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1.
《Gondwana Research》2014,25(3):910-944
For life to have dramatically evolved and diversified during the so-called Cambrian explosion, there must have been significant changes in the environmental conditions of Earth. A rapid increase in atmospheric oxygen, which has been discussed as the key factor in the evolution of life, cannot by itself explain such an explosion, since life requires more than oxygen to flourish let alone survive. The supply of nutrients must have played a more critical role in the explosion, including an increase in phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) which are key elements for metabolisms to function. So, what happened at the onset of the Cambrian to bring about changes in environmental conditions and nutrient supply and ultimately evolution of life?An ultimate trigger for the Cambrian explosion is proposed here. The geotherm along subduction zones of a cooling Earth finally became cool enough around 600 Ma to allow slabs to be hydrated. The subduction of these hydrated slabs transferred voluminous water from the ocean to the mantle, resulting in a lowering of the sea level and an associated exceptional exposure of nutrient-enriched continental crust, along with an increase in atmospheric oxygen. This loss of water at the surface of the Earth and an associated increase in exposed landmass is referred to here as leaking Earth. Vast amounts of nutrients began to be carried through weathering, erosion, and transport of the landmass; rock fragments of the landmass would break down into ions during transport to the ocean through river, providing life forms (prokaryote) sufficient nutrients to live and evolve. Also, plume-driven dome-up beneath the continental crusts broadened the surface area providing a supply of nutrients an order magnitude greater than that produced through uplift of mountains by continental collision. Simultaneously, atmospheric oxygen began to increase rapidly due to the burial of dead organic matter by enhanced sedimentation from the emergence of a greater landmass, which ultimately inhibited oxidation of organic matter. Hence, oxygen began to accumulate in the atmosphere, which when coupled with a continuous supply of nutrients, resulted in an explosion of life, including an increase in the size. An enhanced oxygen supply in the atmosphere resulted in the formation of an ozone layer, providing life a shield from the UV radiation of the Sun; this enabled life to invade the land. In addition to a change in the supply of nutrients related to a leaking Earth, the evolution of life was accelerated through mass extinction events such as observed during Snowball Earth, possibly related to a starburst in our galaxy, as well as mutation in the genome due to radiogenic elements sourced from carbonatite magma (atomic bomb magma) in rift valley. There are two requirements to find a habitable planet: (1) the initial mass of an ocean and (2) the size of a planet. These two conditions determine the history of a planet, including planetary tectonics and the birth of life. This newfound perspective, which includes the importance of a leaking planet, provides a dawn of new planetary science and astrobiology. 相似文献
2.
M. D. BRASIER 《Geology Today》1985,1(5):141-146
Over the last decade, palaeontologists around the world have been striving to understand one of the most remarkable episodes in the fossil record: the explosive evolution of skeletal fossils around the Precambrian–Cambrian boundary. When examined in the field, the close association of geological and biological events is apparent. An important succession in this respect is the classic Precambrian and Cambrian area of Charnwood–Nuneaton in the English Midlands. Here it can be seen that the boundary also spans a time of major tectonic and oceanographic changes. Could these have contributed to the ‘Cambrian evolutionary explosion’? 相似文献
3.
Alexander P. Gubanov 《Tectonophysics》2002,352(1-2)
The end of the Proterozoic–beginning of the Cambrian is marked by some of the most dramatic events in the history of Earth. The fall of the Ediacaran biota, followed by the Cambrian Explosion of skeletonised bilaterians, a pronounced shift in oceanic and atmospheric chemistry and rapid climatic change from ‘snowball earth’ to ‘greenhouse’ conditions all happened within a rather geologically short period of time. These events took place against a background of the rearrangement of the prevailing supercontinent; some authors view this as a sequence of individual supercontinents such as Mesoproterozoic Midgardia, Neoproterozoic Rodinia and Early Cambrian Pannotia. Assembled in the Mesoproterozoic, this supercontinent appears to have existed through the Neoproterozoic into the Early Cambrian with periodic changes in configuration. The final rearrangement took place during the Precambrian–Cambrian transition with the Cadomian and related phases of the Pan-African orogeny. The distribution of Early Cambrian molluscs and other small shelly fossils (SSF) across all continents indicates a close geographic proximity of all major cratonic basins that is consistent with the continued existence of the supercontinent at that time. Subsequently, Rodinia experienced breakup that led to the amalgamation of Gondwana, separation of Laurentia, Baltica, Siberia and some small terranes and the emergence of oceanic basins between them. Spreading oceanic basins caused a gradual geographic isolation of the faunal assemblages that were united during the Vendian–Early Cambrian. 相似文献
4.
