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1.
Doubly polished thin sections, originally prepared for fluid inclusion studies, present great advantages in the study of microfossils in volcanic rocks. Better visibility and light conditions, variation in thickness of the thin sections and the possibility to combine fluid inclusion studies with microfossil studies lead to a wide range of advantages over ordinary thin sections. This includes the study of morphology, internal microstructures, colonies, association with the substrate that microfossils are attached to and geological and environmental context in which the microfossil once lived. When meeting the criteria of microfossil recognition the advantages of doubly polished thin sections are substantial and can be crucial in distinguishing between biogenic microfossils and abiotically formed abiomorphs.  相似文献   

2.
Small, discoid globules and networks of magnesium-iron-calcium carbonates occur within impact-produced fracture zones in the ALH84001 Martian meteorite. Because these carbonates contain or are associated with the hydrocarbons, single-domain magnetite and iron-sulfide grains, and purported microfossils that collectively have been cited as evidence for ancient Martian life, it is critically important to understand their formation. Previous hypotheses for the origin of the carbonates involve either alteration of the rock by hydrothermal fluids at relatively low temperatures, or formation from a CO2-rich vapor at high temperatures. This paper explores an alternative mechanism–direct precipitation from a ponded evaporating brine infiltrating into fractures in the floor of an impact crater. Such a model can be reconciled with the observed carbonate compositional zoning and extreme stable-isotopic fractionations. If the carbonates formed in this manner, this removes a possible obstacle to the proposed existence of microbial remains in ALH84001; however, the cited evidence for life can be better explained by inorganic processes expected from brines in an evaporating alkaline lake, with an overprint of shock metamorphism and subsequent contamination by organic matter after falling to Earth.  相似文献   

3.
4.
微体化石在海侵研究中的应用与错用   总被引:12,自引:0,他引:12       下载免费PDF全文
汪品先 《第四纪研究》1992,12(4):321-331
微体古生物分析已经证明是沿海平原和陆架海侵研究的最重要手段之一。由于我国第四纪海侵研究大量工作是在海陆过渡相地层中进行,而对于过渡相化石群古生态和埋葬学方面复杂性认识不足,往往会导致微体化石的错用。河口微体化石的溯流搬运,海岸带低pH环境下钙质壳体的溶解作用,氯化钠型盐湖中有孔虫的产出以及河床摆动造成与海侵、海退相似的化石序列,都可能引起微体化石在海侵研究中错误解释和应用。本文通过澳大利亚和中国的实例进行论证,并提出今后研究工作的建议。  相似文献   

5.
A sample of chert from North Pole in the Archaean Pilbara block of Western Australia contains carbonaceous filaments that resemble microfossils. These occur in alternating light and dark laminae that look stromatolitic. However, the filaments are too simple in form for their origin to be determined, so they should be regarded as dubiofossils, perhaps biogenic, perhaps inorganic. Their host laminae were inorganically precipitated in a concordant fissure and thus cannot be stromatolitic. This fissure is younger than the surrounding silicified sediments of the ca. 3500 Ma old Warrawoona Group and possibly formed towards the end of the uplift and associated fracturing of the North Pole Dome, perhaps ca. 2750 Ma ago. The filaments are therefore contaminants in secondary chert.The filament-bearing rock was collected less than a metre from one of the localities (B) from which Awramik et al. reported early Archaean microfossils and possible microfossils. Their filaments from this locality were almost identical to those described here and were found in similar laminae. This suggests that their locality B filaments may also be contaminants in secondary chert. Other filaments found by Awramik et al. at North Pole come from an imprecisely located sample site (locality A) where the rock relationships are unknown. Since the host laminae of these filaments are not demonstrably primary and as cryptic concordant fissures filled with secondary minerals are common in locality A rocks, the filaments from this sample site could be contaminants too. Those that were assigned to Archaeotrichion should be treated as dubiofossils. Thus, the filaments described by Awramik et al. may not be fossil bacteria in ca. 3500 Ma old stromatolites, as they proposed, and are not necessarily the oldest known fossil organisms, as has been claimed.  相似文献   

