palissya-type conifers probably grew in specialized marine-continent habitats,unlike most other extant and extinct conifers that grow in drier upland environments.     

贵州遵义晚二叠世长兴组的介形类

本文首次报道了贵州遵义晚二叠世长兴组介形类化石，计14属24种（其中4新种、4未定种）。这些介形类化石的发现，不但为该区地层划分与对比提供了新的依据，而且对二叠系与三叠系的界线研究也具有一定意义。     

Discovery of a petrified noeggerathialean strobilus,Discinites sinensis sp. nov. from the Permian of Shizuishan, Ningxia, China

A petrified strobilusDiscinites sinensis sp. nov. is discovered from the Lower Permian of Shizuishan in Ningxia, North China. The epidermal cells of sporophyll are long and narrow, with both ends pointed. Each sporangium is ellipsoid, with the basal part contracted and short, thick sporangiophore-like. The cells of tapetum and sporangial walls are arranged longitudinally. The annulus is not developed. Mega- and microsporangia are similar in shape. They can hardly be distinguished unless they are broken, and the spores are exposed.In situ mega- and microspores are also similar in shape and both of theDeltoidospora type. The new species supports the systematic placement ofDiscinites within Noeggerathiales, and the progymnosperm affinity of the Noeggerathiales.     

Dinosaur diversity during the transition between the middle and late parts of the Late Cretaceous in eastern Shandong Province, China: Evidence from dinosaur eggshells

The record of dinosaur eggs from the Upper Cretaceous Wangshi Group in eastem Shandong Province, China shows that the dinosaur species represented by elongatoolithids were present from the middle to the late Late Cretaceous, whereas those repre- sented by the dictyoolithids and spheroolithids became extinct in the middle Late Cretaceous and the new species represented by ovaloolithids appeared in the late Late Cretaceous. Estimated eggshell conductance of water vapor is over 4 to over 115 times higher in spheroolithids and the dictyoolithids than in elongatoolithids and ovaloolithids, indicating that eggs of the first two oofamilies required higher humidity during incubation. Based on the δ^18O record as preserved in eggshell, a change from relatively humid to relatively dry climatic conditions can be assumed to have taken place during the transition between the middle and late parts of the Late Cretaceous. It is reasonable to suggest that the change in climate was the cause of the dinosaur diversity.     

贵州贞丰晚二叠世晚期的介形类

本文描述了贵州贞丰晚二叠世长兴组介形类化石计15属26种(包括新种8个)。这一介形类动物群与北美及我国浙江长兴等地二叠纪地层所产介形类相似,其中二叠纪的特有属种数量丰富、种类繁多。贞丰二叠系与三叠系沉积连续,介形类化石的研究为二叠系与三叠系的界线划分提供了重要的生物依据。     

新疆北部二叠系特征及其与三叠系界线划分

目的对新疆准噶尔盆地南缘、吐哈盆地和三塘湖盆地的二叠系及其与三叠系界线的划分提供新的依据。方法在该区长期工作的基础上,参考前人地层划分成果及当地使用习惯,利用岩石地层、生物地层、火山岩同位素年龄、古地磁等方法进行综合分析,对三地区的二叠系进行了综合划分与对比。结果将新疆北部二叠系分别称下、中、上统,与中国南方及国际标准的3个统对应;中二叠统对应于瓜德鲁普统,地质时代为早二叠世(290~265 Ma),中、上二叠统界线在中二叠统塔尔郎组上部,上二叠统与三叠系界线在上二叠统锅底坑组内;中二叠统分布于准噶尔盆地中南部、吐哈盆地北部和三塘湖盆地南部。结论建议将大龙口、锅底坑、塔尔郎沟、照壁山剖面和跃进沟剖面分别作为北疆地区二叠系—三叠系标准剖面。     

南华北上二叠统石千峰组物源与沉积环境分析

目的为恢复华北南部地区石千峰组原盆地沉积环境格局,为进一步研究华北南部地区二叠系沉积地质与盆地原型提供支持。方法根据岩石碎屑组分基本数据,运用地层厚度、砂岩百分含量、古水流、砂岩成分的系统分析方法。结果研究区地层自南西向北东呈现依次增厚的趋势,整体为北东方向倾斜的宽缓斜坡环境;砂岩分布特征指示物源来自南部隆起区和沉积中心在研究区以北地区。结论华北南部地区石千峰组整体属于近山的海陆过渡相陆缘近海湖环境内的充填物,沉积物质主要来源于南部的秦岭古隆起,并向晚二叠世华北盆地南部提供了大量的陆源碎屑物质。     