寒武纪生命扩张及澄江动物群的意义 总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1
生命在地球上的出现及其演化有较长的历史。地球的物理、化学条件是早期生命出现的外因。早寒武世西南地区地质、气候及富含营养的浅海水域是澄江动物群在后生动物演化的关键时期出现的外因。“寒武纪生物的扩张”应有恰当的翻译，同时对现代生物学的“适应辐射”应有清楚的中文解释。从新近发现看，早、中寒武世的澄江动物群及布吉斯页岩动物群与埃迪卡拉动物群具有一些联系，埃迪卡拉动物群并没有在寒武纪时完全绝灭。 相似文献
5.
《Gondwana Research》2014,25(3):1153-1163
Encounters with nebulae, such as supernova remnants and dark clouds in the galaxy, can lead to an environmental catastrophe on the Earth through the negative climate forcings and destruction of the ozone layer by enhanced fluxes of cosmic rays and cosmic dust particles. A resultant reduction in primary productivity leads to mass extinctions through depletion of oxygen and food starvations as well as anoxia in the ocean. The model shows three levels of hierarchical time variations caused by supernova encounters (1–10 kyrs), dark cloud encounters (0.1–10 Myrs), and starbursts (~ 100 Myrs), respectively. This “Nebula Winter” model can explain the catastrophic phenomena such as snowball Earth events, repeated mass extinctions, and Cambrian explosion of biodiversities which took place in the late Proterozoic era through the Cambrian period. The Late Neoproterozoic snowball Earth event covers a time range of ca. 200 Myrs long spanning from 770 Ma to the end of Cambrian period (488 Ma) with two snowball states called Sturtian and Marinoan events. Mass extinctions occurred at least eight times in this period, synchronized with large fluctuations in δ13C of carbonates in the sediment. Each event is likely to correspond to each nebula encounter. In other words, the late Neoproterozoic snowball Earth and Cambrian explosion are possibly driven by a starburst, which took place around 0.6 Ga in the Milky Way Galaxy. The evidences for a Nebula Winter can be obtained from geological records in sediment in the deep oceans at those times. 相似文献
6.
澄江动物群以富含多门类精美软躯体构造化石享誉学界,是寒武纪大爆发主幕的见证者;它亲眼目睹了地球动物树上几乎所有主要门类祖先的首次大聚会。对该动物群30多年的大规模调查研究大体上可以划分为3个阶段。始自1984年的第一个10年(1984—1994年),早期动物树上的基础动物亚界和原口动物亚界的大量门类被发现,然而对后口动物亚界全然无知。第二个10年研究(1995—2005年),基础动物亚界和原口动物亚界中的更多门类被发现;而最重要的进展,是西北大学团队主导的早期后口动物大发现使后口动物亚界的基本框架被构建,由此地球三分动物树首次成型。第三个10年及其以后时期(2005年之后),3个动物亚界中进一步添加了一些新的门类认知;综合20世纪40年代以来对埃迪卡拉生物群、寒武纪第一世和第二世的珍稀动物群研究成果,学界开始思考三分动物树分步成型与多幕式寒武纪大爆发事件的内在关联,提出了三幕式寒武纪大爆发新假说。