6.
Demonstrating the biogenicity of presumptive microfossils in the geological record often requires supporting chemical signatures, including isotopic signatures. Understanding the mechanisms that promote the preservation of microbial biosignatures associated with microfossils is fundamental to unravelling the palaeomicrobiological history of the material. Organomineralization of microorganisms is likely to represent the first stages of microbial fossilisation and has been hypothesised to prevent the autolytic degradation of microbial cell envelope structures. In the present study, two distinct fossilisation textures(permineralised microfossils and iron oxide encrusted cell envelopes)identified throughout iron-rich rock samples were analysed using nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry(NanoSIMS). In this system, aluminium is enriched around the permineralised microfossils, while iron is enriched within the intracellularly, within distinct cell envelopes. Remarkably,while cell wall structures are indicated, carbon and nitrogen biosignatures are not preserved with permineralised microfossils. Therefore, the enrichment of aluminium, delineating these microfossils appears to have been critical to their structural preservation in this iron-rich environment. In contrast,NanoSIMS analysis of mineral encrusted cell envelopes reveals that preserved carbon and nitrogen biosignatures are associated with the cell envelope structures of these microfossils. Interestingly, iron is depleted in regions where carbon and nitrogen are preserved. In contrast aluminium appears to be slightly enriched in regions associated with remnant cell envelope structures. The correlation of aluminium with carbon and nitrogen biosignatures suggests the complexation of aluminium with preserved cell envelope structures before or immediately after cell death may have inactivated autolytic activity preventing the rapid breakdown of these organic, macromolecular structures.Combined, these results highlight that aluminium may play an important role in the preservation of microorganisms within the rock record.  相似文献   

7.
Microfossils from silicified varieties of cap dolomites crowning the section of the tillite-bearing Lower Vendian (Ediacaran) Churochnaya Formation in the Polyudov Range (North Urals) are characterized. These microfossils are the first to be found from Vendian sections of the region and from all the terminal post-glacial sediments, one of the most significant global glaciation Marinoan of the African Glacial Era, when glaciers reached the equator. They are represented by remains of hormogonian and chrococcacean cyanobacteria as well as possible green filamentous algae. This microbiotic assemblage is of relatively low diversity, being composed of taxa with wide stratigraphic ranges characteristic of Proterozoic conservative microbiotas developed in shallow-water siliceous-carbonate facies. The lack of phytoplanktonic microfossils in this biota including Pertatataka-type acanthomorphic acritarchs or Ediacaran Complex Acanthomorph Palynoflora (ECAP) is also consistent with the conclusion on shallow-water deposition of the Churochnaya Formation. Moreover, most cyanobacteria representatives occurring in the latter are characteristic of shallow-water arid environments that confirm a theory of significant temperature increase during accumulation of the cap dolomites after termination of the above-mentioned glaciation. In addition to these microfossils, the cap dolomite member of the Churochnaya Formation contains filamentous and coccoidal pseudofossils formed under influence of post-sedimentary fluids. In their morphometric parameters, they resemble structures described from Archean sections as microfossil remains, which may be a key to interpreting their nature.  相似文献   

8.
本文详细讨论了东太平洋深海锰矿结核中新发现的中华微放线菌和太平洋螺球孢菌究竟是不是超微结构,首先,它们是笔者根据形态,结构和元素成分作为超微生物化石进行鉴定的,其次,透射电子显微镜中可以清楚地区分出完整的微生物结构,包括菌丝,孢子,孢囊和菌落等,它们之间的尺寸比例也是适当的,此外,透射电子显微像还揭示,深海锰质叠层石的纹层就是这些超微生物韵律性生长的结果,与滨海叠层中的纹层十分相似,笔者认为,已知微生物的最小尺寸不能作为否定新发现的超微生物化石的依据。本文还讨论了超微生物化石的术语问题。  相似文献   

9.
This paper presents a critique of current methods of sampling and analyzing soils for metals in archaeological prospection. Commonly used methodologies in soil science are shown to be suitable for archaeological investigations, with a concomitant improvement in their resolution. Understanding the soil‐fraction location, concentration range, and spatial distribution of autochthonous (native) soil metals is shown to be a vital precursor to archaeological‐site investigations, as this is the background upon which anthropogenic deposition takes place. Nested sampling is suggested as the most cost‐effective method of investigating the spatial variability in the autochthonous metal concentrations. The use of the appropriate soil horizon (or sampling depth) and point sampling are critical in the preparation of a sampling regime. Simultaneous extraction is proposed as the most efficient method of identifying the location and eventual fate of autochthonous and anthropogenic metals, respectively. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.  相似文献   