木兰科叶结构的比较解剖及其系统学意义

对国产６属１１种木兰科植物叶片的结构进行了比较解剖研究。通过比较叶的表皮、皮皮、叶肉及中脉等解剖特征，结果表明：（１）上、下表皮细胞的形态结构在种之间存在差异，（２）下皮存在于木莲属、木兰属、含笑属、合果木属的部分种中，连续或不连续：（３）叶肉中栅栏组织和海绵组织的分化程度以及细胞形态在种间存在差异：（４）中脉维组织具原始怀，维管束环状排列，具髓，外有厚壁细胞组成的维管束鞘包围；维管束的数目在属间     

Re-Os dating of Mo-bearing black shale of the Laoyaling deposit,Tongling, Anhui Province,China

Laoyaling is a typical stratiform deposit in the Tongling district and the molybdenum orebody is hosted by black shale of the Dalong Formation of the Upper Permian system. Eight black shale samples from the Laoyaling Mo orebody were dated by Re-Os technique using ICP-MS, which give an isochron age of 234.2±7.3 Ma with an initial 187Os/188Os ratio of 1.37±0.39. The apparent Re-Os age is a few million years younger than the depositional age of the Late Permian. The young isochron age may be caused by the later hydrothermal disturbance or mass fractionation during ICP-MS measurement. However, the obtained isochron age is close to the depositional age and far earlier than those of the Late Yanshanian intrusions. It suggests that the Mo ore of the Laoyaling deposit is sedimentary in origin and not related to the Late Yanshanian magmatism. Black shales of the Upper Permian are distributed widely in the Mid-Lower Yangtze region, our result is important for understanding the ore-forming processes in the regio     

New dragonflies （Insecta： Odonata： Gomphaeschnidae） from the Yixian Formation in Inner Mongolia,China

Two fossil dragonflies from the Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation in Liutiaogou Village, Ningcheng County, Inner Mongolia, China are described and illustrated. They are assigned to two new genera and species, i.e., Sophoaeschna frigida gen. et sp. nov. and Falsisophoaeschna generalis gen. et sp. nov. within the family Gomphaeschnidae Tillyard ＆ Fraser, 1940. This is the first report of Odonata from Yixian Formation in Inner Mongolia and the second record of fossil Gomphaeschnidae from China.     

New dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata: Gomphaeschnidae) from the Yixian Formation in Inner Mongolia, China

Two fossil dragonflies from the Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation in Liutiaogou Village, Ningcheng County, Inner Mongolia, China are described and illustrated. They are assigned to two new genera and species, i.e., Sophoaeschna frigida gen. et sp. nov. and Falsisophoaeschna generalis gen. et sp. nov. within the family Gomphaeschnidae Tillyard & Fraser, 1940. This is the first report of Odonata from Yixian Formation in Inner Mongolia and the second record of fossil Gomphaeschnidae from China.     

Confirmation of ultrahigh-temperature metapelitic granulite in the Altay orogen and its geological significance

Through petrography, mineral compositions and P-T estimate results, an ultrahigh-temperature(UHT) metapelitic granulite has recently been identified from near Kalasu in the east of Altay city, with an assemblage gt-opx-silcd-sp-bt-pl-qtz. The orthopyroxene has a high-Al feature, and its Al2O3 content is as high as 8.7 wt%, indicating a UHT metamorphic condition. Its peak metamorphic condition is estimated as: P = *0.80 GPa, T = *960 °C. Metamorphic textural relations and P-T estimate results show a post-peak near-isobaric cooling anticlockwise P-T path. Zircon U-Pb age results(271 ± 5 Ma) support that the UHT metamorphic event in the region occurred in the Permian. The identification of the UHT metapelitic granulite from near Kalasu confirms the existence of the Permian UHT metamorphism in the Altay orogen, implying that the Permian extensional tectonic setting of a high-heat flow in the southern part of the Altay orogen may be closely associated with the Permian Tarim mantle plume activity.     

