Annual Report 2004 of IGCP Project No. 499 Duration and status: 5 years (2004-2008); status: first year
1. Name: Dr. Peter Königshof 2. Name: Dr. Jurga Lazauskiene 3. Name: Dr. Eberhard Schindler 4. Name: PD Dr. Volker Wilde 5. Name: Prof. Dr. M. Namik Yalcin
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1. Website address(es) related to the project /igcp-499/ 2. Summary of major past achievements of the project 2004, March 1-10: Introduction of the project in conjunction with the meeting of the international ‘Subcommission on Devonian Stratigraphy’ (SDS), Rabat and the Dra Valley. An introductory presentation of the new IGCP took place during the gathering of a good number of members of the international 'Subcommission on Devonian Stratigraphy' (SDS) at a meeting which was held in Rabat (Morocco) from March 1 to 10, 2004. The meeting "Devonian neritic–pelagic correlation and events" was organized by Ahmed El Hassani and his crew at the 'Institut Scientifique de l'Université Mohammed V, Agdal' and included an extended field trip to Devonian key sections in the Dra Valley (for link see: http://www.israbat.ac.ma/SemPub/SDS2004/2nd_Circular.htm). 24 oral presentations on Devonian matters including e.g., biostratigraphy, palaeontology, eventstratigraphy, and chemostratigryphy were given during the first two days of the meeting in Rabat. Additionally, 20 posters have been presented touching similar topics. 50 participants from various countries attended the technical part of the meeting. Ahmed El Hassani has put together a volume summarizing the abstracts of the oral presentations and posters on 87 pages (entitled: Devonian neritic–pelagic correlation and events). The 10 contributions to the sections of the fieldtrip (+ intruductory remarks and an overview article) that had been prepared as a pre-print guidebook for the trip have inbetween been published as a separate volume [El Hassani, A. (ed.): Devonian neritic-pelagic correlation and events in the Dra Valley. – Documents de l'Institut Scientifique, vol. 19.] (see references). 2004, October, 6: The first IGCP 499 business meeeting On October 6, 2004 the first business meeting of IGCP 499 was held at the University of Göttingen, Germany, and was attended by about 40 colleagues from 9 countries. The meeting was embedded in the annual meeting of the German Paläontologische Gesellschaft which included a special session on Devonian topics. The business meeting substituted the originally planned meeting in conjunction with the Subcommission of Devonian Stratigraphy (SDS) this fall in Mashad (Iran) which had to be postponed due to organizational problems in Iran. Four of the five leaders of the IGCP 499 were present (only Jurga Lazauskiene was not able to attend) and a substantial number of regional coordinators from different countries contributed to the meeting (see 3.2). Project announcements: Especially in the first phase the project needed to be announced to the scientific public. Therefore, the project has been presented at the following congresses: Meeting of the international ‘Subcommission on Devonian Stratigraphy’ (SDS), Rabat and the Dra Valley, March 1 – 10, 2004 3. Achievements of the project this year The following list of countries involved in the IGCP 499 shows the ‘state of the art’ with respect to regional working groups: Australia, Austria, Baltic countries, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Iran, Italy , Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom,U.S.A. 3.2. General scientific achievements (including societal benefits) (Meetings are not considered as scientific achievements, they should be listed under heading 3.3.) March 2004: field work in Morocco: After the technical sessions of the SDS meeting, an extended fieldtrip to the marvellous Devonian of the Dra Valley in the Anti Atlas was attended by 30 participants. The trip was guided by two German groups, Thomas Becker and his crew from Muenster University, and the Senckenberg group from Frankfurt (Gerhard Plodowski and collaborators). The main focus of the trip was set on Lower to Middle Devonian siliciclastics, but minor parts of some sections even reached into the Upper Devonian. A very high grade of biostratigraphic resolution could be demonstrated using a number of taxa (e.g., brachiopods, goniatites, conodonts, tentaculitids, trilobites, ostracods). Other taxa, such as corals and crinoids, have been studied by attending specialists. Aspects of cyclic stratigraphy and detailed sedimentology and facies analyses have been intensely discussed. In order to channel the work within IGCP Project 499 which covers a wide range of scientific disciplines we started