10.
The palaeomagnetic directions of seven Dutch fireplaces are compared with the archaeological age estimates which range from the first to the 17th century AD. A comparison with the British master curve of secular variation for archaeomagnetic dating results in a refinement of the archaeological age estimates in two cases, while four other archaeological age estimates can be confirmed. For one fireplace only one sample is reliable, resulting in a very poorly defined archaeomagnetic age of 2 to 3 centuries younger than the expected age (i.e. late Middle Ages). On the other hand, accepting the archaeological age estimates, the palaeomagnetic directions can contribute to the database that is used to construct the British secular-variation master curve. We applied the classification grades proposed by Tarling & Dobson (1995) which range from unreliable (grade 1) to reliable (grade 5). Three fireplaces have grades 5, one has grade 4, one grade 3, one grade 1 and for one case no grade was assigned.  相似文献   

11.
Empirical evidence has shown that industrialization and changes in agricultural practices have caused worldwide dramatic changes in the burial conditions of the archaeological remains. The current understanding of the problem, however, is not sufficiently advanced, which hinders adequate measures to prevent a tremendous loss of archaeological information. In the beginning of the nineties, research programmes were started to gain insight into the deterioration of different kinds of organic and inorganic components, representing a great variety of archaeomaterials. Knowledge of the present-day preservation condition of the remains will create the scientific basis for an environmental risk assessment of archaeological sites. It also will be the basis for developing strategies for the monitoring of a well-defined number of endangered sites. Such a monitoring system particularly is needed at places where geotechnical measures, like the local up-levelling of the soil and the creation of an artificially high ground water table, have been carried out to protect the archaeological heritage.  相似文献   

12.
贵州瓮安陡山沱组球状化石元素地球化学浅析   总被引:3,自引:0,他引:3       下载免费PDF全文
唐烽  高林志  尹崇玉  王约 《地质论评》2011,57(2):175-184
本文利用电子探针微区分析技术(EPMA),首次分析了采自贵州瓮安北斗山磷矿区陡山沱组外壁呈瘤状及多边形板片状的磷酸盐化球状化石的元素地球化学含量,包括常量元素氧化物含量和部分稀土元素含量,经初步对比发现:具瘤状及板片状外壁的两类球状化石,由内至外常量元素含量的变化趋势大体相似,表明归人同一生物大门类的可能性较大;与磷块...  相似文献   

13.
This article proposes a biostratigraphic scheme for the Upper Cretaceous of the East European Platform on the basis of the distribution in the sections of three groups of microfossils: foraminifera (both planktonic and benthic), radiolarians, and nannoplankton. Most of the stage and substage boundaries are confirmed by macropaleontological data. The most divided units are those distinguished based on benthic foraminifers and nannoplankton. The diversity of these microfossils and their constant presence allowed us to identify zones and subzones, while it is possible to subdivide only the beds by planktonic foraminifers and radiolarians. The most favorable stages in the development of plankton biota can be considered the Turonian–Coniacian interval when the basins of the East European Platform experienced an intensive influence from warm waters of the Tethys Ocean. The global Campanian cooling is clearly recorded, which affected the taxonomic diversity of all microfossil groups.  相似文献   

14.
Bacteria and protoctists dominated the biosphere in the Archean and Proterozoic, their affinities being deduced by studies of their comparative morphology, palaeoecology, biogeochemistry, and wall ultrastructure. However, exact phylogenetic relationships are uncertain for most such microfossils. Because of the limitations imposed by the simple morphology and small dimensions of such microorganisms and their little known biochemistry, new techniques in microscopy, tomography and spectroscopy are applied to examine individual microfossils at the highest attainable spatial resolution. TEM/SEM studies of the wall ultrastructure of sphaero- and acanthomorphic acritarchs have revealed complex, single to multilayered walls, having a unique texture in sub-layers and an occasionally preserved trilaminar sheath structure (TLS) of the external layer. A variety of optical characteristics, the electron density and texture of fabrics of discrete layers, and the properties of biopolymers may indicate the polyphyletic affiliations of such microfossils and/or the preservation of various stages (vegetative, resting) in their life cycle. Primarily, wall ultrastructure allows discrimination between fossilized prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Composite wall ultrastructure provides evidence that some Proterozoic and Cambrian leiosphaerids are of algal affinities (but not, per se, that they are referable to “Leiosphaeridia”). Certain Cambrian specimens represent chlorophyceaens, having the multilayered composite wall with TLS structure known from vegetative and resting cells in modern genera of the Chlorococcales and Volvocales. The wall ultrastructure of the studied Cambrian and Proterozoic acanthomorphs resembles the resting cysts of green microalgae, but there is no evidence to suggest a close relationship of these taxa to dinoflagellates. It is apparent that although there is no single and direct method to recognize the precise phylogenetic relations of such microfossils, ultrastructural studies of their preserved cell walls and encompassing sheaths, combined with biochemical analyses and other advanced methods, may further elucidate their affinities to the modern biota.  相似文献   