Cordaites huainanensis sp.nov 叶表皮角质层的研究

淮南科达(新种)Cordaites huainanensis sp.nov产于淮南二叠系。叶膜经酸处理后获得了很好的表皮角质层。新种特征为:下气孔式,气孔器单唇式,具2个保卫细胞及4个副卫细胞,单或双列。本文记述了正模、副模等较多材料。     

The first Sinomastodon (Gomphotheriidae, Proboscidea) skull from the Quaternary in China

The first Sinomastodon(Gomphotheriidae,Proboscidea) skull of the Early Pleistocene,collected from the Renzidong Cave deposits in Anhui Province,Eastern China,is described here as S.jiangnanensis sp.nov.As the only brevirostrine trilophodont gomphotheriid known from the Old World,Sinomastodon was mainly indigenous to China from the Early Pliocene to the Pleistocene.Compared with a few single Pleistocene teeth previously found in China,S.jiangnanensis sp.nov.is represented by a relatively complete skull,mandible and dentition,which is the first discovery of a Quaternary Sinomastodon skull from China.With a brevirostrine,elephant-like skull,no lower tusks,and simple bunodont and trilophodont intermediate molars,the new species is morphologically distinct from other gomphotheres and should belong to the genus Sinomastodon.The new species is more progressive than S.hanjiangensis and the Pliocene type species S.intermedius in its skull and mandible morphology,but is evidently more primitive than the Pleistocene S.yangziensis in its molar morphology.The faunal analysis suggests that the emergence of S.jiangnanensis sp.nov.in Jiangnan area and its southward migration may have been related to a cooling event at the beginning of the Quaternary in Eastern China.     

New and rare lignicolous hyphomycetes from Zhejiang Province, China

Sporidesmiopsis zhejiangensis sp. nov. and Spadicoides americana were found on submerged wood from streams in Zhejiang Province, China. Sporidesmiopsis zhejiangensis is characterized by obclavate to fusiform, 5-6-distoseptate, versicolorous, verruculose conidia with an apical mucilaginous sheath. Spadicoides americana is a new record to China. These taxa are described and illustrated, and morphological differences between these species and their similar species were summarized.     

Late Paleozoic magmatism in South China:Oceanic subduction or intracontinental orogeny?

A gneissic granite with an U-Pb age of 313±4 Ma was found in northeastern Fujian Province,South China.It is an S-type granite characterized by high K2O,Al2O3 and low SiO2,Na2O contents with high A/CNK ratio of 1.22 for the whole rock.Zircons with stubby morphology from the gneissic granite yield 206 Pb/238 U ages ranging from 326 to 301 Ma with a weighted average age of 313±4 Ma,and negative εHf(t) values from -8.35 to -1.74 with Hf model ages (TCDM) of 1.43 to 1.84 Ga.This S-type granite probably originated from late Paleoproterozoic crust in intracontinental orogeny.Integrated with previous results on paleogeographic reconstruction of South China,the nature of Paleozoic basins,Early Permian volcanism and U-Pb-Hf isotope of detrital zircons from the late Paleozoic to early Mesozoic sedimentary rocks,we suggest the occurrence of a late Paleozoic orogeny in the eastern Cathaysia Block,South China.This orogenic cycle includes Late Carboniferous (340-310 Ma) orogeny (compression) episode and Early Permian (287-270 Ma) post-orogenic or intraplate extension episode.Therefore,the late Paleozoic magmatism in the southeastern South China probably occurred during the intraplate orogeny rather than the arc-related process.     

湖南二叠纪箭石的新发现

关于二 叠纪箭 石化石的 报道 极少 ,这 是湖 南 首次 发 现的 箭石 化 石,化 石 保存 在上 二 叠统大隆组 的硅质 岩中根 据这些化 石的外部 形态,它 们可归 属于 Ｐａｌａｅｏｂｅｌｅ ｍ ｎｏｐｓｉｓ 属,是箭 鞘亚纲中的原始 类型这 些化石 的发现对 研究中生 代箭鞘 类的起源 具有重 要意义 图３ , 参４