to establish different working groups which will provide a better coordination with respect to forthcoming activities (e.g. field meetings, workshops) in the future. These working groups should either cover palaeoenvironmental settings or individual disciplines. However, in spite of such a technical subdivision, our aim is just the to encourage interrelated activities: Terrestrial realm: coordinator: Volker Wilde, Frankfurt Focus will be set on terrestrial settings (e.g., palaeosoils, fossil plants) as well as on the immediate transitional settings, such as coasts, lagoons, estuaries, etc. Major working fields/disciplines are: Palaeontology (palaeobotany, palynology, palaeozoology), palaeopedology, terrestrial sedimentology. Transitional/shallow marine realm: coordinator: Eberhard Schindler, Frankfurt Outer shelf/open marine realm: coordinator: Peter Koenigshof, Frankfurt Geochemistry:
Turkey: For enhancing cooperation of the coordinators and stimulating research in Turkey Volker Wilde has visited IGCP 499 co-leader M.N. Yalcin at the University of Istanbul from April, 19-23. Inbetween, he has assembled a group of colleagues which are actively working in the Devonian of Turkey and will take part in the project. They are representing leading research institutions of the country like some universities, the National Geological Survey (MTA) and the National Oil Company (TPAO). An ad-hoc-meeting on April, 21, included a representative of the MTA and two scientists from TPAO. The discussion focussed on research potential for the Turkish Devonian and strategies for resarch programs and funding. The Devonian of Turkey is distributed in three major areas, NW Anatolia (Istanbul Terrane and NW Pontides), The Taurides (SW-Turkey), and SE-Anatolia. The representative specialists have been asked in a first step by M.N. Yalcin to collect the available information and literature for these areas. This became the starting point for a national initative improving the knowledge on the Turkish Devonian. It was agreed upon the fact that the work can only be done by including students which will do the field and laboratory projects. In the meantime as an integrative part of the IGCP 499, an application for a bilateral project has recently been submitted to the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TÜBITAK) and the International Bureau of the BMBF at the Forschungszentrum Jülich. It is called “Devonian Ecosystems and climate of Turkey (DEVEC-TR)” and will initiate and stimulate an integrative resarch program on the different areas with Devonian sediments in Turkey with respect to the goals of IGCP 499. Australia: The Australian Middle Palaeozoic workers together with colleagues from other countries focused on research of relevance to IGCP 499 can be grouped into three teams (most of these colleagues have been active in the successful forerunner project IGCP 421 and will continue this research). 1. Events team: John Talent, Ruth Mawson, Heidi Caldon, Anita Andrew, David Whitford, George Wilson, with Jiri Fryda (Prague) and Lennart Jeppsson (Lund). Heidi Caldon is intensively investigating the sedimentation, algae, brachiopods, trilobites and other macrofauna through three sequences through the Lau Event (mid Ludlow) and one through the Klonk Event (across the Pridoli-Lochkovian boundary) in the Broken River region. Isotopic data from Anita Andrew and David Whitford are already available for the Klonk sequence and two of the Lau sequences. Statistical analysis of brachiopod faunas from 102 silicified horizons (George Wilson, John Talent and Ruth Mawson) across the late Pragian-early Lochkovian boundary (pesavis Event) has failed to show evidence of an event affecting benthic faunas, though some event seems to have affected conodonts, as suggested by Rich Lane and the late Willi Ziegler. The taxonomy of diverse silicified gastropod faunas (c. 80 taxa) through this interval, accumulated over the past 35 years by John Talent and Ruth Mawson, is being undertaken by Jiri Fryda (Prague). When this exercise is complete, a more embracing analysis of the impact of the pesavis Event will be possible. The Broken River region has numerous excellently exposed sequences through the supposed Choteč (earliest Eifelian) and Kačak (late Eifelian) events in the various tracts of Chinaman Creek Limestone, and of the Taghanic Event (mid-Givetian) in the Spanner Limestone. A comparison of the Choteč and Kačak events as expressed in the Czech and Broken River sequences is to be undertaken in conjunction with Jiri Fryda’s group at the Czech Geological Survey. 