15.
The occurrence, types, morphology, and mineralogical characteristics of tube microfossils were studied in gossanites from twelve VHMS deposits of the Urals. Several types of tube microfossils were recognized, including siboglinids, polychaetes and calcerous serpulids, replaced by a variety of minerals (e.g. hematite–quartz, hematite–chlorite, carbonate–hematite) depending on the nature of the substrate prior to the formation of the gossanites. Colonial hematite tube microfossils (~ 150 μm across,1–2 mm long) are composed of hematitic outer and inner walls, and may exhibit a cellular structure within their cavities. Spherical forms are saturated with Fe-oxidizing bacteria inside the tubes – probably analogues of trophosomes. Colloform stromatolitic outer wall surfaces are characterized by the presence of numerous interlaced filaments of hematite (2–3 μm diameter, up to 1–2 mm long). Between tube microfossils, the hematitized cement contains bundles of hematitized filaments with structures similar to the hyphae of fungi. Hematite–chlorite tube microfossils are scattered in gossanites, mostly as biological debris. They are typically 30 to 300 μm in diameter and 1 to 5 mm long. The layered structure of their tube walls is characterized by hematite–quartz and chlorite layers. Abundant filamentous bacteria coated by glycocalix and chlorite stromatolite are associated with hematite–chlorite tubes. The carbonate–hematite tube microfossils (up to 300 μm across, 2–3 mm long) occur in carbonate-rich gossanites. The tubes are characterized by fine (~ 10 μm thick) walls of hematite and cavities dominated by relatively dark carbonate or hematite. Carbonates may be present both in walls and cavities. Stromatolite-like leucoxene or hematite–carbonate aggregates were also found in association with tubes. Randomly oriented filaments are composed of ankerite. Single filaments are composed of individual cells, typically smaller than 100 nm across, similar to that of magnetotactic bacteria.Three dimensional tomographic images of all types of tube microfossils demonstrate a clear wavy microlayering from outer and inner walls, which may reflect segmentation of the tube worms. The traces of burrowing or fragments of glycocalix with relict spheres are typical of tube microfossils from gossanites.The carbon isotopic composition of carbonates associated with tube microfossils from hematite–quartz, hematite–carbonate, and hematite–chlorite gossanites average  7.2, − 6.8, –22.8‰, PDB, respectively. These values are indicative of a biogenic origin for the carbonates. The oxygen isotopic composition of these carbonates is similar in all three gossanite types averaging + 13.5, + 14.2, + 13.0‰ (relative to SMOW), and indicative of active sulfate reduction during the diagenetic (and anadiagenetic) stages of the sediments evolution. The trace element characteristics of hematite from tube microfossils are characterized by high contents of following trace elements (average, ppm): Mn (1529), As (714), V (540), W (537), Mo (35), and U (5). Such high contents are most likely the result of metal and metalloid sorption by fine particles of precursor iron hydroxides during the oxidation of sulfides and decomposition of hyaloclasts via microbially-mediated reactions.  相似文献   

16.
Microbial biomineralization in submarine hydrothermal environments provides an insight into the formation of vent microfossils and the interactions between microbes, elements and minerals throughout the geological record. Here, we investigate microbial biomineralization of a deep-sea vent community in the Edmond vent field and provide ultrastructural evidence for the formation of microfossils and biogenic iron-rich minerals related to Archaea and Bacteria. Environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) analysis shows that filamentous and spiral microbes are encrusted by a non-crystalline silica matrix and minor amounts of iron oxides. Examination by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) reveals acicular iron-rich particles and aggregates that occur either intracellularly or extracellularly. A culture-independent molecular phylogenetic analysis demonstrates a diverse range of Bacteria and Archaea, the majority of which are related to sulfur metabolism in the microbial mats. Both Archaea and Bacteria have undergone silicification, in a similar manner to microorganisms in some terrestrial hot springs and indicating that silicification may be driven by silica supersaturation and polymerization. Formation mechanisms of intracellular and extracellular iron oxides associated with microbes are discussed. These results enhance our understanding of microbial mineralization in extreme environments, which may be widespread in the Earth's modern and ancient hydrothermal vent fields.  相似文献   