澄江动物群研究具有多方面的科学价值,包括动物群结构研究,生态环境研究等,然其核心学术价值主要集中在如下两个方面:(1)作为寒武纪大爆发的主幕见证者,澄江动物群首次创建了地球上三分动物树的完整谱系框架。三幕式寒武纪大爆发假说揭示了地球上动物门类由低等到高等、分阶段爆发创造的本质内涵,即历时约0.4亿年的三幕式寒武纪大爆发与动物树阶段性快速成型的内在耦合性。第一幕发生于埃迪卡拉纪晚期,它诞生了众多基础动物亚界门类(包括大量绝灭门类),也可能出现了少量原口动物的先驱分子;第二幕发生于寒武纪的第一世,除了延续基础动物门类的繁盛外,更创生了原口动物亚界里的主要门类(包括蜕皮类和触手担轮类);第三幕发生于寒武纪第二世(以澄江动物群为代表),不仅延续了基础动物和原口动物门类的兴盛,更重要的是诞生了后口动物亚界里的所有门类。至此,整个三分动物树的框架成型,寒武纪大爆发创新事件宣告基本结束。文章还对几个重要动物类群的生物学属性进行了评述。第一鱼昆明鱼目是已知唯一的最古老脊椎动物,而云南虫、海口虫既不是脊椎动物(即高等脊索动物),也不属于低等脊索动物,而是一类特殊的低等后口动物;长江海鞘是可信的始祖尾索动物,它支持了经典的尾索动物起源假说;古虫动物门首创鳃裂构造,对后口动物亚界的起源探索提供了关键信息。(2)澄江动物群具有深刻的人文哲学意义,所发现的古虫动物门创造的“第一鳃裂”,昆明鱼目创造的“第一头脑”“第一脊椎”“第一心脏”,为达尔文在《人类的由来》中关于人类的主要基础器官起源悬案的破解提供了关键证据。澄江动物群承上启下,其各种形态解剖学信息对解读埃迪卡拉生物群以及寒武纪相关化石库中绝大多数生物类型都具有重要的参考价值。 相似文献
7.
Mark A. Woods Jonathan R. Lee 《Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. Geologists' Association》2018,129(3):255-263
Over the past one billion years, England has experienced a remarkable geological journey. At times it has formed part of ancient volcanic island arcs, mountain ranges and arid deserts; lain beneath deep oceans, shallow tropical seas, extensive coal swamps and vast ice sheets; been inhabited by the earliest complex life forms, dinosaurs, and finally, witnessed the evolution of humans to a level where they now utilise and change the natural environment to meet their societal and economic needs. Evidence of this journey is recorded in the landscape and the rocks and sediments beneath our feet, and this article provides an overview of these events and the themed contributions to this Special Issue of Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association, which focuses on ‘The Geology of England – critical examples of Earth History’. Rather than being a stratigraphic account of English geology, this paper and the Special Issue attempts to place the Geology of England within the broader context of key ‘shifts’ and ‘tipping points’ that have occurred during Earth History. 相似文献
8.
冰雪地球的研究进展综述 总被引：3，自引：0，他引：3
在大约6~7亿年前的新元古代时期，地球是否曾经被冰雪完全覆盖而成为了一个“冰雪地球”？如果是，什么诱发了这种全球性的冰川期？又是什么导致了它的融化？新元古代时期的极端气候变化对其后的寒武纪生命大爆发有何影响？围绕这些问题，古地质、古生物和古气候学界在最近几年展开了广泛的研究和激烈争论。根据现有的研究结果，地球在新元古代时期确实经历了数次地球历史上最为严重的全球性冰川期，但地球是否被完全冰封还需要更充分的古地质和古生物方面的证据来证明；利用气候模式对各种可能的外部强迫的模拟试验表明“冰雪地球”是很难形成的，并且，如果地球进入完全被冰封的状态，它将是难以被融化的；关于新元古代时期剧烈的气候变化对寒武纪生命大爆发所起的作用存在2种观点，一种认为气候变化导致了原始生命的基因突变并诱发了寒武纪生命爆发，另一种认为这种影响主要是生态方面的。 相似文献
9.