2. Yarrol Team: Paul Blake, Alex Cook, Ruth Mawson, Matthew Ng and John Talent. On the basis of geologic mapping by the Geological Survey of Queensland, especially in the last decade, major advances are being made in the biostratigraphy of previously poorly known mid-Palaeozoics of the Yarrol belt of east-central Queensland. Paul Blake, now has the Silurian–Late Devonian coral faunas of most units in an advanced state of documentation. Ruth Mawson and John Talent have a conodont-based paper (with Alex Taube) in press on repetition of the Mount Morgan Middle Devonian stratigraphy (and mineralisation) in the Dee Range, and have resumed conodont work (after a hiatus of about 12 years) on various other units, autochthonous and allochtonous, in the Yarrol tract, primarily to help underpin Paul Blake’s coral work. Matthew Ng has been extracting and documenting elegantly preserved silicified brachiopods and molluscs from the previously poorly known Mt Etna limestone, north of Rockhampton. Conodonts from Matthew’s samples all point to a Pragian age for this large and very prominent ?olistolith (or olistoliths). 3. The Southeastern Australia Team: Ruth Mawson, Zerina Johanson, David Mathieson, Peter Molloy, Andrew Simpson, John Talent and Gabor Foldvary. Peter Molloy has been probing the extinction sequence in conodonts through the Ireviken Event as expressed in Boree Ck, NW of Orange. A paper by John Talent, Andrew Simpson and Peter Molloy is in press on conodonts from the Silurian limestones of the Wombat Creek Group and “Wibenduck Limestone” of eastern Victoria. Zerina Johanson (Australian Museum) is monographing the copious lacustrine fish remains from limestone nodules in the Fairy Formation (Pragian) in the Snowy River Volcanics west of Buchan, Victoria. The fauna also includes charophytes, ostracods, gastropods and conchostracans. Conodonts from minor limestones in the Bola Sandstone farther east in the Errinundra area indicate a Pragian age for some or all of that unit, more or less coeval with the Fairy Formation. The MUCEP group has completed a major study (for Eastern Star Petroleum) of Early Devonian conodont taxonomy as well as CAI data and Kübler Index data from outcrop and bore samples in the Darling Basin of far western New South Wales, as well as from shelf sequences flanking the Darling Basin to as far east as the Tullamore Syncline. Highlights of this have been monographing of tabulate corals from the Bogan Gate-Trundle area west of the Tullamore Syncline by Gabor Foldvary (Australian Museum), and David Mathieson’s work on Pragian conodonts from several limestone occurrences in the Bourke-Cobar-Nymagee region. The most interesting unit in that area, the Booth Limestone at ‘Manuka’, has produced diverse macrofaunas including well-preserved silicified faunas. The Macquarie University (MUCEP) palaeontology group has been relatively quiet as regards fish taxonomy (exclusively micro-remains) and biostratigraphy. Allison Basden, having completed her PhD on Early Devonian fish micro-remains, is now involved with contemporary plant communities, undertook identification of the sparse Lochkovian-Pragian fish micro-remains from acid-leaching bore and outcrop samples from the Darling Basin of western New South Wales. A major component of Karina Ojong`s Honours degree in Museum Studies involves preparation of an exhibition on previously undescribed associations of Middle Devonian fish micro-remains from the Broken River region of northern Queensland, for which a substantial exercise in taxonomy is necessary. All of the above faunas are well underpinned by conodont data. These and other linkages to IGCP 491 are being developed.
Australia (John Talent, Sydney) There is a standing offer to start a group for South America in 2006. The status of these working groups is very different. There may be formal working groups related to existing formal organisations (e.g., Spain, Russia). On the other hand, individual colleagues may act as personal coordinators who agree to set up the group and take care of the results (e.g., providing lists of activities and publication etc.). 3.3. List of meetings with approximate attendance and number of countries SDS meeting: "Devonian neritic–pelagic correlation and events", Rabat (Morocco) from March 1 to 10, 2004. About 60 participants from 9 countries. IGCP 499 bussines meeting in Göttingen, in conjunction with the German Paläontologische Gesellschaft. About 40 participants from 9 countries. 