Cenozoic geological and plate tectonic evolution of SE Asia and the SW Pacific: computer-based reconstructions, model and animations

We present an integrated geomagnetic polarity and stratigraphic time scale for the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods of the Mesozoic Era, with age estimates and uncertainty limits for stage boundaries. The time scale uses a suite of 324 radiomenc dates, including high-resolution 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age estimates. This framework involves the observed ties between (1) radiometric dates, biozones, and stage boundaries, and (2) between biozones and magnetic reversals on the seafloor and in sediments. Interpolation techniques include maximum likelihood estimation, smoothing cubic spline fitting, and magnetochronology

A Mesozoic time scale

This review summarizes data on the biogeography and dispersal of bacteria, microfungi and selected protists, such as dinoflagellates, chrysophytes, testate amoebae, and ciliates. Furthermore, it introduces the restricted distribution and dispersal of mosses, ferns and macrofungi as arguments into the discussion on the postulated cosmopolitism and ubiquity of protists. Estimation of diversity and distribution of micro-organisms is greatly disturbed by undersampling, the scarcity of taxonomists, and the frequency of misidentifications. Thus, probably more than 50% of the actual diversity has not yet been described in many protist groups. Notwithstanding, it has been shown that a restricted geographic distribution of micro-organisms occurs in limnetic, marine, terrestrial, and fossil ecosystems. Similar as, in cryptogams and macrofungi about, 30% of the extant suprageneric taxa, described and undescribed, might be morphological and/or genetic and/or molecular endemics. At the present state of knowledge, micro-organism endemicity can be proved/disproved mainly by flagship species, excluding sites (e.g., university ponds) prone to be contaminated by invaders. In future, genetic and molecular data will be increasingly helpful. The wide distribution of many micro-organisms has been attributed to their small size and their astronomical numbers. However, this interpretation is flawed by data from macrofungi, mosses and ferns, many of which occupy distinct areas, in spite of their minute and abundant means of dispersal (spores). Thus, I suggest historic events (split of Pangaea etc.), limited cyst viability and, especially, time as major factors for dispersal and provinciality of micro-organisms. Furthermore, the true number of species and their distribution can hardly be estimated by theories and statistics but require reliable investigations on the number of morphospecies in representative ecosystems. Generally, the doubts on Beijerinck's famous metaphor "in micro-organisms everything is everywhere" can be focussed on a simple question: If the world is teeming with cosmopolitan unicells, where is everybody?

Biogeography and Dispersal of Micro-organisms: A Review Emphasizing Protists

http://earthdynamics.org/papers-ED/in-press/2013-Torsvik-Cocks-GondwanaResearch-AM.pdf

Gondwana from top to base in space and time

Few books of scholarship have held up so well to public attention over the last two hundred years. At a time when the materials for this history were scant, a mind as great as Gibbon's was able to absorb everything known on the subject and dominate it with his historical erudition and inimitable literary style. The first volume, highly acclaimed on publication, was quickly reprinted in spite of an ambitious first print-run of 1000 copies. Careless proofreading meant numerous errors had to be rectified in later editions. It was not until the third edition, reprinted here, that the layout was improved and the footnotes appeared at the foot of each page and chapter numbers were placed in the margins.

The Student's Gibbon: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

A new genus, Piallina Rettori & Zaninetti (type-species Piallina tethydis Rettori & Zaninetti sp.nov.), is recorded from the Upper Triassic (Carnian) of the Kocaeli Peninsula (Turkey). The new Family, the Piallinidae is also introduced.

/pdf/piallina-tethydis-gen-et-sp-nov-foraminiferida-from-the-4pl92hceva.pdf

Piallina tethydis gen. et sp.nov. (Foraminiferida) from the Triassic (Carnian) of the Kocaeli Peninsula, Turkey

Miliolipora species (Foraminifera, Miliolina) from the Rhaetian Dachstein Limestone of Karavanke Mts (Slovenia): Palaeoecological and palaeobiogeographic implications

Executive note. Marco Balini Triassic timescale status: A brief overview. James G. Ogg, Chunju Huang, and Linda Hinnov The Permian and Triassic in the Albanian Alps: Preliminary note.

A new small biseriamminoid foraminifer, Globigaetania angulata gen. n. sp. n., is here described from the Wordian of a Permian –Triassic sedimentary succession of NW Iran (Zal and Poldasht stratigraphic sections). The new taxon, dedicated to Prof. Maurizio Gaetani, is characterised by peculiar morphology, coiling, and structures that are characteristic of the subfamily Globivalvulininae Reitlinger, 1950, family Globivalvulinidae Reitlinger, 1950, superfamily Biseriamminoidea Chernysheva, 1941. The introduction of the new taxon contributes to the knowledge of the systematics and evolution of the Palaeozoic biserial microgranular foraminifera.

Roberto Rettori

Papers

Piallina tethydis gen. et sp.nov. (Foraminiferida) from the Triassic (Carnian) of the Kocaeli Peninsula, Turkey

Miliolipora species (Foraminifera, Miliolina) from the Rhaetian Dachstein Limestone of Karavanke Mts (Slovenia): Palaeoecological and palaeobiogeographic implications

Executive note. Marco Balini Triassic timescale status: A brief overview. James G. Ogg, Chunju Huang, and Linda Hinnov The Permian and Triassic in the Albanian Alps: Preliminary note.

Globigaetania angulata gen. n. sp. n. (globivalvulininae, foraminifera) from the wordian (middle permian) of nw iran

Foraminiferal evidence for the carboniferous age of exotic blocks within the Kopría Mélange, Rhodos (Greece)