17.
Fluvial processes have the potential to obscure, expose, or even destroy portions of the archaeological record. Floodplain aggradation can bury and hide archaeological features, whereas actively migrating channels can erode them. The archaeological record preserved in the subsurface of a fluvial system is potentially fragmented and is three‐dimensionally complex, especially when the system has been subjected to successive phases of alluviation and entrenchment. A simulation model is presented to gain insight into the threedimensional subsurface distribution, visibility, and preservation potential of the archaeological record in a meander‐floodplain system as a function of geomorphic history. Simulation results indicate that fluvial cut‐fill cycles can strongly influence the density of archaeological material in the subsurface. Thus, interpretation of floodplain habitation based solely upon features visible in the shallow subsurface (through traditional techniques such as aerial photography and geophysical prospection) can be misleading. In the examples, the loss of archaeological record by channel migration ranges between 45% and 90% over 12,000 years for channel belt‐dominated systems, decreasing to 10 to 30% for rivers where the floodplain width is a multiple of channel belt width. The modeling presented can be used to test excavation strategies in relation to hypothesized scenarios of stratigraphic evolution for archaeological sites. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.  相似文献   

18.
The complexity of the age dating of the Pleistocene ice-dammed paleolakes in the Altai Mountains is a reason why geologists consider the Early Paleolithic archaeological sites as an independent age marker for dating geological objects. However, in order to use these sites for paleogeographic reconstructions, their locations, the character of stratification, and the age of stone artifacts need to be comprehensively studied. We investigate 20 Late Paleolithic archaeological sites discovered in the Chuya depression of the Russian Altai (Altai Mountains) with the aim of their possible use for reconstructions of the period of development of the Kurai–Chuya glacio-limnosystem in the Late Neopleistocene. The results of our investigation show that it is improper to use the Paleolithic archaeological sites for the dating of the existence period and the draining time of ice-dammed lakes of the Chuya Depression in the modern period of their study owing to a lack of quantitative age estimates, a wide age range of possible existence of these sites, possible redeposition of the majority of artifacts, and their surface occurrence. It is established that all stratified sites where cultural layers are expected to be dated in the future lie above the uppermost and well-expressed paleolake level (2100 m a.s.l.). Accordingly, there are no grounds to determine the existence time of shallower paleolakes. Since the whole stone material collected below the level of 2100 m a.s.l. is represented by surface finds, it is problematic to use these artifacts for absolute geochronology. The Late Paleolithic Bigdon and Chechketerek sites are of great interest for paleogeographic reconstructions of ice-dammed lakes. The use of iceberg rafting products as cores is evidence that these sites appeared after the draining of a paleolake (2000 m a.s.l.). At this time, the location of these archaeological sites on the slope of the Chuya Depression allows one to assume the existence of a large lake as deep as 250 m synchronously with the above paleolake or later. The location of the lowermost archaeological sites is evidence that a paleolake could have existed at an altitude below 1770 m a.s.l. in the Late Neopleistocene–Early Holocene. The absolute geochronology of the archaeological sites (cultural layers in multilayered sites, split surfaces on dropstones, etc.) can be useful for further reconstructions of the existence time, depths, and a number of ice-dammed lakes in the Kurai–Chuya system of depressions.  相似文献   

19.
Armadillos are medium‐sized animals whose burrowing behavior can be significant in archaeological settings ranging from South America to the central United States. Although archaeologists are well aware that these animals can move archaeological materials across stratigraphic layers, few data are available about the magnitude of mixing, number of burrows per individual, dimension of burrows, and their impact on archaeological sites. This paper addresses the problem from an experimental perspective. Specifically, we monitored the action of the yellow armadillo (Euphractus sexcintus) in translocating cultural materials. Our results suggest that: (1) the vertical movement of artifacts has no preferential direction; (2) cultural horizons at least 20 cm apart can be mixed; (3) the animal's activity leaves some distinct traces that can be recognized during an excavation; and (4) there is no significant correlation between size, shape, or weight of artifacts and amount of displacement. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.  相似文献   

20.
Characteristic latest Neoproterozoic and Early Paleozoic acritarchs and associated organic-walled microfossils are recorded from the sediments of Marwar Supergroup encountered in BGW-A well (Bikaner-Nagaur Basin) from 1123–481 m depth. Six distinct acritarch assemblages, broadly comparable with globally known Ediacaran (Vendian) and Cambrian assemblages are recognised. The recovered microfossils provide precise age for different units of the Marwar Supergroup whose ages, till now, were poorly understood due to absence or paucity of invertebrate and other mega and microfossils.  相似文献   

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