3.4. Educational, training or capacity building activities The IGCP-National Committee started a press campaing where IGCP 499 has been presented to the general public together with additional information on IGCP projects (poster presentation) in which there are substantial contributions by German colleagues (colleagues acting as leaders and/or co-leaders). Furthermore, posters on other IGCP activities have been printed and were sent to 20 universities in Germany to improve the knowledge on IGCP projects. A training course of one week for high school students and teachers was held in autumn dealing with fundamental aspects in geology, palaeontology and regional geology. This training course also included fieldwork and laboratory work. It is planned to organize this training course annually. 3.5. Participation of scientists from developing countries In the meetings listed above scientists from developing countries participated: China, Iran, Russia, Morocco. 3.6. List of most important publications (including maps) A list of all relevant publications may be found on the web-site (/igcp-499/), which will be updated on a regular base. Articles / Books:
Aboussalam, Z.S., Becker, R.T., Bockwinkel, J. & Ebbighausen, V. 2004.: Bakharev, N.K., Sennikov, N.V., Yolkin, E.A. & Izokh, N.G. 2004.: Becker, R.T., Aboussalam, Z.S., Bockwinkel, J., Ebbighausen, V., El Hassani, A. & Nübel, H. 2004. : Becker, R.T., Aboussalam, Z.S., Bockwinkel, J., Ebbighausen, V., El Hassani, A. & Nübel, H. 2004.: Becker, R.T., Bockwinkel, J., Ebbighausen, V., Aboussalam, Z.S., El Hassani, A. & Nübel, H. 2004.: Becker, R.T., Jansen, U., Plodowski, G., Schindler, E., Aboussalam, Z.S. & Weddige, K. 2004.: Bond, D., Wignall, P.B. & Racki, G. 2004.: Brocke, R., Fatka, O. & Wilde, V. (submitted): Brocke, R.; Jansen, U.; Königshof, P.; Ribbert, K.-H.; Schindler, E.; Schindler, T.; Schmidt-Gündel, O.; Vogel, O.; Weddige, K. & Wintgen, C. 2004. : Ebbighausen, V., Bockwinkel, J., Becker, R.T., Aboussalam, Z.S., Bultynck, P., El Hassani, A. & Nübel, H. 2004. : El Hassani, A. [ed.] 2004. : El Hassani, A. 2004. : Ginter, M. & Piechota, A. 2004. : Jansen, U., Becker, G., Plodowski, G., Schindler, E., Vogel, O., & Weddige, K. 2004. : Jansen, U., Becker, G., Plodowski, G., Schindler, E., Vogel, O. & Weddige, K. 2004. : Jansen, U.; Brocke, R.; Königshof, P.; Ribbert, K.-H.; Schindler, E.; Schindler, T.; Schmidt-Gündel, O. & Wintgen, C. 2004. : Jansen, U., Plodowski, G., Schindler. E. & Weddige, K. 2004. : Kaiser, S., Becker, R.T., Brice, D., Nicollin, J.P., Legrand-Blain, M., Aboussalam, El Hassani, A. & Nübel, H. 2004. : Königshof, P. & Glaub, I. 2004. : Murphy, M.A., Valenzuela-Rios, J.I. & Carls, P. 2004. : Racki, G., Piechota, A., Bond, D. &Wignall, P.B. 2004.: Racki, G. & Sobstel M. 2004.: Wehrmann, A., Hertweck, G., Brocke, R., Jansen, U., Königshof, P., Plodowski, G., Schindler, E., Wilde, V., Blieck, A. & Schultka, S. (in press): 3.7. Activities involving other IGCP projects or the IUGS During the IGCP meeting 503 (Early Paleozoic Palaeogeography and Palaeoclimate) it was agreed upon a closer cooperation and coordination of activities between IGCP 503 and 499. It is planned to organize a joint meeting in conjunction with the International Palaeontological Congress (IPC) in Beijing, China in 2006 (see 4.2). Details will be discussed in spring 2005. A closer cooperation is also envisaged with the IGCP 497 (The Rheic ocean: its origin, evolution and correlatives). 4. Activities planned 4.1. General goals According to the major goals of IGCP 499 the focus for the planned field meetings in the next year will be on terrestrial realms and transitional/shallow marine settings. With respect to this four meetings are planned for the next year. 4.2. Specific meetings and field trips (please indicate participation from developing countries) Session at the North American Paleontological Convention in Halifax (Canada), June 19 – 26, 2005 During the upcoming North American Paleontological Convention in Halifax the regional coordinators for North America submitted a symposium on Devonian matters that will highlight the IGCP 499 project and its goals as well as the North American correlation history covering the Lower, Middle, and Upper Devonian. Various facies including comparison of different settings as well as correlation will be presented. There are excellent sequences covering a range from terrestrial to transitional, near-shore marine and offshore marine strata. The coordinating group tends to set a focus on the terrestrial facies. As IGCP Project 491 “Middle Palaeozoic Vertebrate Biogeography, Palaeogeography and Climate” will also be presented at the meeting, a close interaction of the project members is possible. Web-site: http://meguma.earthsciences.dal.ca/napc/napc.htm Meeting in conjuction with the international ‘Subcommission on Devonian Stratigraphy’ (SDS) in Novosibirsk and Devonian areas in the Altai, Salair, and