The radiation of macroscopic animals in the Early Cambrian, commonly be called as ‘Cambrian explosion’, had a close relationship with Earth oxygenation. These macrofossils are widely preserved within the Early Cambrian in the northern and western Yangtze Craton. In order to show the casual relationship between animal evolution and Earth redox environment, Mo content and isotopic composition analyses have been conducted on dolomites of the Tianzhushan Formation and the black shales of the Shuijingtuo Formation from the lowermost Cambrian profile in the eastern Huangling dome, northern Yangtze Craton. The calcitic dolostones from the Tianzhushan Formation display lower concentrations of Mo contents (0.055–0.666 ppm) than that of the black silty shales from the Shuijingtuo Formation (6.0–172 ppm). This magnitude difference is most likely related to the different lithologies due to Mo enrichment in shales. The Mo isotope values (δ98/95Mo) of the calcitic dolostones for the Tianzhushan Formation vary from −0.73‰ to 0.41‰. In comparison, the black sandy shales from the Shuijingtuo Formation exhibit δ98/95Mo of −1.04–1.84‰, including 5 samples from the earliest Shuijingtuo Formation displaying systematically higher δ98/95Mo values (0.09–1.84‰) than those of the other 5 samples from upper layers (δ98/95Mo = −1.04 to −0.19‰). These geochemical data suggest that the redox environment of the early Cambrian is fluctuating, and the peak oxygenation of the ocean had already reached a level similar to modern environments. According to the Mo concentrations and δ98/95Mo data, the sedimentary succession can be divided into five intervals, which are closely correlated to the episodic evolution of early life in the Cambrian. Together with the available published data from other profiles in the Yangtze Craton, our new data reveal that the higher oxidation environment had a positive effect on the evolution of early life. 相似文献
10.
《Gondwana Research》2014,25(3):945-965
The birth of modern life on Earth can be linked to the adequate supply of nutrients into the oceans. In this paper, we evaluate the relative supply of nutrients into the ocean. These nutrients entered the ocean through myriad passageways, but primarily through accelerated erosion due to uplift. In the ‘second ecosystem’, uplift is associated with plume-generation during the breakup of the Rodinia supercontinent. Although the evidence is somewhat cryptic, it appears that the second ecosystem included the demospongia back into the Cryogenian (~ 750 Ma). During the Ediacaran–Cambrian interval, convergent margin magmatism, arc volcanism and the closure of ocean basins provided a second pulse of nutrient delivery into the marine environment. A major radiation of life forms begins around 580 Ma and is represented by the diverse and somewhat enigmatic Ediacaran fauna followed by the Cambrian Explosion of modern phyla during the 540–520 Ma interval. Tectonically, the Ediacaran–Cambrian time interval is dominated by the formation of ultra-high pressure (UHP), high pressure (HP) and ultra-high temperature (UHT) orogenic belts during Gondwana orogenesis. Erosion of this extensive mountainous region delivered vast nutrients into the ocean and enhanced the explosiveness of the Cambrian radiation. The timing of final collisional orogeny and construction of the mountain belts in many of the Gondwana-forming orogens, particularly some of those in the central and eastern belts, post-date the first appearance of modern life forms. We therefore postulate that a more effective nutrient supply for the Cambrian radiation was facilitated by plume-driven uplift of TTG crust, subsequent rifting, and subduction-related nutrient systems prior to the assembly of Gondwana. In the outlined scenario, we propose that the birth of the ‘second ecosystem’ on our planet is plume-driven. 相似文献
11.