Kuznetsk Basin (Siberia), July/August 2005 A meeting with extended field-trips (two days of technical sessions and field trips of about two weeks) is scheduled for the summer of 2005. The working title for the meeting is “Devonian terrestrial and marine environments: From continent to shelf”. It will be organised by the regional coordinators for Russia Zhenya Yolkin and Nadya Izokh hosted at the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Science (RAS) in Novosibirsk. Tentative dates are July 25 to August 10, 2005; a moderate price seems to be possible due to the support by the RAS. Field trips will lead to areas in the Altai, Salair, and the Kusnetsk Basin where settings from terrestrial to marine (including reefal) facies can be studied covering strata from Lower to Upper Devonian. Detailed discussions of the program took place at the business meeting of IGCP 499 in Goettingen. The First Circular will be sent out and posted on this website this year. Contact: Project leaders at Frankfurt or via e-mail addresses of Nadya Izokh and Zhenya Yolkin. 6 th Baltic Stratigraphic Conference, in St. Petersburg (Russia), August 22 – 26, 2005 There will be a business meeting of IGCP 499 connected to the 6 th Baltic Stratigraphic Conference next year in St. Petersburg organized by Jurga Lazauskiene (Vilnius, Lithuania, e-mail: Jurga.Lazauskiene@lgt.lt ). More information will be available soon. As IGCP Project 491 “Middle Palaeozoic Vertebrate Biogeography, Palaeogeography and Climate” (leaders are Min Zhu, Beijing and Gavin Young, Canberra) will strongly be involved in that conference, cooperation with this project will take place. Contact: The e-mail addresses of the organizers of the meeting are: stratigr@mail.wplus.net (= Andrey Zhuravlev, St. Petersburg), aoi@AI1205.spb.edu (= Alexander Ivanov, St. Petersburg) – the latter is especially involved in IGCP 491 matters.
2 nd International Palaeontological Congress in Beijing, June 17 – 23, 2006 A meeting of IGCP 499 (most probably as a joint meeting with other IGCP projects, e.g. 491, 497, 503, and the international Subcommission on Devonian Stratigraphy [SDS]) is planned for 2006 in conjunction with the 2 nd International Palaeontoloigcal Congress to be held in Beijing. Four excursions that may interest the “IGCP community” are planned. These include two pre-congress fieldtrips – A2: The marine Devonian and Lower Carboniferous of Guangxi, including the Guilin area and the Xiangzhou area (five days, guided by Ma Xueping form Peking University and Cen Daizhao from Institute of Geology and Geophysics, CAS), and excursion A7: Palaeontological and archeological sites in Ningxia, NW China (four days, guided by Zhu Min from IVPP, CAS), and two post-congress fieldtrips: – B3. Silurian - Devonian plant and fish fossils in Yunnan Province, Southwest China (five days, guided by De-Ming Wang from Peking University and Zhu Min from IVPP, CAS) and B4: Late Devonian sections with a new perspective of the Frasnian-Famenian extinction and subsequent recovery, and the geological records of the end-Permian mass extinction in the continental sequence of northern Xinjiang (five days, guided by Chen Xiuqin and Cao Changqun from NIGPAS, CAS). There will be more information as soon as detailed plans are available. Information on further activities will be constantly updated on the project’s website as soon as available. 5. Project funding requested The IGCP 499 covers a wide range of scientific disciplines and during the first year with the help of many colleagues we have established working groups which will improve a better coordination with respect to the forthcomming activities. Because we want to involve more young scientists we would like to apply for “high funding” of our IGCP 499. 6. Request for extension, on-extended-term-status, or intention to propose successor project 7. Attach any information you may consider relevant Relevant literature. List of project 499 announcements Examples on public relation activities (e.g., posters, newpaper articles) IGCP 499 Project announcements
Königshof, P.; Lazauskiene, J.; Schindler, E.; Wilde, V. & Yalcin, M.N. 2004. : Königshof, P.; Lazauskiene, J.; Schindler, E.; Wilde, V. & Yalcin, M.N. 2004. : Köngishof, P., Lazauskiene, J., Schindler, E., Wilde, V. & Yalcin, N.M. 2004. : Köngishof, P.; Lazauskiene, J.; Schindler, E.; Wilde, V. & Yalcin, N.M. 2004.: Köngishof, P., Lazauskiene, J., Schindler, E., Wilde, V. & Yalcin, N.M. 2004. : Köngishof, P., Lazauskiene, J., Schindler, E., Wilde, V. & Yalcin, N.M. 2004. : Köngishof, P., Lazauskiene, J., Schindler, E., Wilde, V. & Yalcin, N.M. 2004. : Köngishof, P., Schindler, E. & Wilde, V. 2004. : |