根据化石记录可知,大量复杂生物类群迅速出现在早寒武世,这就是所谓的寒武纪生命大爆发.在此之前,有距今6亿年前的前寒武纪末埃迪卡拉生物群化石出现,此后的70～80 Ma里,生命就以上升了一个数量级的速率演化.这些在原始地层中看似迅速出现的化石,最早在19世纪中期就有所记录,达尔文认为,这是对他提出的进化论的自然选择观点的主要反对证据之一.有关新动物群的出现及演化长期困惑着地学界,集中在以下三点:在前寒武纪-寒武纪界线附近或早寒武世这个相对较短的时期内,存在着生命大爆发.是什么引起了这样的快速演化事件?这对于生命的起源与演化将意味着什么?对"寒武纪生命大爆发"的强烈兴趣还启发了20世纪70年代对布尔吉斯页岩化石记录的研究.不久之后,中国的澄江生物群包括对它后续的研究又很好地支持了生命大爆发.在前寒武纪一寒武纪界线附近究竟发生了什么?随着笔者对寒武纪事件越来越多的了解,积累的数据使得很多原先提出的假说都变得不太可能了.通过作者对地球环境的改变和寒武纪生命大爆发详实的研究,发现这种改变是可以由撞击事件引起的.在对寒武纪时期的地球进行了详细的研究之后,笔者提出了新的见解.前寒武纪晚期,存在大型的陨击事件.碰撞的高温结束了大冰期,使生物信息得以交流.同时,撞击启动基因调控机制、释放HSP90变异.一方面,调控基因决定了其他基因的表达,最早的调控基因发现于布尔吉斯页岩中(535 Ma).另一方面,HSP90原本是积累突变的蛋白,一旦环境突然发生变化,所有DNA突变将得以表达,在短时间内新的生命形式得以进化.并且这种变化是可以遗传的.然后,在新生臭氧层保护与有氧呼吸能量供应下,地球另一端幸存地下生命爆发,产生硬壳及复杂的新陈代谢以适应高温高压.现代的银河系天文理论,即密度波理论,在本文中被应用以试图解释这种撞击背后的天文学诱因.5～6亿年前的寒武纪事件使笔者联想起另外两次仍然存在争议的大规模撞击事件,它们引起的大气变化、水圈变化、生物圈变化、碳酸盐岩变化、磷矿变化都惊人的相似.形成于17亿年以前的Sadbury陨击坑直径为200 km,是最大陨击坑之一;23亿年以前(23.3～22.88亿年)地质环境(沉积圈、生物圈、水圈、大气圈)发生了由地外因素引起的灾变.灾变后,火山活动明显减弱,富氧大气圈形成,生物演化出现飞跃,叠层石开始广泛发育,碳酸盐岩在各大陆大量沉积,第一次全球性磷矿期开始发育.根据几处23亿年左右陨落的大量消溶型铁质宇宙尘的发现,推论该灾变的起因是与陨击作用有关的宇宙事件,且地表23亿年前的泛火山运动和月岩年龄分布(23～25亿年)以及月表陨石坑构造等表明:23亿年前,地外物体对地球的冲击作用非常强烈.再考虑到6 500万年前的契科苏博鲁陨击事件,也就是说,在已经得到广泛承认的和存在争议但有事实支持的地外灾变事件中规模最为巨大的三次撞击事件符合5～6亿年这一大周期.5～6亿年正是太阳系扫过银河系四条主旋臂一次所用的时间:太阳绕银河一周的时间大约是290个百万年.而由于在太阳绕银河转的时候,银河系的四条大旋臂同样旋转,并且其螺旋势场的角速度约是太阳系的一半,最终叠加的结果就是这样的一个大周期.密度波理论表明,旋臂处质量密度非常大,并且形成旋臂的螺旋引力场将对太阳系产生影响,诱发撞击事件.本文通过前人定性证据和笔者实地考察表明,上述假说与当时的绝大多数重要天文事件和地质发现相吻合,广泛的铱异常与位于澳大利亚的大型陨击坑均有发现.对澳大利亚的Acraman陨击坑和HAPCIS陨击坑的基底构造实地分析也表明了前寒武纪末曾经存在过陨击事件.最后笔者利用计算机模拟了大气圈变化.模拟分两步进行,首先从岩石热分解得出需要的温度与压强数据,而后将数据作为参数用于模拟.数据结果表明撞击区域的大气温度在4 000 K左右,压强为5 600 Bar.撞击增加了大气中二氧化碳和氧气的含量,并强化了臭氧层.这些含量的变化与地质上的记录一致. 相似文献
12.
One longstanding mystery in bio-evolution since Darwin’s time is the origin of the Cambrian explosion that happened around 540 million years ago (Mya), where an extremely rapid increase of species occurred. Here we suggest that a nearby GRB event 500 parsecs away, which should occur about once per 5 Gy, might have triggered the Cambrian explosion. Due to a relatively lower cross section and the conservation of photon number in Compton scattering, a substantial fraction of the GRB photons can reach the sea level and would induce DNA mutations in organisms protected by a shallow layer of water or soil, thus expediting the bio-diversification. This possibility of inducing genetic mutations is unique among all candidate sources for major incidents in the history of bio-evolution. A possible evidence would be the anomalous abundance of certain nuclear isotopes with long half-lives transmuted by the GRB photons in geological records from the Cambrian period. Our notion also imposes constraints on the evolution of exoplanet organisms and the migration of panspermia. 相似文献
13.
Joseph G. Meert Anatoly S. Gibsher Natalia M. Levashova Warren C. Grice George D. Kamenov Alexander B. Ryabinin 《Gondwana Research》2011,19(4):867-880
The Cambrian explosion, c. 530–515 Ma heralded the arrival of a diverse assembly of multicellular life including the first hard-shelled organisms. Fossils found in Cambrian strata represent the ancestors of most modern animal phyla. In contrast to the apparent explosiveness seen in the Cambrian fossil record, studies of molecular biology hint that the diversification observed in Cambrian strata was rooted in ancestry extending back into the Ediacaran (635–542 Ma). Fossil evidence for this mostly cryptic phase of evolution is derived from the soft-bodied fossils of the Ediacaran biota found throughout the world and bilaterian embryos found in the Doushantuo lagerstätte in South China. The first appearance of Ediacara fauna is thought to have followed the last of the ~ 750–635 Ma Neoproterozoic glacial episodes by 20–30 million years. In this paper, we present evidence for the oldest discovery of the ‘Ediacara’ discoidal fossils Nimbia occlusa and Aspidella terranovica (?) that predate the early Cryogenian glaciations by more than fifty million years. There is considerable disagreement over the significance of discoidal Ediacaran fossils, but our findings may support earlier suggestions that metazoan life has roots extending deeper into the Proterozoic Eon. We also confirm the presence of a Late Cryogenian (e.g. “Marinoan”) glaciation on the Lesser Karatau microcontinent including dropstones and striated clasts within the glacial strata. 相似文献
14.
The creatures that gaze back at us through the binocular microscope are so uniquely well‐preserved and life‐like that had we not known better we would have thought that they were modern. Instead they are half‐a‐billion‐year‐old arthropods extracted from Cambrian rocks of Sweden. The microscopic fossils, colloquially known as the ‘Orsten’ fossils, are now world‐famous and basking in the light of the research catwalk since their discovery in the 1970s. These fossils have provided significant insight into the long lost Cambrian biotas and early animal evolution. 相似文献
15.
The dramatic diversification of animal groups known as the Cambrian Explosion (evolution's ‘Big Bang’) remains an unsolved puzzle in Earth Science. The Vendian–Cambrian interval is characterized by anomalously high rates of apparent plate motion, interpreted as True Polar Wander (TPW), and by more than a dozen large, high-frequency perturbations in carbon isotopes that dwarf all others observed through the past 65 million years. We suggest that these biological, tectonic, and geochemical events are intimately related in the following fashion. First, tropical continental margins and shelf-slopes which formed during fragmentation of the supercontinent Rodinia accumulated massive quantities of isotopically-light organic carbon during Late Neoproterozoic time, as indicated by strikingly heavy isotope ratios in inorganic carbon during interglacial intervals. Second, an initial phase of Vendian TPW moved these organic-rich deposits to high latitude, where conditions favored trapping biogenic methane in layers of gas hydrate and perhaps permafrost. Continued sedimentation during Late Vendian time added additional hydrate/gas storage volume and stabilized underlying units until the geothermal gradient moved them out of the clathrate stability field, building up deep reservoirs of highly pressurized methane. Finally, a burst of TPW brought these deposits back to the Tropics, where they gradually warmed and were subjected to regional-scale thermohaline eddy variation and related sedimentation regime changes. Responding to the stochastic character of such changes, each reservoir reached a critical failure point independently at times throughout the Cambrian. By analogy with the Late Paleocene Thermal Maximum event, these methane deposits yield transient, greenhouse-induced pulses of global warming when they erupt. Temperature correlates powerfully with biodiversity; the biochemical kinetics of metabolism at higher temperature decrease generation time and maintain relatively rich and dense invertebrate populations. Repeated thermal pulses along with progressive disruption and alteration of global ocean circulation patterns by TPW could cause the increase in diversity that accompanied the radiation of metazoans. We suggest that a methane ‘fuse’ ignited the Cambrian Evolutionary Explosion. 相似文献
16.
L. Gasperini F. Alvisi G. Biasini E. Bonatti G. Longo M. Pipan M. Ravaioli R. Serra 《地学学报》2007,19(4):245-251
The so‐called ‘Tunguska Event’ refers to a major explosion that occurred on 30 June 1908 in the Tunguska region of Siberia, causing the destruction of over 2000 km2 of taiga, globally detected pressure and seismic waves, and bright luminescence in the night skies of Europe and Central Asia, combined with other unusual phenomena. The ‘Tunguska Event’ may be related to the impact with the Earth of a cosmic body that exploded about 5–10 km above ground, releasing in the atmosphere 10–15 Mton of energy. Fragments of the impacting body have never been found, and its nature (comet or asteroid) is still a matter of debate. We report results from the investigation of Lake Cheko, located ∼8 km NNW of the inferred explosion epicenter. Its funnel‐like bottom morphology and the structure of its sedimentary deposits, revealed by acoustic imagery and direct sampling, all suggest that the lake fills an impact crater. Lake Cheko may have formed due to a secondary impact onto alluvial swampy ground; the size and shape of the crater may have been affected by the nature of the ground and by impact‐related melting and degassing of a permafrost layer. 相似文献
17.
《Precambrian Research》2006,144(1-2):52-68
Acritarchs are a group of organic-walled vesicular microfossils interpreted as protists, and are among the first eukaryotes preserved in the fossil record. Taxonomic inconsistencies amongst acritarch workers have made it difficult to address the evolutionary history of this group through more traditional methods (i.e., biodiversity through species counts). We have constructed an empirical morphospace to examine the first 1.3 billion years of acritarch evolution. We show that protist morphologic evolution is broadly correlated with major environmental and biologic revolutions in Earth history such as late Neoproterozoic global glaciations, the first appearance of the Ediacaran metazoans and the Cambrian explosion. Our results also show that protist morphologic expansion precedes their taxonomic diversification; this pattern, similar to that seen in Phanerozoic animal clades, suggests that early morphospace saturation and convergence are common occurrences in eukaryote macroevolution. In addition, our data do not support a monotonic increase in maximum diameter of acritarch vesicles through the Proterozoic; instead, maximum vesicle diameter appears to fluctuate in the Proterozoic before decreasing significantly in the early Cambrian. 相似文献
18.
Cambrian Burgess Shale-type Lagerstätten in South China: Distribution and significance 总被引：3，自引：3，他引：0
The final assembly of the supercontinent Gondwana during the Pan-African orogenic episodes (ca. 550–520 Ma) almost simultaneously took place with the Cambrian explosion that is best manifested by a number of Cambrian Burgess Shale-type Lagerstätten in South China. The relationship between South China and Gondwana during the Cambrian is far from consensus. Burgess Shale-type Lagerstätten may have potential importance for the paleogeographic reconstruction. However, such Lagerstätten have been known in large number only in Laurentia and South China, far less common in Gondwana and other continents. Burgess Shale-type Lagerstätten in South China are not evenly spaced through the Cambrian. They appear to be concentrated in the Lower Cambrian, particularly in the Canglangpuian and Qiongzhusian stages, much reduced in number from the uppermost Lower Cambrian. Of ten reported such Lagerstätten, only the Kaili biota (basal Middle Cambrian) is known to be younger than Early Cambrian. This reduction could be explained by the fact that vast areas of siliciclastic facies in both the western plate interior (platform) and the eastern slope basin during most time of Early Cambrian (Meishucunian to Canglangpuian) is evolved into carbonate facies at the very end of Early Cambrian (Longwangmiaoian). It has been known from this study that both siliciclastic platform facies and slope basin facies (shale basin) could preserve soft-bodied fossils. Cambrian Burgess Shale-type Lagerstätten in South China are of great significance for providing a sequences of exceptionally preserved biota in a chronological succession. Comparison of such Lagerstätten in a chronological framework may give us more details on the Cambrian explosion events. 相似文献
19.
Information generated and transmitted over social networks, can help with understanding the development of events that are taking place in reality. With the great increase in usage of smart mobile devices, it is expected to have more data related also to location. Identifying the location of events is of great significance especially in case of disaster or other emergency. Unfortunately, social networks such as ‘Twitter’, ‘Facebook’, and ‘Instagram’, do not always support accessibility to information related to the exact location of neither the user nor the device. For example, in ‘Twitter’, <4 % of the messages carry the precise GPS position. This is due to privacy reasons, device settings and social network regulations. In this study, we use the content of the textual messages to detect the user’s location or, better, the location of the event. Predefined keywords and a set of filters were used to extract and analyze data acquired from the social networks. The analyses of these data focused, in this step, on geographical locations. Findings show that names of places as communicated over the networks corresponded, in many instances, to the actual locations of the events. In the case of major events (in terms of National impact), the volume of messages with location names increase dramatically relative to ‘normal’ periods when there are no ‘extreme’ events. It was also found that 14 % of the messages included the name of the city or even the street name, related to the event. 相似文献
20.
We discuss the potential geodynamic connections between Paleozoic arc development along the flanks of the interior (e.g. the Iapetus and Rheic) oceans and the exterior Paleopacific Ocean. Paleozoic arcs in the Iapetus and Rheic oceanic realms are preserved in the Appalachian–Caledonide and Variscan orogens, and in the Paleopacific Ocean realm they are preserved in the Terra Australis Orogen. Potential geodynamic connections are suggested by paleocontinental reconstructions showing Cambrian–Early Ordovician contraction of the exterior ocean as the interior oceans expanded, and subsequent Paleozoic expansion of the exterior oceans while the interior oceans contracted. Subduction initiated in the eastern segment of Iapetus at ca. 515 Ma and Early to Middle Ordovician orogenesis along the flanks of this ocean is highlighted by arc–continent collisions and ophiolite obductions. Over a similar time interval, subduction and orogenesis took place in the exterior ocean and included formation of the Macquarie arc in the Tasmanides of Eastern Australia and the Famatina arc and correlatives in the periphery of the proto-Andean margin of Gondwana. Major changes in the style of subduction (from retreating to advancing) in interior oceans occurred during the Silurian, following accretion of the peri-Gondwanan terranes and Baltica, and closure of the northeastern segment of Iapetus. During the same time interval, subduction in the Paleopacific Ocean was predominantly in a retreating mode, although intermittent episodes of contraction closed major marginal basins. In addition, however, there were major disturbances in the Earth tectonic systems during the Ordovician, including an unprecedented rise in marine life diversity, as well as significant fluctuations in sea level, atmospheric CO2, and 87Sr/86Sr and 13C in marine strata carbonates. Stable and radiogenic isotopic data provide evidence for the addition of abundant mantle-derived magma, fluids and large mineral deposits that have a significant mantle-derived component. When considered together, the coeval, profound changes in the style of tectonic activity and the disturbances recorded in Earth Systems are consistent with the emergence of a superplume during the Ordovician. We speculate that the emergence of a superplume triggered by slab avalanche events within the Iapetus and Paleopacific oceans was associated with the establishment of a new geoid high within the Paleopacific regime, the closure of the interior Rheic Ocean and the amalgamation of Laurussia and Gondwana, which was a key event in the Late Carboniferous amalgamation of Pangea. 相似文献